These headphones were my second purchase of ‘neckband’ style Bluetooth headphones. In overall design they have many similarities with the LG Tone’s. You can read my review on them here.
While looks are not the main reason to purchase headphones, I must admit that the design was what grabbed my attention. The band that sits around the back of your neck is constructed of a soft and very flexible rubberized plastic. The ends which hang over your collarbones are made from a sturdy hard plastic, and have a selection of buttons for volume control, play/pause (or call answer), and forward/back.
The button placement is easy enough to get used to. The only thing that continues to throw me off after a few months of use is the on/off switch. The ‘up’ position is ‘off’ and the ‘down’ position is ‘on’, which seems counter-intuitive.
The cords that run to the ear buds are a decent thickness, not thread thin as with retractable LG Tone Infinim. The design is symmetrical and set up so that the cord comes out of the middle of the ‘band’, and then runs through a crimp that you can slide around to your preference. The rest of the cord runs down with earbuds which live in a cradle at the end of the hard plastic ‘arms’. The magnets holding the earbuds in place are fairly strong, and I have yet to have them come loose when I didn’t want them to.
The specs for this model list it as having Bluetooth 4.0, 6th generation CVC, vibration alert, and about 8 hours of active usage. The manufacturer’s site lists stand-by battery life as up to 15 days and a charge time of 2 hours. In practice, I can attest to a reasonably fast charging time. When I first got them I let them charge for about an hour, and I didn’t have to charge them again for about a week.
I understand that by its very nature, Bluetooth is not a strong or long distance radio frequency. One of the things I found annoying is I’m not able put my phone in my back pocket, or a deep pocket, without the signal being interrupted. This was causing ‘spottiness’ while listening to my media. If you wear your phone on your arm or in a way that isn’t cross body, this isn’t likely to be an issue. I should note that I have not had an opportunity to try these with another handset, so the spottiness could be an issue with my phone (HTC M8). However, I haven’t had any issues with any other Bluetooth device staying connected to it.
There are some other neat features, like notifications and talk-back alerts. If you have one of the earbuds in when you turn the set on you’ll get a friendly ‘Hello’, and when the headset pairs successfully it will tell you. For incoming calls you will get both a vibration and a tone in your ear to let you know. If you pair these to an iPad or iPhone you will get a battery level indicator icon, which isn’t necessary, but it’s a useful tool none the less.
Overall, I can’t really say these headphones have either impressed or disappointed me. I’ve had these for several months, and they are solidly sitting in a ‘neutral’ position. They work, they have a fun look to them and the battery life is nothing to complain about. If anyone asked me for a recommendation of Bluetooth headphones, these would be on the list.
~K
Vendors site – BTMaxx Nova