audiosplitz: Plantronics

Red Headphones for SG National Day!

August 03, 2017

Singapore's National Day that falls on 9 August is just around the corner! Folks take time to get festive by sporting the colors of red and white in the streets and this year is no different. What better way to set a patriotic tone than to sport red headphones to go with your attire? That said, here's five stylish headphones /earphones to set the mood for the occasion.

1. Beats Solo3 Wireless
Price - SGD 398 (USD 299)
The (Product) Red campaign in raising awareness for HIV has been going on strong for 11 years now. In the process, you get some great looking red colored products. The Beats Solo3 Wireless is already a great looking pair of on-ears to begin with and certainly made even more striking by the red finish.
Read - Beats Solo2 Wireless review

2. Bose SoundSport Pulse Wireless
Price - SGD 319 (USD 199)
Bose made its foray into wireless sports in-ears last year and upgraded the original SoundSport Wireless (SGD 239) with the 'Pulse' functionality. This adds a heart rate sensor and relays this information to the Bose Connect app. It looks pretty much the same as the non-Pulse version and comes in a single color variant - *drumroll* Red!
Read - Bose SoundSport Wireless review

3. Jaybird X3 Wireless
Price - SGD 215 (USD 129)
Jaybird's latest buds are generation 3 of their huge selling X-series of sports in-ears. They upgraded from the original (named Bluebuds X) with the Jaybird X2 and now the latest incarnation comes with app support. The red variant is called Road Rash and looks pretty darn striking.
Read - Jaybird X3 Wireless review

4. Plantronics BackBeat FIT
Price - SGD 129 (USD 84)
The Plantronics BackBeat FIT has been around for a while and while there are some new colors that were launched in late-2016, the original red version with a greyish hue looks great. Like the name implies, it fits great and makes for a great companion when jogging.
Read - Plantronics BackBeat FIT review

5. Sony MDR-XB950BT Extra Bass
Price - SGD 269 (USD 198)
Sony's Extra Bass series of headphones has been quite a seller for them and the sheer volume of reviews on Amazon (2000+) for the XB950BT can attest to that. They have a newer version called the XB950B1 but hey, there's nothing like the classic version, eh? They, of course, have a red variant.

Apple Siri

Plantronics BackBeat 505 - First Impressions

July 05, 2017

Last week saw the Singapore launch of the Plantronics BackBeat 505, their latest pair of wireless on-ear headphones.

Plantronics has been dabbling in headsets for around 50 years but has recently diversified into consumer audio and churning out over-ear, in-ear and on-ear headphones at a consistent rate. If you're familiar with their products, they have already released the BackBeat SENSE (SGD 279) in the on-ear category. The BackBeat 505, known as the BackBeat 500 Series in other countries, is a more affordable proposition at half the price.

We'll do a full review in the coming days but for now, here are some first impressions!

Type - Wireless On-Ears
Price - USD 79 / SGD 139

In The Box
The BackBeat 505 comes in three colors - Dark Grey, Grey and White. For our review, we received the Grey unit though personally, we'd reckon Lime is probably a more enticing name to go :)

The packaging is pretty compact and spartan, measuring just enough to squeeze an inner box containing the BackBeat 505 nicely packed within the carrying pouch.

Spilling the packaging contents out, you get a handy range of:

Plantronics BackBeat 505 headphones
USB cable
Audio cable (3.5mm to 3.5mm)
Carrying pouch
Quick start guide + safety information

Design
The Plantronics BackBeat 505 headphones has an attractive styling and price point that likely targets the youth demographic. The earcups swivel 90 degrees for compact storage while the headband is supported by a solid aluminum like material that you can slide to adjust to your head size.

It is relatively lightweight, yet gives the impression of a sturdy build at 155 grams due to a handy combination of plastics and memory foam for the pads. For a comparison of other wireless on-ears, there's the Jabra Move Wireless (150g), the Bose OE SoundLink (153g) and the Beats Solo3 Wireless (215g).

Carrying Pouch:
The drawstring pouch envelops the headphones when you take it out of the box. It feels rather flimsy though it should minimally protect from scratches.

Features

Pairing:
There's no app support or NFC but seriously, what do you expect for this price point? All you need is straightforward Bluetooth to link to your music device. The pairing process is a breeze - just flip the power switch on the right cup towards the Bluetooth logo and pairing initializes. Select 'PLT BB500 Series' from your source device and you're good to go. The headphone can pair to two devices so you can conveniently watch videos from your tablet and toggle to listen to music from your phone when needed.

Controls:
The controls are parked on the left earcup. The Play/Pause and track change buttons are found on the outer cup while the volume controls are parked on the circumference. One good feature is a dedicated Call button on the bottom of the right earcup that doubles as a battery status check when listening to music.

Wired Mode:
If you don't want to use headphones wirelessly or if you run out of power, there's a provided audio cable that links to your music device through a 3.5mm to 3.5mm connection. This is similar with others in its category like the Beats Solo3 Wireless and Bose OE SoundLink that give you the same cable out of the box.

Performance + Overall
We will look at this once we run through some tests. What we can say so far is that getting this pair of wireless on-ears for SGD 139 is excellent value and is very comparable with the Jabra Move Wireless we tried previously.

Pricing and Availability
The Plantronics BackBeat 505 is available in Singapore in 3 colors - Dark Grey, Grey and White. It goes for SGD 139. You can also buy the BackBeat 505 from Amazon through this affiliate link.

Credit to Plantronics for a review unit.

Bluetooth

Wireless Sports Audio Part 6 - Plantronics BackBeat FIT

November 18, 2016

Santa Cruz-based Plantronics have vast experience in headset development so it's good to see them come up with more consumer-centric products in 2016. Right now, we look at the Plantronics BackBeat FIT (USD 129.99 / SGD 219), a pair of sports wireless earphones that were released some 2 years back and just refreshed in October 2016. Let's review the FIT and also check how different is the BackBeat FIT New Series from the original.

BackBeat FIT New Series (2016) - Power Blue

BackBeat FIT New Series (2016) vs BackBeat FIT (2014)
The key difference is that the FIT New Series is now waterproof (IP57 rated) meaning you can dunk the buds up to 1 meter in the water and they'll still function whereas the original was P2i sweatproof coated. Apart from that, the FIT New Series comes in 5 refreshed colors - Power Blue, Sport Grey, Stealth Green, Fit Fuchsia and Black Core. Oh, and there's a new design for the Call icon on the right bud. If you look at a specs comparison on their website, all else is roughly the same.

BackBeat FIT New Series (2016)

Now that we've done the comparisons, let's look at the BackBeat FIT (original) in detail.

Pros (+): Excellent fit; Decent sound; Ambient sound clearly heard with music; Very useful carry pouch / armband; App support.
Cons (-): Miniscule power knob; No dedicated volume down button; Head strap bobbing.

Design
In the initial launch, there were 2 colors intuitively named Blue and Green. A red variant called Lava was added sometime after.

Plantronics BackBeat FIT - Blue

You can pop open the lid like a book where you can see the buds through a transparent blister.

The packaging contents contain:

Plantronics BackBeat FIT buds
Charging Cable (micro-USB)
Carry Pouch / Armband
Quick Start Guide

Plantronics BackBeat FIT Packaging Contents - Blue

The BackBeat FIT tips the scales at 24g, not the lightest out there but much on par with the Bose SoundSport Wireless and Beats Powerbeats3 Wireless. They have a unique design where you need to hook the buds over-the-ears and drape the cord around the back of your head where it dangles freely in mid-air. There are no other bud or fin sizes included though the default sizing worked just fine for me. You can actually swivel the bud and fin within a 20 degree range for added ear fit flexibility.

The neoprene carry pouch is very handy. There's a sleeve on the back and it can be opened up. What makes it special is that you can flip it inside out to make it transform into an armband so you can store your phone on your arm while jogging. Its reflective exterior makes it psychologically a little more assuring when jogging at night.

Features
The Plantronics has a P2i nano-coating that makes the unit sweat-proof. Jogging under light drizzle is also not a problem as I found out given that the unit is still fully functional.

There are 4 playback controls that come integrated on the left and right earbud exterior. Some controls may prove to be an issue with users with huge digits. The power (right side) and volume (left) functions are just a small protruding buttons above the much bigger circular call and play / pause buttons respectively. Another point is there is no dedicated volume down button so you have to press the volume button twice and hold, not exactly a simple task when you are jogging with gusto.

Pairing over Bluetooth (3.0) is a straightforward process. Just hold the center button until the LED flashes red/blue, select 'PLT_BBFIT' from your mobile device and you're good to go. Alternatively, you can use the app to simplify the (already intuitive) pairing process.

The voice and audio prompts do their job. You can check out the battery level and hear / view the LED if pairing is in progress.

Plantronics is indeed forward thinking. Manufacturers like Bose and Jaybird only started on apps in 2016 while the BackBeat had such support way back in 2014. The BackBeat FIT Companion is the app (iOS 8.2+ / Android 4.4.4+) that gives value added functionality. The current version (3.0) allows toggling between 8 languages and Bluetooth switching between your devices. Thankfully, the unit allows for firmware updates. All you need is to open the app and plug the charging cable to the FIT. The update will initiate and the LED indicator will flash purple. One example of an improvement? The voice prompt announcement was updated from 'Battery Level: High' to 'Listen Time: 8 hours', clearly more useful in evaluating whether to charge the unit.

Performance
We test these sports earbuds in three areas when jogging:
1. Fit - Did it fit into the ears snugly? Did the weight of the cord tug on ears causing it to fall out?

2. Noise Isolation - We checked out the degree to which external noise is blocked. This is what you'd deem as 'passive noise cancelation'.

3. Microphonics - This is basically the sound of the cable rustle when there's any kind of friction, be it wind friction or the cord swishing when running.

Fit-wise, it takes a little while to get the buds around your head and ears due to the design of the fins and ear hooks. Once on, they are feel great. You can jump / jog and they don't come off and it gives a really assuring feeling that they won't fall off. The lengthy head strap allows flexibility with different head sizes but if there is excess, like in my case where I've smaller head (Asian sized :), you may feel the cord bobbing up and down though there is otherwise no microphonics.

The BackBeat FIT has an open eartip design that deliberately allows ambient sound to pass through quite clearly. That is their intention and with that, noise isolation is obviously minimal.

The sound quality is pretty darn decent. I took these buds for a spin blasting Mansun's Wide Open Space (Perfecto Mix) and Chicane vs Keane's Wake Up. Bass and treble are pretty well balanced, sounding good in theory but if you're a basshead, the sound leakage due to the open sound design may leave you longing for more.

The Plantronics deliver an 8 hour battery life on a full charge of 2.5 hours, comparable with sports wireless buds like the UA Headphones Wireless (8 hours) and the Jaybird X2 Wireless (8 hours). Alternatively, you can get 1 hour of playback on a 15 minute quick charge by connecting the charging cable to the micro-USB point, neatly hidden on the right earbud. There's even a DeepSleep mode where the unit hibernates when it's out of range of your music devices.

Overall
The Plantronics BackBeat FIT is a great choice for joggers. The button actuation may take a while to get used to but it's a product that lives up to its namesake. The fit on a jog is outstanding and you get a good sound profile that allows loads of ambient sound through making you well aware of your surroundings. While the pricing was initially steep, it is now at a level that is much more agreeable.

Availability
The BackBeat FIT New Series is available on Amazon at USD 129.99 and it is coming soon to Singapore.

The BackBeat FIT is available on Amazon from USD 82.95 and at Lazada.SG from SGD 108.90.

Wireless Sports Audio Series
Part 1 - Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless
Part 2 - Sony NW-WS413
Part 3 - UA Headphones Wireless - By JBL
Part 4 - Bose SoundSport Wireless
Part 5 - Jaybird Freedom Wireless F5
Part 6 - Plantronics BackBeat Fit
Part 7 - The Verdict (TBA)

Bluetooth

Plantronics BackBeat PRO+ Review

October 10, 2016

Plantronics is starting to crank up its consumer oriented product offerings. Released in July 2016, the BackBeat PRO+ (SGD 449 / USD 299) is the follow up to their first over-ears model, the BackBeat PRO. This time round, they include a USB dongle for high quality Bluetooth streaming. Let's dive into the full review.

Pros (+): Good sound quality; Flexibility in Bluetooth pairing options; Comfortable.
Cons (-): Design aesthetic could be improved; Decent ANC.

Unboxing
As usual, we take a look at the unboxing process. As compared with its predecessor, the PRO+ comes in gray as opposed to black.

Sliding out the outer cardboard layer gets you access to a solid black box flanked on 4 sides by transparent plastic blister.

Popping the top lid open reveals the headphones proper. The rest of the accessories lie under the headphones mold.

Spilling 'em all out, the packaging contents reveal:

Plantronics BackBeat PRO+ headphones
High-fidelity BT600 USB dongle
Audio cable (3.5mm to 3.5mm)
Charging cable (micro-USB)
Carrying pouch
User guides

Design
These are massive headphones. Not a doubt about that. It has a look you either love or hate - fashionistas may not take to these but on the other hand, they give a badass look. At 340 grams, they are heavier than other wireless noise-canceling headphones like the Bose QuietComfort 35 (309g).

The circular earpads are comfortably well padded and complement the foam covered headband well to last a few hours listening with little discomfort. The hinges allow a 90 degree earcup rotation for purposes of easy storage.

The huge ballistic nylon carrying pouch looks sufficiently rugged and can accomodate the headphones with both earcups laid flat out. A small strip of Velcro is used to seal the pouch contents.

Plantronics BackBeat PRO+ carrying sleeve

Features
These Plantronics over-ears include sensors that function when playing / pausing music when putting on / taking off the headphones. There's no need to press a button for playback. It's a great function similar to the Parrot Zik 3 or the Sennheiser PXC 550. If somehow this is annoying, the sensors can be disabled.

Active noise-canceling (ANC) is powered on through a switch on the left earcup. We'll elaborate on the experience later. Playback switches are spread out on both cups. Left holds a massive play/pause button and a surrounding dial to skip tracks. Right holds a huge call button flanked by a volume jog dial.

For Bluetooth pairing, there's a flurry of options available:

Plug in the BT600 USB dongle to your PC / Mac and power on the headphones to pair.
Pair by holding the NFC (Near Field Communications) points of the headphones and your music device together
Hold the call button to initiate the pairing

With the dongle, it's really easy to pair. I just plugged it in, switched the headphones on and was connected within seconds. If you lose the dongle, you can pick another at USD 59.

Plantronics BackBeat PRO+ BT600 USB dongle

Glows blue when connected and purple during playback.

You can connect up to 2 Bluetooth devices simultaneously and you can apparently wander up to 100m (330 feet) from your paired device. I did not get this experience as music became intermittent as I wandered around my house (which has quite a few walls I might add).

Plantronics BackBeat PRO+ BT600 sound config

With the BT600 dongle, do remember to configure your sound settings on first time usage.

Ambient sound can be heard on an immediate basis with the OpenMic feature where you press the button under the right earcup.

For apps, do note that Plantronics has some apps that more geared toward its headsets ie. they are generic. They include useful features like the ability to toggle between 14 languages for voice prompts and an intuitively-named Find MyHeadset function.

You can play music either wirelessly or using the wired cable provided. With the audio cable, you can have an in-line remote that has a single button for playing or skipping tracks. The cable plugs to the BackBeat PRO+ via a straight 3.5mm jack and to your device through an L-shaped 3.5mm jack.

Performance
The BackBeat PRO+ supports the aptX codec promising a high quality sound. And indeed, it was very agreeable when using the BT600 USB dongle. I took a listen to what I would consider as Kenji Kawai's magnum opus - Voyage to Avalon. Elzbieta Towarnicka's vocals were breathtakingly clear amid the intense bass delivered by the accompanying orchestra. Compared with the normal Bluetooth connection, it appeared to me that the music delivered via the dongle gave more detail and a more resounding bass.

Left Earcup - Micro-USB and 3.5mm jacks on the underside

On wireless ANC, quite a bit of ambient sound is taken away allowing a refuge from your noisy environment though not the most effective headphone out there in this regard. Removing the ANC, the bass spreads out over a wider soundstage.

One thing to note is the headphones may move around a little when you walk so it's important to get the right fit around your head.

Plantronics mentions that a full 3 hour charge promises 24 hours of playback. If it's only on wired mode, then the ANC should last a real decent 60 hours. Battery life is indeed one of the top draws here. Plugging the charging cable in will initiate the movement of 4 blue LED indicators on the right cup. One good thing is you can still listen to music while charging.

Overall
The Plantronics BackBeat PRO+ is an all rounder in the over-ears category of headphones. It ain't the prettiest model out there, but it has a pleasantly balanced sound delivery. Combined with good comfort and useful features such as a sensor that actuates playback when used, it's a decent pair worthy of consideration.

Where To Buy
If you like the product but if you reckon the SGD 449 price is too steep (and we agree with you on that), you can get it from Amazon. Prices start from USD 214 (approx SGD 294) and as you can surmise, is much lower than retail prices.

Audio Sources
Voyage To Avalon - Avalon OST (256kbps MP3 on MacBook Air)

Credit to Plantronics for a review unit.

Bluetooth

Plantronics BackBeat GO 3 - Review

June 15, 2016

Plantronics launched the BackBeat GO 3, their new sweatproof wireless earbuds, last month. We were there for the South East Asian launch and now that we've got our grubby paws on a unit, here's our full review.

Buds - SGD 169 (USD 99.99)
Buds with Charge Case - SGD 219 (USD 129.99)

Pros (+): Agreeable price point; Great fit; Good usage of voice / sound prompts; Practical charge case.
Cons (-): No cable management; Average battery life.

Design
Out of the 3 color variants of Granite Black, Cobalt Black and Copper Grey, Plantronics kindly sent the latter over.

Plantronics BackBeat GO 3 - Granite Black

Granite Black variant. Credit - Plantronics

We always love unboxing products so we start off with a view of the outer box.

Upon opening the front flap:

Unsheathing the inner box, you can see the buds held in place and the Charge Case slotted right under.

We dumped the packaging contents out to unveil:
- Plantronics BackBeat GO 3 buds
- Charging cable (micro-USB)
- Silicon buds (S / M / L)
- Charge Case
- User Guides

Onto the product proper. The Plantronics BackBeat GO 3 in-ears clock a decent 19g, comparable to the Jaybird X2 Wireless (13g). The bud exterior's design gives the impression of a wooden veneer layered with a glossy sheen, punctuated with 'PLT' smack in the middle. If not for the in-your-face wording, it would look classier IMHO.

The canvas-like material of the Charge Case (97 x 130 mm) gives the impression that it is durable enough to be thrown in your bag without worrying about scratches. There are 2 compartments - the main one holds the micro-USB cable and is allows storage of your buds. The side is sealed with a zip and is likely meant for your keys. The power indicators on the bottom right are really useful - the icon on the left shows a 3-level charge in the case and the right one shows that of the earbuds. We'll talk more under battery performance in a bit.

Features
The Plantronics buds come with a sweatproof nano coating for protection against light rain and humidity. However, there is little to suggest that Plantronics was targeting sports users. In fact, these are more lifestyle positioned buds given the marketing pix and even the rather subdued color accents of the BackBeat earphones.

Sports models usually take on bright 'active' hues. As such, we're not fretting much about the lack of a cable management clip, a standard in other sports Bluetooth earphones for reducing microphonics during jogs. We're currently running a series of articles on Wireless Sports Audio and we were sorely tempted to add this in but given the positioning, the Plantronics won't be included.

Cobalt Black variant. Credit - Plantronics

For the controls, there are lined on the right side. You get the standard multi-function button flanked by volume controls and a microphone.

The voice commands and sound indicators, are well thought out. They don't come across in an intrusive manner and instead, are succinct and used where necessary. Some examples - changing the volume interval didn't give any beeps though hitting the max prompted 'Maximum'. Checking of listening time left can be actuated by pressing either volume button when music is paused. If there's less than an hour left, 'Battery Low' is announced and the LED flashes red.

The BackBeat GO 3 runs on Bluetooth 3.0. Pairing is a breeze. Just hold the center button until 'Pair Mode' heard and the LED flashes red and blue. Start Bluetooth on your source device, select 'PLT BB GO 3' and you're good to go. Note that only one connection can be maintained at any one time.

Bluetooth connectivity can be configured either with device settings or the BackBeat GO 3 app.

Plantronics actually designed an accompanying app (iOS / Android). While it's good value add, it is not overly crucial once configured. Example - you can learn how to Bluetooth pair the earbuds and check out an online guide, something you'll have full knowledge of within hours.

Manage earbud connection to your multiple devices benefits app users, given there's only a single connection maintained. You can change voice command languages of which 8 are supported. Interestingly, the change is not instant and there is a loading time of each language to the buds.

Performance
Sound quality: While aptX, promising CD-quality delivery, is put aside, a customized SBC codec is used instead. Technicalities aside, we found that the sound is very much agreeable. The thumping bass on Armin Van Buuren's Save My Night is invigoratingly apparent. Vocal clarity on the other hand is average at best but it's clear where the BackBeat GO 3's sound priorities lie.

Fit: The default buds provided are 'S'. These are incredibly small and sound leakage was massive. This was immediately swapped for the 'L' sizing which provided an immense world of difference where there was a snug fit. The buds come fitted with a single non-replaceable pair of ear loops (or wings) to be slotted within your ear for a better fit. This may make a difference depending on your general ear size but for me, the buds worked nicely.

The noise isolation, otherwise known as passive noise cancelation, of the buds is quite outstanding. I travel on a bus and sit right at the back on many an occasion so it is apparent what ranks well or not. This is definitely above the average.

The 6.5 hours of battery life afforded is quite average where the better ones come with 8h (UA Headphones Wireless and Jaybird X2 Wireless). There's 2.5 hours for a full charge via the micro-USB port, accessible by flipping the right earbud cover open. To make up for this, the Charge Case provides 2 full charges more (an additional 13 hours) giving a total of about 20 hours.

Overall
The pricing makes the Plantronics BackBeat GO 3 an enticing proposition of Bluetooth in-ears if you want the earbuds alone. Sure it doesn't have cable management and battery life is alright but it's easy to overlook this. Loaded with decent sound quality and well thought voice prompts, it's a solid performer for its price point and we'd recommend the nifty charge case if you need the additional juice.

Where To Buy
If you like the product, you can purchase the BackBeat GO 3 (USD 100) or buds with Charge Case (USD 130) via our Amazon affiliate links.

Credit to Plantronics for a review unit