The BLU-100 are a new earphone in the Brainwavz range coming in at the lower end of the pricing scale and appear to be targeted at sports use. They include an excellent package with the earphones accompanied by a rigid carry case, a pair each of small, medium & large silicon tips, 1 pair of ear stability inserts, a pair of Comply foam tips, a Micro USB cable, a user manual and a cable tidy when storing away. It's great to see this kind of package at this price point and as always, I'm surprised Brainwavz offer so much for the money.
The earphones themselves are of the in ear monitor (IEM) variety and can be worn with the audio cables either over and down the back of the ears or hanging straight down. The former method has the benefit of offering more support to keep the earphones in place as well as cutting down on cable phonics but given the style of cable included with these earphones, either method works well. The housings are fashioned from aluminium and feel solidly built although they are a little larger than other Brainwavz models due to the included battery and Bluetooth support. The earphones are connected to each other by a 60cm cable which includes an in-line remote with microphone.
As always, I always recommend 'burning in' for a good 10 hours or more by leaving the earphones connected to an audio source with a variety of music. Dynamic drivers such as these typically sound a little different after this process and will give their final sound.
Although these earphones are physically larger than the majority of the range, the driver itself is no larger being only 8mm in diameter so they can't quite match the smooth strong bass of some of the higher end models.
Being Bluetooth 4.0 earphones, they include a 60mAh battery which is rated as good for 4 hours of use or 100 hours in standby which is a very respectable figure given then is no bulky add on units. It supports HFP, HSP & A2DP profiles and also allows you to pair with two devices so you can easily swap between music sources. The aptX codec is also supported which should ensure higher quality audio if the audio source is also compatible. Bluetooth range is the standard 10 metres which should pose no issue given the audio source would typically be worn on the user for this type of earphone.
They have a tight, well defined bass with highs that are always audible but not as pronounced as the higher end models. The middle of the audio range is well represented and blend in nicely with the rest of the audio range. Depending on the track, vocals can stand out but not as much when accompanied by a busy backing score. The vocals still sound very good on complex tracks, it's more a case of the mix doesn't allow any specific part of the range to take over. For the record, these carry an official frequency range of 20hz - 20khz and a impedance of 30 ohms.
The better the quality of the track, the more smaller details pop out but these earphones are not as revealing as higher end models and 128kb tracks can safely provide an enjoyable listen.
After using the BLU-100 for around a week, I can see them easily being the go to pair of earphones for sports or gym work. They work well with most types of music but the 4 hour life span limit their utility to short duration use such as a workout or commuting. There are better sounding earphones out there but for the most part, these sound very good indeed and you would be paying more money for a better listening experience.
The in-line remote features a microphone and a small white LED to indicate, charging, pairing and power status. Also included are three buttons to handle things such as play/pause, volume, track skipping, call answering/rejecting and voice dialling. Call quality is as expected with calls coming in nice and clear and the caller also reporting clear audio on their end.
These are comfortable to wear and the selection of tips on offer contribute to this as well as help isolate you from outside sounds. Not everything is blocked out but the vast majority is to make listening to quieter passages easy going and these are on a par with anything else I have tested.
I actually prefer to be able to hear louder external noises when wearing earphones for safety reasons so would consider these ideal for normal day to day use. I did find that I had to use a larger sized tip than normal to get a good seal in the ear. Until I did this, I felt like the earphones were not as secure, even though they were, and the bass was not as pronounced as I expected. Ensuring a good seal is key to getting the most mass out of these earphones.
For the money, you are getting a great Bluetooth earphone with the BLU-100. Brainwavz have put together a great package from the audio and build quality to the supplied case and selection of ear tips. The in-line remote/microphone is really a requirement for Bluetooth use but just adds to the practicality for mobile phone use. I consider these very good all round earphones indeed, and yet again confirms Brainwavz as a company capable of producing excellent value for money in the earphone market.
I got these from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brainwavz-B...=1435664209&sr=8-1&keywords=brainwavz+blu-100
Video review:
The earphones themselves are of the in ear monitor (IEM) variety and can be worn with the audio cables either over and down the back of the ears or hanging straight down. The former method has the benefit of offering more support to keep the earphones in place as well as cutting down on cable phonics but given the style of cable included with these earphones, either method works well. The housings are fashioned from aluminium and feel solidly built although they are a little larger than other Brainwavz models due to the included battery and Bluetooth support. The earphones are connected to each other by a 60cm cable which includes an in-line remote with microphone.
As always, I always recommend 'burning in' for a good 10 hours or more by leaving the earphones connected to an audio source with a variety of music. Dynamic drivers such as these typically sound a little different after this process and will give their final sound.
Although these earphones are physically larger than the majority of the range, the driver itself is no larger being only 8mm in diameter so they can't quite match the smooth strong bass of some of the higher end models.
Being Bluetooth 4.0 earphones, they include a 60mAh battery which is rated as good for 4 hours of use or 100 hours in standby which is a very respectable figure given then is no bulky add on units. It supports HFP, HSP & A2DP profiles and also allows you to pair with two devices so you can easily swap between music sources. The aptX codec is also supported which should ensure higher quality audio if the audio source is also compatible. Bluetooth range is the standard 10 metres which should pose no issue given the audio source would typically be worn on the user for this type of earphone.
They have a tight, well defined bass with highs that are always audible but not as pronounced as the higher end models. The middle of the audio range is well represented and blend in nicely with the rest of the audio range. Depending on the track, vocals can stand out but not as much when accompanied by a busy backing score. The vocals still sound very good on complex tracks, it's more a case of the mix doesn't allow any specific part of the range to take over. For the record, these carry an official frequency range of 20hz - 20khz and a impedance of 30 ohms.
The better the quality of the track, the more smaller details pop out but these earphones are not as revealing as higher end models and 128kb tracks can safely provide an enjoyable listen.
After using the BLU-100 for around a week, I can see them easily being the go to pair of earphones for sports or gym work. They work well with most types of music but the 4 hour life span limit their utility to short duration use such as a workout or commuting. There are better sounding earphones out there but for the most part, these sound very good indeed and you would be paying more money for a better listening experience.
The in-line remote features a microphone and a small white LED to indicate, charging, pairing and power status. Also included are three buttons to handle things such as play/pause, volume, track skipping, call answering/rejecting and voice dialling. Call quality is as expected with calls coming in nice and clear and the caller also reporting clear audio on their end.
These are comfortable to wear and the selection of tips on offer contribute to this as well as help isolate you from outside sounds. Not everything is blocked out but the vast majority is to make listening to quieter passages easy going and these are on a par with anything else I have tested.
I actually prefer to be able to hear louder external noises when wearing earphones for safety reasons so would consider these ideal for normal day to day use. I did find that I had to use a larger sized tip than normal to get a good seal in the ear. Until I did this, I felt like the earphones were not as secure, even though they were, and the bass was not as pronounced as I expected. Ensuring a good seal is key to getting the most mass out of these earphones.
For the money, you are getting a great Bluetooth earphone with the BLU-100. Brainwavz have put together a great package from the audio and build quality to the supplied case and selection of ear tips. The in-line remote/microphone is really a requirement for Bluetooth use but just adds to the practicality for mobile phone use. I consider these very good all round earphones indeed, and yet again confirms Brainwavz as a company capable of producing excellent value for money in the earphone market.
I got these from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brainwavz-B...=1435664209&sr=8-1&keywords=brainwavz+blu-100
Video review:
