At an initial glance, Creative's Aurvana Ace and Ace 2 don't look that different to the best wireless earbuds today; you get a stalk design with interesting gold accents on the earbuds and the case, and they have all the bases covered when it comes to connectivity. It's an entirely different matter under the hood — these earbuds are the first to feature solid-state silicon drivers manufactured by xMEMS, and they're meant to deliver much more immersive sound.
Creative is rolling out two models in the series — Aurvana Ace and the costlier Ace 2 — and both include an xMEMS silicon driver in addition to a dynamic driver. The regular 10mm dynamic driver does most of the heavy lifting in daily use, with the xMEMS driver increasing the frequency range (these go from 5Hz to 40KHz) and offering a lifelike sound. According to Creative:
"These specialized drivers, expertly integrated into each earbud, showcase an innovative design with tiny flaps meticulously mounted to silicon chips. What makes this technology stand out is how it replicates sound when these flaps swiftly respond to short electrical signals. In doing so, these drivers are able to generate sound waves that closely mimic the way users naturally hear sounds in the world around them."
In addition to the solid-state audio driver, each earbud includes three MEMS mics, and you get Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, IPX5 water resistance, and wireless charging as standard. Creative touts a battery life of six hours between charges, with the case delivering another 18 hours of charge.
Both earbuds have the AptX Adaptive codec, and the Ace 2 includes AptX Lossless as well, offering lossless streaming over Bluetooth. The Ace 2 has ANC too, with the standard Ace offering environmental noise isolation instead.
Affordability has always been a key trait for Creative, and the Aurvana Ace is set to be available for $129, with the Ace 2 debuting at $149. Pre-orders kick off November 10, and you can head to Creative's site to register interest if you like what's on offer here. I should be getting my hands on the earbuds shortly, so stay tuned.
