Belkin Soundform Bolt earbuds review: Sound trade-offs

At a recommended retail price of $49.95, the Belkin Soundform Bolt earbuds are one of the cheapest options out there when it comes in-ear headphones that you'll probably be able to find in an Australian retailer. Even if there isn't any sort of Spatial Audio or wireless charging found here, that's still a great price to pay for a set of AirPod alternatives.

That said, there aren't many places where you can find them. Check out the table below for a round-up of places you can buy the Belkin Soundform Bolt earbuds.

Belkin's Soundform Bolt earbuds eschew the toothbrush-shaped form-factor of the AirPods in favor of one that's more molded to the shape of the average ear. Your mileage may vary but I've always been a fan of this style of earbuds and quickly found the Soundform Bolt earbuds offered a familiar and comfortable fit that defies the thriftiness of its price-tag.

That said, it's hard to deny that the earbuds themselves are a little bulkier than some of the competition. At 4.5g apiece, they're hardly going to weigh you down though. Besides, all that extra room is a worth trade-off when you factor in the bells and whistles that Belkin have squeezed into the budget-friendly buds.

The Belkin Soundform Bolt come with 6mm drivers, an IPX4 rating against water and dust damage, Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity and up to 9 hours of playback on a single charge.

As is the norm, there's a plastic carry-case that doubles as a charger and boosts your potential playback by two full charges to a total 28 hours. Aside from the USB-C port on that accessory, the only other feature worth touching on here is a set of LED lights that help convey how much battery is left.

There's no active-noise cancellation but the design here helps make up some of the difference by isolating you from outside noise. That said, there's something to like in how straightforward the Soundform Bolt are to use. There's no companion apps gating functionality and the touch controls here are easy to pick up and work with in a pinch.

It'd be easy to accuse the Soundform Bolt of playing things a little conservative when it comes to design, but when both the price-tag and battery life are as solid as they are that sin becomes a little easier to forgive. While it doesn't offer any noise-cancelling, nine hours of playback on a single charge is an impressive feat that frees you from ever worrying about running out of battery mid-workout.

That said, as someone who spends a lot of their time listening to audio through noise-cancelled earbuds and headphones, I did feel its absence here. It almost goes without saying but the Belkin Soundform Bolt earbuds almost certainly sound worse as a result. Still, the fit of the earbuds themselves went a long way towards offsetting a lot of potential noise bleed even in louder environments like the gym.

Faced with the usual testing routine, the Belkin Soundform Bolt proved adequate if unimpressive. The soundscapes the budget-friendly buds offered had some depth, it often felt stifled.

To their credit, the Belkin Soundform Bolt didn't fall into the usual pitfalls that you can see (and hear) with other budget-friendly earbuds. The bass in "3005" sounded as it should as did the soundscapes of The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights". Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the jangled guitars on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" but then again you can't win em all.

My general takeaway here is that while the sound fidelity offered by these budget buds isn't likely to blow you away, it's more than capable of getting you by if all you're after is a very cheap way to listen to your tunes or an episode of your favorite podcast.

The same can't really be said for the single microphone setup on the Soundform Bolt. It works in the way you'd expect but that's pretty much the nicest thing I can say about it.  It's not the worst microphone I've ever used on a set of earbuds, but it's closer than I'd like and far enough from the best that I'd recommend those considering them keep that caveat in mind before they take the plunge\.

The Belkin Soundform Bolt aren't the most impressive set or true wireless earbuds you can buy in 2024, but if you're in the market and want to spend as little as you can get away with then the compromises made here are practical and easy to live with. The differences between how these earbuds and something more expensive sound might be hard to miss but long battery life you get in return is much easier to like.

Belkin might not be known for putting out hardware that audiophiles are going to love but they make a mean accessory and the Soundform Bolt embodies that expertise to a tee.