Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Cambridge Audio’s first AirPods Pro competitor has lossless audio, massive battery life

Cambridge Audio Melomania M100.
Cambridge Audio

Cambridge Audio’s new Melomania M100 wireless earbuds are the U.K. company’s first model to offer active noise cancellation (ANC), a key feature of virtually every flagship model from competitors, including Apple’s AirPods Pro. The Melomania M100 are priced at $219 and are available starting on March 27 at Amazon and other retailers.

While ANC is a big addition, Cambridge Audio appears to have caught up with the market in a number of other areas, too. The M100 has a case that supports wireless charging, and thanks to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound platform, the earbuds can receive lossless CD-quality audio from compatible smartphones, as well as lossy, hi-res audio at up to 24-bit/96kHz.

Cambridge Audio Melomania M100.
Cambridge Audio

The M100 are also set to get a firmware upgrade to Bluetooth LE Audio, including support for Auracast, which will let users tune into public Bluetooth broadcasts as this technology gets rolled out.

Recommended Videos

Supporting that enhanced Bluetooth audio is a set of 10mm drivers — 30% larger than the ones used on the company’s previous model, the Melomania Touch. These are powered by class AB amplification, a technology normally found on full-sized hi-fi gear like Cambridge Audio’s amplifiers.

Woman wearing Cambridge Audio Melomania M100.
Cambridge Audio

The company says that out of the box, the M100 are “tuned to deliver the acclaimed Cambridge sound – transparent and natural,” but there’s also a newly developed Melomania Connect app for iOS and Android that gives you a seven-band equalizer with six presets to provide greater control over the sound.

Battery life is another highlight. Cambridge Audio claims the new earbuds will get 10 hours of playtime on a single charge, but this increases to an astonishing 16 hours if you disable ANC. With the case’s capacity included, this yields a total stamina of up to 52 hours before needing to recharge the case and earbuds.

Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 next to an iPhone.
Cambridge Audio

The M100 sport IPX4 protection from water, which is enough for workouts or the occasional rainy day run, and there are three sizes of silicone tips and two sizes of memory foam tips in the box to help you get a secure and comfortable fit.

Finally, Android and Windows users can take advantage of Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair to get the M100 quickly and easily connected to devices that use these two operating systems, and support for Bluetooth Multipoint means you can stay connected to two devices simultaneously.

Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends' Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…
Cambridge Audio’s first wireless headphones boast AB amplification, long battery life
Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 wireless headphones.

Cambridge Audio is no stranger to the audiophile world or its denizens, who like to obsess over sound quality. So it's no surprise that the company's first set of wireless headphones -- the Melomania P100 -- have a bunch of features aimed squarely at this market. You can buy the new noise-canceling cans for $279 in either black or white starting in July at both cambridgeaudio.com and Amazon.

Design-wise, the P100 may share many design traits with other flagship headphones -- the aluminum and plastic materials are especially reminiscent of Bose's recently released QuietComfort Ultra Headphones -- but under the surface lurks an unusual feature: The company has equipped the P100 with AB amplification, typically reserved for dedicated hi-fi components. It's the same audiophile-grade technology that Cambridge Audio used in its Melomania M100 wireless earbuds.

Read more
Samsung’s next Galaxy Buds are basically AirPods clones
Leaked images purportedly of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 and Galazxy Buds 3 Pro.

Well this is vaguely embarrassing. If a recently leaked render -- purportedly of the as-yet-unreleased Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 and Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro -- is accurate, the company's next wireless earbuds basically look like Apple's AirPods Gen 3 and AirPods Pro with USB-C, except with trapezoidal stems instead of Apple's iconic tubular ones. The image above comes to us courtesy of Evan Blass, via his Substack.

If it proves to be what we see when Samsung hosts its Unpacked event on July 10, it's a bizarre and unexpected change of direction for a company that has steadfastly stuck to stemless designs for all of it wireless earbuds so far. Unexpected, but possibly part of a larger move toward a more Apple-esque design language if Blass' additional leak of the next Samsung smart watch is also accurate.

Read more
Apple AirPods Pro will get head gestures and better calling with iOS 18
A person wearing the Apple AirPods Pro 2.

Along with a slew of new features for iOS 18, Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference keynote has given us a sneak peek at how the AirPods Pro will evolve come the fall.

One of the big changes is how you can respond to Siri's verbal options. For instance, when a call comes in and Siri asks if you'd like to accept, you can nod your head to do so or shake it to decline.

Read more