NuraTrue Pro

Wireless ANC In-Ear Headphones

£299

I was a big fan of the Nuraphone when it first came out. Seeing a company push the technical boundaries of what a headphone can offer to a listener is fantastic. To get you up to speed, the headphones from Melbourne-based company Nura listen to your inner-ear canal and tailor your listening experience accordingly. Nura calls it 'personalised sound', no less.

It's a fair premise, as everyone has a differently shaped ear, so why should we all listen to the same sound signature? Individualistic sound is an appealing offering, yet my appeal to the Nuraphone back in 2019 was actually around the other features the headphone boasted, such as having a dynamic driver with adjustable output and customisable touch controls. Now that personalised sound technology can be found in a true wireless form in the True Pro, has Nura retained the magic of the original Nuraphone in a portable format?

UP CLOSE

The Nura True Pro is a tech enthusiast product, that's for sure. In a jam-packed market full of products that are forever getting smaller and sleeker, this sits loud and proud in the ears, with a bulk that would be unsightly for the average Airpods user. I don't mind the size, personally, as the weight is well distributed, and the little rubber ear support makes wearing these for long distances easy. It's comfortable even, as long as you're not doing backflips when wearing them.

Bluetooth 5.3 with multipoint and aptX lossless are rare in a true wireless release, yet the Nura True Pro has both; sadly, the latter is only available on specific phones and output devices. Paired with massive battery life (8 hours of playback with another 32 tucked into the case), the spec sheet on these things reads like a tech nerd's wildest dream.

The Nura app is back in full swing once more, as is the usual 'testing your hearing' song and dance that it does to personalise your sound signature. However, seeing a fully customisable EQ was an elegant surprise. The app, though, is not without its quirks. I needed to update the firmware to adjust the settings, such as turning on noise cancelling. This was hugely annoying for a quick train trip; I hopped on, pulled out my Steam Deck, and then hopelessly tried to dismiss the update notification on my phone in vain. I was forced to sit with ambient noise mode on for my journey. The couple seated in front of me did not have interesting things to say to each other. Alright, I get it – firmware updates are essential, but are they so crucial that you lock the user out of basic functionality until they are performed? I don't think so.

THE LISTENING

I've said it before, and I'll repeat it. The 'Neutral' sound profile in Nura terms isn't great. I understand that it's in the best interests of the Nura product line to make the personalised signature sound as best as it can be, but doing so at the user experience expense is an intriguing hill to die on.

That said, my own 'personalised' signature was thoroughly enjoyable. Hilariously, the tuning that Nura selected for my eardrums was deliciously bass-heavy. But this didn't cause me to recoil in disgust; quite the opposite. “Yes, please, Nura”, I replied to the app as I started jamming away to my Roon library.

Eye in the Sky by The Alan Parsons Project was sharp, punchy, weighty, throaty, and right at the forefront of my attention for the entire song. These won't replace your flat response studio monitors any time soon. Music is presented with so much warmth and weight that I had to dial back the bass a bit for maximum enjoyment, which is rare for me. Bassheads, rejoice!

I found that I could listen for hours without any listening fatigue, and the noise cancelling worked well, too – roughly on par with current offerings from Sennheiser. Call quality was far better than the Nuraphone, which is a neat improvement. Thumbs aloft, then.

VERDICT

This is a feature-packed Nura release with a suitably high price tag. Whether or not you believe in personalised sound technology, it's hard to ignore some of the impressive features this model packs, especially being one of the only true wireless releases I've ever seen that supports lossless audio. While there are still some quirks in the firmware that I would love to see ironed out, there's no denying that Nura has managed to retain the magic of the original Nuraphone in a portable format.

For more information visit Nura