Strong bass, Secure Fit but some quirks
I have been using the Adidas FWD-02 Headphones for about a week now and I am really undecided. Fit, comfort, and design wise these are good earbuds.The default sports and earbud rubber attachments fit me perfectly, but Adidas does include 4x earbuds/tips & 5x different sized sports loop/earwings - so you should get the perfect fit. Also included in the box is a short USB A to USB C cable (the Adidas FWD02 charge by USB C). The fit is GREAT and I couldn't shake these loose, even in a game of pick-up volleyball as a test.
The case design is nice, it's relatively long and flat and a mixture of hard (possibly recycled plastics) with an Adidas sneaker-like material covering the earbuds. The case looks sporting but has an odd design choice that the hinge is magnetic so (see photo) when I first used them I thought I had broken the case. As the cover detaches. I guess Adidas made the decision because these are "sport" and this makes the case a little more hard robust and makes the case hinge less prone to breakage. But then the sneaker-like material means the earbuds and case internals are not protected from moisture. The earbuds are rated IPX5 but thew case is IPX4, so treat the case with a little more care than the earbuds.
But headphones are all about audio, I'm using an iPhone with Apple Music, so my tests are based on that.
Pairing was easy, you hold the button on the case until the lights turn blue to pair. This is EASY and much more straight forward than other headphones. Adidas do make a free app (iOS and Android) to customize the earbuds. There's no prompt to install it like some other headphones after pairing (thank goodness) but do make sure you find and download it - as there were firmware updates for me. The app also lets you customize the touch controls on the side and the equalizer settings. The buttons let you change you turn on/off noise control, launch voice assistant, deep integrate with Spotify, or do nothing. If you integrate with Spotify you get access to custom Adidas playlists, but as an Apple Music users, I can't use the buttons to launch Apple Music. Oh well. BTW, Adidas, FYI if you read this there's "Lorem Ipsum" placeholder text in the Spotify section of your app.
Audio quality.
Music: The Adidas FWD02 have great bass, really solid. They are not ANC but the noise isolation (earwings help with this) is excellent, you would almost think they are noise cancelling. The different equalizer settings changes were minimal not dramatic. I did run into some odd issues though, which is occasionally on first pairing the music would come across flat and I would need to reset the equalizer setting to get good sound. Feels like a software bug so could be fixed with a firmware update. The other more frustrating thing is that sometimes the earbuds would play in the case, this is in-the-case, case-closed, and technically they should be in standby mode. I worry about these randomly playing in my pocket when not in use and wearing down the battery.
Voice: I made a few calls. There was no complaints from the call recipient, they could hear me clearly. The voice call quality though was a little washed out compared to music. The treble was higher and the overall sound profile felt much more subdued vs music. The only way I can describe it is it felt like a call that I had to 'listen' to actually hear the other person vs other earbuds where it's clear as if they were with you in the room. Adidas could fix this with a firmware update. Also, weird bug was when I answered a call on my phone with the earbuds in, the audio was not on my earbuds but on the phone so had to do that panicked "just a second, my earbuds didn't pair, hang on, hang on" talk.
Overall: As well fitting sports headphones, the Adidas FWD02 are good with excellent fit. Audio quality is good. But I can't shake my reservations about audio call quality, the fact music in the earbuds sometimes sounds flat on first pairing, that they have played music in the case, calls didn't transfer to the earbuds when I answered a call, and that they lack ANC makes me think you could get better value elsewhere. I would say though, if you want a pair of gym-only or running-0only headphones for music-only that stay anchored in your ears, the Adidas would be a reasonable pick. But I would pick up another pair of headphones for everyday non-gym use.
FYI. Adidas App links
iOS
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/adidas-headphones/id1453978896
Android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zoundindustries.AdidasHeadphones