I bought these in search of a non-earbud bluetooth headset. The requirements I had were, in no particular order:
1) Sound quality and bass - must have a headset that can support bass lines of reggae and funk, without making it too muddy. If you don't listen to reggae or funk, these bass lines are super important for the music, moreso than hip hop (and I listen to a lot of rap, but those requirements are easy).
2) Bluetooth - Given my lifestyle, which includes a lot of travelling and lots of cords, I've only recently began more foray into bluetooth headphones.
3) Mic - must have a decent mic.
4) No earbuds - I cannot do earbuds for extended periods of time.
5) Decent battery life - Per my note above, I often have days wear I'm on a headset for multiple hours a day.
6) Portable and light - I travel a lot for work. I have a pair of Bose QC30s that stay in the office, and I don't travel with those.
7) Behind the neck fit - For working out, or for the days where I have to work outdoors for hours straight, I like to have a hat on.
8) Comfortable active wear - The headset needs to stay on through activity, and not need constant adjustment.
9) Loud enough - For riding the train. I don't even want to know if the train conductor is giving an important announcement. I want to ride the train and fly right passed my stop cause I had my eyes closed, and I was totally tuned out, and into my music.
I was very glad to stumble upon these headphones because it meets all the needs that I have, well, almost all with the exception of #8 noted above. I would give it 5 stars except for the one problem that a few people have noted: The design of the behind-the-neck plastic piece. The plastic piece above your ear irritates your ear after a little while - you have to be pretty precise. Finding a comfortable position is not too difficult, but if the back of the behind-the-neck portion is positioned too low, and you look up, you'll move it out of position. If the behind-the-neck is positioned behind you, you'll knock it if you lean back into a chair. Otherwise, the set stays in the same place pretty darn well! But there has to be a better design for this problem. I believe that 66 Audio is the company to figure this out in a future iteration!
The equalizer app is pretty great. Particularly because the integrated equalizer I have on my phone, and all other apps you download, will actively lower the maximum volume of your headset in order to equalize. But 66 Audio consciously made an equalizer that doesn't affect the maximum volume of the headset, and I'm very thankful.
p.s. I have a 7-7/8 hat size head. If you think these are too small for your head, then you're not putting them on the right way. They go behind-the-neck, not over your head...
I own some really good bass heavy Bluetooth headphones already, but they are so big. They are those huge big half-a-coke can size headphones which are great for listening to music at home, but not while you're working out or on the bike.
These headphones hit the active sweet spot just right. They are light. They are behind the neck, so if you ride bikes seriously, you can wear a bike helmet and wear them behind your neck. I've had 3-4 headphones just like this before, but these are the first headphones that actually sound really good. Again, it will not beat a true studio/recording headphone which uselarger drivers, but for exercise these will give you strong volume, strong bass, strong treble, and they will keep you going on your workout.
I wear glasses and/or sunglasses with them for 3+ hours and I've had no problems. Forget all these other reviews from softies, these headphones are perfect. If you need some great sounding music with your active lifestyle buy these.
EDIT-- +1 star for having awesome support! I was provided a functional firmware, which I like! Its not perfect, but it certainly resolves my issue. :)
I practically lost my mind when 66 Audio released an update to their previous 66 Audio BTS+ model! I needed a pair of headphones that were both comfortable, and technically advanced enough to more advanced Bluetooth audio codecs such as AptX and AptX-LL-- even purchasing two of these! Compared to all the clones out there, the quality certainly feels great—plastic but feels solid, with metal accents (which I suspect is the antennae themselves, kudos for adding an external antenna—if that’s the case!) The ear cushions are a sort of memory foam, covered with synthetic leather material.
The antenna range is AMAZING, especially if you pair it with a Bluetooth audio transmitter with an antenna which I have-- it covers nearly the entire first floor of my home. Audio quality also sounds amazing compared to my older pair, though it’s a little heavy on the low-end for me, flattening my EQ levels solves this problem for me and works perfect for gaming. Works and pairs perfectly with my OnePlus 3, connects with my PC bluetooth and Bluetooth audio transmitter with no problems at all, even using it in my gaming sessions. I have even taken it on my long jogs and it has handled moisture/sweat easily—just remember to clean it with a damp cloth, as your body’s salts and other residue will remain once the liquid dries, which can damage the unit over time.
One big reason I purchased a pair of these is because of the AptX-LL protocol. To me, the AptX-LL audio codec is a godsend-- making audio delays near indiscernible (~30ms vs. 80-150+ms on A2DP / SBC audio codec) and eliminating lip sync delays on both my movies and games on my PC! Unfortunately, for reasons unknown the headphones came with this very feature disabled on the firmware level. I have a small collections of AptX-LL Bluetooth audio transceivers, some with displays to show the status of the Bluetooth connection. Other AptX-LL enabled receivers connect via AptX-LL with no problems except for these headphones.
Unfortunately to date (firmware 1.06), this feature remains disabled for some reason, which is a HUGE disappointment for me. I waited a few months to see if this improves and unfortunately I have lost confidence that this can be fixed. If audio delay is important to you then look elsewhere—otherwise these are one of the best behind-the-head style headphones I’ve ever owned.
I'm an audiophile who has owned cans from Grado, AKG, Audio Technical, Ultimate Ears, Sennheiser, Jaybird, along with various headphone amps.
Now that I'm married with wife and kid, they take up most of my time, so the above setups have become impractical and inconvenient.
However, I'm pleased to report the sound quality from bluetooth headphones has substantially evolved when mated with the proper format. As my previous audiophile setups sounded great with CD's and lossless music, the BTS pro sounds perfectly matched when used with steaming services such as Apple Music, Spotify in addition to mp3's.
I have tried several bluetooth earphones/headphones and the BTS Pro audiophile-like quality with the ability to tweet the sound to your liking with incredible battery life.
Pros:
1. Amazing sound quality
2. Long battery life
3. Decent wireless range
4. Sweat Resistant
5. Useful companion app
6. No audio lag when watching movies,
7. More comfortable than in-earphones buds.
8. Compact and collapsible, folds into your pocket or included case
9. Beautiful quality case
10. Good for making phone calls in a non-windy quiet environment, or car with the windows up.
Cons:
1. Not as comfortable as lush oversized cans for extended wear
2. Stock EQ may sound a tad bright with some tracks or genres
3. Plastic folding joints seems flimsy and unsure if they will last
4. You have to keep adjusting the position of the headphones on your ear until you find the sweet spot for optimal sound quality.
5. Phone calls are unclear to the person on the other end, while in noisy or windy environments.
The following is an in-depth explanation of the pros and cons.
SOUND SIGNATURE
Note: you must continue to play with the positioning of the cans, while on your ears until you find the sweet spot.
These sounded amazing when used with my iPhone 7 Plus and streaming Apple Music across all genres. The sound stage is wide with good instrument separation and lush forward vocals. Substantial but non-over powering bass response. With movies and certain tracks where I want a little more "oomf", I simply apply a bass boost from the firmware EQ via the companion app.
There were a few tracks that sounded a bit bright, and I could hear a bit of hiss. The treble/highs frequencies can be a hair much. Again, easily adjustable. But I prefer the brightness for the most part, and it can sometimes reveal interesting nuances in your music.
Sometimes when pausing the music observing a short period of silence when switching between apps, you can hear hissing. It doesn't bother me much. The quality of sound more than compensates.
COMPANION APP
The app is actually useful. Although the EQ spectrum of adjustability is limited, they focused on the proper frequencies in which it may be needed, thus making these cans virtually adaptable to suit anyone's liking. I prefer the stock sound, with occasionally turning on the bass boost. This is coming from a purest who doesn't like toying with EQ. They did it right. Additionally, you can also update the firmware.
I think the "find your headphones" app feature is mostly useless; you can make your cans beep loud, so you can find them, but they must be already connected to your phone via bluetooth. The portion that utilizes GPS to determine where they were used last is ok.
COMFORT
I am not a fan of jamming small earphones into my ear or having to do some kind of anal origami to get them to stay on. Thankfully these wrap around your head, effortlessly. Although you do have to play with the positioning to get optimal sound quality. I'd have to say they are more comfortable than in-ears, but not as much as plush oversized cans. However, this is not much of a con as they're clearly advertised as an active phone. But practical and frugal me, still doesn't want to have multiple cans for different purposes. Also, you can't lay down with these, which drives me crazy because they sound that good, and i like to watch my shows in bed.
BATTERY
OMG, with all that amazing sound, comes amazing battery life. I've gone through long periods of not using them and they run great without having to recharge them.
CONSTRUCTION
Having mentioned not having to charge them often, brings me to the next part. The flap that covers the USB-C port is difficult to open. This could be fixed if they designed the flap with a tiny protruding ridge or tab (maybe a 1mm in size as not to take away from the aesthetic). This would allow you to pinch and pull open the flap with ease. As of right now, you need long finger nails to squeeze into a virtually non-existent gap to pry open the flap door.
As i mentioned previously, the plastic joints leave me skeptical about the longevity of these cans. I question how many times you can collapse and unfold them before they snap.
PHONE CALLS
Yes these are advertised as active headphones, therefore noisy environments should be expected from the intended demographic. But for my uses, making phone calls is on the low list of priorities. Calls sound terrible in those conditions. However, if the person in the receiving end has difficulty hearing you in a quiet environment, check the mic hole to insure there's no obstruction, like lint. I have yet to find a part of wireless cans that can deliver clarity in a noisy environment. Again, they sound fantastic in the car and in quiet places.
Despite my lengthy criticisms, I consider these essentially perfect for my needs. The pros outweigh the cons by a large margin. Whomever tuned these cans has a true passion for music, and it's evident. They sound good enough for an audiophile to consider leaving his tedious inconvenient setup without a blink of an eye, or the feeling of compromising on audio quality.
They aren't cheap, but they aren't overpriced. You're getting more than your dollars worth with sound quality and versatility. If you're looking for that hidden underground gem that no one knows about, look no further.
Ok, so I like to run. However, I sweat into my ears which makes using in-ear headphones slip out and a constant nuisance, having to push them back into my ears every other step. So, on a whim, I looked for sport headphones that are over the ear and I found these. Of course, me being skeptical, I did more research and found most reviews for these headphones were glowing. I decided to order them. First thing's first - install their companion app on your phone, since you can set an equalizer through this app as well as adjust the bass. They even include a neat "find my headphones" function, which can come in handy. After I set that up, I took them for a whirl - amazing sound for a bluetooth headset. In fact, better than pretty much all of the headsets I've bought! They have very easy to feel/use controls on the ear for volume and skipping tracks. And the ear cushions are quite comfortable. They do tend to pinch after a while, but it didn't matter to me since they did not fall of my head or even move an inch, which is exactly what I was looking for!! I ran...and they didn't budge. Awesome!
Quick story about their customer support: After my first outing with these headphones, I took them off and noticed that one of the ear cushions had split where the material meets the plastic. Not knowing what to do, I quickly glued the material, but I could only see this lasting for so long, so I wrote to customer service about the cushion - letting them know that I did, in fact use glue in an attempt to secure the material. Caroline wrote back to me that same day and told me she would send me a replacement ear cushion (since they are replaceable). I was completely taken aback since I did not expect someone to write back that quickly or be that friendly and helpful. I think I said "wow" out loud. True to her word, I received another email from her with a tracking number. Again, "wow". I received a package in the mail with TWO cushions!! "WOW". Thank you Caroline!!
So, I wanted to rate these headphones, not only for the fantastic product that they, but also give 5 stars for their *excellent* customer service. Love these headphones.
Feature Product
- WIRELESS FREEDOM: Bluetooth 4.2 wireless headphones, featuring a noise cancelling microphone for crystal clear, hands-fee calls. Up to 100 feet of wireless range.
- LONG LASTING BATTERY: BTS Pro does not quit - 40 hours of continuous playback and 400 hours of standby. Go from zero to 100 in no time with 90 Minute Quick Charge.
- UNPARALLELED SOUND: 66 Audio's 66 SoundEngine delivers high-quality, studio-grade sound. Crisp highs, perfect mids and thunderous bases - it's your music, how you expect to hear it.
- BUILT TO PERFORM: The BTS Pro headphones are ready to move when you move. Made with lightweight, advanced, flexible silicone, BTS Pro is designed to be tossed in your gym bag without ever showing fatigue.
- "Over the ear 'phones for running? Believe it" - Jeff Dengate, Runner's World
- "BTS Pro is a fantastic set of headphones" - Matthew Miller, ZDNet. HD Voice Technology
- CONTROL YOUR MUSIC: Complementary MotionControl App with TrueEQ, BassBoost, and more for iOS, Android and Apple Watch.
Description
Introducing BTS Pro: a new era in wireless music. Lightweight, stylish and packed with groundbreaking features, BTS Pro is designed to help you achieve your personal best. Whether you’re running, cycling, lifting, or traversing the world, they’re always there, always on and always sending unmatched sound to the places that help you push your ambitions to the next level.
BTS Pro goes where no headphones have ever gone before. Patented 3D antenna technology propels the BTS Pro well into 100+ feet of wireless range - unheard of in wireless - until now.
Incredible range is only the beginning; our advanced rechargeable battery gives you a whopping 40 hours of continuous music playback. And should you find yourself in need more more juice, your cans can go from empty to full in 90 minutes with QuickCharge. Say goodbye to wireless headphones that last 3 hours.
“BTS Pro is a fantastic set of headphones” - Matthew Miller, ZDNet.
Music is our muse and we’ve spent countless hours perfecting the acoustics of BTS Pro. Custom 36mm drivers deliver power and clarity that rivals larger, on-ear headphones - without ever distorting your favorite tracks. Get ready to experience your music like it was intended.
We’ve also built a revolutionary new mobile app - MotionControl - available for free on iOS, Android and Apple Watch devices. MotionControl features our real-time equalizer giving you the power to dial in your custom sound, while our exclusive “Find My Headphones” and “Last Location” features provide peace of mind should you misplace your headphones.
"The BTS Pro headphones deliver great sound" Derek Walter, Macworld
Gorgeous design combines with remarkable technology and reference sound to deliver unparalleled wireless music performance. And its available today from Amazon Launchpad and 66 Audio.
Five star is very much deserved. Just left mine at work over the three day weekend by accident, and I miss them so much!
My first pair stopped working after a week of use, but I contacted the company and they sent me a replacement lickety split! Sent out the email on Feb 22 and received the replacements on the 27th! Their customer service was incredible- mad shout out to Caroline with their support team.
-Are they comfortable? Yes. They stay on quite nicely. Don't bounce around or feel heavy during running, jumping rope, or even HIIT activities. Good for weightlifting, too, just have to move the band a little bit downward during a bench press.
-Does the battery last long? FOR FRIGGIN EVER! I wear mine for an hour at a time, and only recharge them every 3 weeks, give or take.
-Do they sound good? YES! I think they sound way better than my iPhone earphones, at the very least. If that's your baseline, these will blow you away! Good bass. You can also use the equalizer to optimize your listening experience. They block out sound very nicely.
-Do they look good? Well, no. they stick out on the sides a little. Honestly, though, I like how obvious they are. Lets people at the gym know that I' there to put in work, not to stand around and chat!
-Favorite features? The app! I love that I can check the battery percentage (I hated when I would think a pair of headphones has enough juice, only to die in the middle of a workout), that it alerts you when your battery is low, and that you can locate your earphones if they're on. Not on? You can at least make sure you know their last location- great for when you can't remember if you left them at the gym, at work, at an airport, etc.
-Durable? Yes! I drop these all the time and they seem as sturdy as day one!
Overall, I recommend these headphones to anyone who stays active, both in the gym and outdoors. A GREAT INVESTMENT! Will buy again when these guys go kaput!
I own both Sport and Pro versions. The Pro has noticeably better sound the bass especially but its not louder than Sport the volume loudness is almost the same. I would like the Pro to be louder than the Sport. And the Pro is heavier in weight. The sound is the best of what I heard in bluetooth headphones. I really like them.
Absolutely love these headphones. In addition to that, I had a question that I had to contact customer service for. I sent them an email and Caroline immediately worked on resolving my question. Great product and great customer service- very pleased!
I really liked the sound quality of the headphone amazing bass quality for a workout headphone. Well made, comfortable and has a great battery life, the double battery life (20 hours)of my old headphone that I had for three years. I have an Androind phone and to get the most of the headphone you have to use the headphone through an app from the manufacturer to magnify even more the sound quality, updating the firmware of the headphone, very good but the USB cable that came within do not connect the headphone to the PC. You don't need to be an IT guy to find the problem, change PCs, operational systems, and cables, well it is the cable. The cable just run power to the headphone, no data, I used my smartphone's (V20) cable and worked just fine. I know the app it is new for Android users maybe because of that the problem exist. Iphone users will do the update straight from there phones. Until now deserve four stars, as soon they fix the cable problem or even better, to make possible for Android users to do the update though the phone with no need of cable or PC,s as Iphone users, I will be more than happy to edit this review to a five stars one.
I've bought and used several "fitness" earphones, most being in ear models. The problem was always that they seal in sweat, and leave my ears wet or have really bad sound when not sealing the ear canal. This had me looking at over the ear options. What I needed was a set that was not too bulky, plus, I got tired of wires so it has to be Bluetooth. After much searching, the BTS Pro seemed a good match and for the price, worth trying at least.
Boy was I surprised!
Not only did it fit tight, but comfortable, allowing me to do bootcamps, HIIT and standup Martial Arts, but the sound and Bluetooth range is amazing.
Before replacing my Fitbit with a Samsung Gear 3 Frontier, I would leave my Phone in my gym bag and have a clear signal playing Spotify throughout the gym. I recently switched to the Gear and now leave my Phone in the car when I go run on the beach playing Spotify.
Until these earphones, I've always bought Bose, Sony and Beats, but this company impressed me thoroughly, seemingly doing one thing, and doing it really well.
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