So, this was well not really supposed to review this but well, times change and washing Zimai earphones in the washing machine by accident causing the mic to stop working, and well with the #lockdown2 approaching and also the knowledge cycling on days will have to happen again, it was time for new earphones. This gives me the chance to be able to work for travelling, For £15 it pretty much has a lot more going for it than I expected.
The video is below:
The Packaging:
Now for this, it does have clear labeling so you know what it does, with the dark grey box and the labeling with features such as Bluetooth and 10 hours of battery life, plus it shows you the ear hook which is a major bonus for this product already, and actually, t makes things easier to ready with clear text but there is a sign it is made for different countries. The branding is pretty clear as well.
The front of the box
The side of the box showing the buttons
The barcode and logos
The other side of the box with more features
The Back of the box
The top of the box with the hook
As we open the box, the is a clear showing of things such as the manual which was clear and very easier to understand, plus the packaging is also plastic-free which is good for the environment, then its the micro USB cable being a really short one. But the earphones themselves are nice but very short, which unlike the Zimai, there is no easy way to have it safely attached to the neck when you are not wearing them.
The front of the manual
The inner pages of the manual
More inner pages
The buttons for the ear piece
More guides on the buttons
The earpiece which has the mould in there as well,
The very short micro USb Cable
Now as we look at the earpieces a bit more, I notice the buttons are easier to press and sadly the micro USB charging port cover is very fiddly to open but that could be my fingernails being the issue here. But it does work out to make it easier for the battery location. T/he Earpieces are interesting with a little bit of gap on them but they make it much easier to twist to get them in the right ear, but the bits below the hook. Well they are only suited for the ear they are designed for.
The buttons
The battery with the mix name
The sign of both parts
One earpiece
The other ear Piece
The showing of the length of the cable
But then it was time to setup the earphones to the phone. Which well that was easier than I expected.
Time to setup.
So, I held the middle button down on the earphones and well boom, shortly after I saw a red and blue light flashing which meant it was them time to go to settings on the phone and well, it came up in a few seconds under the Bluetooth list. I tapped on it and it paired straight away.
The searching for the device
It finally paired
Then it was time for the tests.
The Tests:
Test #1: Wearing it
Now actually one benefit of this is actually the fact the hooks are much bigger which means it can fit around the ears without any issues, well actually there was a minor issue but the shaped of each side is designed for each side. So you can't swap it over, the ears. But when they were in, it felt really comfy.
The ear on the side
The ear on the other side
How it shows when I'm wearing a mask
Then it was time to see how it felt with the sound quality.
Test #2: Sound Quality
Test 2.1: Listening
Well actually i did listen to some music, and it was clear and also quite loud, but not loud enough to end up muting the outside word, aka note noise cancelling, But there was no tinny quality for the music i listened to and also there was a small bit of base so the speakers can handle it.
Test 2.2: Voice/Microphone
Now this was actually a bigger improvement, i didn't now notice the sound used in recording apps like Voice recorder or Google Keep, but when i was using the mic for phone calls, I almost had no issues with signal minus a phone call with one customer who was partially deaf and i did have 5 bars of signal (4G since near a BT exchange with an o2 Mast) So that means it can actually make things easier, As of this blog post publishing, I've not tried a call when cycling (was testing on Sunday due to work) but when walking, Calls worked fin,e well to works EA rep and Mobile phone rep and one customer. So this is a real improvement compared to the issue i was facing with the ZiMai earphones.
Test 2.3: Durability:
Actually this was much more improved than I thought, since it managed to not have any falling out when i was cycling around (nearly for 3 hours in total) on Sunday and that had no issues with falling out and since no sounds were playing and i could hear traffic , this was looking very promising, since i did notice and feel dropouts with the Zimai earphones. The only grip i did feel was something along the lines of the cable is a lot shorter than the Zimai , which means when not wearing them, they do not fit securely to the neck so there is a chance of them dropping. Which actually an be solved via a lanyard.
Conclusion:
This pair of earphones can actually do a lot more than i was hoping, Well in the basic ways but it feels a lot more easier to use than the Zimai and a lot cheaper due to the no customs duty for import. The cable is short but it makes up for that is a simple fix such as a lanyard. But the charging port lid can be hard to get out.
omracer's Rating: 8/10
The Good Points:
Very Good value
Bluetooth
Earhooks
Microphone which works.
Very comfortable during long use
Battery life is good
The Bad Points
The usb charging port can be hard to open with cut fingernails
The cable /strap is slightly shorted to wrap on body or attached when not using it
And that is another review for the start of #lockdown2, There might be one more review for the end of the year but we will see.
So, its more earphones, now sadly one of the earphones i bought in work in May, the 360° ZS-2 Water Resistant Sports Earphones. Which were ok until last week when one earpiece died and basically Veho said just go and get a replacement from the reseller. Which in my case was speak to a distributor i bought them from, they kindly gave work a credit note and told me to throw them away, veho then said to me about discount for a replacement which I might follow up and review.
But for now, we try a South african brand of earphones, yes you heard that. Volkano. Which 2 suppliers at work have offered me, one has been a bit of the we can do everything bluetooth earphones which then have stuck buttons, but this was a sports earphone as i normally buy them, or so i thought.
You can buy them HERE which is funnily enough, the same price of £13 that Work was selling them at. But eBay and Amazon have no idea on the brand in terms of the earphones or headphones.
The Packaging.
Now this is a Red and black affair, but the design of the item, with icons for the devices which can use it, A simple phone icon, a Vita/GBA shape and a ipod with equaliser inside. Now you have a actual picture of a Guy, (a bit faded out of him ,but with his polished grease lightning hair and somewhat twight reference eyes and face, with a shirt coloured orange design. The box opened in a new and cool way, like a flap which then shows the earphones inside.
The front of the box
If you open the flap up, then this is it
But then the sides, then thats simple, one has the volkano logo in Red and the other has got "Volkano Sports Series" with some of it in a reflective silver and red for the sports series. But then the back, which has its paragraph or 3 of minimalist text. With a blurb at the top about the product range, to then icons and the V logo, which leads into the details of the earphones. The adjectives are nicely used and not that Chinese advertising text you would expect, like proper English. Well played to those designers of the packaging, Finally we get the Specs and the safety notes which are useful yet irrelevant due to the digital age children of the selfie and possible trump generation are.
The side of the box with the V
Volkano Sports earphones
The back which gives the blurb and specs
Inside the box and setting up the earphones
Now we come to uboxing these nice ravishing earphones, with a little feature i was worried about, the actual earphoines cable are shorter but they do provide an extension, which is ok but maybe not idea for trying to use it when running or tight jeans. Also another fault is that the hooks are NOT actually ATTACHED to the earphones, and attaching them was ok but it was close to popping off in some respect but in one way, its a good thing since it can make any earphones sports ones which is cheaper in the long run but that has not been tested nor do i want to expect this to happen.
The clearer picture of the box
Uncover and you see more
Then we see how short the normal cable is
This is how they hook on (almost literally)
When i fitted them on, they were prety solid in the fitting, which I wore them while sitting down and did not fall out one bit, but I will be wondering when running in them.
How they fit on one side
How they fit on the other ear
The testing, a Run to work
So then, trying these out was not as easy as i thought, since WITHOUT using the extension cable, the cable was 10mm short, Since when running and listening to various sounds like Antifreeze and Lush Life (a slightly different remix than the one used for the POWWOW TV), i noticed the left ear was not as clear with every step i take for running and also it was some muffling in there too which is a shame really, Since i also had to adjust my iPod Nano and clip it to jeans to be able to keep it stable but changing tracks is a bit of a pain that way. But there was almost a very slight sign of the left ear trying to pop out, this worries me a bit.
My advice would be use the extension cable since thats the best option, but its a bit of a shame Volkano went for this approach, since it makes things trickier in a shape or form. But I reckon the real test will be when i have a Night out on the day after I bought these.
Conclusion
This might of been a rush purchase but to be fair, I wanted to try these sports ones to see if they can handle an omracer lifestyle of running places with loud video game OST being inspiring to the mind and (if playing any Sonic OST), faster on the legs. So far i don't think they will last as long as I would need them too.
omracer's Rating: 5/10
The Good Points:
The ear hooks are detachable
The colour of them is nice
The packaging is clear and hipster looking
Built in Mic
An extension lead is included
The Bad Points:
The earhooks can be fiddly to attach
The sound has a muffled feel to it on loud
The cable is 10mm too short to be easy to use without the extension
The price is a bit on the steep end than I normally buy earphones like these at
