Aftershokz Bluez allow you to enjoy your music as a background to your life, instead of isolating you from it. Once you put the headphones on, the music is “there”. You can be walking down the street or talking while in the office. If someone comes in to talk to you there’s no need to take an earplug out or take off your over-the-ear headphones. These headphones work by resonating the music through your bones instead of using the ear drums (whi
ch convert the audio waves we hear to vibrations our inner ear can pick up). They are great. They are meant for running, as they allow you to pay attention to your surroundings while immersing in your tunes, but work great anywhere else you want to listen to your headphones but have to keep constant contact with your enviroment.
Once paired with your phone you can make accept and calls, play/pause, increase/decrease volume, and change songs. All of which can be done in the midst of running. The accept call and play/pause buttons are each located in the left and right ear portions respectively. They are very easy to find and press without looking. The Bluez go for $120 and are up to par with other high-quality headphones I’ve used. They really provide a surround sound feeling. You can’t really tell if the music is coming from the headphones or around you. A lot of the bass is lost. I feel it missing and it’s barely audible, which is something that comes from putting the headphones on a “good spot” on your head.
Pairing them is a breeze. Once they are turned on, the Bluez wait about 5-10 seconds before going on discoverable mode. After that you can pair them with your favorite device and start listening to music in no time! They have great battery life. I charged them and been using them for 2 days non-stop. At $120, plus local tax and shipping, they are up to par with other quality headphones but allow you to listen to your surroundings. You can get them at Aftershockz.com for $120 and on Amazon for $99.
Pros
Great build.
Headband to hold the headphones in place while moving.
Easy to pair and controls work perfectly.
Cons
Headband is a “one size fits all”.
Sometimes headphone does not hold up well.
Slight movements can completely cut off the music.
I’d be interesting in knowing if they’d work under a motorcycle helmet. The combination headphones/earplugs haven’t been working well for me thus far.