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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2024
I was looking for a pair of shop-rugged ear protection muffs with bluetooth that I can use to listen to music while working, listen to conference calls as well as answer periodic phone calls. They basically do this but have some significant limitations that aren't mentioned.
For one, the "active noise cancellation" is really "active noise pass-through" and this feature does not function when you are listening to music or on a call. The muffs are extremely good at damping out noise. Better than any of the "passive" earmuffs I've used. This is good! These earmuffs have an electronic noise passthrough function that allows you to selectively pass through ambient noise using the units microphone(s?). You can set the level. This is nice when you are operating equipment where you need to be able to hear it a little better or otherwise need to be able to hear but still have good protection. This feature is disabled when bluetooth is active which means all ambient noise is completely cancelled. That means your music or calls can be heard best, but you can't hear ambient noise at all. Whether this is good or bad for what you are doing is up to you.
The second thing which IMHO is a worse problem is that this unit has minimal hands free bluetooth buttons. You can't mute/unmute the microphone through a button. You can change songs and answer calls but it is through a single button which is somewhat irritating to use. This is especially disappointing for a device where you might be working in dirty or wet conditions and not want to be handling your phone. The lack of a mic mute function seems in particular like a major oversight.
The "push to talk" feature works only with the "Zello" app which I have no interest in using. If I could remap this button to a mic mute function I would be significantly more pleased with these. Might even bump it up a few stars.
The noise cancellation is adequate to be understandable in a loud environment. I was able to make a call and converse with the other person while standing next to a very loud CNC machining center that was running full bore. They said there was a lot of background noise audible on my end BUT they could clearly understand me. I have used sophisticated noise cancellation bluetooth headsets that would handle this situation better, but of course don't offer the hearing protection.
They are comfortable and fit better while also wearing eye protection than other muffs I've used.
Beyond the limitations mentioned I'm fairly pleased. I am not super excited about the fact that it uses AA batteries instead of being rechargeable but I could put rechargables in it. I am not a serious audiophile but I think the music and audio quality is decent. I plan to keep these and maybe I will update the review as I learn more about them.
For one, the "active noise cancellation" is really "active noise pass-through" and this feature does not function when you are listening to music or on a call. The muffs are extremely good at damping out noise. Better than any of the "passive" earmuffs I've used. This is good! These earmuffs have an electronic noise passthrough function that allows you to selectively pass through ambient noise using the units microphone(s?). You can set the level. This is nice when you are operating equipment where you need to be able to hear it a little better or otherwise need to be able to hear but still have good protection. This feature is disabled when bluetooth is active which means all ambient noise is completely cancelled. That means your music or calls can be heard best, but you can't hear ambient noise at all. Whether this is good or bad for what you are doing is up to you.
The second thing which IMHO is a worse problem is that this unit has minimal hands free bluetooth buttons. You can't mute/unmute the microphone through a button. You can change songs and answer calls but it is through a single button which is somewhat irritating to use. This is especially disappointing for a device where you might be working in dirty or wet conditions and not want to be handling your phone. The lack of a mic mute function seems in particular like a major oversight.
The "push to talk" feature works only with the "Zello" app which I have no interest in using. If I could remap this button to a mic mute function I would be significantly more pleased with these. Might even bump it up a few stars.
The noise cancellation is adequate to be understandable in a loud environment. I was able to make a call and converse with the other person while standing next to a very loud CNC machining center that was running full bore. They said there was a lot of background noise audible on my end BUT they could clearly understand me. I have used sophisticated noise cancellation bluetooth headsets that would handle this situation better, but of course don't offer the hearing protection.
They are comfortable and fit better while also wearing eye protection than other muffs I've used.
Beyond the limitations mentioned I'm fairly pleased. I am not super excited about the fact that it uses AA batteries instead of being rechargeable but I could put rechargables in it. I am not a serious audiophile but I think the music and audio quality is decent. I plan to keep these and maybe I will update the review as I learn more about them.
