Bluetooth Sport Headphones

I'm writing this review 3 years after purchasing these because I just can't believe how good these headphones are for the price. I was skeptical in the beginning because they were so cheap, but I chanced it, not wanted to spend hundreds of dollars. But right from the start the sound and base was super impressive. So then I thought maybe the battery life would be garbage, but I use these when I'm landscaping, at the gym, running, biking, long boarding and at the beach and so far they have never died on me! I've dropped them, gotten them caught on things, stepped on them, and still no issues. So then I thought that I'd probably get them wet one day and they'll be goners. Well this morning I couldn't find them anywhere and realized I had put them through an entire laundry cycle wash and dry. And guess what? They still work perfectly! It's been three years and still going strong. I'll never get rid of these and if one day they break I'll just spend a few bucks on another pair and save money for more years to come!

I've used this product maybe 5 times or so since purchase. Made sure to put it back in it's cool little case once done. The sound quality is great for the price and convenience, but there are some oddities or drawbacks to it. For one, the connection takes a while to establish. I've tried this product with 2 phones just to be sure, and it takes a solid 30-60 seconds to establish a connection to the headphones. There's also an issue with the battery. When I first received it, I discharged the battery completely like you're supposed to do with any battery powered item, and then fully recharged it. Took it to work with me the next day and everything was perfect, battery life was at 70% by the time I stopped using it. Thought that was pretty stellar since it was a total of 6 hours of usage. I went to use it the next day and the battery read 50%... thought that was odd, but ok, no biggie. I'd at least have several hours of listening time before it hit 0%. Wrong. Once the 30% mark rolled around, it keeps saying "BATTERY LOW" every minute, even when listening to something. As annoying as it was, I kept listening to my music, but after about 5 mins of "BATTERY LOW" the device shuts off. I turn it back on, and immediately get another alert, and it shuts off again. I look at the battery life expecting it to read 0% but it still reads 30%. I grabbed my other phone thinking it was getting a false positive percentage and that one also says 30%. After getting it home and recharging it that night, I tested the whole scenario out again, listened to music all day for a total of 7.5hrs. Same situation. 30% rolls around "BATTERY LOW!" and then shuts off. Like I said, not a bad device by any means for the price, but you get what you pay for in every instance, so just make sure you keep in mind that a 30% battery life readout means next to nil. EDIT: Since posting this, Otium has reached out to me and offered to replace my headphones. At this point, regardless of functionality, any company that is willing to do that after 2+ years with no warranty extension is good in my books. Hopefully the issue hasn't persisted past my original set. UPDATE: Unfortunately the new set received by Otium was similar, only it took far less time to start up. After 5 months of use, the new set of headphones began battery issues, where a full charge would read 100% on my phone, and then after one song, immediately drop to 30%, scream "BATTERY LOW" at me for 2 more mins before dying at 0%. The battery has a short lifespan, worse than most. At this point, I recommend just going with a higher price product with warranty included.

You'd never guess by looking at me, but I go to the gym nearly every day. For the past year I'd been using Shockz OpenRun bone conduction headphone for the gym as I like to listen to music and YT videos while working out, but I also like being able to hear around me in case anyone wants to compliment my sweet azz. (For the record: this hasn't happened yet, but it might, and I need to be prepared.) The problem is, in the past 12 months I've been through two pair of the OpenRun headphones. The first set stopped taking a charge and wouldn't turn on the first time it got cold here in Colorado and the second pair worked flawlessly until the rubberized exterior wore out at the control buttons. I didn't want to spend $150 again for the same thing so started looking around for other options. I'd been planning on using an older pair of SoundCore over the ear headphones that were broken, but serviceable, when Amazon showed me these Optium. The SoundCore's didn't have an IPX rating and most of the reviews said they didn't last long under stressful usage, so I was excited to see these not only having an IPX rating of 7 but also their price tag (I purchased them for $20) I bought them hoping they would suffice, and they came the next day. I have worn them to the gym a few times now and I can honestly say they're perfectly fine (for the price). Do they have amazing sound quality? No. I can hear the music and videos without worrying about them falling off my head, though. Do they have bass because we're all about that bass, right? Not really, no. But, then again, neither did the Shockz. In fact, my Amazon Echo 2 buds have more bass (and ANC) than these. At the gym, that doesn't matter to me since there's lots of clinking and clanking anyway. Plus, no ANC, which means I can hear around me when someone wants to whistle at my legs. Don't get me wrong, these aren't "tinny"' they're just bass-less, so, more treble. Kind of like my truck speakers ... but that's another story. The IPX7 rating also means I don't have to worry too much about them when I'm in the steam room or sitting in the spa. I don't swim or shower with them, though. The charge lasts far longer than either my OpenRuns or my Echo 2s, but these have significantly less features to drain the battery away. Earlier today I took a call while listening to music through these and the other end said I sounded fine, so that's a plus. These Optiums came with a small case, some ear pieces to adjust to your ears and a small clip you can use to clip the wire to your collar or headband, if you're that guy (don't be that guy). For $20 I couldn't be happier with a headset. I would have given these 4.5 stars, if allowed, as opposed to 5 if they had any sort of bass.

1. Convenient: They are very simple to use- initial pairing up as well as everyday use. They also fit well over my ears conveniently. 2. Effective: They also provide a good sound experience. They may not provide the high bass effects of some of the high-end headphones which are far more expensive, but I definitely think they cancel the noise around me while using them and give me an enjoyable music experience. 3. Affordable: They are very affordable and it's been close to a year that I have used them. For $20, I think its a good value 4. Customer Service: After using it for close to 10 months, they stopped charging, so I just reached out to customer service [although I didn't expect much since I bought them for $20]. However, they were so responsive and sent me a replacement in 3 days. They provided swift and caring customer service which is unlike some of the higher-end brands. Hence, overall I am very happy with my purchase. Update: This is an update to my initial review. As I mentioned previously, they sent me a replacement when the initial product had stopped charging. This time around, by my own mistake, I damaged the earphones. I reached out to customer service and asked if they could provide me with a replacement as a part of the warranty; and once again, they were so responsive and sent me a replacement right away. I am very pleased with the customer service as this is something very rare and most brands don't care about the customer once they have sold them their products. Showing that the customer is more than a mere money vending machine and actually caring for them can go a long way to making a person's day. Thank you so much and I hope they keep this up!

**Update** - After using for a couple months it's pretty clear that my calls are not clear. By this I mean the mic on this newer version is poor. I have had several different people now say they can't hear me well. If you need to only listen then these are fine but if you need to make calls I wouldn't recommend them. This is my second set. First set lasted over 7 years of pretty regular use. I like them overall. They were reliable and sound good enough that I bought a new pair recently. Definitely not as good as my Bose but they are good for things like calls and working out, especially for the price. Hope this second pair lasts as long. The one thing I wish they would change is the low battery warning coming up sooner. When it comes up you might have 15 to 20 min left before it dies. Too short. Should be more like an hour.

Feb 20, 2019 - There's isn't a whole lot I cant say about this headset that hasn't already been mentioned by countless others, they're just that good. Battery life is great for how small they are, hours of listening time and days of standby. The fit comfortably on my ear and do not slip out despite any exercise activity I've thrown at them. They're also comfortable to use for prolong periods of time, unlike previous in-ear headset I've used in the past. I would have no issues recommending or re-purchasing these IPX7 Bluetooth headphones. UPDATE: 08/14/2019 - Battery life is still. I use them nearly ever day during the week, twice a day during my morning and afternoon commute to work, 15-20 minutes per use. I charge it on Sunday and pretty much leave it unplugged throughout the week. So far, it lasted all the way through Friday afternoon without any needing to be recharged. As for the performance, that a different story. Not sure what happen when, but depending on who the cable rest in the back of my head, the audio might cut off one of the ear pieces for a second or two, or come across with a bit of static. It doesn't always do it and it doesn't last a long time, usually shifting the cable is enough to reset the issue, but it has become noticeable over the past couple weeks. Again, I do not think this is a fault of the manufacturing process, more than likely a result of one of the kid messing with it, but felt it should be noted. It is advertised as a sports headphone, so I expect it to survive a bit of rough housing, but I also don't expect miracle when it comes to it being kid proof. Overall, still very happy with this purchase.

I am not an audiophile. I can't imagine shelling out $100+ on nice headphones. I have an $8 pair of wired Panasonic earbuds that I think are great (minus the annoying cord) -- and indeed, those are my baseline for comparison purposes with the Otium headphones. The Otium headphones are inferior to my $8 earbuds in every possible way except for the fact that they do not have a cord that gets tangled as easily. The noise that comes out of them is flat and lacks richness. It has plenty of bass -- especially if you turn the volume up -- but it's like they had a meeting and said, "If we crank the bass, nobody will notice the otherwise-terrible sound quality!" I was listening to new music and hated all of it because of the quality issues and the small, nearly-imperceptible skips in the playback (I'm on a hardwired fiber connection; it isn't my internet). To say that these earbuds play "music" is like calling pasta sauce smeared on a saltine cracker "pizza." And again, this is from someone who thinks $8 earbuds are great. And let's just say I got a defective model, and they don't all sound this bad (I think they all sound this bad; mine sounded bad but not "holy cow this is defective!" bad): these are SUPER UNCOMFORTABLE. The only adjustment you can make to the fit is by changing out the rubber tips. That's better than nothing, but since the over-ear piece is entirely non-adjustable, all the weight (and relatively speaking, it is a lot of weight) sits on your inner ears. I don't think I could wear these for more than an hour or two before I'd have to take a break from them. I also find myself wishing there was a joint between the "ball" of the earbud and the bulkier, outer-ear piece, which might make it easier to get a better fit. The good: they came with few extra sets of rubber tips in different sizes, a nice case, a little cord-keeper (to help take up some of the slack in the cord between the ear pieces), and they were packaged in a cardboard box instead of a plastic clamshell (thank you!) **UPDATE** The seller contacted me in response to this review to offer to send me a new pair of headphones because I found the first ones so unsatisfactory. They did not ask me to change my review, which I appreciate. I'm not taking them up on the second pair because regardless of sound quality, I don't think they'll be any more comfortable than the first pair, but I appreciate their effort to resolve the issue and have left feedback saying as much on their seller page. **UPDATE UPDATE** The seller contacted me again (a year later?) in response to this review, offering me a $15 gift card to delete my review. To quote: "As a small business your experience is important to our success，we would be pleasured to give you a gift card worth $15 if you delete your review. And would you mind telling us your order number and amazon email? So that we could send the gift card to you as soon as possible?" This is super shady and I feel like you all should know that they're manipulating their reviews. **UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE** The seller contacted me AGAIN (what are we up to now, 15 months later? I write this in March 2020) with the same offer as the first time. They've passed my comments onto their R&D team and want to send me a new pair. As I stated a year ago: I don't want a new pair. These wireless headphones are not for me. I know you guys are reading this. Please stop e-mailing me about this. My review stands.

They stay in your ear easily. They have a long battery life. Offers good listening quality.