House of Marley’s new bamboo-slathered earbuds stand out from the crowd

Wireless earbuds are a dime a dozen these days, with AirPods clones nestling in lug holes everywhere we look. It’s refreshing, then, to see a pair like House of Marley’s new Redemption ANC 2 earbuds going beyond bland black or white.

Like their predecessors, both the earbuds and charging case are covered in sustainable, highly-renewable bamboo, with natural wood fibre composite and recycled plastic making up the bulk of the rest of the materials.

Having used both the original Redemption ANC buds and this newer pair, we’re happy to report that these feel much nicer in the hands, with the case in particular winning us over with its more compact shape and sturdy, speckled finish.

Specs-wise, we’ve got active noise cancellation (ANC), powered by six high-performance microphones, along with an Ambient Mode to let in outside sound if you want to listen out for things like train announcements without removing your buds.

There’s a reasonable six hours of battery life on offer (boosted to 24 hours with the case), along with both USB-C and handy wireless charging, with a 15 minute quick charge feature providing two hours of juice if you’re in a rush. They’re IPX5 sweat and water resistant too, and come with three colour-coded, differently-sized earbuds for a secure fit.

Having spent a week with them as our daily buds we’ve found sound quality to be pleasantly warm and balanced, if a little on the bassy side at times. The latter niggle can be fixed by tweaking the EQ settings in House of Marley’s handy new iOS and Android app however, which is also a useful way of customising the bud’s built-in touch controls for easy music control, voice assistant and call navigation.

Available to snap up in Signature Black for 149.99, there’s also a cream coloured version on the horizon, set to land this summer, with every purchase contributing to helping plant trees across the globe. A worthy consideration, if you don’t fancy forking out more cash for Sony’s WF-1000XM4  — the still-undisputed king of wireless earbuds.   

• Read more: 10 best in-ear headphones 2022 reviewed

Esat Dedezade Contributor

About

Esat has been a gadget fan ever since his tiny four-year-old brain was captivated by a sound-activated dancing sunflower. From there it was a natural progression to a Sega Mega Drive, a brief obsession with hedgehogs, and a love for all things tech. After 7 years as a writer and deputy editor for Stuff, Esat ventured out into the corporate world, spending three years as Editor of Microsoft's European News Centre. Now a freelance writer, his appetite for shiny gadgets has no bounds. Oh, and like all good human beings, he's very fond of cats.