When Bang & Olufsen (B&O) introduced its latest wireless earbuds at the end of September – the eye-wateringly pricey Beo Grace – I had an immediate moment of deja vu. One look at their slender, cylindrical aluminium stems and ergonomically shaped main housings, and I knew I’d seen this design before.
Way back in time, (2021, to be precise), a little-known brand called Oddict launched two wireless earbuds: the $140 Twig (£105) and the $150 Twig Pro (£112). As their name suggests, their unusual shape centers around an aluminium-wrapped stem, which at the time made them utterly unique in a world of boring, black buds. But times (and prices) have of course changed.
Their charging cases are equally iconoclastic: monolithic circles with an aluminium front surface and two styles of flip-top lids. Their makeup compact-like shape is still unique in the wireless earbuds world.
Though Oddict never said so, it was clearly targeting would-be Apple AirPods buyers in a bid to enter the ranks of the best earbuds one can buy. The Twig uses the same semi-open shape as the original AirPods, while the Twig Pro (the model in the accompanying images) caters to those who prefer the AirPods Pro’s closed-fit with silicone eartips. Just like Apple’s buds, the Twig keeps things simple with wireless stereo sound, while the Twig Pro adds extras like noise cancelling and wireless charging.
Fast forward to 2025, and it looks like Oddict was onto something, at least as far as the Twig’s design is concerned. B&O’s Beo Grace use the same design language, even if the fine details aren’t identical.
The Beo Grace’s cylindrical stems are a hair shorter than the Twigs (31mm vs 34mm), and it’s hard not to be dazzled by their beautiful, high-polish surfaces. The Twig’s stems, by contrast, have a brushed finish for a more demure look.
B&O’s case may not break any molds from a shape perspective, but its seamless use of polished aluminium makes it dazzling in its own right. It also has a nifty trick up its sleeve: it can retransmit digital and analog audio to the Beo Grace, similar to Bowers & Wilkins’ Pi8 or JBL’s Tour Pro 3.
How does elite match up to cheap and cheerful? Surprisingly well, actually…
You might think – given that they made their debut four years before the Beo Grace, and at a fraction of the price – that the Twig Pro you see in these images would suffer in a head-to-head tech comparison, but they fare surprisingly well.
Battery life on the Twig Pro is 5.5 hours with ANC on (with a total of 13.5 hours with the case) vs. 4.5 hours (ANC) and 17 total for the Beo Grace. Neither comes off excellent in the general market (where 6 hours is your benchmark figure), but against each other? There’s little in it.
Elsewhere, both use six-mic arrays for voice and ANC, both use 12mm dynamic drivers (though the Beo Grace’s drivers are made from titanium vs. the Oddict’s dual-layer carbon), and both give you squeeze-to-click controls on the stems.
In one particular area – Bluetooth codecs – the older Twig Pro actually bests the Beo Grace by offering Qualcomm’s 96kHz-compatible aptX Adaptive codec (these buds were some of the first ever to do so). The Beo Grace is limited to SBC, AAC, and LC3, which are considered lossy and can’t support sampling rates above 48kHz.
Don’t take this as a full review (or versus verdict), mind you
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the Twig Pro can hold a candle to the Beo Grace when it comes to sound quality, noise cancelling, transparency, or call quality. Admittedly, I’ve yet to try them, but I’m very familiar with the Twig Pro. They’re a good set of wireless earbuds, but it’s not hard to find models that deliver better performance across the board (without spending $1,500 / £1,000).
What I am emphatically saying is that if you like the look of the Beo Grace, you don’t need trust fund money to get a pair of very capable wireless buds that, even from a short distance, are dead ringers for the B&O’s latest toy.
Now for the kicker. If you head over to Oddict’s site (now a sub-brand of Phiaton), you’ll see the Twig Pro listed at $149.99 USD. However, if you take a stroll over to Amazon’s U.S. site, you’ll find them for $44.98, with $7.51 shipping, for a grand total of $52.49, or just under £40 – scroll on down for that link, friend.
At that price, the Twig Pro are a bargain even if they weren’t sporting the latest in Scandi design. But given their lookalike status to some of the bougiest buds on the planet, you may as well buy a few: a certain annual gift-giving-themed holiday is right around the corner.
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becky.scarrott@futurenet.com (Becky Scarrott)
