Cambridge Audio surprised us all with its first-generation Melomania 1 true wireless buds when they first launched. For the price, they offered incredible sound and almost-unbelievable battery life. 

Now, for the second generation, the company has ramped it up a notch. The British audio company has announced the Melomania Touch, and it ups the ante in almost every department. 

While the first-generation model looks like tiny foam darts, the new model is larger and is designed to fit into the curves and grooves of your ear more naturally. 

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The manufacturer says it has come up with this design having looked at data points from more than 3,000 different people's ear shapes and sizes to come up with a design that offers comfort and effective passive noise cancelling. They're lightweight too at just six grams each. 

They ship with additional tips and in-ear fins to offer a more secure fit for those who want it, plus they're protected against splashes and sweat thanks to an IPX4 certification. 

As the name suggests, the earbuds come with touch-sensitive controls on the outside of the buds which Cambridge Audio calls 'intuitive'. They also promise stunning sound and battery life that beats pretty much any other buds out there. 

In its low power mode the buds themselves can get through 9 hours of music playback before needing to be put back in their case. The case offers 41 hours of additional music playtime, taking the total up to 50 hours which is virtually double the industry norm. 

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If you switch them to 'High Performance Audio Mode', you get less battery life, but even that sounds really promising. Out of the case in this mode you'll get 7 hours of music, with another 33 hours in the case, giving a total of 40 hours. 

Sound-wise, audio is delivered by a pair of 7mm drivers with graphene in them, plus there's Bluetooth 5.0 and support for both AAC and aptX. They also use Qualcomm's Clear Voice Capture to ensure effective noise cancelling during voice calls. 

To control audio and other features, there will be an iPhone and Android app available to download for free. You'll be able to adjust EQ and the transparency mode which lets you hear what's happening around you. 

Melomania Touch will go on sale from 1 January 2021, and will be available on Amazon and from Cambridge Audio direct and will cost just £129.95 in the UK, or $149.95/€139.95 in the US and Europe.