Bluetooth Headphones, TaoTronics Bluetooth Headset with Dual 40 mm Drivers, Lightweight Over Ear Headphones with Soft Protein Ear Pads, 22 Hour Playtime, Foldable, Wired & Wireless,Built-in Mic

A quick search for bluetooth headphones on Amazon can often be overwhelming. Not only are there thousands of options to choose from, but many of the headphones look (and probably are) exactly the same. Taotronics are now a well-established brand for wireless headphones, but they too offer an overwhelming choice.Let me start by saying that over the past few years, I have tried around 5 different pairs of Taotronics headphones, as well as owning other wireless headphones by Sennheiser, Apple and Creative. These are, in my opinion, the best Taotronics have made so far. They are certainly not perfect, but it is easy to forget that these headphones are (at the time of writing anyway) only £10.00 including postage. That is, quite frankly, a bargain for the quality you get with these headphones. When it comes to wireless headphones, little details make a big difference about how enjoyable they are to use. Taotronics have obviously listened to their customers and the resulting improvements can be seen clearly in these (their newest headphones).First - sound. It handles different genres of music rather well. Highs are clear with a lot of detail. Mids are pleasant, and lows are well-defined with enough bass to make them punchy. However, sound is always a matter of personal preference. I tend to prefer more powerful bass than not. But I would not describe these as bass-heavy headphones - rather they are well-balanced with good bass. It makes for a pleasant listening experience. The sound is full and detailed but not tinny like a lot of cheap bluetooth headphones on Amazon. So often, cheaper headphones are either one of the two (too tinny or too bassy). These get the balance just right.Again, I would usually describe myself as someone who likes a lot of bass in headphones. However, a lot of companies seem so determined to achieve powerful bass that they let the sound become muffled with bass that is far too strong and dominant, if not distracting to listen to. For those who prefer this kind of sound, Taotronics own TT-BH027 headphones are exactly that - although I would not recommend those for other reasons.Second - design. Taotronics deserve a lot of praise for this. They look sharper and more modern than most other headphones at this price. The flat (rather than round) wire/cable on the neckband connecting the earphones feels well-made and being flat is designed not to tangle. The buttons on the control module are raised and give good tactile-feedback, allowing you to press by feel without having to look at the control. This may sound irrelevant but so many headphones get this wrong, with flat buttons that are flush with the rest of the module or which don't offer any feedback on being pushed. Each earpiece has a magnet in them so that they will clip together when not in use. Little design features like this make a big difference for convenience. Taotronics stopped adding magnets to a few of their newer headphones, so it is good to see they have listened to their customers by adding them back into this latest version. The actual earpieces do stick out of your ears further than some headphones, but this is standard for most wireless bluetooth headphones across all brands. It doesn't make them any less comfortable, they just look slightly different to wired headphones.Third - usability. As above, controls are good and the commands simple. Single press to pause. Volume up/down. Hold volume up to skip forward. Hold volume down to go back. Again - you would be surprised how many headphones overcomplicate this. Short commands play back when you turn on/off the headphones (e.g. "power on") or put it into pairing mode etc. These are useful. Some headphones use a beep to tell you this instead, but in my opinion voice feedback is far better. Some headphones just beep for everything - power on, volume up, down, power off etc which can be confusing if you are e.g. out running in the dark and you press a button by accident.Four - comfort. I have absolutely no complaints here. The earpieces are not overly large or small. They fit my ears very well. I have put my own Sennheister tips on them but only because I happen to know they fit my ears better. The included tips are very comfortable with a good ranges of sizes and hooks for all ear shapes and sizes. The headphones are also very light which makes wearing them for longer periods absolutely fine.Five - battery life. The quoted battery life is 8 hours and I would say this is generally accurate. Naturally your experience will vary with your particular usage.Six - charging. More observant shoppers may notice this is the first version of Taotronics headphones to feature a charging clip, rather than having an inbuilt micro-usb port. As I see it, this has both advantages and disadvantages. On the upside, the headphones can be more water-resistant without having to have an accessible charging port. In theory, a charging cradle could also make charging much less awkward. The tiny micro-usb ports on wireless headphones are so often fiddly and annoying to get into that the attraction of something you can just clip the headphones into to charge 'wirelessly' is obvious. However, the reality is a little underwhelming. The charging cradle feels flimsy and the cable too thin. It may be perfectly durable, but if it isn't I cannot imagine Taotronics would sell the charging cradle separately. You would therefore be forced to buy a new pair of headphones if it broke. My concerns on this are not helped by the way the headphones clip into the cradle. The two pins on the back of the headphone control module have to line up perfectly with the charging pins on the cradle before it clips into place to charge. This isn't difficult to do, but it requires you to fiddle and look carefully at what you are doing. Because the charging cradle is so small, you have to pull on the actual headphones to get them out of the cradle. It therefore requires just as much effort and thought to charge as a normal micro-usb port. If, like me, you have various other micro-usb devices anyway, this means you will now have to bring an extra cable (the charging cradle) with you on holiday / when travelling etc. A moot point perhaps, but it may annoy some people. On balance, I think an ordinary micro-usb charging port would simply have been easier. However, I think Taotronics deserve credit for being innovative and I am therefore not marking the product down for this. The charging cradle works fine and is no less convenient than an ordinary micro-usb port. With a little bit of refinement (e.g. where the headphones slid into the clip rather than clipped in at one precise point only) this could be a very useful feature and far better than awkward micro-usb ports - I hope Taotronics will make improvements for the next version!Seven - misc. The microphone quality is acceptable but not great. It is neither better nor worse than any other brand I have tried and I have therefore not deducted a star for this. When you hold a phone up to your ear, the lower mic (beside the lightning port on an iPhone) is well-positioned to pick up sounds from your mouth. Because of where the control module with the mic sits on these (and all other wireless headphones) it is understandable that the microphone quality would be worse. Granted, some headphones like Apple AirPods appear to have solved this problem - but they are also 15x more expensive!I am also pleased to see there is no annoying beep when you skip a song or raise the volume. Again, Taotronics have obviously listened to customers about some of their other headphones. Some headphones beep or worse have a fade in/out when you skip a song. In my last pair of Taotronics headphones, the beep would cut into and over the song, meaning you didn't hear the audio again until 2-3 seconds into the next song. A minor point, but one that becomes annoying after time. I am glad to see this issue has been rectified in these headphones.___________________In summary - these are excellent headphones for the price. They offer fantastic sound, comparable to headphones that are much much more expensive than these, with a generally good design and some interesting features. Unless you are looking for something extremely specific from your wireless headphones, I would recommend these to anyone. At £10 they really are a better all-rounder than any other headphones I have tried under £50.

Very good for the price. Sound quality is good. Obviously there will be better headphones but much more costly. There is a bit of static on low volumes and the battery doesn't last as long as advertised. I have to charge mine every night just like my phone.Update : good for a short, brief, time. Broke after less than 3 months. Don't buy!

Fantastic headphones that are really comfortable to wear in the ear and with having the magnets on the back you hardly notice they are around your neck when you're not using them. Battery life seems good but haven't used them continuous for hours so have no idea the full battery life. Would recommend for sure

Best wireless earphones I've ever used. Great sound and rock solid connectivity. Light and comfortable to wear with easy to use controls. So good I'm going to buy a second pair.

Bought these after finding the previous model was very impressive.Unfortunately these are more of a downgrade.

Really good headphones that are comfortable and sound really great.

Love them for music - not so great for talking on though

Great item!Amazing for the gym!