Libratone is looking continue to their Danish-based, high-quality, signature sound products. They got 360-degree speakers, on-the-go portable speakers, and headphones in their inventory of offerings. Announced earlier this year at CES, Libratone's Track+ in-ear headphones or neck buds checks off several boxes of criteria.
So they didn't want to just do another pair of neck buds, they put some thought into it by adding features/qualities typically saved for headphones. These are based on their previous Q Adapt USB-C earphones last seen as part of their 'Made For Google' products. We've been testing the Track+ using the LG G7 ThinQ & the Pixel 2 XL on Google Play Music, SoundCloud, & YouTube. After a few weeks of using them, I think we can let you know if these are worth the $200 price point.
This is the perfect combination plastic & rubber cover the majority of the earphones. They offer pill-looking buds armed w/ dual mics to suppress noise for phone calls + ANC. Did we mention that they're also IPX4 sweat & splash proof design? Well, it is and lives up to that IP rating & making it ideal for working out in.
The controls are on the neck cords through the wires. You got the charging port & Power button on one side and the other side, you got a Volume Up/Down & Play/Pause/virtual assistant button. The Track+ has pill-shaped ear buds fit super comfortable in your ear w/ absolutely-zero fatigue. Good enough to wear until the battery dies on it.
Now we don't have the specs in regards to the drivers utilized within the Track+ but they're pretty good. Now, mind you that they're more or less neck buds so they won't have the thump you might get from on-ear headphones. They offer a bit more balanced than you would get from something like the Beats X neck buds. You get a richer sound w/ good mids & highs to output an overall solid sound.
The Track+ is different compared to other neck buds as this is armed w/ CityMix Noise Cancellation. The thing is that, you can't activate the feature w/o the Libratone app. There you can control the 4 levels of ANC for the earbuds as well as monitor battery life, turn on ambient listening, control the EQ/tweak the bass/ treble/etc. and switch to one of 5 favorite internet streaming radio stations. The ANC worked pretty good for neck buds but don't expect Bose-level noise canceling though. It does help in slightly noisy situations but not enough to block out a plane engine completely.
Libratone quotes the Track+ in offering a solid 8-hour battery life. The 8-hour battery will hold you down for long commutes, a lengthy workout, etc. On my long days at work, it won't last me a full shift but other than that, it's fine. With the ANC, you can get close to 6 hours on a single charge. There are 2 things I wished this had: a slightly longer battery life & vocal alerts saying when the battery is low instead of a series of beeps. The only upside one of those things is that it only takes an hour to charge the earbuds to 100%.
The Track+ might be one of the best all-around neck buds.
TG 2 Cents
So for $200, you get a little more than your average neck bud offers. Lightweight construction - check. Comfortable for long periods of use - check. Good audio quality- check. Multiple levels of noise canceling - check. Enough battery to last you a workday - check. Definitely a premium but I think its justified.
But on the other side of that, $200 could get you somewhat better sound. Which at the end is the feature you want to be maxed out anyway. But no one else has any type of IP waterproofing or any type of activate noise-canceling involved on their neck buds. So this gives Libratone the easy leg up for the value of the Track+.
