NoiseHush Freedom BT700 Bluetooth Headphones Review; Great Sound at a Great Price

When it comes to listening to music, watching a movie/tv show or taking calls, a solid set of headphones or ear buds can make all the difference in the world. There are a number of solutions out there that can best showcase your personal style, your personal needs and your satisfy your bank account (your significant other). You need a good mix of sound quality, functionality, style and comfort. At least, that is what I mainly look for. I am not particularly found of in-ear ear buds and tend to lean towards the over-the-ear variety of headphones/headsets. Headphones being the variety that blast sound to your brain, where as headsets can be used for video calls, phone calls and the likes. Taking those things into consideration along with the price point that something is being offered is another factor to consider. Spending $300 on a set of headphones because of a hyped up brand name doesn’t appeal to me much. So lets take a look at a pair that has some great sound with a great price point too. Meet the NoiseHush Freedom BT700′s

What’s in the box

• NoiseHush Freedom BT700 Headphones
• Micro tipped USB cable
• User manual

The NoiseHush Freedom BT700′s are Bluetooth and do not have a physical audio jacks.

Spec rundown

• Bluetooth Version: CSR V2.1 +EDR
• Transmission Power: Calss 2
• Frequency: 20Hz – 20kHz
• Speaker Driver: 40mm Neodymium
• Impedance: 32 ohm +/- 15%
• Sesitivity: 104 +/- 3db
• Charge time: 2.5 hours
• Music listening: 20 hours
• Talk time: 20 hours
• Standby time: 300 hours

All the headphones controls are located on what is designated as the left ear cup. You find your multifunction button, which is your power, music and calls control button, located towards the front.

Just above that multifunction button you have a small microphone hole and then your LED light indicator that displays charging information and connectivity.

In the bottom center is where the covered charging port is located to charge these puppies up. It is covered with a simple little rubber flap. Behind that is your music controls. The placement of the music controls is near perfect to reach and adjust with your left hands thumb.

The music controls allow you to quickly change tracks forward, backwards, pause, play and adjust the volume. Once you remember which direction is which. A simple push or pull on the dial changes the track. If you press it in, it pause/plays the track. To change the volume you lung hold the dial and the volume will adjust in increments.

Each ear cup sits on its own part of the steel frame and is threaded through the covers on the sides of the ear cups. As you can see the ear cup is what moves, not the steel frame. Your connection to the right ear cup is run from the the left ear cup up and over the band and is connected via the red, I believe it is nylon, braided cord.

The head band is a soft, almost leather, feeling material. It is actually called PU Leather (polyurethane) It is super soft and is two pieces sewn over the steel frame. It looks really good and feels really nice.

The ear cups are a traditional round variety and offer a soft outer material that rests on your years and a decent about of padding to keep the inner plastic that is under the cloth from sitting directly on your ears. The steel frame offers just enough ‘push’ on your head to keep the headphones from slipping around but not enough to make your head and ears hurt from the pressure of long term wearing.

How do the HoiseHush Freedom BT700′s perform

performance will need to be broken down into a few little sections since these are Bluetooth only, have a battery inside and of course can make calls.

• Battery: NoiseHush claims that the Freedom BT700′s offer 20 hours of music, 20 hours of talk time and 300 hours of stand-by time. I don’t have enough friends, or time, to sit around on the phone for 20 hours to see how well that claim works outs. I do have plenty of time to rock out while I write for you guys. I charged them up fully, ran them at MAX volume and ran them until they died. I didn’t start a timer, but I did make notes when I powered them on and off. I was able to get 15 hours out of them before they died.Mind you, this was straight Google Play Music streaming at max volumes with the EQ enabled and amped up. With regular settings and medium volume I would imagine they would easily hit the “up to 20 hours” claim. Considering that an average person won’t be rocking out for 15 hours straight in a normal day, this is very acceptable. The last 30 minutes or so though are probably the most annoying. Ever 5 seconds or so there is an annoying triple beep to let you know they are almost dead.
• Call Quality: I usually find that with any Bluetooth device that allows for calls, voice or video, that people on the other end tend to either sound funny, or they remark that I sound like I am in a tunnel. My wife is the first, and usually the only person, I talk to on the phone. She is quick to tell me to take it off speaker or what have you. This is always without me even saying that I am testing something out before hand. She was none the wiser this time. She sounded clear and I was able to hear her without issue and she had no issues hearing me. I was in a quiet environment though, so a loud environment might be different.
• Sound Quality: The sound quality of your music or videos is another extremely important aspect of a pair of headphones. You want clear mids and highs that aren’t over powering and clean bass that doesn’t distort or drown out the rest of the music. Often times you will find that headphones lean one way or the other, or just don’t have enough oomph at all. Then there is the worst, the ones that distort your tunes when turned up too loud. With the Freedoms I was pleasantly surprised that the mix of mids and highs were meshed well with the bass. Nothing seems to over power any other element. I do try to make things break, at least a little, when I can. Listening to some Disturbed through Play Music and pushing the EQ up with bass at the max I still wasn’t able to get the Freedoms to pop or distort. I bounced over to some 2Pac and California Love, again, without any distortion or crackle at all at max volume. (Yes, I am going to blow out my ear one day. I am OK with that.)

• Comfort: The comfort question is a tricky one. Mainly because everyone is different. Every ones ears are shaped different and everyone is used to a certain style. For my smaller ears, these cover my whole ears. With my earlobe on the bottom of the cushion and the top of my ear not quite clearing the top. I have sat here doing the things I do, walking around the house and taking walks with these on for the better part of 8 hours and have found myself adjusting them only occasionally. Not so much because my ears hurt, or they felt hot, more so to adjust their position. They are very comfortable for my ear and head size.

What I like about the NoiseHush Freedom BT700′s

The call and sound quality are stellar, especially for the price point. They offer a great mix of mids, highs and bass without drowning each other out. The headband is wrapped in a soft material with a cushion coupled with the soft ear cups makes them very comfortable to wear for long periods of time. (At least for me). The controls for calls and music work as they should with Google Play Music, Spotify and the Sony music player found in the Xperia Z. The battery life is more than adequate to get you easily through more than one day of rocking out.

What I don’t like about the NoiseHush Freedom BT700′s

The dislikes all come down to personal preference. I would like them a bit better if the ear cups were more ‘ear’ shaped and not round. More like their I7 Active Noise-Cancelling Headphones. I personally prefer the cups cover my ears and over them, rather than on them. It isn’t a huge deal and certainly doesn’t detract from their sound or comfort though. I absolutely hate the triple beep every 5 seconds before the battery dies. It is great to have a reminder/notification that your music is about to stop, but seriously, the final 30 minutes every 5 seconds, that is a bit much. At the same time though, most people won’t push through the beeping until they die completely like I did and it will probably be the last time I ever do.

Overall thoughts

If you need a solid set of Bluetooth headphones that can, most likely, out last your device and your day, the NoiseHush Freedom BT700′s are easily a contender and ones you should take a closer look at. They look great in wither White, that I have here, or in Black. They sound great and give you a well rounded mix of wireless freedom and brain thump. Get this, they are only $45 on Amazon right now. No, that wasn’t a mistype. $45. Well, $44.95 and $44.99 respectively. Even at their listed price on the NoiseHush website for $79.99 they are a great value.

Feel free to pick up a set at your earliest convenience.

UNU Enerpak Maximum Review: 17,000mAh of power in a mean-looking Package

Is there such a thing as having too much power? Probably not, which is why we’ll be taking a look at a high capacity portable battery charger from uNu. The battery pack we’re looking at today is called the uNu Enerpak Maximum which carries a massive 17,000mAh of battery charge ready to be dispensed.

What’s in the box?

Much like its smaller brother, the uNu Enerpak Plus (read the review here), the Enerpak Maximum comes with the bare minimum of gear in the box: the battery itself, a micro-USB cable and a user manual. I have to say that the Enerpak Maximum is quite the looker; that piano black finish is very good looking and the edges on it make it appear quite beefy; that might just be me though. The included micro-USB cable is about 40cm long but unfortunately there is no AC adapter for the cable despite the massive amount of charging required before the battery is full.

How does it perform?

During my tests on the Enerpak Maximum (done using Battery Monitor Widget), I found that overall the battery pack has a pretty standard charge rate, around 45% per hour. This puts it right around the same performance as the cheero Power Plus battery packs we checked out yesterday. While it’s nothing to write home about, you can definitely be sure that the Enerpak Maximum is going to give you the performance you need from your portable charger.

What do I like about the UNU Enerpak Maximum

I’m a big fan of the styling of the uNu Enerpak series and the Enerpak Maximum doesn’t disappoint; its piano black finish is very sleek and you could be forgiven for not realizing it was actually a portable battery charger.

Compared to the Enerpak Plus which had a 1A input, I’m glad that the Enerpak Maximum has adopted a 1.5A input to charge the internal battery which will stop this process taking longer than it needs to. Also, with a 17,000mAh, you’ll be able to charge most devices more than 4-5 times before needing to charge it up again.While the Enerpak Maximum does seem quite large at first, it’s actually barely wider than my Moto G which means it could comfortably fit in a shirt or pants pocket. Obviously this isn’t always an option as it is quite heavy, however it is quite a slimline battery pack for its capacity compared to other large capacity battery packs which can only be transported in a carry bag.

What don’t I like about the UNU Enerpak Maximum

While I am a fan of how the Enerpak Maximum is styled, I’m not a fan of how it is designed; it’s a bit confusing to me that the outputs to the battery pack are located on opposite ends of the body. I also found it a bit weird that the included flashlight is on a different face to either of the outputs meaning that it’s actually quite hard to utilize the flashlight to help you get your charging set up in the dark.

I’m also slightly disappointed that the Enerpak Maximum only has two outputs; with 17,000mAh on tap, it’s entirely feasibly to charge a whole host of devices, even if it’s only at 1A for each port, but it seems like a bit of a waste not to have the option. That said, 17,000mAh is obviously a prime option if you are backpacking and don’t know when your next charge up is going to come from.One of my past concerns with the Enerpak Plus arose again while reviewing the Enerpak Maximum; the battery charge level LED on the top of the unit is a great tool for seeing how much charge there is left in the unit, however once plugged in, the LED turns off, giving no indication of whether it is charging your device or how much charge is left. I realise this is probably done to conserve power, however with devices that don’t have LED indicators for charging, it can be a bit frustrating to need to do this.

Overall Thoughts

There’s a lot to like about the uNu Enerpak Maximum, particularly for the perennial traveller that requires a lot of battery power on the go. Unfortunately, there’s also a lot about the Enerpak Maximum that is relatively pedestrian; only two outputs, average charge rate, and a few other niggling issues keep it from really standing out from the crowd. Which brings us to the price: MSRP $129.95 USD. That’s a pretty steep price for a portable battery charger that really has no stand-out features besides its sleek looks. That said, if you’re happy to shell out the extra few dollars because you like the look of the Enerpak Maximum, you likely won’t be disappointed as it does exactly everything you would expect it to do.

If you’re interested in taking a closer look at the uNu Enerpak Maximum, you can visit the Amazon page (links are down below) or you can visit the uNu website here to see what else they have in their product range.

Cheero Power Plus Danboard Version Battery Pack Review: Danbo goes Mobile!

Danbo, or Danboard, is a relatively well-known character around the world; if you don’t think you’ve ever specifically heard of Danbo, you’ll probably recognize him in one of these photos from the well known photo project called 365 Days of Danboard by Arielle Nadel (check out the whole Flickr album here). The Danboard character actually originated from a manga called Yotsuba&! who unsurprisingly plays the role of a robot made from cardboard boxes. I think Danboard is absolutely adorable, so when I saw Danboard featured on the cheero Power Plus battery packs, I had to take a look.

The three products we’re going to be looking at today include:

• cheero Power Plus 10,400mAh Danboard Version – MSRP $69.95 USD
• cheero Power Plus 6,000mAh Danboard Version – MSRP $44.99 USD
• Revoltech Danboard figurine, cheero Version – MSRP $49.99 USD

If you want to take a closer look at all the products in detail, I’ve put together a unboxing/review video to give you a better idea of how all these products look in person:

As you can see, some really great, well-made products to be seen, especially if you’re a fan of Danboard. As I mentioned in the video, I did do some more scientific testing of the battery pack charging performance which I’ve detailed below.

cheero Power Plus 10,400mAh Danboard Version

Using Battery Monitor Widget to keep an eye on the charge rate, the 10,400mAh Power Plus managed to charge my Moto G from 20% to 50% in a pretty spritely 40 mins despite starting off quite slowly. According to the recorded results, this would result in about 45% charged in an hour, though we can see from the history tab that at its peak charge rate the Power Plus was pushing almost 53% per hour. Compared then to the uNu battery pack I reviewed a few weeks ago which could only achieve about 37.5% per hour, the cheero Power Plus has shown some pretty impressive charging performance.

cheero Power Plus 6,000mAh Danboard Version

Likewise, like its 10,400mAh counterpart, the 6,000mAh starts off slowly, however does end up achieving quite a quick charge rate. Over the course of the brief test, the 6,000mAh Power Plus managed a very respectable 42% per hour which is likely more than enough for most people in need of emergency charging.

What I like about the cheero Power Plus battery packs

• As I mentioned at the start, I’m extremely fond of Danboard, so the styling of both the battery packs is a big win in my books, and will be in yours too if you’re a fan or looking for something a bit different.
• The charging performance from the battery packs is very impressive and is more than suited to your required uses
• Both Power Plus battery packs are quite small and very portable, especially with the addition of the pouches that each battery pack comes with.

What I don’t like about the cheero Power Plus battery packs

• While I’m sure it does require a bit more battery power, I’m a big fan of lights staying on or blinking while charging is occuring which the cheero battery packs don’t do; particularly with the Moto G where there isn’t a light to signify the device charging, it’s difficult to tell if the battery pack  is charging or not.
• On the 10,400mAh Power Plus, I’m a bit disappointed that they opted to add lights and a button on the face instead of making the eyes lights like on the 6,000mAh version, but that’s probably just personal preferences

Closing Thoughts

I really like both these cheero Power Plus battery packs; they perform the job they said they would and they look extremely unique. The fact that they’re themed and so well-made, you’ll definitely be the envy of every Danboard fan around.

If you’re interested in picking up any of the products featured in the review, we’ve provided Amazon links below. In addition to that, all the products are currently on sale on Amazon reduced by up to 43% so make sure to take a look. As an additional note, if you are hoping to purchase from outside the U.S., cheero has very kindly provided details on how to do so which we have included below as well.

Ordering on Amazon outside of the U.S.

• Search “cheero” on Amazon.com
• Click “~new from”

• Choose the seller’s condition “cheero offical seller for outside US market. As for shipping date and rates, please check “International & domestic shipping rates”.”

• Proceed to checkout as you normally would

Lumsing 11000 mAh 5-Port Power Bank Review; Yes, Lots of Power

With summer right around the corner I think it is time for many of us to start thinking about how we are going to keep our devices charged up on these longer than normal days. If you are anything like me, then you venture out of the house during the colder, and shorter, winter months for work or food. Beyond that, you stay home quite often. With the weather warming up and the days getting longer, you are going to inevitably be spending more time away from the safety of a power outlet and your chargers. That means it is time to start thinking about how to keep all your gadgets and gizmos charged while camping, riding the trail, boating or just sitting somewhere in the great outdoors. External power banks, (battery banks, power packs) are one solution that a person can use to stay powered up and we have one here from Lumsing for you guys to take a look at.

What’s in the box

• Lumsing 5-port 11000 mAh power bank
• 2 USB cables
• 5- Charging tips
• Carrying bag

The Lumsing 11,000 mAh power bank measures in at 3.7 x 3.15 x 1.10 -inches ( 93.98 x 80.01 x 27.94 mm) and weighs in at 0.63 lbs ( 290g).

The outer casing is a hard plastic that feels durable. I squeezed it pretty hard to see if it flexed and it didn’t. On the front you find 5 USB ports stacked on top of each other. Each port offers a different amp rating aimed at charging specific devices. The ports are 0.5A, 1A, 1A 2.1A and 1.3A. In that order too.

On the front of the unit you find your charging port to power up the 11,000 mAh battery. You will also find your power/battery check button and 4 blue LED lights. In typical fashion, each light represents a 25% increment of the 11,000 mAh battery. The maths come down to 2750 mAh per light.

The contents in the box offer up 2 micro USB cables. One that is 2 feet long and one that is a foot. You also get 5 micro USB converter tips that can be placed on the end of the cables to charge other devices. I recognize the older 30-pin Apple charger and the mini USB, but the other 3 eluded me, and the documentation and website fail to mention what they are for.

How does it perform?

Performance is always a good question when it comes to external battery banks. Each user, device, and situation is different. In my case I keep things set to a fairly consistent base. I use Battery Monitor Widget on 15 minute charge intervals on my Sony Xperia Z. The Xperia Z has a 2330 mAh battery built-in. That is important because with smaller batteries you will charge quicker, where as larger batteries will appear to charge slower. In this case I ran through the 2.1A port, the 1.3A port and the 1.0A ports. The results are as expected.

You can see where each charge was started and switched over. The 2.1a started at 2:06 and I pulled it at 2:20, almost 15 minutes. It charged up the Xperia Z 12%. The 1.3a went from 2:20 to 2:35 and pulled in 11% and the 1a charged from 2:35 to 2:47 and charged 9%. Yes, the last one was cut short by a couple minutes, however the charging rates are still valid.

What I liked about the Lumsing 11,000 mAh Power Bank

having 5 ports is pretty nice, especially with a family of devices that tend to travel often. Many of the more popular battery banks offer 1 or 2 ports, but if you have a couple things that need charged up on the go, you usually end up carrying two or more battery banks. Being able to charge my phone, my wife’s phone, tablet, headphones and a Bluetooth speaker in one location is pretty nice. Particularly if we are camping and need to keep things organized and together.

What I didn’t like about the Lumsing 11,000 mAh Power Bank

It isn’t so much a dislike really, as it is just not needed in my life. I am referring to the various amps per port. If you have, and plan to need, to charge various devices, Nintendo DS, MP3 players or a PSP, then it is invaluable that you can charge each one with its intended amps to not ruin anything.

Overall thoughts

11,000 mAh should quite easily charge up my Xperia Z from dead to full a minimum of 4 times. Actual math comes out to 4.72, but one needs to take into account the drain and strain your device puts on it while it charges, if you are using it while it is charging and if you have other devices plugged in also.

The battery bank size, 11,000 mAh vs cost ratio is pretty good too. The Lumsing 11,000 will only set you back $25.99 and comes in white or black with free Prime shipping.

MEElectronics EDM Universe In-Ear Headphones Review: the perfect companion for the EDM-Oriented

Electronic Dance Music, or EDM, has really taken off in recent years with multiple large-scale music events every year in cities all over the world to share and celebrate this movement of music. As you can imagine, the average EDM listener is going to prefer a very specific sound when looking for personal audio equipment, something that MEElectronics is trying to provide with its EDM Universe line of products. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the MEElectronics EDM Universe In-Ear Headphones.

Let me first off say that I am not a practiser of EDM culture, so my perspective may be a bit more conservative. However, I still think the EDM Universe earphones are fantastic looking. As well as the Peace/Blue that we’re taking a look at today, the earphones are also available in PLUR/Black, PLUR/White, Love/Pink, Unity/Gree, and Respect/Purple; EDM fans will know why those names are important.

What’s in the box?

As usual, MEElectronics does not disappoint with the included equipment with added bonuses.

Apart from the headphones themselves, you’ll be getting 3 additional, different sized sets of ear buds as well as a very stylish carry pouch for your earphones.

As an additional extra, for those of you who feel inclined, there is also a rubber wristband which has the four tenets of EDM culture engraved on it: Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect.

How does it sound?

I have been advised that the EDM Universe earphones have basically the same features as the MEElectronics M9P earphones but with slightly tweaked audio (see our review of the M9P here). That is definitely true of the EDM Universe earphones, however the tweaked audio makes them a completely different beast.

Having its roots in EDM, you would expect the bass to quite heavy, and heavy it is. That’s not to say that the rest of the audio is neglected; the treble range appears to be well represented and still remains very sharp, though the bass does take centre stage here. Turning it up did not appear to affect them at all, with no hint of peaking and the earphones were still able to deliver excellent, clear, and bassy music. Listening to EDM is obviously where these earphones shine and while they lack the obvious depth that you might get from headphones, they still provide a great atmosphere and sound.

As you might expect, this makes the EDM Universe earphones a very formidable EDM companion as the bass will be thumping your eardrums at very close proximity. So close that I had to take a break every so often while reviewing them, though I trust that those of you who do frequent raves will probably not have such feeble tendencies. The take home message: the EDM Universe earphones have thumping bass and are thumping loud. With that in mind, I definitely wouldn’t recommend them for anyone who doesn’t want a bass-heavy set of earphones as the bass can be a little overpowering.

What do I like about the MEElectronics EDM Universe In-Ear Headphones

I love that MEElectronics has tried to fully embrace the EDM culture by adopting a familiar scheme for the colour choices and adding extras to help assert the ideals behind EDM. Whether or not you like EDM, the EDM Universe earphones are definitely an eye-catching accessory which looks the part.

Normally, I’m not a huge fan of in-ear headphones for one main reason; they always seem to fall out. I’ve heard that you can ram them into your ear, but that just makes your ear canal sore. With the EDM Universe earphones however, the earphones seem to stay firmly in my ear no matter what I’m doing. It seems to be a combination of the earbud itself as well as the elongated earpiece which rests inside your ear as well, which works out well if you’re the type of listener who likes to apply yourself to overzealous dancing.

People who have read my reviews before will know that I’m a huge sucker for included bags and pouches. Naturally then, I love that the EDM Universe earphones come with a stylish, colour-matched pouch that you can carry all your gear inside. It seems durable enough as well, so you’ll be able to toss it into your bag without any concern about your earphones getting damaged.

As with the price of all of MEElectronics’ other products, I like that the EDM Universe earphones aren’t extortionately priced. At MSRP $49.95, it’s a very fair price for a pair of in-ear headphones with great sound and a unique appearance. It’s not quite as cheap as the M9P that they are based on, but there’s enough extra oomph and inclusions to make you feel like it’s worth your cash.

What don’t I like about the MEElectronics EDM Universe In-Ear Headphones

As with my complaints with the M9P, some of those carry over to the EDM Universe earphones. While the overall appearance of the earphones is visually impressive, there are parts of it that just look cheap or a bit lazy.

The lack of themed text on the cabling looks a bit unusual and the re-used in-line controls which feature on so many of MEElectronics’ headphones look more than little out of place with such a stylishly designed earphone. I won’t say that these are deal breakers as I am sure these design choices keep costs down and in the overall scheme are very minor features, however they do somewhat affect the sense of quality around the earphones.

Overall Thoughts

The EDM Universe earphones, like many of MEElectronics’ products, are great bang-for-your-buck; you won’t be disappointed by what you get in the box and you definitely won’t be disappointed by the performance of the earphones themselves. While there are a few niggling points that I could see being improved in the overall design, the price tag of $49.95 is a pretty good deal, particularly if you’re looking for some way to really show your true EDM colours and enjoy your music too.

If you’re interested in checking out the MEElectronics EDM Universe in-ear headphones, you can visit the product page for them here, or if you would like to check out any of MEElectronics’ other products, you can visit their main website here.

Gallery of Photos