SX-907 Bluetooth Headphones

Yes, dear readers, I have recently discovered the world of wireless headphones. Two weeks ago, bored and not feeling like untangling my normal headphones, I decided to peruse the various stores of the internet, to discover if the World Wide Web had anything to tickle my fancy. Lo and behold, on Amazon, I stumbled upon a whole array of Bluetooth headphones and, perhaps more surprisingly, very (and I mean VERY) attractively priced ones. I had previously visited an apple store (to check out the iPad Mini) and had seen headphones priced at £300, so to see these puppies being displayed from £20 to £70 was really astounding! Anyway, before I launch into my review of one of these headphones that I purchased, I will firstly talk pros and cons of Bluetooth/wireless headphones in general.

So what are all the advantages of Bluetooth headphones? Well the fact that you don’t actually have a wire is beneficial in many different ways. The lack of a wire also implies a lack of consequent tangles, so when you decide to listen to music you just pull your headphones out of your bag and you’re ready to go! Also, when I have headphones/earphones, the wire tends to be the weakest link of the whole thing, and thus usually breaks first. When the wire is faulty it impairs the whole listening experience, for example only being able to hear from one ear sucks. With the Bluetooth stuff, there is no cable to be the weakest link, and therefore the thing as a whole is less likely to break. If, like me, you listen to lots of music that requires a certain degree of head banging, then the wireless environment of the Bluetooth headphone will allow you the freedom head bang to your heart’s content! Lastly, but certainly not least, of the pros is the fact that these devices have a range of about 5-10m. So if you are at home, listening off your laptop with your headphones, you can easily just stand up get that can of Red Bull [Felix in no way endorses Red Bull over its imitators] from the fridge, all without the hassle of losing your music.

if you are at home, you can easily just stand up get that can of Red Bull from the fridge, all without the hassle of losing your music.

So with all these pros, you must be thinking, hey, what’s the catch? Well, battery drain is about the biggest con if you are on the move. Users have experienced about double the battery usage on their smartphone when they listen to music with their Bluetooth headphones. So if you’re someone who uses your smartphone a lot, as well as not having much access to a charger all day, wires may still be the best option for you. There are also concerns about safety, as you are open to people taking control. You are pretty much opening up your device to others who also have Bluetooth, although this issue has largely been resolved in recent years. Some people also seem to think that the sound quality suffers with Bluetooth headphones. While this may be true if you have your phone 10 meters away, if it’s in your pocket/bag/immediate area it sounds IDENTICAL to a wired connection of the same price range. So why are Bluetooth headphones/earphones such a rare commodity? Well, I believe that the widespread usage of these devices has been curbed by the expectation that they are really expensive! That’s why I am here to review my own £22.97 headphones; to see if good headphones really do cost a lot, or if bargain hunters can also win!

After I had seen the Bluetooth stereo Headset SX-907 on amazon, I believed it was too good to be true. I mean, how can these things look so nice, do what they do and cost under £25? After lots of debating I decided to splash out, convincing myself by saying I would start going to those free lunches those societies all seem to organise! When my package finally came in the mail, I was extremely excited. I dropped everything and started the arduous process of ripping apart the wrapping. As I got to the actual box, I was slightly disappointed. The picture on the outside had obviously been photoshopped (badly) to include the headphones, and it all looked kind of cheap. Not only that, but there was no user manual, and the headphones just lay in the package. This was not the way I expected my Bluetooth headphone relationship to start.

the widespread usage of these devices has been curbed by the expectation that they are really expensive

However, things seemed to look up from there. The headphones weren’t exactly beautiful (mostly plastic), but for 20 quid I hadn’t expected them to look great. I turned them on, a beep greeted me and, nicely enough, they were fully charged. This was signalled by the light on the side of the headphones. This light is the only way that the headphones can communicate with you, so this little lightbulb has many different variations (red, blue, alternating, it does it all), which is extremely bright. Without the manual it took me a while to pair these babies with my phone, but after a while I got it and it was surprisingly painless, with a nice little beep to confirm I had paired successfully. Then came the big test, the music. I had chosen a set playlist to test everything on my new headphones, and started out with numb/encore by JayZ and Linkin Park, to be the virgin track. The first beat blew me away. For £20, I was hearing some of the best quality I had EVER heard, and all wireless to boot. Also, they weren’t too uncomfortable, and blocked out surrounding sound very nicely. There are buttons on the sides of the headphones, allowing you to do the elementary functions you would normally do on your phone. The volume/fast forward button is a bit haphazard though, and I don’t think I will be using it much as it is hard to use properly without making mistakes. These headphones also have a rudimentary mic, so right away I started a phone call. The quality of the audio was good enough, but the mic was not up to scratch; it was not transmitting well enough. So I guess receiving and making phone calls are not on the agenda. As I turned off the music I noticed a quiet beeping/ “weird machine” sound in the right headphone. Although this does not really disturb me, as my music drowned out this noise, for people who listen to music at lower volumes, this may be irritating.

For £20, I was hearing some of the best quality sound I’ve EVER heard

A week after purchasing these puppies, I have fully charged them once (still going strong) and have used them in every conceivable place (library, train, walking etc). They’ve passed all of the tests with flying colours, using about 6% of my phone battery per hour. This is quite good as it means that I have about 10 hours of listening to music! I’ve paired them to phones, tablets and computers and it has all worked flawlessly. I even managed to use them while my laptop was on the other side of my apartment (with walls in between). Annoyingly though, I have found that the buttons on the side of the headset are very easily pressed, so I keep pausing in songs, but that may just be me. Also, while studying in the library, I did get the complaint that my headphones were too loud. While this may not be a con for myself per se, it might annoy others. My last con for these headphones is that, because they use plastic for everything, wearing these things for an hour did make my ears hurt, as well as my scalp feel very uncomfortable.

All in all, for the price that I got these headphones, they are excellent and I give them a very impressive ⁹⁄₁₀. However, the fact that they deliver in such spectacular manner, my question is why many more people don’t have these things.