Skip to main content

The UE Drops are the first truly custom-fit wireless earbuds you can buy

Ultimate Ears (UE) has launched the $449 UE Drops, a new set of wireless earbuds that are custom-made and hand-crafted to fit each person’s ears perfectly. They come in three colors — Sapphire, Rose Quartz, and Onyx — and UE has intentionally kept the exterior logo-free.

At $449, the Drops are among the most expensive wireless earbuds you can buy, but for folks who have struggled to find a comfortable set of buds, the Drops might well be worth their lofty price.

The UE Drops custom-fit wireless earbuds.
Ultimate Ears

Once you order the earbuds from Ultimate Ears, the company ships you a FitKit — it’s a device that connects to your phone over Bluetooth and, with the help of an app, walks you through the process of shaping a set of molds to the inside of your ears. It only takes a few minutes and is totally painless. I used a UE FitKit when the company shipped me a set of Custom UE Pro 5 wired in-ear-monitors, and it was effortless.

The UE FitKit.
The UE FitKit. Ultimate Ears

Once the molds have been created, you stick them back in the box with the FitKit device and return it all to UE using the provided label. Final delivery of the customized UE drops takes two to four weeks after you send the FitKit back. To ease any concerns about getting a truly comfortable finished product, UE offers a 30-day period after you get your Drops during which you can contact the company if you need to have further adjustments made.

The UE Drops custom-fit wireless earbuds in three colors.
Ultimate Ears

Technology-wise, the Drops appear to be well-equipped. They use 9.2-millimeter dynamic drivers, and have handy features like in-ear sensors for music auto-pause, transparency mode, anda case that supports wireless charging. UE claims battery life at 8 hours per charge, unless you keep transparency mode on, in which case that drops to 5.5 hours. The case holds an additional 14 hours of playtime, for a maximum of 22 hours before you need to plug it in or look for a wireless charger. Codec-wise, the Drops support AAC and aptX.

A woman wearing the UE Drops custom-fit wireless earbuds.
Ultimate Ears

There’s a companion app for iOS and Android that lets you perform some EQ adjustments and modify your choice of voice controls. They’re also sweat and water resistant. The one big missing feature is active noise cancellation (ANC), however, another benefit to a custom-fit set of earbuds is that they should, in theory, provide excellent passive noise isolation, so in most cases, you may not feel the need for ANC.

Recommended Videos

This is not the first time UE has experimented with customized wireless earbuds. Its $200 UE Fits use a set of silicone tips that can be heated so they conform to the shape of you ears. It’s not nearly as tailored a fit as you’ll get with the Drops, but they are still some of the most comfortable earbuds you can buy.

Simon Cohen
Contributing Editor, A/V
Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends' Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…
Soundcore’s first open-ear earbuds come with an optional neckband
Man wearing Soundcore AeroFit Pro in Electric Purple with the optional neckband.

Soundcore's AeroFit Pro in Electric Purple with the optional neckband Soundcore

The open-ear earbuds landscape has been growing like crazy over the last 12 months, so it's great to see that Anker's Soundcore brand has decided to throw its hat into the ring with two new models: the $130 AeroFit and the $170 AeroFit Pro. Both are available in black starting November 1 from and Amazon, with three additional color options coming toward the end of 2023.

Read more
Earfun Free Pro 3 wireless earbuds will make you question Apple’s prices
Earfun Free Pro 3 wireless noise-canceling earbuds in three colors.

What should it cost to buy a set of wireless noise-canceling earbuds with in-demand features like wireless charging, hi-res audio, and Bluetooth Multipoint? According to Earfun, the answer is $80 -- the price of its Earfun Free Pro 3. You can buy them starting October 30 on Amazon.

As the latest generation of Earfun's Free Pro model, the Free Pro 3 goes all-in on new features while retaining the ultra-compact shape and style that sets the Free Pro apart from larger earbuds. The headlining feature for some Android users is Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound compatibility, which brings hi-res audio support via the aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codec and higher-quality voice transmission thanks to aptX Voice.

Read more
1More gets into the open-ear earbuds race with the Fit S50 and S30
1More Fit with wirelessly-charging case.

Open-ear earbuds are becoming increasingly popular due to their main benefit: They let you hear the world around you and your music at the same time. And 1More is the latest company to announce a set of open-ear wireless earbuds, but unlike its competitors, 1More isn't being shy -- instead of testing the waters with one model, the company has released two. The 1More Fit S50 are its flagship model at $150, while the more affordable Fit SE S30 cost just $70. Both models are available starting September 7 on 1more.com and Amazon.
1More Fit S50
1More Fit S50 1More

Most open-ear earbuds rely on their shape to position their speakers correctly so that you get the best possible sound. But since all ears are a little different, and most open-ear earbuds are one-size-fits-all, that alignment doesn't always work out. This is why the 1More Fit S50 cleverly include a set of soft silicone guides (or "directional sound loops" as 1More likes to call them). They look like little donuts, and when you stick them just inside your ear's concha, they're designed to keep everything in the right place. Three sizes of guides are included.

Read more