Wireless headphones are experiencing a second youth, they are beginning to enter the mainstream and displace wired headphones. And the situation is unlikely to change in the next five to ten years: the most popular smartphone in the world, the iPhone, will now be released stably without a 3.5 mm jack on the case, and other companies have followed Apple into the “future without wires”. So get ready to sing a swan song to the mini-jack - most likely his days are numbered.
The set with your new phone is guaranteed to include an adapter to connect ordinary headphones directly, in the "old-fashioned" way - according to marketers, they were also used by Australopithecines. You can live, but sooner or later you will get tired of waiting for the phone to charge and you can watch the next rap battle of two burly bloggers from YouTube at night. Or you get tired of buying a new "lace" for 800 rubles. every two months so that you can always forget him at home. Your patience will run out and you will turn to Bluetooth headphones, the creators of which promise to save you from all these problems. You don't even have to unravel the wires.
In an ambush on the way to a wonderful wireless future, another attack awaits: excellent "plugs" for every day can be bought for two thousand rubles. And the price for Bluetooth headphones comparable in sound starts from 8-10 thousand rubles. Unless, of course, we do not consider the options from "Uncle Xiao's Basement", which recently started a page on AliExpress.
Wireless headphones - and especially good wireless headphones - aren't cheap. That is why the Plantronics BackBeat 500 is interesting - this model is positioned as an option for those who want convenience and good sound, but do not want to pay much. Everything as we love!
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Дизайн BackBeat 500 может вызывать противоречивые мнения. Кому-то он покажется удачным и свежим, особенно на фоне однотипных черных накладных наушников. Тут вам и угловатая дужка, и несколько цветов (лично мне больше всего нравится белый с оранжевым) на выбор, и необычное, тонкое крепление чашек. Другие же подобное «модное, стильное, молодежное» сочтут детским, игрушечным. Причины для этого есть: наушники сделаны из пластика и даже не пытаются скрыть свое не самое благородное происхождение.
For six thousand rubles, in my opinion, BackBeat 500 looks decent. And they seem comfortable: where the headband touches the head, the creators have inserted a soft lining in order to secure the headphones tightly without pain. The BackBeat 500 is lightweight and is adjustable on both sides so it fits perfectly on your head. But over time, the main drawback of headphones in general emerges - they begin to put pressure on the ears and cause discomfort. After two to three hours, the auricles seem to become numb and respond with pain when touched. It goes away quickly, but if you have tender ears, keep this in mind.
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If you believe Apple, wireless technology is akin to magic, and if AirPods are taken as the main "artifact", then the BackBeat 500 is magically stuck somewhere between the past and the current generation. Yes, they don't know how to instantly connect to your smartphone. And they do not stop the playback of songs, as soon as you remove them from your head. And they are not even able to call Siri. But in terms of reliability and stability of work, they are not inferior to AirPods in anything. During three weeks of testing, the BackBeat 500 never "fell off" from the smartphone, did not start playing songs in "chunks" and did not catch a temporary stutter. When watching a video, the picture does not lag behind the sound, and the radius of the headphones is such that I could leave the phone in one room, and at the same time calmly wash the dishes in the kitchen.
Multiple devices can be connected to the headphones at once. It's convenient: first watch the video on your laptop, then grab your phone and listen to music on your way to the store. And yes, the BackBeat 500 has a built-in microphone, so they can be used as a headset.
All controls for the device are placed on the left cup: there, using mechanical buttons, you can switch tracks, stop playback and raise the volume of the playing track. The volume rocker is located separately, and this is not entirely logical. I realized what it was for only after a week of testing, and even then by accident. True, no one bothered me to look into the instructions and figure it out on the very first day.
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But we buy headphones not to read manuals, so now - about the sound. In a word, he's decent. Considering how much we are talking about, and the fact that this is about wireless headphones, it can even be called good. Lovers of low frequencies will be disappointed, but for my taste, the bass is okay: it is felt in the mix, but does not go to the fore. The sound lacks detail, it is flat - but this is judging by the BackBeat 500 by the standards of full-fledged Hi-Fi headphones. They work out their 5-6 thousand, and in all genres, from electronics to hip-hop and extreme metal. Soundproofing is standard: in the office or at home you will not hear extraneous sounds, in the subway or on a noisy street you will understand where you are, and with your eyes closed. There is no noise reduction system here - it did not fit into such a budget.
On the other hand, the bundle includes a cord that can be used to connect the BackBeat 500 to any device equipped with a 3.5 mm jack. And there you can also find a rag cover that will extend their life. And for such an attitude to the Plantronics configuration - a fat plus.
The battery life also deserves warm words. It claims about 18 hours of music playback at standard volume. These numbers are not far from the truth: the BackBeat 500 is enough for me for two or three days of active use. And by "active" I mean "listen until your ears hurt, with lunch and dinner breaks."
The Plantronics BackBeat 500 are the ideal “first Bluetooth headphones” that every experienced music lover is asked about by friends and acquaintances. This model will give the owner a minimum of problems, sounds good, looks nice and, most importantly, is inexpensive for its capabilities. Maybe the BackBeat 500 will not delight audiophiles with its crystal sound and will not impress with the design of the person who has seen the work of Bang & Olufsen, but as “headphones for every day”, as an option for listening to music on the subway, it is difficult for them to find an equivalent replacement.>