In the world of Bluetooth headphones, especially OTE (Over the Ears) – I think Bose, Sony, nd Beats hand some great products… but – they are a bit pricey. The Bose quiet comfort 35 Series is about $349, Beats Studio3 is about $285 – $349, and Sony WH1000XM2 is about $348. Though they are great and well made products, and the price can be justified (I suppose), I just can’t spend that much for a pair of OTE headphones.
So I searched and researched online for an affordable, reasonably priced OTE headphones and I can across the TaoTronics ANC Bluetooth OTE headphones on amazon. . https://goo.gl/k1G7to
I have to admit, I was skeptical on the purchase of really any ‘off brand’ products. I don’t know how popular TaoTronics are. I mean ANC (Active Noise Cancelling)…what is that? How does it work? Was it better than Bose? Can I get noise reduction from a pair of OTE headphones that was 20% the price of Bose?!?
I really didn’t know what I should do. But I’ve seen a few people using TaoTronics headphones and other products in my area so I took a chance… And it paid off!!!
First, the design is really nice. I like the black color
The size of the ear cups are not too large and gawky like other on the market. They’re probably the same size as the Bose QT 35. I also like the TaoTronics logo on each ear cup as well the ‘L’ and ‘R’ inside. I don’t know why J The earcup is quite comfortable on the ears.
The headphones can fold flat out like the Bose, but also can fold inward.
NOTE: It’s recommended not to wear for an extreme period of time and give your ears a chance to breath. This is with any headphones…
The TaoTronics OTE headphones comes in a really nice hardcase with an interior pocket to hold the charging cord and other accessories.
On the left side of the headphones is the ANC activation button and a connection for a 3.5mm audio cable for a traditional wired connection in the event your headphones battery has died or connection to a non-Bluetooth device.
On the right side are the play/pause/on-off, rewind/fastforward/skip-track buttons as well as the charging port.
It does have a Built-in cVc 6.0 noise-cancelling microphone for clearer call quality, even in a loud environment; Stable Bluetooth 4.2 for faster pairing without signal dropping – but the life of me, I can’t seem to see it on the headphones, but its there.
From the specs the battery life is about 25hrs – I assuming for continuous play. I’m not sure on this as I don’t listen to music for 25 hours straight. I have use the headphones for a week while traveling for work and didn’t have to charge until I came back.
As far as the sound is concerned? I can’t distinguish much difference between these and the Bose. The music (I use Spotify) sounded great to me. The music sound rich and the bass sounded well. I was impressed by the sound quality…
Now the interesting function is the ANC (Active Nosie Cancellation) feature/button. This button is again, located on the left side. Kind of weird when I first turned it on. I thought it was the power button until I realized I didn’t hear ‘pairing’ coming from the headphones.
The ANC functions to minimize all background noise and vibration. When turned on – you hear a kind of ‘hum’ which isolates your ears. I was reciting the ‘ABCs’ and then turned on the ANC feature… it felt so different – kind of like you putting your fingers in your ear and can only hear yourself. Though it reduced the noise around – I’m unsure to the actual degree it can or supposed to.
I was quite skeptic on the ANC feature so I tried it on my last flight. I can tell you the difference was amazing, in my opinion. I didn’t hear my isle peer or the crying baby 4 rows back. It was a new experience – a more enjoyable flying experience for that matter. Even if you’re not listening to music and want a little ‘quiet time’ in the air or in a noise filled area – turn on the ANC feature and enjoy. I did this on my fight back home. 🙂
Overall. I’m really enjoying these headphones. The carrying case didn’t come with a hook which is bummer to me. I had to go back to amazon and get hard case with a hook to attach to my laptop bag.
But other than that. I would give it 4.5 Stars.
So hear is are my pros and cons:
Pros:
- Well made, like the design
- Comfortable on the ears
- Cost effective
- ANC feature is great to have, both wired and wireless
- Case is nice and sturdy
Cons:
- Case doesn’t have a hook to attach to my bag
- Case bulky to put inside of book bag – I know if must be bulky
- Extending the arms are a little tough
If you do decide to purchase – let me know what you think~!
AHA
