boAt Airdopes 131 Batman DC Edition review: The one we need right now!

When it comes to budget TWS earphones, you will always find boAt’s name in the mix. The company, known for its bold design aesthetics and bass-heavy audio accessories, offers a number of earphones in the budget category and keeps bringing new and innovative products on a regular basis. The Airdopes 131 Batman DC Edition, however, is a bit of an anomaly. The earphone model was first launched in 2020. And two years later, the company has relaunched the (basically) same TWS earphone with one significant design upgrade. It now flaunts the Batman emblem.

On paper, the specifications of the product remain the same but the price of the earphone has increased by Rs. 100 for the special DC edition earphones and costs Rs. 1,399 instead of Rs. 1,299 for the regular ones. So, the obvious question that arises is whether a two-years old model with fun collectible value: can it justify its price in a very competitive market or is it just riding on the hype of Batman? I used the device for more than two weeks to find out. So, let’s get down to the brass tacks.

boAt Airdopes 131 DC Edition Design

boAt is famous for experimenting with different case designs for its TWS range of products. The Airdopes 131 does not have the pleasing pebble shape that the Airdopes 131 Pro features and instead gets a slim square body, which I’m personally not a fan of. However, the case is small enough to comfortably fit inside your pocket and has a curved glossy body made of plastic which gives it a sleek look.

Under the DC Edition, there are three different designs to the boAt Airdopes 131 — Krypton Blue (Superman), Knight Black (Batman) and Amazonian Red (Wonder Woman). Each of the variants are colored in the primary color of the superhero and features their classic logo.

Overall, the design is definitely one of the major highlights of the device and you see a fun collaboration of DC theme with the boAt aesthetics. The end result is quite appealing.

boAt Airdopes 131 DC Edition Audio Quality

The Airdopes 131 falls in the under Rs. 1,500 segment and as far as budget TWS go, you have to accept some compromises with the audio quality. Keeping that in mind, the earphones come with the usual bass-heavy inclination, which is a trademark of boAt. The earphones have 13mm drivers and yet the audio output is quite good. For casual music lovers, you will enjoy your EDM, hip hop and Bollywood party tracks with a bassy output. However, you will find the audio slightly muffled around the midtones, which might be noticeable if you listen to a lot of podcast. However, the difference is not enough to ruin the overall listening experience.

Sadly, the earphones do not come with any kind of noise cancellation, be it ANC or ENC. That is a let down considering devices like Mivi DuoPods F70 and Truke Air Buds Lite both at least feature ENC and cost about the same. So, if noise cancellation is something you need, focus on those alternatives.

The in-built microphones are decent and even in crowded areas, the voice is largely audible, although the clarity can be impacted. For the best experience, use it inside your home and in generally quiet places. The audio quality is decent for the price range and I did not face any issues with muffled sounds or broken audio over the microphone.

boAt Airdopes 131 DC Edition Smart features

Being a budget TWS means it misses out on some of the higher end smart features. There is no companion app with an equalizer to customize the sound profiles and there is no in-ear detection. You do get a multi-function button that controls everything from play/pause to pick and end a call and long pressing on it lets you access Google Assistant or Siri.

The device also comes with IWP (Insta Walk N Pair) technology and it instantly connects with your paired device.

boAt Airdopes 131 DC Edition Battery Life

On an average, I used these earphones for 3-4 hours a day which included listening to music, podcasts as well as attending calls. The earphones comfortably lasted an entire day on a single charge. You can charge your earphones up to four times with the case and it should be enough to last a week, give or take a day. Heavy users will probably need to charge every 3 to 4 days.

The case can be charged with a USB-C type charger and it takes a little more than 2 hours to go from 0-100.

Verdict

The budget TWS market has a lot of competition from Noise, Truke, Mivi and others. However, it has to be said that boAt earphones hold on their own even in such a competitive segment. Since scope of innovation in this segment is low, even a two years old earphone does not feel dated at all. The sound quality is great for the segment, which is another plus. However, if you prefer noise cancellation, then this is not the device for you.

Similarly, if smart features matter to you, then this device will not satisfy you. But this also means that you’ll have to increase your budget because those features are not available in this price range.

However, if you’re looking for budget TWS earphones and you’re not fussy about these things, then these earphones will definitely give you value for money. As a bonus, if you’re a DC fan, you also get to flaunt a new collectible. However, if you lean towards Marvel, you might find yourself contemplating if the extra 100 bucks is worth it, or whether you should go for the standard Airdopes 131 model.