Soundpeats M-10 in-ear headphones

Okay you have to admit; metal anything means instant rock and roll.  You don’t see murdering clowns chopping up people with plastic chainsaws, biker guys don’t have plastic chains attached to their wallets, and it’s certainly never a “full plastic jacket” in fun and fabulous colors…

So, it stands to reason, then that the Soundpeats metal in-ear headphones just scream “don’t mess with me” don’t you think?  Or, at least, “don’t mess with my lobes…they mean business.”

The business:  

SoundPEATS In-Ear Headphones Noise Cancelling Earphones Stereo Earbud Headphones with Mic and In-line Control (Metal Housing, Flat Cable, Crystal Clear Sound) - M10 Black

Packaging:  Pretty basic plastic box with a clear visual of the earbuds inside.  Nothing fancy here, but if you spend any time on my blog, you know I get really excited when I get a carrying case with my headphones.  It’s not about the box though; the box is going in the trash.  It’s about the phones, so let’s move on. 

Don't judge your book by the cover...as they say.

Extras:  You get small, medium and large ear tips.  You may have to play with these a little bit.  Usually, I am a medium tip, but this time, I needed small in order to get a good fit.  The tips are soft, but not as soft as I have gotten with other earbuds.  Comfortable though and fully closed not semi-closed or finned), making for a more isolated sound. 

I love me some extras, but when the headphones are nice, its not always about the stuff.  Okay, I love the cases.  When they come with cases, I get giddy like a little fat girl in a candy store. Just not gonna lie...

The cord is flat instead of round, and a nice feeling rubber with no wire noise when it rubs on your clothes.  I like how the flat cord fit into the earbuds themselves, it feels very sturdy and looks very clean.  Also, where it splits off at the Y in the cord, it is a small connection, but seems very sturdy at that point as well.  The cord feels good at the accessory button area; however, I also look for a sturdier connection here, since you fiddle with this spot a lot, more than at the Y-branch area I think, when answering your phone, skipping songs or (on some models) volume.  I feel like there needs to be a bit more reinforcement here, especially at the top of the accessory button, going to the right earbud.

Okay, they didn't actually come with all that dust.  I review in a house with pets...and men.  Ignore the dust part. 

I want to put in there that the accessory button is very simple.  There is only 1 small button here that will allow you to answer an incoming call.  If not on a call, you can pause and play with 1 click.  Two  quick clicks will allow you to skip a song. 

The buds themselves are heavy.  Hardcore heavy metal is…heavy.  This brings be back to the fact that I needed the smaller ear tips.  Being able to insert them a little deeper in the ear canal kept the heavier earbuds in place.  Another little trick is to have the wire pointing upwards, so you can wrap the wire around and behind the ear to take the pressure off a bit.  It sounds like they are 40 pounds when I mention this—not at all; however, you will notice a difference between the weight of these and lighter wood or plastic buds. 

Sound:  With the right sized buds, they are sound isolating and the sound is surprisingly clear and balanced for such inexpensive headphones.   Really pleasant to listen to, not too much bass, but not too little.  Really a nice, even, balanced sound.  No crackles, no skips, no wire noise.  They are a pleasant surprise for such an inexpensive pair of headphones. 

I would recommend these to someone looking for something cheap and decent.  They feel “richer” than a lot of headphones in the same price range.  A little heavy to wear, but with the metal buds, wearing the wire over your ears helps.  The sounds is good, they are durable, the connections are good, simple function—they do what they are made to do and they do it rather well for the money.  

Everything but the...

Music.  But before we get into that, lets talk about the good things. Good things like, dancing around the kitchen while my angry emo teenagers roll their eyes...Huh!?  HUH!?  Okay, get on with it.  Jeez.

SoundPEATS Bluetooth Headphones In-Ear Sports Earbuds Secure Fit Wireless Earphones with Mic (6 Hours Play Time, Bluetooth 4.1, aptX, Sweatproof) - Q15 Black

It was so nice to receive a set of headphones that comes with a case.   All too often I get really nice headphones that might have a nice box to present them in, possibly a fabric bag if you’re lucky, but no case to actually carry them in with you.  I like the option of having a pair of headphones to drop in my bag and not have to worry about them tangling around all my things, in a case that protects my headphones.  Good first impression right out of the box.

Look Ma!  A case!  A case! WOOO!!!

   

You get stuff.  Not only do you get a case, but the unit comes with extra semi closed earbuds as well as closed tips  in various sizes, ear hooks in various sizes, a line buckle for size and line clip to clip to your shirt, along with a USB charging cable.

So many things!!!

Okay.  I was really excited about the case.  

It's the little things, people.  

  

The instructions said that the unit was partially charged, though when I plugged them in for charging, the light was red (indicating charging), but turned blue (charged) after only 10 minutes.  Pairing went well on my android phone, though if you do have a few problems, the instructions cover any troubleshooting you may have.   You are allowed to pair to 2 devices with the same headset, though only 1 can play music with the headset at a time. 

All functions worked well with my android phone with wonderful voice prompts for incoming calls, pairing, low battery, out of range, etc.  Nice and clear pleasant voice. 

The button that rules them all.  

Keep this photo in mind.  I will be referring back to it in a minute.  

The buds themselves were fairly comfortable.  After wearing them for a couple of hours though, I started feeling a little discomfort on the right side.  They stayed in the ear canal without any problems.  I didn’t have any problems with them falling out, especially when using the wire button to keep it all snug when moving around. 

Kind of dude-ly I think.  Good dude-phones...

Inevitably, there are things I am not exactly happy with.

One more pretty picture before we point out the sad parts.  

 

The connections are sturdy both going into the earbuds as well as the multi function control, though the multi function controller is not sealed or rubberized like I like to see in “sweat proof”
headphones.  (see above)  This both makes the unit easier to clean, but I feel like it is more protected from sweat, which is an issue during hard workouts.  This is a factor that I want to mention, because I feel it’s important.

I experienced very little wire noise, however, there was a little (noise traveling up the wire where it rubs on my shirt, or when I fumble with the control).  It was minimized when snugging down the wire. 

Sound:  I was mostly disappointed here.  The sound is rather tinny, quite treble with very little bass balance.  I dislike too much bass; however, it is important for good sound balance.  When comparing the sound with other headphones I have, I felt there could be improvement here.  After a while, I almost felt like a headache was inevitable if I kept on using them.   I have to remove 1 star here.  I considered removing 2 stars, but I exchanged the semi closed tips with the fully closed tips, which isolated the sound quite a bit and improved things but not enough to be happy with the sound.

I think that things like talk radio, audiobooks, or smart TV watching might be more compatible with these particular headphones something with minimal dynamics.

Lastly, range.  I was able to get about 26 feet from the source before serious skipping and cutting out occurred.  The unit says 33 feet is the range.  I go by useable range that you can actually hear the unit without interruption. 

The Bottom line?  Suggested retail for these are $50.00, though they are on sale right now for a little less than $20.  I have experienced better sound from lower priced headphones.    That really is a defining factor for me.  To use in a less dynamic environment, such as I described above, 20$ is a good price.  For 50$ I would expect more sound wise.  Though, the extras are excellent.

I was very impressed with the presentation, the fact that I didn’t have to go out and buy a case, the extra tips and hooks, clear and detailed instructions in English, complete with troubleshooting guide was great.  They are light, the earbuds themselves are sweat proof (I question the multi function button a bit in that regard), nice looking.

SADLY, the sound was very disappointing to me and, while the extras are really nice, the really important part is the headphones themselves.  If they don’t sound nice, the extras mean very little in my opinion.