Anker Bluetooth Sports Foldable Stereo Headphones Review

Oooooo... an awesome new headset to try!  AND IT'S WIRELESS!!!

Hey there.  You know, this year, the wife and I have turned into a couple of regular gym rats.  Actually, I've become more of a gym rat.  I've joined my wife and decided to better take care of myself.  I've done it on and off from time to time on and off for the past year and a half or so but now, I'm in it for the long haul.  So what's one of our essentials while at the gym?  Music.  We must have our music.  Whether it be playing on our iPod or our phones, we need to have our workout tunes while getting our fitness on.  The wife and I have tried many different headphones while at the gym.  We've tried earbuds and we've tried some full on over the ear headphones.  The one problem that we've come across using those kind of headphones is the cord.  Now the cord may not be that big of a deal, since you can easily tuck into your shirt or something but wouldn't it be nice to NOT have the cord dangling from your ear?  Well guess what?!  Anker has your back  Check out the Anker Bluetooth Sports Foldable Stereo Headphones!  Our good friends at Anker have provided me with a set of these headphones and they are exactly what I need when at the gym!  Before I get into my experience with the headphones, let's get some technical details out of the way.

• Bluetooth version 2.1+EDR
• HSP, HFP, A2DP, and AVRCP supported bluetooth profiles
• 33 ft operational range from connected device
• 3 hour full charge time
• 10.5 hours of play time, 12 hours of talk time, and 480 hours of standby time
• Weighs only 1.4 ozs

The package includes the headphones, a mini USB 8 pin cable, a travel pouch, and the instruction manual.  I was a little surprised by the 8 pin cable since most devices now a days use the micro USB cable.  The pouch is a mesh pouch that is pretty cool and is a perfect match to my wife's mesh gym bag.  The mesh pouch is extremely tough and durable and is the perfect storage space for the headphones.  The headphones themselves are pretty cool, since they are foldable (says so right there in the name) and comfortable wrap around the back of your head.  You can twist and turn them to make them compact and fit more than comfortably in the bag.  The power button and controls for the headset are built in to one ear piece so you can easily turn up or down the volume and skip forward or back to songs.  It also has a built in microphone so that you can answer calls as well.  A neat feature for headphones.  And all of it is completely wireless.  No more wires running down your side or down your chest.  No more worries of wires being caught in workout machines.  And because it connects easily via bluetooth, it's nothing but hands free music enjoyment!  Now on to my experience.

Small and compact.  You can easily fold them up to fit in the palm of your hand.

To turn on the headphones, you need to hold the power button for a few seconds until the blue indicator light comes on.  To pair the headphones to a bluetooth enabled device, you need to hold the power button until the red and blue indicator lights come on.  Pairing the headphones to my phone was a breeze.  Being an avid Anker user, I've learned from my previous experience with their bluetooth devices and easily connected my headphones to my phone.  As a reminder, you must hold the power button of the headphones until the indicator light blinks red and blue.  Once you see the blinking lights, go ahead and enable bluetooth on your device.  You'll soon see the headphones listed under devices and you'll be able to connect to them.  Bam!  Done.  The headphones are comfortable and fit snugly over the ears.  I was a bit skeptical of the design at first.  Because they do not go over your head, I thought that they might slip out and fall while running or working out.  After putting them on and going for a test run, those fears were quickly put to rest.  Because they are designed to go around the back of your head, the ear pieces press lightly against your ear to provide a snug fit.  Also, the ear pieces have a small nook where your upper ear enters through to assure that they stay in place.

The buttons to control the headphones are easily accessible and is a huge plus for me.  One of the things that I really hated doing while at the gym was reach into my pocket or remove my phone from my sleeve in order to turn up the volume or change the song.  It was a huge nuisance to have to reach while running and an even bigger one to stop lifting just to get my phone.  I can now easily reach up to my ear and press a button.  The only problem I had was that I would press the wrong button and skip the song when I meant to turn it up.  That's no fault of Anker, though.  It's was just a matter of the headphone controls being new to me and me not being familiar with the button layout.  

Now, on to the best part about these headphones... now wires.  This is a BIG deal for me.  While running with corded headphones, I would sometimes run into a few issues.  If the cord is down my sides, I would sometimes hit the cord with my arm or hand.  That would cause the cord to pull into my earbud and tug at my ear.  It wouldn't hurt, but its annoying.  Another thing that I had to be careful about is having the cord be away from moving parts of the machine.  Again, it's rare that it happens but I also take the time to tuck the cord away or make sure that it's nowhere near moving parts.  All of that is a complete non issue with these awesome wireless headphones.  No wires mean no worries.  Just slip them on and you're good to go.  I go running and lifting and I can see anyone using these while being active.  Whether it be around the house or outside, being wireless is just plain awesome.  No plugs, no physical connections, or jacks, no nothing.  Just complete wireless bliss and enjoyment!

And as an added bonus, these great headphones will also answer phone calls for you.  With a click of a button, you can answer calls while being active.  The microphone is built into the right ear piece so there is no wire or anything dangling in front of your face when a call comes in while listening to music.  I'll admit that it's neat that you can answer calls but I feel like it was an add on to the headphones as opposed to a thought out feature.  I tested it out and though you can hear the call the coming in as clear as day, I was not head as clear and was told that it seemed like I was holding the phone a bit away from my mouth.  It's not a deal breaker for me since I plan on using the headphones for music and not for calls.  It's nice that it's there, but I didn't think it was necessary.

The only gripe that I have with the Anker Bluetooth Sports Foldable Stereo Headphones is that they are not loud enough for me.  Don't get me wrong, they are pretty loud, but I want them loud to the point where I can drown out the gym noise in the background.  Now that's just a personal preference.  I like to be "in the zone" and every now and then random gym noise would seep into my ear while wearing the headphones.  Other than that, absolutely no complaints about this great Anker headphones.

Great workout guys!  Keep those tunes comin'!  

I ran, I lifted, I pushed, and I pulled.  The gym has be huffing and puffing and moving and grooving.  Through my strenuous workout, the Anker Bluetooth Sports Foldable Stereo Headphones did it's magic right there with me.  Never once did they slide off my head or needed any adjustment.  With only the occasional random gym noise seeping in, Metallica, Slayer, and Pantera steadily flowed their awesome tunes into my brain. And the fact that I no longer have to keep an eye out for wires is just gravy.  I didn't have to worry about cords being caught on machines or have a cord be tugged and pull on my ear.  The headphones are comfortable and snug and absolute joy to have.  If you are an active person, such as myself, do yourself the favor and check out these awesome Anker headphones.  They are definitely worth it!  Later!