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Airpods alternatives: The new bragi headphone? Maybe?
- Thread starter Ghost31
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Package just arrived. Looks like a truck ran over it. Only took six days for overnight delivery. Will check it out later this afternoon.
First impressions of the Bragi Headphone:
Nice looking, quality appearance. Came nearly fully charged. Took about ten minutes to top off the battery. Paired easily with my iPhone 6S. Comes with three ear sleeves, small, medium, and foam. Tried the medium, but they didn't seem to stay seated. Switched to small and that worked better, but it still felt like it was just barely closing off the ear canal. Haven't tried the foam yet -- I usually find the foam to fit well but to be too much trouble. Sound: Volume somewhat weak. Moderate listening level is 3/4 to 7/8 of full volume. Cranking it all the way up is necessary if you want to hear every bit of sound. Good crisp reproduction. Decent high frequencies. Base drops off early -- bass guitar just starts to fade into the background, and bass drum has very little power. Midrange is very nice and clear -- guitar, voice, piano, violins all stand out. After 30 minutes, the battery was down to 90% and after an hour was at 80%, so it looks like the five hour specification is about right. Interestingly, it seems that only the right earpod battery drains at that rate. I put them into the charger after an hour's use and the left one indicated that it was still fully charged while the right one started charging. Range is about 32 feet with no obstructions. With two walls between the phone and the headphone, the connection drops at about 24 feet. No dropouts with the phone in my back pocket. Comfort: not as comfortable as my Etymotics, but better than the Jaybird X2 (which tends to pop out of the ear after a while). After an hour, my ears started getting a bit itchy, but that's minor. It's nice being able to turn audio transparency on or off. The "Quick Start" guide that comes in the box is not sufficient to be able to use the Headphone. You need to go to Bragi's website to get complete instructions. The buttons are a bit of a pain -- not prominent enough to easily locate the right button, and require a fairly hard press which pushes the earpiece hard against the ear. Usable though.
I'll do a face-off with the Airpods when they arrive (promised delivery still January 12.)
Nice looking, quality appearance. Came nearly fully charged. Took about ten minutes to top off the battery. Paired easily with my iPhone 6S. Comes with three ear sleeves, small, medium, and foam. Tried the medium, but they didn't seem to stay seated. Switched to small and that worked better, but it still felt like it was just barely closing off the ear canal. Haven't tried the foam yet -- I usually find the foam to fit well but to be too much trouble. Sound: Volume somewhat weak. Moderate listening level is 3/4 to 7/8 of full volume. Cranking it all the way up is necessary if you want to hear every bit of sound. Good crisp reproduction. Decent high frequencies. Base drops off early -- bass guitar just starts to fade into the background, and bass drum has very little power. Midrange is very nice and clear -- guitar, voice, piano, violins all stand out. After 30 minutes, the battery was down to 90% and after an hour was at 80%, so it looks like the five hour specification is about right. Interestingly, it seems that only the right earpod battery drains at that rate. I put them into the charger after an hour's use and the left one indicated that it was still fully charged while the right one started charging. Range is about 32 feet with no obstructions. With two walls between the phone and the headphone, the connection drops at about 24 feet. No dropouts with the phone in my back pocket. Comfort: not as comfortable as my Etymotics, but better than the Jaybird X2 (which tends to pop out of the ear after a while). After an hour, my ears started getting a bit itchy, but that's minor. It's nice being able to turn audio transparency on or off. The "Quick Start" guide that comes in the box is not sufficient to be able to use the Headphone. You need to go to Bragi's website to get complete instructions. The buttons are a bit of a pain -- not prominent enough to easily locate the right button, and require a fairly hard press which pushes the earpiece hard against the ear. Usable though.
I'll do a face-off with the Airpods when they arrive (promised delivery still January 12.)
My review is on Amazon already as I actually purchased and used these before taking them back for a full refund.
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Note that my post was about The Headphone, and your review appears to be about the Dash.
Thanks for you review. Do you think that volyme is so low that it prevents you from using headphones? Or is it managable even in noisy conditions?
Finally received my The Headphone. I'll post a more extensive review after I've played with them a bit, but some initial observations of my own:
They are really small and light.
The default ear plugs work well for me, but I will be trying the Comply foam ones soon. Overall quite comfortable in my ears.
Case is obviously not a battery case, but it is small and lightweight and is what it is.
Still getting used to the controls. I do like very much being able to feel the raised buttons. Very easy to find with my fingers.
As mentioned by others, max volume is not crazy loud. It's more than fine for me, but if you typically crank your tunes up craY loud, you may not like these.
More coming soon ...
They are really small and light.
The default ear plugs work well for me, but I will be trying the Comply foam ones soon. Overall quite comfortable in my ears.
Case is obviously not a battery case, but it is small and lightweight and is what it is.
Still getting used to the controls. I do like very much being able to feel the raised buttons. Very easy to find with my fingers.
As mentioned by others, max volume is not crazy loud. It's more than fine for me, but if you typically crank your tunes up craY loud, you may not like these.
More coming soon ...
nice one
i did think about the headphone before the air pods were out and likely would of bought them if they were available at the time
I'm OCD about volume and skipping tracks. Using Siri is not acceptable when skipping frequently. Plus AirPods do not stay in my ears at all. Cautiously optimistic about The Headphone.
be interested to hear your review.
if i didn't have an apple watch the no volume controls maybe would bother me. The headphone does look better i agree with that.
how the sound is i'm interested in but the bluetooth connection is what i would like to know and if it cuts out as the bragi dash it seems was poor with connection failure
I've been using them for a few weeks now and agree with most of what you wrote. However, I think the case should be a bit smaller (doesn't fit comfortably in a pants or shirt pocket), and mine actually do get "crazy loud" if I turn up the volume above ~85% on the iPhone's slider. I'm wondering if there are variations between different units, or perhaps it's just subjective.
The fit of the earbuds is kind of amazing. Once I've "twisted" them in, they never lose the acoustic seal or fall out, no matter what I do. If you feel some pressure in your ear canals, try the included size S rubber tips. They are more comfortable for me.
BT connectivity is good. I rarely have dropouts when carrying the phone in a pocket or backpack. Inside my house, it keeps working two rooms away from the phone. However, orientation matters. If you turn your right ear away from the phone, it's more prone to losing the connection.
One small niggle: there is a bit of hiss in the left earbud which is audible at higher volume during silent passages. Probably something to do with the near-field induction. Also, I don't like that they don't turn off automatically when you put them in the case while it's not connected to power (although the auto sleep alleviates this somewhat).
The audio transparency feature works well too, although it can sound a bit weird at first.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with them. I like to use them particularly for exercising where BT earphones with cables didn't work well for me (they started pulling out the earbuds after a while), and the Airpods didn't provide any noise isolation.
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No hiss for me. But it sounds like my volume might be slightly less. So like all electronics, variations.
Agree about connectivity. Really happy so far. No drops in my limited use.
As far as case size, not something that is an issue for me, as I had no intention or desire to have the case on my body. It's always in my backpack. It's small enough for me. Do agree that I wish they shut off when put in the case, but really minor thing for me.
Agree about connectivity. Really happy so far. No drops in my limited use.
As far as case size, not something that is an issue for me, as I had no intention or desire to have the case on my body. It's always in my backpack. It's small enough for me. Do agree that I wish they shut off when put in the case, but really minor thing for me.
A bit more info after 1.5 days of usage: Audio transparency is amazing! Get on my crowded bus to work with it off and I can barely hear any external sound (using Comply tips). Turn it on and I still hear my music perfectly but I can hear just enough of the noise around me. Really excellent.
Does someone have a picture of the case? Would love to see it with something next to it for size reference since some have complained. Also affront on had shot showing how much they protrude would be amazing. The link pretty flush in that last posted picture.
I'll try and get some more photos up tomorrow. I'll likely add them to my review thread.
Hi,
has anyone actually tried to use the headphones as headset?
I am using my second pair now and while audio quality is OK, they are useless for phone calls.
Nobody can ever hear me through the Bragi Headphone - and I have tried it in loud and silent situations, with one or two earpieces, with different devices.
It is always the same, the person on the other end of the line does not hear any single word understandably.
Anyone making similar experiences?
/Chris
has anyone actually tried to use the headphones as headset?
I am using my second pair now and while audio quality is OK, they are useless for phone calls.
Nobody can ever hear me through the Bragi Headphone - and I have tried it in loud and silent situations, with one or two earpieces, with different devices.
It is always the same, the person on the other end of the line does not hear any single word understandably.
Anyone making similar experiences?
/Chris