For some people, it appears they are.  Some people swear by them. For others (r55% in October 2024 - Source / Flares own website) -  they didn’t work at all.  The problem is that ears come in all shapes and sizes, as does the cause of sound sensory disorders. A one (or even two) size-fits-all solution is not going to work for everyone. So it might be worth a try, but understand, that they don’t work for 55% of people, and if they fail for you, obtaining a refund requires you to send them registered air freight back to the UK (Or just registered if you are in the UK) meaning you might spend as much or more to get a refund than you paid for them.

Yes, they have... but should they have?  Did they advise the judges their products failed for roughly 30% of people? This doesn't seem likely. 

On their website, their reviews present them as the best earbud manufacturer in the world.  Their reviews are that good! Almost all positive. On Amazon, their review scores are the worst of any company in the world.  By about 500%.  That is, their reviews are 5x worse than the next worst company. So why are they so good on their website? It's difficult to explain, other than by assuming Flare Audio intentionally presents a rosier picture of how their products are received than how they actually are received.  They refuse to publish all the bad reviews. If they did that... sales would plummet.  Note this happens for literally no other earbud company.  Every other earbud brand has near identical review scores on their website, and on Amazon.  Only Flare Audio has this massive difference. It's difficult to see how their website reviews could be viewed as reliable.

By reaching out to a pool of new impulse buyers, who don't crosscheck the message they receive from Flare Audio's marketing team. Flare Audio uses social media marketing to reach out to a constant stream of people looking for solutions for a variety of noise issues. Because the price is not very high, when people see the ads, they generally just assume the reviews presented by Flare Audio represent a true position of how well their products are received.  If the purchase price was say - $250 - they’d do more research.  But for a $25  impulse buy for earbuds?  Most people don’t cross-check the review stats Flare provides.   It’s not till the earbuds fail, which surprises the customer who thought they worked for everyone… that they go looking for other people’s experiences and realise the fail rate is much higher than they were led to believe. 

There is little evidence Flare Audio Calmers work with Tinnitus and Flare Audio does not work with, and are not recommended by Tinnitus UK, though it seems Flare Audio tries to infer they do.  See this video for more information

Tinnitus is caused by the brain receiving an incorrect message from the ears regarding noise that doesn’t exist.  The ringing tinnitus sufferers hear… is not a noise that is truly happening.  There is no way earbuds to cut down on a sound that is literally “all in your head” and not coming from an external source. See the video below which explains why they can't work for Tinnitus

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/j_0Lpmyx7DA

Earbuds in most cases make tinnitus worse.  By cutting out background noise, they make the ringing sound seem louder. Flare Audio has made specific claims about how Flare Audio works in removing Tinnitus. This claim was backed by no evidence of benefit, scientific, anecdotal, or otherwise, and seems to have been an irresponsible claim, that they no longer directly make. These days, Flare is much quieter about any actual effect, reporting that "some people report" improvements.

Directly after Flare started this Social Media Campaign making these claims... the bad reviews started to pile up, (see below) and they toned down the claims.. but never really withdrew them. (The above Twitter claim remains live as of today, 3/11/2024)

• • With no studies or scientific evidence, showing they help with Tinnitus.

• • With no recommendation, they are worth trying by the UK Tinnitus Association.

• • With an expert in Tinnitus advising they can't possibly work

It seems very likely any positive impact for Tinnitus by the Calmer is a result of the Placebo effect.

Very much so, especially now. It seems in the past - they just didn't publish most of the bad reviews on their website.  Now?  Either they've realized the legal danger of doing this, or.. they've received a warning from a US Consumer watchdog about it.  Either way?  All of a sudden... a flood of bad reviews are being published.  Not the old ones they didn't publish before.  And they never show and reviews on the main pages of their product pages.  They bury them.  But at least now... they are published and if you just look at the latest reviews?  It's a massive drop.  From almost 5 star averages, to below 3 star.  Below 3 star! Here's what they do. a. Publishing an article on their site to rank for "Flare Audio Reviews". They have an "Isolate 2 and Sleeeps Review!"  article on their website, which doesn't seem to be a genuine customer review.  It appears more like a paid placement review.  The Flare Audio isolate is no longer sold anymore (Perhaps because of too many bad reviews) so it's difficult to explain why this page still exists.  Until you understand this page exists simply to try and rank above the other pages in Google for the term "Flare Audio Reviews".  Because they are in the main... all bad.... and it's better if they were pushed down in Google's rankings. b. Getting reviews for pre-delivery customer service. When a customer rings to advise their products haven’t arrived (This happens a lot.  Flare requires customers to send goods BACK by registered mail.... but they save money by sending items to customers by unregistered normal mail) Flare is super helpful and often offers to send a new set out. The customer is often grateful, so  Flare Audio customer service suggests the user go to Trustpilot to write a positive review. Usually, before they’ve even gotten the product. This helps Flare keep its Trustpilot review scores higher than they otherwise would be. c. Placing 3 positive reviews on the front of the Calmers page that are old. With the heading "Latest Reviews" when in fact... they are old.  As I write this?  The three latest reviews for Flare Audio are 1 star... but on their Calmers page, they present the 3 latest reviews as being all 5-star reviews. It's so dodgy, dishonest and very intentional.

Not so much.  Their review scores (on Amazon) show them to be one of the worst sleeping earbuds ever designed. Their review scores are even worse, than the review scores for the Calmer.

This product was released after the Isolate, with the promise to provide a better sleeping experience as the Isolate's metal stem that protruded from the ear, was now covered with a soft foam. It seems these changes did little to improve efficacy or comfort as they didn't change the fundamental design flaw.  Anything protruding from the ear would cause the earbud to be forced deeper (and painfully) into the ear when users lay on their side. This continues to be one of the main complaints about the Flare Sleeeep.

The Sleeep has undergone multiple transformations (long double-sided, short double-sided, single-sided with a stem) but all have all been failures, based on the reviews.  They have always been the lowest-rated earbuds on Amazon.

Because the engineering premise can not possibly work.  Their premise is.

1. The earbud need not have a 100% soft material core.
2. The earbud can have a solid part that protrudes from the ear.

It seems this is done to ensure the concept remains brand recognisable. It’s Flare Audio's little quirk.  

The problem is that this can never result in a good earbud.  It's always going to be a lesser fit, and less comfortable than a fully soft earbud, and the part that protrudes will always cause extra pressure or discomfort for side sleepers.

Is an iteration of the original Isolate.  Metal core, soft covering.  Again, from an engineering perspective, it's difficult to understand how these could possibly be effective.

1. The foam degrades quickly and must be replaced.  Many people report pieces breaking off in their ears.
2. The metal core means fitting is going to be problematic, as there is less "squishability" to ensure a good fit.
3. The metal stem ensures they can't be used as a sleeping earbud by side sleepers.

Reading the reviews about the Flare Audio pro versions, it's difficult to find any real evidence that the professional versions provide a higher efficacy than the originals.  For example:-

1. The pro isolates, have a titanium core rather than aluminum.  This doesn't solve the core problem, that is, the metal core makes them painful, and makes fitting harder, and the thin foam covering the metal will still degrade at the same very fast rate.

2. The calmer pro.  A metal core is added to the normal calmer.  The reviews from users who've tried both the normal and then the pro, comment that the pro is less comfortable to wear and harder to fit... without providing any real efficacy improvement.

Yes, to get a refund, you need to return by registered freight to the UK.  Even if you bought them in another country, and they were shipped to you from a local distributor.  So the cost to return combined with the effort of doing so means it's usually not cost-effective to even bother.

It seems this is by design.  Provide a refund policy, but make it such that accessing it is not cost-effective, to avoid refunds.

Often times low-cost products that work for only a % of people, come with a "no questions asked, no return necessary" refund policy.  The goods, after all, can't be re-used.  Providing such a policy actually saves the company money from not having to dispose of the used product.

Flare Audio's policy seems more about simply making a refund inaccessible.

Look that's up to you. Many people swear by them.  There is no reason to believe, many people haven't got a good result from some of their products.  It's just a case of buyer beware, and caveat emptor.

1. According to their reviews, Flare Audio calmers products fail roughly 55% of the time.  The Sleeep... might fail even more often. If they fail for you, getting a refund might be impractical due to Flare's returns policy.
2. Flare actively promotes a review position for their products, that is grossly inflated.  There is no way to explain this, other than it's done to hide how often their products fail, and to maximise sales.
3. That said.  They might still work for you.  So buy them if you wish, but now you will be doing so, knowing where things stand.

Years ago I fell for the marketing schtick.  I relied on the great reviews shown to me by Flare Audio, and bought a product that was not even close to living up to the promise made.  Getting a refund was enormously difficult which quite frankly, annoyed the hell out me.  I forgot about it for a while, only to realise... I was one of tens of thousands of people who'd had a similar experience and were continuing to have this experience.  I made a comment on a UK Award site, where they'd been given some award... and Davies Roberts sent a threat letter to me through Flare's lawyers. Well.  That got me pretty fired up.  Silencing the critics rather than addressing the issues so things could just continue as they were?  No thanks.  I'm confident all my claims are rock solid.  Bring your legal action  Flare Audio.  My defence, is truth. Flare Audio continues to sell its products, not being open and honest about how often they fail, and profits by having an inaccessible returns policy.  I don't wish Flare Audio any harm, but if they aren't going to accurately describe their products, I feel it's important to ensure someone else does so consumers can be informed. I hope to give people enough information about the company so if you do choose to roll the dice on a Flare Audio product, you do so informed of the issues.