This is a review of AfterShokz Bluez open ear bluetooth wireless stereo headphones. http://www.aftershokz.com/AfterShokz-Bluez-Open-Ear-Bluetooth-Headphones-p/as330.htm
All of my previous reviews of wireless headphones were focused around sound quality, noise isolation, and ear tip fitment. Now, here comes a new chapter in wireless headphones with all these rules out of the window. Based on a military technology of bone conduction, AfterShokz were designed to sit outside of your ears conducting the sound through your cheekbones to your inner ear - a shortcut bypassing your eardrums. I know, the description of this process doesn't sound too attractive, but once you get these wraparound headphones on - it will make a perfect sense. I was a bit confused myself reading the description, that's why I couldn't wait to receive my review sample, to test it out, and to share my first hand experience.
Once you open the box, the first thing you notice is a very nice and sturdy carrying case which is the size of the box itself. These are not earbuds or some foldable headphones, but rather a full wraparound band headphones with a unique design shape where having a carrying case with a generous bonus storage pocket is a great idea. For anybody who has Tone+ or similar headphones, you will know what I mean when it's time to pack your headphones and you wish you would have a carrying case to protect these from breaking. Once you take headphones out, you couldn't believe how lightweight these are at only 1.5 ounces (43 grams). These are designed to wrap around back of your head with ear piece pads aligned to sit right in front of your ears. The pads are soft rubberized and form a tight seal around attachment. As stated by manufacture, these are water resistant and sweat proof, backed up by 2 year warranty, and you can clearly see that from a solid design. For a better fitment there is a adjustable rubber tension band that hooks inside of headphone band, and it does a good job keeping these up without falling down on your shoulders.
The controls are located on the sides of earpieces and on the back of the headphone band. First of all, big thumbs up for a dedicated physical sliding power switch. There is no second guessing if you turned these on/off, or if they are still paired up or in a standby mode. You turn it on and get a voice prompt about connecting, pairing up, and battery status (when you hit volume buttons). Right next to it you will find a standard micro-usb charging port. Bluez also come with a high quality micro-usb cable that you can use with your own wall adapter or charging from your laptop/PC usb port. These headphones are rated for up to 6 hours of continuous playback time, and standby time of up to 10 days. Also, it supports all the available bluetooth profiles (A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, HFP), and once paired up I tested it for up to 50ft wireless range in my house until I got disconnected. Also, on the back you will find Volume up/down controls which double as playback control when you hold it down to skip Next/Prev while playing songs. Typically, volume and playback skip controls are not the most used functions so having it on the back of the headphone band is not a bad idea. For your common most used play/pause and call functions, these two buttons are placed on either side of the sound earpieces. Very elegantly designed, those fit in the corner and easy to locate and operate either if you are playing music from your phone/tablet or need to pick up/hangup a call. Both functions work as expected, and receiving and carrying on a phone call worked great.
But the main point of these headphones: how does it sound? AfterShokz manual refers to earpieces as "transducers" since they actually don't go into your ear. As I mentioned before, they sit in front of it, right on your cheekbone, and it WORKS!!! There is no vibration or anything you might associate with "bone conducting" terminology. Although the sound is not the same as you will experience with in your ear headphones, it's loud and clear and you can actually feel some bass. This is not the same as if you would take regular over the ear headphones and slide them down to your cheekbone, the sound is actually almost like if you would have headphones over your ears. For a test purpose, I even put earplugs (as you can see from my pictures, I used a quality Comply earplug/filters) while listening through Bluez to make sure it's not the sound bleeding out of these that I hear. With earplugs in, you loose some high frequency content but can still hear mids and low frequencies which "conducting" through your cheekbone. Another thing to point out, you will not be welcome to use these on a plane or a bus or anywhere else where you expecting to have privacy while enjoying the sound. To outsiders, these are like a pair of high frequency speakerphones on your ears - it is quite noticeable. So my theory on this bone conductive technology is that low frequencies and some mids are conducted through a bone, while all your high frequencies get to your ears by the sound bleeding out of these transducers. That is the only thing that makes sense to me how they work, and from all the testing I have done.
Overall, I found these to be very unique piece of technology. They are not for all around everyday use if your intention to enjoy private sounds or phone conversation. Also, as you move around and tilt your head the sound will change a bit because of the transducer positioning and reception of high frequency content (lows and mids won't be affected that much). BUT, for a sport activity or any other activity where you don't want to have full noise isolation and actually require to stay alert with a surrounding environment while listening to your music or carrying on phone conversation - these are irreplaceable!!! Furthermore, I read a number of posts from people who have partial hearing loss and use these to listen to music since they bypass eardrums. I personally can think of a number of uses myself where I'm riding a bike, or doing gardening outside, or hiking outdoors, or when I'm working out in my home gym - just a few examples where these can come very handy since you still enjoying a music, have full wireless control of the playback (the sound quality is actually not bad at all!!!), can pickup the call, don't have anything plugged into your ears, and can still get alerted by everything that is going on around you. A definitely innovative piece of technology.
Here are the pictures.
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Do They Stay Put?
I've been keeping an eye on these since they were announced, trying to decide whether or not to they'll work for me. They seem like they'd be great for jogging, where it's important to still be able to hear the traffic around you, but they look like they might bounce around a bit and need constant readjusting. Did you notice this at all or did they seem to stay in place pretty well for you?
DiscipleN2k said:
I've been keeping an eye on these since they were announced, trying to decide whether or not to they'll work for me. They seem like they'd be great for jogging, where it's important to still be able to hear the traffic around you, but they look like they might bounce around a bit and need constant readjusting. Did you notice this at all or did they seem to stay in place pretty well for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The tension band does a good job keeping them on. The whole ergonomics of the design and how it wraps around your head makes sure it will not bounce. It worked for me and shaped of my head, although I had to pull tension band to the maximum stretch since I don't have a big head. What I would honestly recommend, order them from amazon and see how it works for you. Sounds like functionally these will fit your needs, but fit could be different for different people, and with amazon hassle free return - you have less headache. These headphones are designed for exercising and active lifestyle, thus lightweight, sweat proof, and easily accessible controls. But if it won't fit your head, the bouncing will be annoying because it will affect the sound since high frequency content comes from "speaker" rather then bone conduction (according to my test results). Bottom line, for me it works but I don't have "universal" head shape
OK, cool. I'll have to go ahead and give them a try. Thanks for the reply!
Thinking of getting these to listen to audio books on my cycle to work. Would you still recommend them?
cool2bdave said:
Thinking of getting these to listen to audio books on my cycle to work. Would you still recommend them?
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Click to collapse
For audio books, absolutely. If you want to hear high quality sound - not. But to hear recorded speech while being fully aware of everything around - it will definitely work. And as I always say, if it doesn't - you can return it
vectron said:
For audio books, absolutely. If you want to hear high quality sound - not. But to hear recorded speech while being fully aware of everything around - it will definitely work. And as I always say, if it doesn't - you can return it
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Thanks for your feedback. Now to find a decent price.
Water proof
vectron said:
As stated by manufacture, these are water resistant and sweat proof, backed up by 2 year warranty, and you can clearly see that from a solid design.
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Click to collapse
Are they in fact?
Because here I found quite a different statement: Please Google "AFTERSHOKZ BLUEZ: A RATHER BADLY DESIGNED PRODUCT" (since I can't post links here yet)
eugrus said:
Are they in fact?
Because here I found quite a different statement: Please Google "AFTERSHOKZ BLUEZ: A RATHER BADLY DESIGNED PRODUCT" (since I can't post links here yet)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you push it hard, anything breaks Every company has defective units, and even the best waterproof headphones break after a week of extreme training. Don't have these anymore, but by memory remember it was sealed really well for moderate use.
Related
This is a review of Braven 855s wireless speaker. http://www.braven.com/braven-855s.html
2013 is not over yet, but I can tell you with certainty that portable wireless speakers and external battery supplies were among the top popular gadgets of this year. A smartphone is a heart of today's portable entertainment system that holds our music, our pictures, connects to our TV, plays popular video games, and does so much more including actually making calls Such entertainment system needs a way to deliver the sound where using built-in speaker just doesn't cut it. Furthermore, it consumes a lot of juice which drains your battery fast. The solution? Braven 855s which combines these two functionalities plus much more, and does it in STYLE!!!
Before starting with my review, let me get something off my chest. Yes, this speaker is on a pricey side with a tag of $300, and No, it's not intended for audiophiles. So let's take a look at what you are actually getting for this premium price, and why you should seriously consider 855s if you are looking for a high quality portable wireless speaker and considering either Big Jambox (I'm making a very bold statement here) or any other wireless speaker with famous rapper name attached to it.
Even before you open the box, you can already get your first impression by noticing the weight of this speaker. At almost 4 pounds this is not your average light-weight speaker with wimpy drivers to make it sound just a bit louder than a speaker on your smartphone. This is heavy duty wireless speaker crafted on a front and a back with perforated aircraft aluminum grade material and wrapped around with a quality rubber bumper that will let you withstand a serious outdoor activities while also attracting considerable amount of lint With a dimensions of 9.75" in length, 4.25" in height, and 3" in depth - it's still very portable, although the weight going to be very noticeable when you carry it around. It would have been great to see some kind of a collapsible handle that stores/hides into the bumper, but the non-slip grip was adequate to hold it with one hand for me. The speaker itself is IPX3 rated which means it's water resistant, but not recommended to be submerged under the water. So in a situation where you are by the pool, or someone spills a drink, or you outdoors and light rain starts to drip - you will have a piece of mind knowing it shouldn't damage your speaker. In general it's optimized to work both outdoors and indoors.
The connection to your phone or tablet is a typical bluetooth procedure, pair up within seconds and you ready to go. If your source doesn't have Bluetooth connection, you can use auxiliary input with an included 3.5mm cable. Or if you have a friend with another 855s or 850 speaker, you can wirelessly pair them up to double the power of the sound. At $300 a pop I personally consider it to be too much to get a pair just for this purpose. The speaker is rated at 20W of RMS, this is serious power! The sound is delivered by 2 front facing speakers hidden behind the grill, with a passive bass ports firing from the rear mesh grill of the enclosure. The sound has a signature heavy bass profile which is very popular with a lot of the today's headphones and speakers. To bring up more high frequency content, you can easily activate SRS WOW HD mode which widens the sound and bring up more mids/highs up front. I would personally only use it with SRS setup. Also, support of Apt-X codec helps to deliver sound context with minimal loses typical for Bluetooth connection. I'm still standing by my statement - this is not a speaker for audiophiles because it does color the sound, and you need to crank up the volume while taking a few physical steps back to really enjoy it. But don't crank it up too high because you start noticing the distortion. The sound is very powerful and loud, enough to fill in a big party room or to take your party room outside and still enjoy the sound in the open area.
Here is where it gets more interesting. I have noticed with a number of wireless speakers a trend of not including playback controls. You have a gadget that streams music 30+ feet away from your "entertainment system" and you have no way to play/pause or skip the track? With Braven 855s - you have full control of playback and volume! Buttons are at the top of the unit, rubberized and sealed to go along with it's rugged functionality and IPX3 water resistance. The speaker pairs up with both the audio output and the phone, and works great as a speakerphone. You play music, get a call - seamlessly switch between both, and once the call it done it fades back into the music. With noise canceling speakerphone people had no problem hearing me on the other end, and commented it was loud and clear. Also, you get about 20 hours of wireless play time which is above and beyond any other wireless speaker I have seen or tested. So, where do you get all this juice? From a built-in 8800 mAh rechargeable battery. Oh, and to take it to the next level - the output of this battery is made available as an external battery source to charge any of your phone or tablet or other gadget. There are no guess work here, you get 5-led indicators which partition battery reading into increments of 20% so you know exactly how much power is left when you discharging or the progress of charging the speaker. The actual charging is very fast thanks to AC/DC adapter which is rated at 12V/3A output. True, it's not your standard micro-usb connector, but you have to keep in mind we are dealing with 8,800 mAh battery that you want to charge fast rather than waiting half a day before its up.
Overall, I was very impressed with a high quality of it's built and the amount of technology packed into this compact speaker. One can argue about it's weight which is not exactly portable, but overall footprint is portable. It does come at a premium price, but I found it to be aligned with other premium speakers in this category. Considering all the additional features including ability to charge external devices, SRS WOW HD and Apt-X support, rugged design, and IPX3 water resistance - it actually makes Braven 855s a bargain if you were already planning to spend this amount on competitive speakers.
Here are the pictures.
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This is a review of JBL FLIP and JBL MICRO Wireless Bluetooth speakers. http://www.jbl.com/estore/jbl/us/pr..._JBL_US?skuId=JBLFLIPBLKAM_JBL_US&searchMode= and http://www.jbl.com/estore/jbl/us/pr..._US?skuId=JBLMICROWIRELESS_JBL_US&searchMode=
"Hear the truth" - is the slogan of JBL products. I don't know if everybody will truly understand this message unless you had a chance to test and to compare dozens of other speakers and headphones. Fortunately I had such opportunity, as you have seen from my previous reviews, and I can tell you with certainty - JBL delivers this message loud and clear, crystal clear! Of course you wouldn't expect anything less from a company that specializes in some of the top audio products under umbrella of Harman. But I was still very surprised how they were able to deliver such high quality from such compact package. Let's take a closer look at what I found.
I'm going to start my review with FLIP. This summer after my review of UE Boom, I got a number of comments and requests to compare these two portable wireless speakers together. Finally I got my chance, but more about comparison a little bit later. I always like to start with a package of the product since it sets a review tone. Once you pick up the box, there is no mistake you are dealing with a premium product, and as a matter of fact the packaging proudly carries an acknowledgment of 2013 International CES Innovations Award. Both FLIP and MICRO have it. Taken out of the box, FLIP looks a little bigger than a can of soda, about 6 1/4" in length and 2 1/2" in diameter. Weighting at 12.5 oz (354g) is not exactly feather light, which is actually a good sign of decent drivers used inside. But overall its very compact, easy to handle with one hand, and also comes with a very neat neoprene zip top traveling pouch. In addition, you also get AC adapter. OK, let me get this out of the way - yes, unfortunately FLIP has to be charged from AC adapter rather than typical micro-usb cable. This is probably the only negative comment you are going to hear from me about this speaker. Once charged up, you get up to 5 hours of playback time, as long as you don't blast it at full max volume.
FLIP is designed to stand upright or to be placed horizontally. For upright position, the end of the speaker without control buttons has a rubber non-slip ring. Due to the design with angled ends, upright position is feasible but will require a flat surface and in general easier to knock the speaker down. Horizontal position makes more sense, and to prevent it from rolling JBL designed two little rubber feet and a small rubber kickstand-stopper. I also found horizontal position better for sound with speakers firing up at an angle. The other side of the speaker has a power button which also used for Bluetooth pairing, Volume up/down control, and Call button. In addition to pairing up as an external speaker, FLIP also works as a speakerphone and I found it to handle calls very good with a crystal clear audio. In the back you have AC adapter plug and AUX Input for the occasions if you want to connect FLIP with 3.5mm audio cable to your source.
Now, here comes the fun part - audio quality. FLIP packs two 40mm drivers with a built in bass port, and let me tell you - it delivers one of the cleanest sound I heard from a portable wireless speaker! Doesn't matter if you have your volume all the way down or cranked up to the max, you will hear undistorted detailed performance with an amazing clarity. Its a relatively balanced sound with emphasis on midrange and treble, while bass adds a nice quality punch. Of course, you have to be realistic that such a small speaker can't deliver significant "quantity" of bass, but the quality is definitely there, balanced very nicely with mids and treble. The sound gets very loud and fills up the room, and can work great outdoors as well. I was honestly amazed by the clarity of the sound. Most of the speakers I reviewed in the past just focus on wireless aspect of delivering the sound and maybe tuning their speakers for extra bass which distorts at higher volumes and overpowers mids and highs. Here you can see that JBL engineers really paid attention to the sound quality, and still were able to deliver it up to 50ft away from your source. Nowhere does it say which BT ver they used, but it really doesn't matter because sound is delivered uncompressed and uncompromised.
Now, back to my original mentioning of FLIP vs BOOM. You have two great companies that have deep roots in audio engineering and technology, so both deliver an outstanding sounding product. But in terms of the final sound quality, I have to give FLIP an edge over BOOM because I felt the sound was more consistent over the whole volume range and was more clear and detailed. The bass sounded very similar in both speakers. Where BOOM has an advantage is longer battery life and micro-usb charging port. BUT, it also cost $100 more. So you really have to think about if if that worth extra $100 for you. Or perhaps, you might want to look into JBL CHARGE which is $150, has enhanced bass response, micro-usb charging, long battery life, and ability to be used as external battery to charge other devices, although it's a little bigger than FLIP.
Here are the pictures of FLIP.
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Next, I'm going to look at MICRO. This little guy is simply outstanding! With a hockey pock dimensions of 3.5" in diameter and 1.5" in thickness and weighting only 4.8 oz (134g) - it doesn't get any more portable than that. It's small enough to go into your pocket or being clipped to your backpack. With a same 40mm driver and a bass port - the sound is as clear and detailed as I found it with FLIP, except in this case you have a single driver instead of two which also results in MICRO being not as loud at the max. Also, this is audio only speaker, not speakerphone connection. It has a very impressive Bluetooth range, tested up to 50ft in open space. But to distinguish it further from FLIP, it comes with a few tricks of its own.
First of all, you get your wish with micro-usb charging port that will provide you up to 5 hours of wireless performance (based on moderate volume level). Next, you get analog wheel volume control. Some people might think, what is a big deal? Most of the wireless speakers have digital volume control and as soon as you turn them on volume goes to default high level with a few loud beeps to indicate pairing. In this case, volume will be as high as you set it to be, so there is no loud pair up beeps. Those who have little kids in the house and want to enjoy listening to your wireless speakers after kids go to bed - you will know what I'm talking about and will really appreciate that feature. But we are not done yet. If you want to use your MICRO wired, it has a built in cable with 3.5mm plug neatly wrapped and stored inside of the module. That is fantastic if you are listening to a device which doesn't have bluetooth or if you don't want to go through a hassle of pairing it up. Last but not least, there is a mystery 3.5mm port on the MICRO. Since you already have built-in cable, this is definitely not AUX in port. I actually had to read instructions to figure out what it's for - to daisy chain more MICRO or other speakers to MICRO. Now, this is simply brilliant because it turns MICRO into wireless transmitter!!! This way you can turn ANY speaker into wireless speaker just by plugging it into MICRO daisy chain port.
Overall, I was VERY impressed with sound quality and design of both FLIP and MICRO. In my opinion, MICRO is perfect in every aspect, while FLIP has only one negative of AC adapter. Also, one might argue about 5hr battery life where some of the other speakers might deliver more. But the Sound Quality and wireless performance of both makes up for any shortcomings. Just think about it, would you rather take 10-12hr of mediocre distorted sound or 5hr of eye candy design with crystal clear sound with a nice bass punch? Also, both of the products are priced very reasonably. Definitely gets my high recommendation!
Here are the pictures of MICRO.
this post is good
I also have a jbl speaker and found this post was so good. love jbl
This is a review of Bolse 12W Smart NFC Bluetooth wireless speaker. http://mybolse.com/product/detail_B00L4IDA04.html - the speaker is already available on Amazon UK, and soon will be available on Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Bluetooth-Speaker-Function-Playtime/dp/B00L4IDA04/
I have reviewed a lot of wireless speakers, and have been impressed with either their design, or sound quality, or controls, or compact form factor. I can always find something positive and negative about each one, but never have I came across a speaker where I can't even think of one negative comment. But all this changed when I received a review sample of the new Bolse 12W wireless speaker. I'm not hyping it up, but honestly telling you that Bolse came up with a perfect combination of every feature you can think of to include in a portable wireless speaker. And to top it off, they still were able to keep it's pricing under $50. Here is what I found.
The speaker arrived in a nice compact package with a clear description of it's VERY impressive spec. With dimensions of about 7"x3"x2" it looked very compact and easy to handle with one hand, but once you pick it up you do realize a nice 15oz weight to it. This extra weight comes from two quality 6W 40mm drivers packed inside of this little monster. Drivers of such caliber are typically found in over-the-ear headphones. Closer examination of BTS-12 revealed a plastic frame surrounded by front and rear metal mesh grills. Both 40mm drivers are front facing, and rear panel has a bass port functionality. The bottom of the speaker has 4 rubber feet for a non-slip grip with a surface. All the controls are located at the top, and all the ports on the back at the top. Among included accessories there was usb to micro-usb cable, 3.5mm male to male audio cable, a nice velor drawstring storage pouch, and a detailed instruction manual.
Starting with ports on the back, you actually get a physical on/off switch which is very refreshing to see when so many other companies cramp up controls under multi-function buttons. Here, you know for sure when speaker is on and when it off. Another great thing, once you turn it on - there is no annoying guidance voice. Next to the power switch is a standard micro-usb charging port. And speaking of charging, this speaker has a whooping 2000 mAh battery that enables up to 15 hours of playback!!! To use this speaker with non-Bluetooth devices, you have Line In port which you can use with included audio cable. If that wasn't enough, Line OUT port is right next to it which allows daisy chaining of this speaker to another wired or wireless speaker or connecting headphones. One thing you have to realize, this Line OUT port can turn ANY other connected speaker into a wireless speaker. You can consider that as a bonus feature!
The control buttons on the top are equally impressive with touch controls. These are not physical buttons, but a backlit touch buttons, each one assigned to a specific functionality except for a lock button. You get a separate touch button to pick up a call, a dedicated volume up/down buttons, a play/pause button, and skip next/prev buttons. Long press of skip prev locks touch controls so you don't bump them accidentally, and double tap releases the lock. So many other speakers include just a volume up/down and phone control, and that becomes very inconvenient because you have to go back to your phone to play/pause or to skip the track. Here, you have a full remote control of the playback. Also when you receive a call, you can use BTS-12 as a speakerphone.
When it comes to a wireless connection, you have two ways to pair it up with your phone or tablet. Either using direct Bluetooth pair up or NFC area on the speaker (labeled with an icon on the top) worked flawlessly to pair up with my Note 2. Once paired up, it gets connected to both phone and media audio so you can enjoy the sound from this powerhouse speaker 20-25ft away from your phone or tablet. I'm sure you all are curious how does it sounds. Thanks to a total of 12W of combined power between each speaker, it filled up our big family room and I was still able to hear the music 2 rooms down the hall. I actually found the music to be more enjoyable and clear once you take a few steps away from the speaker. That's where you appreciate a clear detailed sound with a punchy bass. As expected from such drivers, the bass didn't have powerful enough sub-bass extension, but I still heard a nice bass punch and a warm deeper layer to make music sound full and enjoyable.
Overall, I was VERY impressed with Bolse BTS-12 speaker and think it represents one of the best values currently available on the market. Everything from touch control panel with a complete playback, volume, and phone controls, the convenient of BT and NFC pair up, an impressive 2000 mAh battery which supports 15hrs of playback to physical on/off switch and both Line In and Out, and being able to keep all this under $50 - this speaker definitely gets my high recommendation!!!
Here are the pictures.
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this is simply great !
shivam2004 said:
this is simply great !
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It's among the best I tested. Heard Amazon US will have about 30 units for sale toward the end of this week, and more coming next month.
Hi Vectron. Would you suggest me buying this one or the UE Boom Mini, which costs just 10$ more?
I think this one would be louder and has bluetooth 4.0 and 4''driver.
The UeE has 1,2'' drivers and bluetooth 2.1
nessuno1234 said:
Hi Vectron. Would you suggest me buying this one or the UE Boom Mini, which costs just 10$ more?
I think this one would be louder and has bluetooth 4.0 and 4''driver.
The UeE has 1,2'' drivers and bluetooth 2.1
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Click to collapse
Bolse is definitely better!
This Bolse 12W bluetooth speaker use to be thelove of my life!?
Now she dont work no more?
Only had it a year and I plug it in to charge and eveyrthing seems ok
but then when I try to pair it nothing. Not even any signs of life.
Do you think the battery has died? I cant even see how to open it
up without wrecking the nice steel gauze speaker covers?
Maybe that way Id be able to see if something has come loose?
Anyway would appreciate feedback, let me know if you or anyone else for that matter has experienced same or similar problems and has solutions?
Cheers and thanks in advance
leahcimewol said:
Now she dont work no more?
Only had it a year and I plug it in to charge and eveyrthing seems ok
but then when I try to pair it nothing. Not even any signs of life.
Do you think the battery has died? I cant even see how to open it
up without wrecking the nice steel gauze speaker covers?
Maybe that way Id be able to see if something has come loose?
Anyway would appreciate feedback, let me know if you or anyone else for that matter has experienced same or similar problems and has solutions?
Cheers and thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not contacting manufacturer, maybe they can help you?
hmm yes might try that, its just sitting gathering dust and taking up space in a drawer!? cheers
Bolse a tiny speaker with a huge sound
This is a review of Puro Sound Labs BT2200 Kids wireless headphones. Available on http://www.amazon.com/Puro-Sound-Labs-BT2200-Headphones/dp/B00OM3NV3E/ with manufacturer link at http://www.purosound.com/bt2200/
As a father of two pre-teens, my kid’s hearing health and safety is very important to me. Also, my involvement in testing and reviewing of a lot of different headphones spoils them with an easy access to a number of products after reviews are done. Beside the point they both prefer full size over-ear which can never fit them right, I’m also not happy when I walk by with them blasting the music at high volume. When my kids were little, we used to get them cheap walkman-style headphones with built-in volume limiter, but no way would they wear it now because it doesn’t look “cool”. When I came across Puro Sound Labs new set of wireless/wired BT2200 headphones, I knew right away these are going to be a hit in my household, and I was right! Here is what I found.
My review unit of BT2200 arrived in a compact plastic box packed inside of another packaging box with a magnetic flap. I’m not sure if the final product packaging will have that external box since its overkill with the only purpose for PR media distribution, but I decided to include it in my unboxing pictures anyway. The actual compact plastic packaging has a nice presentation of the product and plenty of room for all the accessories. It has a bold display look to catch your attention, and I can easily see it being featured on the shelves of Best Buy or Staples!
Unboxing and some feature highlight pictures.
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Out of the box you’ll find a decent set of accessories bundled with BT2200 headphones. First of all you get a set of high quality usb to micro-usb cable AND a wall charger. I already forgot the last time I have seen anybody offering a wall charger in addition to a charging usb cable. I also think it's a great idea to give this compact wall charger to your older kids to teach them responsibility of keeping your headphones charged. Just keep in mind, a fully charged BT2200 will last about 18 hours, and when power off in standby – we are talking about 200 hours! But if they run out of battery and have no patience to wait for a charging, Puro Kids can also work as wired headphones with a removable cable attached to the left earcup. The included removable cable is not just a regular 3.5mm to 3.5mm wire, but has a built in volume limiter to cap the sound output at max 85dB which is considered to be a safety level for kids. The cable is flat and easy to manage for storage. I would actually suggest Puro Sound Labs to offer this cable as a separate accessory so parents can buy it for their kids to use with Beats and other headphones.
Another included accessory was a headphone storage bag - a draw string pouch. It will be useful for protecting headphones from scratches and also to store a cable inside, but might not be enough for safety storage in comparison to a hard shell case. It’s just something to think about in a future or to offer as an add-on accessory since these headphones fold flat for convenient storage. Also included with a package was a detailed Quick Start Guide.
Accessory pictures.
When it comes to the actual design, BT2200 strikes a perfect balance between the comfort (with a room to grow through height adjustment) and stylish looks so your kids will not complain about “wearing baby headphones”. I found the build quality and the materials to be very impressive. These headphones use a durable lightweight aluminum for headband and earcups housing, and a soft pleather material wrapped around headband foam filling. Headband height adjustment was actually able to accommodate even my head, though it felt a bit tight. A combination of aluminum and other light materials made these headphones very lightweight and comfortable to wear for extended period (clamping force doesn’t count in my case since these are intended for kids). Earpads are also marshmallow soft and contribute to great noise isolation, something you will have to keep in mind to make sure your kids are not wearing these headphones when riding a bike. Also, don’t be surprised if they use it as an excuse about not hearing you when you asked them to clean up their room lol!!! One interesting detail, in addition to subtle labeling of L/R inside of headband, you can also see a large L/R letters inside of the earcup so there is no confusion about the sides.
With BT controls, everything is located in Left earcup. You have micro-usb port for charging of internal battery. You also have 3.5mm port to connect audio cable for wired operation. For wireless controls you have volume up/down buttons, Bluetooth/playback button (for a pair up and a single click to Play/Pause, and double click to skip next), and a physical on/off slider. The aluminum silver material used for the cup and the buttons did resemble a lot iPhone design. In addition to silver/white model, the one I received for review, Puro Sound Labs also offer gold/brown model with gold-champagne finish of aluminum and brown pleather earpads and headband cushion. Also, I was very pleased with a dedicated on/off slider switch because I’m not fond of multi-function buttons that you have to press and hold to turn power on/off. Plus, you have a small LED to indicate either charging or operation function.
Wireless pair up was very simple by holding Bluetooth button to put headphones in pair-up mode (everything is described in details in manual). Once paired up, it was connected to a phone and media audio. Obviously, my kids are too young for a phone, but using a tablet or other audio/video devices supporting Bluetooth will be very convenient with a wireless connection. I think majority of kids will end up using these headphones with tablets for wireless listening to music or when playing games. Plus, it’s very convenient during a long ride in the car where some prefer to attach a tablet to the back of the seat and let your kids watch/listen without worrying about tangled cables. And in a worst case if battery runs out of juice, you always have a convenience of wired connection.
Design pictures.
Now, let’s talk about the audio performance. Puro Sound Labs refer to BT2200 as “studio grade” headphones. From my personal experience, my kids are not too picky about the sound quality, at least not yet though my daughter already starting to complain about some headphones lacking bass. Maybe they don’t care as much about it yet, but I do and was happy to be able to fit these on my head for testing.
I did put them through 30 hours of free air burn in since these are dynamic drivers after all. One surprising thing I found was a better sound quality of wireless connection over wired. The sound difference wasn’t too drastic, but definitely noticeable with wireless connection having a more articulate and less muddy bass, a clear and more detailed mids, and more sparkle in treble. Surprisingly, the Bluetooth connection of BT2200 doesn’t support aptX which usually enhances the sound. Also, keep in mind, Bluetooth wireless connection of BT2200 also offers internal volume limiter not to exceed 85dB threshold. I guess combination of the cable with a built in limiter and higher impedance played some role in making sound a bit dull when connected wired, but this is only from my “audiophile” perspective which is probably not fair since we are talking about wireless headphones for kids. Another interesting observation I noticed was related to the Puro Balanced Response implemented with these headphones to equally balance the bass, the mids/vocals, and the highs without any excessive volume peaks. To my ears it sounded like a dynamic multi-band compressor with sound being adjusted in real time of playback. I know I'm nitpicking here and for kids as well as majority of adults this is a hardly noticeable effect, but I still wanted to bring it up to everyone’s attention. I’m not sure if Puro Balanced Response refers to FR tuning or some active control, but it does works keeping the sound on the same level.
Overall, I think these are great headphones for young ones, pre-teens, and teens. Considering how many of us spoil our kids with Beats or Skullcandy or other expensive headphones, something like Puro BT2200 for Kids represent a great value with top quality build and material selection, very appealing design, convenience of wireless or wired connection, great battery life, and being able to expand (in headband adjustment) as your kids grow. But the most important benefit of these headphones is to be able to protect hearing of your kids starting from an early age and to be able to provide “parental control” of 85dB sound level limiting without your kids even knowing about it As a matter of fact, Puro Sound Labs is making a commitment to donate portion of every BT2200 sale through 2015 to the Hearing Health Foundation – a very noble cause!
This is a review of Meelec Air-Fi Touch wireless Bluetooth on-ear headphones with headset functionality. http://www.meelec.com/Air_Fi_Touch_Bluetooth_Wireless_Headphones_p/hp-af65-bk-mee.htm , also available on http://www.amazon.com/MEElectronics-Advanced-Bluetooth-Headphones-Functionality/dp/B00S5F3Y6Y/
Meelec is always pushing the limits of headphone technology combining unique design elements with a great audio performance at a budget price. Usually it’s not an easy task because often manufacturers loose a focus making their headphones stand out from the crowd with fancy looks while lacking in sound quality. Try to search for wireless headphones on Amazon or eBay and you’ll get a ton of similar looking results from companies you never even heard of. The problem with “similar looking” products creates a lot of confusion because people assume they all perform the same. Or for example, lately I’ve noticed a number of wireless on-ear headphones with a slim folding headband and small rectangular earcups. Most of the shoppers who look at the picture and the price won’t even realize that a lot of manufacturers start with a common exterior design shell and add their own internal components, controls, headphone drivers, battery, etc. That’s why I got a bit confused when I saw an announcement of Meelec new Air-Fi Touch wireless headphones – the picture looked familiar. But once I start reading their spec, I couldn’t help myself but comment after every line with “wow!” or “cool!” I couldn’t wait to get my hands on these headphones for testing, and here is what I found.
I know on-ear headphones are usually smaller in size, but the package Air-Fi Touch arrived in was really compact! Of course, it was a dead giveaway about folded portability of these headphones, but before I opened a box I took a tour around it. Typical to other Meelec products, they always leave a lasting impression with their cover graphics that pops out at you like 3D. There is a lot of useful info about headphones as you read description and functionality bullet points, and when you get to the side of the box to read the full spec – you will quickly realize they didn’t skimp on a single option. Well, maybe NFC pair up was missing, but I couldn’t even imagine where you would fit it considering touch surface. Besides, I personally find NFC to be redundant after initial pair up.
Out of the box, you are greeted with a sturdy moon-shaped zippered case. I was very pleased to see a hard shell case considering so many manufacturers skip it in favor of a pull string pouch. Also, included was a box with accessories which had usb to micro-usb charging cable, 3.5mm audio cable, and comprehensive instruction manual. Charging cable is a regular smartphone type micro-usb so you are not locked into any proprietary connectors. Audio cable was rather thin and a bit flimsy, but its intent is to be used as a backup if your rechargeable battery drains empty or you can’t use Bluetooth. Still, having an option for wired or wireless connection is very useful in any situation!
Unboxing and accessories
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With a storage case open, you see Air-Fi Touch neatly folded inside, even with a little bit of room to add audio and charging cables. As I mentioned before, exterior of the design did look familiar, but that’s where all these similarities end. Starting with a headband, which like a rainbow goes from one earcup to the other, it’s made out of a durable plastic with a glossy exterior finish all the way around outside. Inside at the top there is a nice soft foam layer covered in pleather. Next to folding hinges you will find a soft touch plastic, and the part of the headband which extends for height adjustment is reinforced with a stainless steel metal piece. Height adjustment had a nice click action and overall there were not creaks or squeaks as I twisted and bent the headband.
Earcup exterior had the same glossy plastic finish, staying consistent with headband design, and it also had a golden trim that matched color of Meelectronics lettering at the top of the headband. The earcup attachment to the headband has both horizontal and vertical pivoting action for a better fit around your head/ears. Earpads had soft foam covered in perforated pleather, matching softness and finish of inner headband padding for a complete uniform look. I do have to note that by nature of on-ear design the fitment is usually not a problem since it’s independent of your ear size, but you will have to do some adjustment to find a sweet spot for the best sound performance. This is typical for most of the compact on-ear designs, and Air-Fi Touch is not an exception.
When it comes to ports and controls, these are probably the CLEANEST headphones you will ever see. Right side has only micro-usb port for charging, at the end of the headband, while left side has 3.5mm audio input jack. The only other control on the left side is a very small multifunction button closer to the edge of the headband behind earcup. As a matter of fact, that button was my guide to figure out which side is Left and Right since the actual L/R marking on inside of the headband was a raised lettering that blended with a plastic finish. It’s not a showstopper, but I would recommend Meelec to make that lettering a little bit bigger and maybe color it in gold. So why do I make a big deal out of L/R side orientation? True to its Touch name, this pair of headphones has “invisible” controls on the left side where sliding your finger up/down will raise or lower the volume and sliding it back/front will skip track next or previous. Keep in mind, there is a small typo in instructions stating to slide front/back for next/prev while in reality it’s the opposite and instructions will be updated in the next print. But the fact that you have a touch pad control was quite amazing for $99 pair of headphones (a feature found in $400 Zik).
Design details
Now, more about the actually functionality and performance of Air-Fi Touch headphones. Just like a lot of similar headphones, these feature a rechargeable battery, but unlike others Air-Fi Touch battery lasts a whooping 24 hours with 200 hrs of standby!!! That is almost a double of other similar headphones, and we are talking about a model with a more advanced functionality in comparison. The connection to your phone/tablet is very simple with a common long press of multi-function button to enter pair up mode, and selecting Air-Fi Touch from a list of discovered devices for an immediate connection to phone and media audio. Once paired up, I confirmed wireless range to be operational for about 40ft in an open space.
These headphones support BT4.0 with every popular profile, such as A2DP, HSP, HFP, and AVRCP. But the real shining star in here is support of Bluetooth lossless audio codec aptX and AAC!!! I don’t use any Apple devices to comment on their proprietary AAC codec, but I can tell you with certainty that if you are looking into a new pair of wireless headphones – support of aptX is a MUST!!! This codec covers a wider frequency range and utilizes a less brutal compression to preserve digital stream without too many loses. Of course, if you don’t have a quality receiver and decoder on your headphone side, aptX will be pointless. Also, the headphone features a mic with a great sensitivity where I had no issues placing phone calls and people on the other side heard me loud and clear, though testing was done in a relatively quiet environment since I don't use public transportation.
Without a doubt, headset phone functionality is a great convenience, but I was more interested in audio performance of these headphones. I already mentioned before that on-ear design requires a bit of adjustment to find a sweet spot for the best audio performance. Also, you shouldn’t expect too much from sound isolation since this is not an over-ear design that encapsulates your ears, plus the clamping force was not that strong. At the same time, once you start playing music and before you put them on your ear, they can sound like a pair of semi-open speakers if you place headband around your neck. But as soon as you place them on your ears, sound leakage was down to minimum. I was actually surprised about it and tested it multiple times with my wife next to me. You can definitely use these headphones in quite places where you don’t want to disturb people next to you.
So how does it actually sound? First of all, another shocker for me was how close wired and wireless performance turned out to be!!! Thanks to aptX support and great tuning of their 40mm drivers, the gap between wired sound using 3.5mm audio cable and wireless sound both tested with my Galaxy Note 4 was down to minimum. The sound itself is nicely balanced, detailed, and with just a perfect amount of bass enhancement without going overboard. On-ear design is usually not easy to tune for bass performance unless you enhance it at the expense of a bloated low end. Here, bass was surprisingly well controlled with a nice punch and some sub-bass rumble, and no spillage into lower mids. Mids were sweet and smooth, just slightly recessed, clear but not too detailed (meaning, not that analytical). Treble was clear and non sibilant, great for extended listening without fatigue. I also found soundstage to be above average in depth and about an average in width.
Overall, these headphones did impress me with their sound performance and unique Touch control functionality. I do have to admit, touch controls have a bit of a learning curve to get used to, but within 5-10 minutes it felt like second nature. Other than Play/Pause/Call with multi-function button, there is no other clicking functionality, just swiping which should extend lifetime of the product. I do wish multi-function button would be a little bigger because some people with sausage fingers might have a hard time pushing it. Also, these headphones are intended more for walking or just sitting/relaxing. Their clamping force and overall design is not intended for active lifestyle. But once you submerge yourself into their sound, you will be pleased of how well wireless audio can perform with aptX codec, and you can enjoy this feeling for the whole 24 hours on a single charge! With its compact folding design and excellent storage case, these also make a great travel companion. I really enjoyed Air-Fi Touch and would definitely recommend it!