Ghostek EarBlades Wireless Bluetooth Earphones review is mixed

Today, we would love to have a very expensive pair sent to see just how well they perform, although it’s always good to test out the budget models as well, seeing as they are likely to sell in bigger numbers.

Our friends from Mobile Fun sent the Ghostek EarBlades Wireless Bluetooth Earphones to us to review. We offer an unbiased opinion, as it would not be in our best interest to just point out all the positive points and leave out the negatives.

If you are on the market for a set of earphones that deliver decent sound, although does not come with a large price tag, then these could certainly be worth considering – well that’s going on what the company states, and so we thought we would see just how true this is.

On first impressions, the packaging does suggest you are getting a premium product, and we do like how you are able to see the product staring at you through the clear packaging. Inside you get the earphones themselves, a set of ear-tips already fitted, along with two other size options. There is also a USB lead to charge the earphones up.

In terms of its design, its a very strange one, because they do not have the sort of flexible cable that you are use to, and they are not solid either – rather something in-between. There is a sort of flexible plastic cover that uses the wire that connects both speakers together, and so allows these to resist water that bit more. The rubber covers on either end also help to make these more water resistant, although do add a bit of cheapness to them.

Fitting them on your ears the right way can be a bit of a challenge because they do not keep their natural shape, and so always wants to curl up on you. No matter how many times we tried, we just could not get the hang of it, and took several tries to open them up to fit in the correct ears.

However, once they were fitted to the ears, we did like how we could alter their position up and down to get the perfect fit. Piaring was also very simple, as you just had to hold your finger on the on/off button and wait for the beep, and then turn Bluetooth on your device and it will automatically pair. We did not have one issue with pairing, which is a good sign. We had heard a few people complain about the maximum range of these using Bluetooth, but it’s not an issue for most of you, seeing as though your device will be in very close proximity to you – especially for those that use them to go out running.

Some people will say that these are cheaply made, but we beg to differ, especially when you consider their price. Ok, so we do get that they feel somewhat flimsy, but this is the compromise they had to make in order to stick with its design.

So how do they perform? When listening to normal pop music these headphones did tend to make the music sound as they it had too much bass, and it’s even worse when you listen to music that has a great deal of bass. However, it’s not that much of an issue if you do not mind going into the music settings for your device and play around with the equaliser. We did find that just selecting reduced bass made a huge difference, and so was far more terrible when listening to the music for longer periods of time.

Having said that, this is where we did have a concern, because these earphones would often feel as though they were pushing a bit too hard in the ears, and even worse if wearing a hat that covers the ears, as the design of them are somewhat bulky. You do get use to it after a while, but you have to go through that uncomfortable feeling for a while first.

In terms of its main features, they are:

• 1-Year Limited Exchange Warranty Direct from Ghostek
• Connect the EarBlade’s to Virtually Any Bluetooth Enabled Device from A Distance of 10-Meters
• EarBlade’s Have an Aerodynamic Design to Reduce the Drag on Your Performance
• Easily Control the Volume of Your Calls & Music, Answer & End Calls, Hold or Reject Calls, Switch Songs or Call Waiting All From the EarBlades without Touching Your Device
• Ghostek’s EarBlade’s Amazing Sound Lets You Listen To Your Beats While Working Out
• IP66 Water Resistant Lets You Run & Sweat As Much As You Want Without Skipping a Beat
• The Ear Hook Is Flexible & Curves to Your Ear to Sit Comfortably & Securely
• The Ghostek EarBlade’s Come With Bluetooth 4.1 Technology Which Provides Crisp Clear Sound

Our overall impression: While these are waterproof and provided a flexible design, they do seem a tad bulky, and so can make them feel a little heavy and uncomfortable at times. The sound is crisp, but can have too much bass, and so you will need to play with the sound settings on your device. There were a few times when the music would often skip, although this did seem to happen less and less the more we used these. As for battery life, it did last well, but far less than stated.