She also tells you battery state (“High”, “Medium” or “Low”) when you switch on the headphones. She says nothing if you’re switching it on. If you’re switching it off, a female voice announces that. Right now, I’m thinking of Sony’s S$549 WH-1003XM.But press both up and down at the same time for a moment, and you switch ANC on or off. However, if you price audio quality or value design elements like leather, you may need to pay a bit more for the additional features.
PLANTRONICS BACKBEAT GO 810 BLUETOOTH
So, if you want a pair of noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones without breaking the bank, the Plantronics BackBeat Go 810 are still worth a look because of the competitive price. To be fair, Creative’s product doesn’t come with active noise cancellation like the BackBeat Go 810 and is more aimed at audio enthusiasts. However, even at this mid-range level, you get heavy hitters such as Creative’s SXFI Air, a pair of headphones that I’d say are superior in terms of audio quality but lack some of the polish here. So, Plantronics has one thing going for it. That’s enough for a flight to the United States.Ĭosting S$249, the BackBeat Go 810 are competitively priced when compared to its more expensive rivals. The battery pack promises up to 22 hours of playback with both active noise cancelling and Bluetooth turned on. It helps as well that the Plantronics headphones have decent stamina. The headphones should keep out ambient noise well enough for a commute on the train or bus, while keeping down coffee shop chatter when you want to shut out the world for a brief moment. For this headline feature in today’s wireless headphones, the BackBeat Go 810 do a decent job. The other big thing about the Plantronics headphones is its active noise cancellation capabilities. I certainly liked the zippier presentation on the Massive Attack tracks, though that may be because the lack of detail isn’t as apparent as when carefully listening to a jazz track, for example. When listening to the BackBeat Go 810, I had tried out a variety of tracks, from female vocals such as Megumi Fujino to bass-heavy tracks from Massive Attack. There are some nice design ideas in the BackBeat Go 810. However, much of the audio signature rests with the headphones designer, so you can’t drastically alter how they sound. You can, of course, tweak the sound a little with an app. It’s hard to detect the fine-grain detail when playing back a track.
PLANTRONICS BACKBEAT GO 810 DRIVERS
The clarity that you’d expect from a pair of decent-sized drivers is missing here. What I’m not so sure of is the somewhat veiled presentation. Nor do they lack the dynamism, say, for fast transitions. The 40mm drivers certainly do not lack any of the oomph you expect when it comes to playing back bass notes. I tried both the Bluetooth and wired connections that the headphones support.
PHOTO: Alfred Siewĭuring my tests, I tried out the BackBeat Go 810 with my LG V30+ smartphone and played tracks back from Spotify and Tidal. Not the same touch controls as on other headphones but this still gets the job done. You can’t accidentally tap on the ear cups, say, while navigating the confines of an economy class seat. Okay, this is not as cool as the purely touch-based controls on many other headphones, but there’s a surety about this interface. Using your left hand, you can easily press down to change tracks or stop the playback. Like most headphones in their range today, the BackBeat Go 810 come with touch controls on one of its ear cups. Maybe it’s the shape of my head, so do try before you buy. They are certainly comfortable enough, though I feel the angle of the head band makes the ear pads seem to compress in more than they should. The faux leather on the ear pads can be comfy enough to be passed off as the real thing. What I do like are the BackBeat Go 810’s faux leather earpads, which feel plush enough to pass off as leather if you don’t look at them carefully. Okay, S$249 isn’t bargain basement pricing but that’s not a S$600 pair of Sennheiser or Bowers & Wilkins cans, either.
The plastic ear cups themselves, however, betray a bit of the mid-budget price that the BackBeat Go 810 are retailing for. It reminds you that design is so important in this tough market segment. The matt finish, especially the copper accent in the extensible part of the head band, is attractive. The new headphones certainly look the part, at least on first glance. The BackBeat Go 810 are the latest effort by Plantronics, a brand known more for its office conferencing gear, to make a mark in the now growing Bluetooth headphones market. Plantronics’ BackBeat Go 810 are competitively priced.
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