Ola Friend vs Oladance OWS Pro: AI convenience or stronger sound?

Their strengths and weaknesses are so obvious that, without comparing them, you could not even call them weaknesses. That is what makes it more frustrating. ByteDance, did you do this on purpose? You acquired the company and improved everything, then left out the sound quality. What about my sound quality? If necessary, could you not just sell it at a higher price?

So from this point on, every strength and weakness is discussed as a comparison between the two.

Ola Friend with Doubao

Advantages

1. Its biggest advantage is also its selling point: having Doubao built in is genuinely convenient. Unfortunately, it only works with Doubao and cannot access other apps. If you have already designed it this way, why not go one step further?

2. The overall size is small. The charging case and the earbuds are both much smaller and lighter than the OWS Pro. One reason is that the earbuds themselves are smaller; another is that they are arranged in an overlapping position in the case. They are much smaller overall. See comparison photos 3 and 4.

   I have also heard that some people find the OWS or OWS Pro uncomfortable because their ears are small. If that applies to you, you could try this one. Since the whole product is smaller, slimmer and lighter, it should be more comfortable for small ears.

3. The charging case is less likely to break. Its opening angle is small, so even if it is open and falls to the ground, it should not break as easily, and the earbuds are less likely to fall out.

Disadvantages

1. Poorer sound quality and lower volume

   First, the sound quality. For listening to music, it is actually a little worse than the OWS and quite ordinary. More specifically, the OWS has more of a reverberant quality, and the Pro is in another league entirely. If you are buying one for music, please get the Pro. It is practically like wearing a speaker beside your ear; the difference is that obvious.

   Finally, its volume is lower than the OWS Pro's. In places with a lot of surrounding noise, calls are affected more.

2. Sound leakage, with basically no difference

Since it is an open-ear pair, it leaks slightly more sound than the OWS Pro when the volume is high.

Oladance OWS Pro

If you do not compare it with the Friend, it basically has no major weaknesses.

Advantages: The sound quality is excellent. There is not much else to say.

Disadvantages

1. Large size

   The OWS Pro charging case is genuinely very large. The OWS case is even heavier, although its build quality and feel are better than the Pro's. If you do not close it promptly and it falls to the ground, the lid can easily break. The case is probably among the largest on the market. For women with small hands, it practically fills the hand, and it is inconvenient to carry. If your everyday bag is small, it takes up a lot of space. The Friend is much smaller and easier to hold.

   Because they share the same design, wearing the earbuds feels almost like wearing nothing. When I bought the OWS before, I often searched for the earbuds while they were still in my ears. I could even sleep wearing them without feeling a foreign object. They never fell out while I walked or ran. I have not tried strenuous exercise with the Pro, but it feels as though it may be less secure than the OWS. The OWS has a slightly larger tail, which catches more firmly behind the ear.

2. Noise in the left ear

There is no noise when audio is playing, but in a quiet setting, with nothing playing, it is noticeable if I focus my attention on it. This mainly depends on how sensitive you are and how much it bothers you, like hearing someone breathing beside you while you sleep. I suspect it may be a batch or individual-unit issue, because the left ear has made noise on several units I bought. I do not care much about it and it does not affect listening; the main problem is that it is no longer being produced and there is no better option.

So I want both. Originally I only wanted the Friend, but the OWS Pro's sound quality was simply too good. Honestly, I really do.