Aftershokz offers their Trekz Titanium stereo Bluetooth headphones as a safer alternative to traditional headphones or earbuds. Rather than cover your ears, or go inside them, the Trekz Titanium uses bone-conduction technology to transmit sound. This allows you to hear your music, and even take phone calls, without missing out on ambient sounds. When walking, running, or cycling, this gives you an added measure of safety.
How does it work? By hooking over your ears, and resting just in front of them, the Trekz Titanium transmits sound through your cheekbones, to your inner ear. And the sound quality is surprisingly good. But what really impresses me is that I can still hear people around me, or traffic, when cycling. Turn down the volume to a whisper, or crank it up to levels your audiologist would not approve of. You can drown out the music at the gym, but still hear someone call your name. Stay pumped on your morning commute, while still hearing oncoming traffic. It’s the best of both worlds.
Give it a quick (1.5 hours) charge via the included micro USB cable, and the Trekz Titanium should provide about 6 hours of use. That’s plenty for most days. Pairing them is really simple too. One of the features I am glad to see is the multipoint pairing. Multipoint pairing allows you to connect to two devices at the same time. If you want to use it with a Bluetooth music player, or even a laptop, you can still take calls. Of course, I didn’t have much luck with Windows desktops or laptops. It would work for a while, then stop. But I can’t rule out my USB dongle there. And really, these are best for active, outdoor use anyway.
In addition to the volume/power buttons on the right side, there is a multifunction button on the left earpiece. With a single click, you can play or pause your music, or answer then end a call. Depending on whether you are in music or phone mode, a double click will skip a song, or redial a number. Other options include call waiting, rejecting calls, and voice dialing. Even the volume/power buttons have several functions. You can mute, check the battery status, and change the equalization with them too.
After hours and hours of music, plus a two hour phone call, I am more than impressed with these $129.95 Trekz Titanium headphones. They are comfortable, and the sound quality is quite good. I had some concerns that they might not play well with glasses, but that was not the case. With the titanium band inside the rubberized casing, they are light, durable, and resist dust, dirt, and sweat. I really can’t find a fault with them. If I hadn’t gotten this pair for review, I probably would have put them on my wish list, after trying them out at Interbike. If you want your own pair, head over to Aftershokz.com for more info.
Brian
I’d like to thank Aftershokz for providing a sample of their Trekz Titanium headphones for this review.