Gear4 'BluPhones' stereo bluetooth headphones review
I've been on a bit me a mission recently to simplify my life. I think most of us have too much stuff, and I reckon our lives would be easier if we got rid of probably as much as 50% of it. With that in mind, I've been looking to consolidate a few things I own. Currently, I own 3 pairs of headphones, and none of them are suitable for all purposes. That seems pointless to me, and began my quest for the perfect headphones to replace them all. Have I found them? No, but I think I've come quite close.
So, without further delay, let's get into the review of Gear4's BluPhones. These seem to be the only pair of headphones that Gear4 sell, and I think they are a very good first effort. They are essentially a pair of wireless headphones with a microphone, and serve the dual purpose of allowing one to listen to music, and recieve and make calls, all without having to reach for your phone. That said, you do need to keep your phone within a 10 metre or so radius, which I think is a reasonable requirement! In the sales package, you'll get a plastic container with the headphones, 2 sizes of ear plugs, a USB charging chord, a quick start guide, and a very brief user manual. The headphones initially come installed with the smaller sized ear plugs, but I'm 90% sure you'll want to change these for the larger versions which fit, and allow the headphones to sound, much better. The headphones are pretty attractive and suprisingly compact for a self-powered unit with claims of 5 hours playback and 60 hours worth of standby time. The design is really innovative, fitting around your head and into your ears, and combines the environmental awareness benefits of cheap ear bud type phones, the sound quality of ear canal phones, and the style and stability of wrap around phones. In addition, these are some of the most comfortable phones I've ever worn, and in case you're wondering about stability, I went for a run with them this morning, and didn't even have to adjust them for fit once, which is unusually good for ear phones in my ears.
Looks-wise, I think they are quite attractive with their glossy finish, and their small size and weight have a definite advantage over other bluetooth headphones I've seen. Speaking of bluetooth, pairing with my Nokia N82 using the code 1234 was a breeze. I added the BluPhones as a trusted device, which means I don't need to even look at my phone to pair them up in future. Sound quality was surprisingly good. In summary, I'd say you get clarity equivalent to cheap ear bud phones, with the full sound of ear canal types. For most people, I suspect this will be good enough. Any static hiss or wimpy volume issues you encounter are purely a result of your trying to amplify a signal from your phone that is too weak. I managed to get very good volume and clarity by upping the volume of my Nokia to about 80%, and them turning down the volume on the BluPhones to a reasonable level. The music playing controls are pretty intuitive with next track, previous track and play/pause buttons on the right ear piece, and volume controls on the left. The play/pause button also acts as the power and pairing button, depending on how long you press it. During a call, things are again pretty straightforward, but making a call is another story. After extensive experimentation with the device (the included documentation is not very detailed), I figured out that a long press on either of the volume buttons will redial the last called number, even when listening to music. On my Nokia, the music player must be running (in background is okay) for the music controls on the headphones to work. Pressing the play/pause button if the music player is not running does nothing at all, UNLESS you have made or recieved a call since pairing the phones, which I thought was pretty strange. Perhaps this is a weird interaction with my phone only, but in any case should have been better documented.
I haven't tested the battery life claims very thoroughly, but do believe the manufacturer's claims of 5 hours of music playback.
All in all, and despite their weird behavior sometimes, I'd say these are are some of the best headphones I've ever owned, and can easily see them replacing my others.
Questions? Just leave a comment. I hope this review proved useful to someone!
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