The Dripp Dropps are the "most affordable" truly wireless earphones with Qualcomm tech on Indiegogo

Dripp Audio is a start-up that seems to have pinned its hopes on an Indiegogo campaign to fund the production of its new truly wireless earbuds. They are styled by the company as the cheapest of these products to still have more or less up-to-date Qualcomm audio components and technology.

These apparently indispensible specs include the aptX audio codec, which does in fairness often feature heavily as a selling point in sales pages for other wireless and true-wireless earphones. The Dripp Dropp prospect also includes Qualcomm cVc noise-cancelling, as well as the chip-maker's TrueWireless Stereo (TWS), technology, if not actual active noise cancelling (ANC).

Should these specs not be state-of-the-art enough for some audiophiles, they might be a little more pleased with the inclusion of Bluetooth 5.0 and an IP5X rating, which, as Dripp argues, are missing in some more expensive devices such as the Sony WF-100Xs or Bose SoundSport Frees. Its earphones also have the almost obligatory charging case, which, as the start-up claims, adds up to 24 hours of playback to the buds' estimated 12-hour capacity.

Therefore, they may seem like a good package, and are still available for their initial early-bird price of US$39 at the time of writing. However, there are some caveats to this offer. Like many true-wireless earbuds, the Dropps give the impression of being quite large in the ear in their campaign images. In addition, the exterior face of each bud has an overly eye-catching "Dripp Audio" logo, in 2 contrasting colors no less, as well as an obtrusively distinctive build that take an almost arrow-like shape.

In addition, even a superficial dig-about online reveals that there are more truly wireless earbuds on other selling platforms for comparable prices. For example, a pair with the brand-name Gerleek claims to have have the exact same Qualcomm audio chip (the QCC3020) - and, thus, the same panel of features from the same company - are on AliExpress for a price (albeit without shipping) of $29.56. These buds even also have IP5X and Bluetooth 5, as well as a somewhat more subtle build, for this price.

Perhaps it is such intel that have kept backers away from this Indiegogo page: the Dripp Dropps have only attracted about 27% of its $10,000 goal at present. In terms of crowdfunding success, the PrinCube it certainly is not.