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.

Coulax Cx10 in-ear headphones

These headphones came in a really nice box with a magnetic seal.  Very gift worthy and nice looking.  Inside, the headphones were set inside a foam and cardboard cutout.  Not as nice as the outside packaging, but still gift worthy and functional as a protective case.  

You get 3 different sizes of earbuds, a wire clip, and a very short USB cord.

The instructions are very clear and well written and explain very simply what the accessory buttons do and how they should work.  I will get into this more in depth later on in the review. 

The headphones are very nice looking.  The silver accents on the earpieces themselves are sharp looking and would make a nice present for a man. The rubber hooks help hold the earpieces in.  I think this is a nice touch and surprisingly comfortable.  

I do think the earpieces are a little big and a tad bulky and I did have some trouble with the right one falling out.  I tried all the different earbud sizes to try to remedy this, but maybe I just have an odd right ear.  The description boasts lightweight, and I agree.  For the size they are lightweight, though weight and bulk are 2 different things in my opinion. 

I was able to listen to music most of the day with these.  Again, the instructions say 8 hours of continuous music on a full charge, though I am happy to say I had them going about 10 hours total. 

I did experience occasional skipping while in use, with the phone right there in my pocket.  I am not sure why and it was barely noticeable; however, when testing range, I sat my phone down and walked away, getting about 7 meters away before there was regular, noticeable cutting in and out problems.  The description says up to 10 meters is the range.  I disagree.  They were not usable or enjoyable at more than 7 meters and were not usable at all at 10 meters.

The sound was actually very nice.  Isolating, though not noise cancelling in the sense that all outside noise is not gone.  The sound is rich and clear without excessive base, crackling, or at all “tinny.” As a medical transcriptionist, I tried these out on voice files as well as music, just to see how they would do.  Voice files are completely different than music files in how you need to listen to them, so I can comfortably say that I am rather picky when it comes to hearing voice files.  I am happy to say that I would be more than comfortable using them for work, as even the more difficult files were coherent.  This is actually a good thing, as transcriptions are often tethered to their computer with wires and big bulky over-ears headphones. 

These are sweat proof in that everything is sealed and rubberized.  I like the rubberizing anyway, because there is no wire nose, i.e. you don’t hear the wire rub on your shirt.  The wire is very flexible, though I would have been happier to see more reinforcement at the connections, especially on the right side where there is a little more abuse from using the accessory buttons.  

The accessory buttons.  Remotely, I was able to answer the phone, reject a call, manage the volume, and with 2 taps of the multi-function button, I was able to dial the last number dialed.  This was the only remote call-out feature I had.  Everything else had to be done from the phone.  Sometimes, the music went lower while on a call and did not pause.  I did not like that at all.  

Sometimes it did pause completely while on a call, but I was not at all in control of that. It kind of did what it wanted to when answering the phone, though it may simply be the player I was using.   Phone-wise, the description says Android compatible, so I am unsure why there was difficulty there.  

I was unable to pause, fast forward or repeat a song with my phone.  I was, however, able to do those things when synced up with my laptop. This may be due to my media player.  I was not able to confirm this anywhere online, so I will write it here as an issue I had personally on my particular phone.

Bottom line:  Nice sounding, nice looking, workout friendly headphones.  A nice, affordable gift.  Personally, I would say these would be better suited for a man simply because of the bulk of the earpieces and overall style.  I think they would fit a bigger ear better.  If you are looking for something wireless, affordable, clear sounding, and functional for an active individual, I feel that these would be a good choice.