ARCTIC P253 BT - Bluetooth (V3.0+EDR) Stereo Headset with Built in Microphone - Enjoy Wireless Music and Hands Free Calls - 20 h Playback Time / 400 h Standby

After reading a few of the reviews I was a little worried, but I'm loving these so far. I only use headphones to listen to podcasts on my way to and from work so I'm only wearing them for about 45-60 minutes at a time. In that period of time I experience no discomfort and the sound is pretty good. It easily paired with my Galaxy S4 with Android 4.2.2. Follow the simple instructions and have the headphones off and then turn them on by holding the center button until the LED light flashes between blue and red then scan for Bluetooth devices on your phone and pair. It's that simply. Range is very short, about 12 feet, so no leaving the phone on the charger while you wander around the house listening to music or podcasts, but its plenty far enough if you keep you phone with you. The controls are simple and easy to get used to and so far they work great. I can turn the headphones on, it automatically resyncs to the phone and when I tap the action button it starts playing the podcast I paused last night before bed. So far I haven't had to reconnect or anything, so I'm wondering if that's more an issue with the paired device than the headset. To test the microphone I called my wife and she said it sounded great. There was a little bit of an echo, but I was just in the other room from her so I suspect that's just because she was hearing my direct voice followed by the voice over the phone. I'll do more testing, including in a noisier environment, a little later. Even if they don't do well as a headset in a noisy environment, I really got these to use as headphones to listen to my podcasts without having the cord get tangled in my jacket or lose the rubber pieces on the earbuds. For that its working perfectly so far so I'm giving it a 5-star rating as they really exceed the expectations I had for such an inexpensive headset.Update after 1 month: I've had these about a month now and I have found one minor issue. The little rubber plug that covers the USB port is very difficult to get to seat just right so it stays closed. I've only had to plug them in for charging about three times so far so I can't imagine it is an abuse issue or a normal wear item. It's just poorly executed. That said, this is such a minor issue I'm not even considering dropping a star over it. I just want to warn people that may want to operate in a wet or dirty environment to pay particular attention to getting the cover closed so it stays in place.Update after 17 months:I can't believe this thing is still going strong almost a year and a half later. I'm still getting two to three weeks of usage off a charge using it about 1-2 hours every weekday. The only complaint I have is it isn't an over the ear (to block outside sound a little better) and the little rubber cover on the charging port is finicky to get closed. I would definitely recommend this again, and if it ever breaks I'm ordering another.

I bought these when I got tired of buying new wired earphones because their cable easily gets damaged. I have been very satisfied with this product. Here is some detail. (I am not an audiophile)BatteryThe battery is 400 mAh and is very nice. I am always travelling on a daily basis so I watch a lot of videos while travelling everyday. When I am not travelling I am on my PC surfing and watching YouTube using the same earphone. I have no other headphone and I only charge it twice a week (every 3 or 4 days) for two hours. I really love the battery life. Honestly, I don't know how they do this but it is amazing. Arctic has done a good job. My only complain is that it doesn't give much time after battery low notification. You won't have more than 15 minutes after battery is low, I would prefer at least a 15 minute one.Sound QualityI am not an audiophile but the sound is pretty decent. In fact, this is the best sound quality I have experienced. I am satisfied with it. I had some problems with the phone mode and listening mode getting mixed up on pc but it worked after I disabled the mic on PC. That is the only choice with a price range of this kind so I am not complaining.DesignIt is very easy to put in bag or pocket because it can be folded down. But I like leaving it on my neck when I am not listening. It is comfortable that way. It looks big on my ears but that can't be helped because the battery needs it.Overall I am very satisfied and I recommended it to my friends. Almost 6 of my friends wanted to buy it but unfortunately Arctic doesn't ship to Turkey. (Update: they now ship to Turkey) Buying it from other dealers was expensive. Buy this and you won't regret it specially if you are coming from cable earphones.

UPDATE Apr, 2019: After 2.5-3 years of abuse being folded and shoved in pockets and bags, the left speaker died due to a wearing out the wiring somewhere in the right ear. Still worth it for the quality and the price of the headphones. Placing an order for a new pair.UPDATE Jan, 2016: After over two years of daily use and abuse while running for exercise, or walking from place to place in occasional rain, the left speaker blew out after a good three foot drop onto concrete. I immediately purchased a replacement set. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the product had been updated.Some of the changes in the update, the new model has the black buttons instead of silver, and all of the system sounds (powering on/off, connection found/lost, low battery) are much nicer. The best update is that the time from initially pushing the power button to establishing a connection with my phone is substantially quicker.I use these every week day for several hours a day while walking and using public transportation. The battery charge lasts between 2.5 to 3 weeks, which is pretty awesome. I have also learned how to use the controls and they provide no frustration to me at all.Jun, 2013 - When using these for running, the sound quality is great and they stay in place. I do have to make sure they are in just the right spot to keep it from hurting my ears. For me, that spot is I put the headphones on with the wrap around bar pushed all the way down to my neck, then look up. Doing that puts them in a good spot for me.I have only tried once, but the controls for using this when making a call confused me. First the audio kept coming out of my phone, then it came through the headset for 2 seconds before hanging up. It probably works just fine if you know how long to push the multi function button, but I didn't get it working before I just gave up.

Me gusta mucho escuchar música por la calle y hace años que aborrezco los nudos de cables que se montan con cualquier auricular que enganche en mi móvil. Este no es el primer modelo de auriculares bluetooth que uso, aunque es el más barato y el que mejor ha funcionado. Para empezar, la batería es interminable, me duran casi una semana yendo al trabajo a diario y con unas cuantas sesiones de gimnasio. Son muy cómodos. Al principio temí que las almohadillas fueran excesivamente grandes, pero una vez puestos se acostumbra uno rápidamente y no se da cuenta de que los lleva. Para correr y para el gimnasio son sólidos y se enganchan con facilidad. La conexión, al menos como mu Galaxy S3, es estable y no produce saltos ni interferencias. Es bastante más de lo que puedes esperar de este tipo de productos en este rango de precios

Ho acquistato queste cuffie principalmente per andare a correre e per le mie escursioni in Mountain Bike.All'inizio ero abbastanza scettico visto anche il prezzo piuttosto basso la prima cosa che ho pensato è stata " deve essere la solita cinesata" .Premetto che ho sempre usato auricolari e mai cuffie di questo stile ad archetto e sopratutto bluetooth ,e vi basti pensare che dopo aver ricevuto e provato queste per una settimana , ne ho subito ordinato un altro paio .Le cuffie hanno una qualità audio eccellente , buoni bassi , un volume esaustivamente alto , e pure molto belle a vedersi .Le uso per andare a correre e per fare mountainbike nelle peggiori strade di montagna , e non ho mai avuto problemi , rimangono belle salde e ferme una volta indossate.Indossarle con gli occhiali da sole non è un problema , ovviamente bisogna un po abituarsi ad avere un po di spessore dietro le orecchie.PRO:-Le carica della batteria è notevole , durano veramente piu di 10 ore...fin ora non ho avuto modo di vederle morire per poca batteria, ma posso assicurarvi che le ho stressate davvero tanto e una giornata intera me l'hanno fatta senza problemi .-Il segnale è stabile , a volte e raramente capita di non sentire piu la musica per quel mezzo secondo ma ho fatto varie prove e questo dipende dalla posizione del telefono , mi spiego : ho ristabilito che se si ascolta la musica per tot tempo avendo il cellulare nello zaino , se lo si sposta e lo si mette in tasca dopo un paio di secondi manca per un attimo il segnale audio ... stessa cosa succede se si ascolta la musica mentre si corre in bici , se si scende dalla bici e si cammna a piedi le cuffie per un mezzo secondo perdono il segnale , è come se facciano un riassestamento, non so come definirlo .-Il sudore per ora non sembra danneggiare il rivestimento in similpelle delle cuffie, ma è presto parlarne ora questo lo vedrò tra un paio di mesi.-E' veramente comodo rispondere a una chiamata in arrivo con l'apposito pulsantone .CONTRO :-Trovo un po scomodi i pulsanti di Volume + e Volume - (ma questo è molto soggettivo , basta abituarsi )-Non viene fornita una custodia per portarle a presso .-L'archetto non è regolabile.________________________Concludo dicendo che se cercate un paio di ottime cuffie bluetooth questo è il miglior acquisto che potete fare , sono a dir poco spettacolari .Ne comprerei anche un altro paio giusto per averle di scorta !

ARCTIC P253 BT BLUETOOTH (V3.0) SPORTS HEADPHONE W/ MIC FOR SMARTPHONE TABLETS MP3 PC BLACK/SILVER I picked up these bluetooth headphones because I wanted a cheap wireless alternative to in-ear earphones, for listening to music. I noticed many of these generic design headphones on Amazon, so at about £11/12 they were worth a shot. It's been nearly a year since I purchased them, and I've used them on and off throughout that time. Here's what I think:PACKAGING - They arrived in a tiny, cheap brown cardboard box, ready folded. Not a great first impression (but if packaging is an issue, you could go for slightly pricier versions - at about £15 or so, which are packed more professionally).ACCESSORIES - Just a mini usb-to-usb charging lead, about 2.5 feet long. Note that this is a rarer, mini-usb connection not the more common micro usb (these leads are readily available for £1 on the high street). There weren't any instructions included with mine but luckily another reviewer had kindly explained how to use them (see below).CHARGING - Takes about 1.5 hours. Just plug the micro usb connector into the right earpiece (there is a convenient rubber cover over the port) and the usb connector into a laptop/usb mains charger. A red light appears on the right earpiece. Once charged, the red light turns off. The packaging says these give you 20 hours use which seems pretty accurate to me. When they need charging again, there is an intermittent beeping sound while you use them.DESIGN - The pictures on Amazon give a fair reflection of the headphones - not the most stylish or high quality finish, but certainly not unattractive either. The plastic finish is cheap but practical. The earpieces stick out from your ears about 2.5cm. The overall build quality seems decent enough though, as mine still function perfectly after nearly a year of fairly frequent, careful use. They also fold up but I never use this feature (with any headphones) as it will eventually stress and break the wires thus rendering the headphones unusable.FIT/COMFORT - These weigh next to nothing. When you initially put them on, they may seem uncomfortable, but this improves considerably with time. I would say they offer adequate comfort (although this will depend on the thickness of the top of your ears). The ear padding looks quite cheap, but again, it does an adequate job from a comfort point of view. With regards to fit, particularly the headband, this will depend on the size of your head. Smaller heads mean the headband tends to protrude like a loop and can catch on your shirt collar /coat hood/seat headrest (I find the solution here is to reposition the earphones by twisting them up or down so the headband is either near the middle of your head or lower towards your neck - problem normally solved). Larger heads will mean the band stretches out more, flatter to your skin. So the only adjustability feature is the fact the headband stretches out or remains a loop depending on your head size. Either way, the headphones stay put and won't slip off.CONTROLS -- TURNING THEM ON/OFF : On the right earpiece, you have a central button (with a phone receiver symbol) which you need to keep pressed until the blue line turns on with a few beeps (the headphones are now on) and do the same again to turn them off (a red light appears briefly with a beep).- ACTIVATING BLUETOOTH: To pair to your bluetooth device, keep the central button pressed until it beeps and an alternating red/blue light flashes. This means the headphones are visible to your device and ready to pair up.- OTHER CONTROLS : Pressing the central button once while in use acts as a pause, and pressed again, resumes playback. There's also volume and skip track buttons. The controls are very practical and easy to use, the quality of finish may be bog standard but they are robust and do the job.SOUND QUALITY - Many similarly priced headphones/earphones emit a sound resembling a wind tunnel. But here is the big surprise - the sound quality on these is quite simply superb, especially considering the price. These out perform or match pricier headphones because the sound is very clean, clear, rich and dense, and there's no noticeable hiss or murkiness. Regardless of the type of music you listen to, you get an impressive sound with all the detail coming through. However, despite what the product description may claim, there is no noise cancelling. Other than the fact your ears are quite loosely cupped by the earpads (they measure just over 5cm in diameter) as soon as you go outside, you will hear all external noise, and unless your really increase the volume, your music will become far less audible. These do leak sound but it's not to an embarrassing level, unless you crank the volume up really high.BLUETOOTH - Firstly, these claim to have rang of 10 metres from your device and I would say it's less, more like under 20 feet, which is still impressive for the price. I have noticed that the bluetooth suffers from interference, when I've been walking passed buildings/built up areas, or even crossing a road, the signal will cut out for a second or so, sometimes this happens repeatedly (like a stuttering), but it isn't too frequent (it just depends where you are walking). These can only be used via bluetooth, so there is no option to connect them with a jack lead - once your charge has gone, you need a back up pair of headphones when you are out and about. The bluetooth will drain your device's charge more quickly, these probably cut down usage time of my smartphone by about 30% - 40%.CONCLUSION - There is no doubting some minus points such as the lack of noise isolation, no option to connect with a jack lead, occasional interference and the comfort merely being adequate - but all this certainly isn't enough of a good reason not to buy them. The key conclusion here is what you could realistically expect from headphones costing £11/12. Overall, they don't perform like pricier headphones, but then why should they? Considering the price, these surpass (realistic) expectations, the fact they are bluetooth and offer such a high quality sound at the same time, is quite hard to believe. For anyone looking for durable bluetooth headphones on a budget, I would highly recommend them. ARCTIC P253 BT BLUETOOTH (V3.0) SPORTS HEADPHONE W/ MIC FOR SMARTPHONE TABLETS MP3 PC BLACK/SILVER

Je n'ai pas l'habitude de poster des commentaires sur les produits que j'achète et a fortiori quand ils sont bons...J'ai décidé de déroger à la règle car je suis ravi de mon achat.Je dois vous avouer que je n'en attendais pas tant d'un casque BT à €16...Appairage: effectué en moins d'une minute avec mon Galaxy Note 3. Veillez à ce que le BT soit activé sur votre GSM, casque ETEINT, appuyez 1 fois et maintenir le bouton central enfoncé. La lumière bleue apparaîtra et continuez à appuyer jusqu'à ce qu'elle clignote en alternance du bleu au rouge. Lancez un scan des appareils BT avec votre tel et il le trouvera immédiatement.Le son: très bon. Bonne profondeur et bon rendu des basses comme des aigus. Bluffé !Qualité: bonne. L'arceau plastique et ses trois charnières semblent effectivement plus fragiles, mais ne devraient pas poser de problème si utilisation correcte. Ce casque se plie sur lui-même en trois fois pour n'occuper que peu de place. On serait tenté de le mettre dans une poche tel quel, mais personnellement, je le range dans un étui à lunettes rigide...pour éviter la casse.Confort: très bon. Se fait oublier lors des séances d'écoute prolongées. En utilisation sportive, il ne saute pas et reste bien en place. Au niveau de l'oreille, bien plus confortable qu'un intra auriculaire, mais ça, c'est une question de goût et de feeling !Signal: très stable. Peu ou pas d'interférences. Je peux m'éloigner de mon téléphone de plus de 5m sans problème. Lors d'une utilisation nomade en environnement urbain, quelques rares interférences peuvent apparaître... comme avec chaque appareil bluetooth ceci lié à l'environnement technologique...Il est intéressant de savoir que la plupart des téléphones ont leur antenne BT à leur dos... et que la paume de la main peut obstruer ce signal (j'ai ce cas de figure avec un Acer 350). Il est donc intéressant, si vous portez votre tel dans votre poche, de positionner celui ci avec le dos tourné vers l'extérieur... Pas de problème lors du port sportif en brassard (sans doute lié à la proximité des deux appareils).Vous l'aurez compris, je recommande cet article. Vous pouvez l'acheter les yeux fermés... et les oreilles grandes ouvertes !

j'ai un problème d'oreille, donc je ne voulais pas d'un casque intra oriculaire..là, le produit est confortable, bon son...je l'utilise pour la salle de sport (ellyptique, rameur, vélo) mais il est un peu lourd pour la course. j'avoue qu'il est pas très esthétique. Il est gros, un peu lourd au début...mais avec le temps on l'oublie. Il tient bien sur l'oreille, ne serre pas. Par contre le casque semi rigide n'est pas réglable, donc pour moi, un peu trop grand, pas ajusté...mais je vais faire avec...pour le prix.Côté connexion, j'adore. Le manuel est écrit uniquement en anglais..si, si..la version française est téléchargeable..enfin, si cela marche!! Mais franchement, même moi qui ne suis pas douée je suis arrivée, seule, à le connecter à mon téléphone.Pour les appels, je sais pas ce que cela donne, car c'est pas son travail premier en ce qui me concerne. donc, pour moi, bon produit...bon prix...faut voir dans le temps. J'enlève une étoile, car la livraison se fait en point relais et pas dans ma boite aux lettres...donc pour moi , cinq jours a l'attendre encore pour aller le chercher!!