If you are following me on any social media, You would know that I have been searching for a good pair of Bluetooth earbuds. A lot of people recommended the Jaybird X2 but when I was trying to order it from Amazon.com I saw a big Price tag of more than $200 including customs. I really couldn’t afford $200 for a pair of earbuds so I checked the Indian market and still wasn’t able to find something good in my budget. I then checked Brainwavz which had recently launched and I also did an article on them here. Fortunately, I got access to their Bluetooth earphones the BLU-100 which really made me think sorry for those who bought those $200 earbuds. So let me tell you my opinion about these earbuds.

Brainwavz BLU-100 Review

Box Contents

 

If a pair of earphones does not have any accessories with it then it does not worth your money. Opening the box, we get a Hard case for the earphones. Inside the case on one side, we get the earphones itself and on the other  there are 2 pairs of rubber ear tips and one pair of Comply Eartips. It also includes a velcro strap which can be used to tie the earbuds. You also get a single pair of ear fins which act as a hook for best placement in your ear. I would have liked to see something which could reduce the size of the wire as it is a little long and if someone wants to get the cable behind his head then it may seem to be a little too long. I also own a pair of Soundpeads QY7 and they cost lesser than these but includes a notch by which you can loop the wire.

The case is of high quality and will protect your earbuds well. Even if you step on the case, It will hardly affect the earbuds inside.

Design and Built

Whatever you say but the design of the earbuds matter. No one wants to look like he is wearing a 10 year old Bluetooth receiver. The Brainwavz BLU-100 is one of the best-looking earbuds I have ever seen. They are small, thin and looks damn good. The earphones have a cylindrical design with a bit of depth on the sides. The front face of the left earbud has Brainwavz logo while, on the right one, we get a rubber cover which secures the micro-USB port. The earbuds also have the marking of right and left.

These earphones are made of high-quality metal and won’t broke If by chance they fall, I have intentionally dropped them several times just to see how well they are made up and as you can see from the pictures, It hardly got any scratch.

Music Quality

This section may be a little long, but it is worth it. the Brianwavz BLU-100 can be as load as 100 decibels which eliminate the low sound factor These headphones can go as loud as you want and will suffice even people who find difficult to hear things :p. The BLU-100 has a small diaphragm which produces good quality sound.

I tested the music with several mods on my Music player and it ran all smooth. It worked amazingly on Rock, Jazz and Pop and on the other bands too it did perform Okish. The earphones are bass intensive and if you raise the bass you will actually feel that pumping effect. You can’t get the quality of maybe some over the ear headphones but for their size I would say they are pretty well.

Bass Heavy

As said the bass of these is pretty good. I played some EDMs and as an audiophile I would rank them as around 65%. My dad also likes music, but he isn’t that big lover so I he listen to some bass intensive songs and he voted 95% which is exceptional.

Mids

This is the part where I think the earphones did really well. The mids were crisp and clear with a gentle depth. Normally earphones in this range struggle lot in Mids.

Lows

The low end also was good and crisp but was surely not the best sound I ever heard.

Overall If you consider Price to Performance ratio, Adding in the fact that they are Bluetooth enabled, They sound outstandingly good. This was something which I normally don’t except for the Bluetooth earphones in this budget.

Bluetooth Range

Normally when a person uses Bluetooth earbuds, He places the phone in his pocket but still I tested the Bluetooth range. I kept the phone at one room and went to the next to next room. I was able to get the range of about 8 meters. It started to struggle on 9 meters, but it was disconnected after 15 meters. Here disconnection doesn’t mean no sound but disconnected from the mobile. After disconnection, the music pauses and then you need to connect it from the Mobile phone. The BLU-100 has Bluetooth 4.0 so this range is acceptable.

Buttons

The Blu-100 have 3 buttons in a separate remote attached near to the right earphone. The remote also has a Mic as well as a pin hole LED for the notification. The LED is hardly visible and Most of the times I struggle to find the little hole for the light which is really disappointing, but all the commands can b heard in the earphones so it might not be a big con for you.

If the button on either of the side is pressed, The volume increases or decreases. If the buttons are long pressed, the song changes. The button in the middle act as a power plus pairing switch. You can hold the Power button to Turn them on, Hold it to turn them off and keep on holding them while turning on to turn on the pairing mode.

Battery

The Brainwavz BLU-100 comes with a 60mAh battery which according to Brainwavz should last about 4 hours while in my usage I was able to get 4 and a half hour of usage in one charge. The battery of these earphones lies in one of the earphones which is pretty amazing as it also has the speakers in it. On the charging part, I was able to charge them to 100% within 2 hours which I won’t say is amazing but is not at all bad. My QY7 charges in about two and a half hour and plays for about 5 hours so I would say the battery is fair enough seeing the form factor.

Comply Ear Tips

You might have heard of these Eartips named Comply before. These are the ear tips made up of a foam kind of material. These are patent earbuds and only Comply makes them. If you have to buy them separately it may cost you about Rs1500 just for one pair while brainwavz have partnered with Comply to provide you with the earbuds for free which is really nice of them. These tips ensure that the earbuds do not drop from your ear when running or doing any physical work. If you are using the comply earbuds then you don’t need the ear fins as the Comply Ear tips do the work.

You get a single pair of Comply Eartips which can be a bummer for those with large or small ears. Thankfully Medium size fits me well so I had no problem wearing them. The Comply tips also have a great amount of noise isolation which I wasn’t expecting for a foam based ear tips. I have been using the comply Ear tips from the day one and I am not going to the rubber ones anytime soon.

Final Verdict

Overall I would say that these are the best Bluetooth earphones you can buy under Rs.5000. The headphones sound great, have a great Design and built and will last you more than 4 hours which could have been better, but 4 hours is also good for some light to heavy users. If you want to get some good pair of earphones for your daily use including gym, You can go with brianwavz BLU-100 without thinking twice.