****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Let me first share that if you have never used bone conduction headphones, be mindful that they are all vastly different from over or in ear headphones. The most significant difference is with base and depth of sound.Having said that, I really, really wanted to like these headphones after reading some of the reviews. Overall, I think they are OK, but they are no comparison to Shokz. I have been using Shokz bone conduction, headphones for about 4 to 5 years, and I absolutely love them. I traveled extensively and have three pairs of them; I have been through a couple of them along the way as well.I recently lost one of my headphones, and thought I would look at some other options. After reading the reviews, I ordered a pair and was hopeful that would be as good as my others; here is what I experienced:Upfront, the most significant advantage of these headphones is the price. They are about a third of the price of of the higher in models, depending on what you get. This was very appealing to me as I figured I could pick up three sets for the price of one or easily replace one that was broken or lost.The headphones themselves are well packaged and appear to be a solid construction. Reportedly they have good waterproof protection, about 10 hours of battery life as per the box, with a two hour charge time. I think all of us would enjoy a longer battery life’s, but in this type of headphones that is about the norm.The headphones paired with my iPhone very easily, and I have to say they actually felt good on, perhaps a little better than my other ones; they just seem to fit a little tighter, and the positioning of the headset felt secure. I have never had any fall off my head, and often just slide them down around my neck when I’m not using them. The pair that I lost was just because I had them in my hand at a large event and lost them along the way.The sound quality itself is not bad. They have a good, mid sound range, and the highs sounded all right as well but overall these headphones are limited in what they can produce on the low end. In my opinion, I would say their quality is not as good as the higher in headphones, but again for the price I thought it was OK, and certainly if people are using these primarily for phone calls, it may not be much of an issue.With regard to sound, as I get asked about my headphones, all the time, I tell people flat out if you were looking for good headphones to listen to music, and you are looking for the best sound, these headphones are not for you. They also do not block out any noise from the environment. This is a great advantage on many levels, but in some cases it may not be suitable. Personally, I have a pair of acoustic earplugs, which I use when I want to turn out the world. These headphones do come with a pair of foam, earplugs, which are easy to get, and they help to block out the outside noise.House with my other headphones, if you put in earplugs, you will get a much better range of sound, including more on the low end. Again, I felt these headphones were OK overall for the price, but still sound quality is a little bit better on the higher in headphones.Like others, these headphones have a proprietary charging cable; bear that in mind, because if you do loser damage your cable, he will not be able to charger headphones until you get a replacement. Also, like others, they are magnetic, which enhances the waterproofing capabilities of the headphones. Well, not a huge problem, the magnet is not very strong, and I found that it is easy to knock off when you set them down. I found myself placing the headphones on the counter, and then attaching the magnet. I have found that other brands have much stronger magnets that seem to just snap into place.The most significant challenge that I had with these headphones is that they are just not loud enough. This too is another typical challenge with bone, conduction, headphones, as volume is enhanced with more traditional style over ear, or inside the ear headphones. However, the volume is much lower than what I am used to, and honestly it is just not loud enough for me.I did play with a Settings on my phone and experimented a little bit to see if I could enhance the volume, but was unsuccessful. iPhones do have a couple of things that one can do to adjust volumes and actually boost it a bit, but still, I was unable to get to a level that would work for me. I even tried the volume boosting app; unfortunately, it would only work with music, and it would need to be downloaded to your device, and I have to say that the boosting app actually made the quality I bet worse but I digress.Again, I do think these are OK overall, and they work for some people who are just looking for an economical headphone to use in some situations. I personally wear mine very often; I travel full-time and often rely on Google maps and audio directions to get me to where I need to be; I need loud and reliable, headphones all the timeGood price, OK, and perhaps possible sound quality, but lower than expected value. I am sending them back.
