MashButtons: June 2013

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Wren's V5AP rocks the house in latest MashButtons review

Next up we have the Mac Daddy of wireless speakers from Wren, the V5 is built for room(s) filling music and to support multiple platforms so everyone has the chance to experience. The Wren V5 comes in two models, AirPlay for the apple users and Play Fi for the androids and both models support USB and AUX playback. This speaker is built to be the life of the party and look elegant while doing so with natural bamboo or rosewood finishes and curvy lines. This home entertainment audio player also comes with a remote should you be streaming from computer and can also be controlled by phone during Airplay playback.

Being an apple household, I opted for the Airplay version and after all plugged in and connected, I immediately tried to abuse the V5, from listening to movies or streaming from my tablet or iPhone, the speaker never disappointed. While it only packs a pair of 3 inch drivers and a pair of 19mm tweeters, it is powered with 25 watts per channel, so this requires a power cord. Although this isn’t built to get dirty, it can fill the entire yard and the neighbor’s when listening from the pool. The sound is clear and there is a surprising amount of bass from the little drivers but most of all, Wren did a great job with packing as much as possible into the shelf top wireless speaker. While I thought the wireless remote was unnecessary, it did suffer most the abuse once linked to my phone or MacBook Pro.

The first downside out of the box was syncing with the wireless network to support airplay was a pain and actually required reading of the instruction manual to set up. Once the initial setup is completed, use was easy although there were periodic connection issues with usage between the V5 and my phone. At times it would not connect or play and I would usually have to try and select the Wren option or turn off and on to start playback. Lastly, it would have been nice if Bluetooth playback was available as I could only play music from iTunes and not movies or Spotify from the desktop. There is a Bluetooth versions coming soon, but at this time the V5 is only available in AirPlay and Play Fi.

The Wren V5AP is an impeccable speaker, as it is significantly larger than most of the portable wireless speakers, so you get big huge sound and sacrifice portability for a power supply. You do have to plug in so taking on the go is harder, but rather than having to put a speaker near you, I got loud clear music that reached anywhere in the yard without having to take the speaker with me. It would be so much easier to sync and use with more devices should it have Bluetooth capabilities, but like I said, that is not yet available and I know first hand that waiting sucks, especially when you have a wad of cash burning a hole in your pocket, you are in the market for a new audio device, and have a four hundred dollar budget.

MashButtons reviews Phiaton's newest Moderna, the Bridge

Phiaton has sent out their latest headphones, the MS 500, or Bridge. The Bridge is the latest in the Moderna series, so that means a large emphasis on style. These headphones are built with machined aluminum, wrapped with leather, and a dual chamber design to deliver a rich and deep sound. As for the sound, that would be delivered through newly developed 40mm drivers that includes a vibration system and oversized magnet to provide a signature audio experience. Let’s see if Phiaton’s new Bridge can provide the same great experience as that seen in their previous Moderna Series headphones.

The MS 500’s are definitely a grown up version of the prior 300 and 400, switching up plastic and carbon fiber for leather and machined aluminum. The leather wrapped cups were incredibly soft like pillows, isolating my music from the outside world and into my dome, all while making it easy to listen for extended periods of time without discomfort. Now for the sound, the highs are clear and the bass is punchy, and most of all capable of high volumes without distortion. Lastly, due to my history with the tri fold headphone I have never been a fan as it is always the first part to break. The aluminum allows for reinforcement without the weight and doesn’t jiggle, rattle, or creak while around my neck or in a bag.

The first complaint that screams out at me is the audio cable, the cloth is nice and the connectors are beefy, but the in line remote is lacking a couple buttons. I was only given one button so there is no volume control and it is a bit on the short side. The volume could have also been louder, they sound great when casually listening to music, but when there is a lot of outside noise or when listening requires the volume to be set to AGRO, it just doesn’t quite reach that point. Lastly, for the price point of $299, I would have expected a hard form case and not the sack with drawstrings case that was included.

The Bridge from Phiaton, were a great pair of headphones, taking the modern design of the MS headphone line to the next level in terms of build, materials, and design. While the carrying case immediately got left in the box, they do fold up nicely to fit in my laptop bag on the go, and the cable inputs are on both the left and right sides to make the short cable more acceptable when my phone was in my pocket. The sound was great, the dual chamber design makes live music sound great, rock gets loud and used my ear drums as speedbags, and rap put them to work trying to make them hit deep lows, but the Bridge struggled at times.

Megellan's Smart GPS connects my stomach to my truck

This review is brought to you by the fine folks at Magellan and the product at hand is the Smart GPS. Being that most if not all smart phones have GPS, it was only a matter of time before GPS’ got smarter. This device not only will tell you how to efficiently go from point A to point B, it will also help you discover hotspots and coupons from Yelp and Foursquare based on your location and provides review without needing to pull out your phone. Speaking of phone, you are able to sync contact and locations with your phone or PC to take calls and quick entry for navigating. Dynamic Content is also available on the SmartGPS to show nearby Fuel Prices, Traffic Alerts, Red Light Camera Alerts, Best Parking and local Weather Updates.

The screen was a good large size without being distracting from the road and even in the extreme heat of Arizona, I did not come across issues of the device not working due to overheating. The display was clear and all items were easy to read while resting on the dash and the dash mount docks the GPS easily and the charger slides into the mount so there aren't loose wires hanging. The dynamic content was the most intriguing feature to me, as after a long initial update I went on the road and used the split fifty fifty layout so I could have my bearings but see up to the date and fairly accurate location and direction headed, but at the same time local hotspots, traffic, and weather updates based on my location. The Bluetooth functionality was fast and connecting automatically made it so my phone never had to leave my pocket and could see the call information and access my contacts easily from the screen.

On the other hand, if you have to use without access to the charger, make sure the battery is fully charged and you have a portable power pack because the battery only worked for about an hour before it would shutdown. The interface is also slow to respond and a bit choppy when moving in comparison to when I am using my iPhone to get me around Phoenix. Lastly, I would have liked to use the Roadmate On the Go app, but it is a large app, weighing in at 1.88 gigs, and I wiped all the music from my phone with 5 gigs of free space and I still got the message that I did not have enough space to install.

While, my time spent with the Smart GPS was not enough to replace my smart phone as my primary navigation device, the dynamic content updates were nice, helping me find some new dining spots and notification of surrounding traffic delays on my commute. The battery was my biggest issue, chargers are limited and tech is a plenty in my truck so if I had to choose the GPS or phone, unfortunately my phone wins everytime. While it is hard to go up against phones that offer navigation for free, the Smart GPS did a fine job to stand out from other GPS devices on the market and if you do not have a current smartphone, then the Smart GPS is the navigation device for you and is available now for the price of $249.99.

Outdoor Tech's Turtle Shell Channels The Dark Knight

Outdoor Tech has provided me with their wireless go anywhere boom box, dubbed the Turtle Shell. Appropriately named after the design of the Bluetooth speaker, the Turtle Shell has an angular design built for the desk and the elements of the outdoors by being water resistant, dust proof, and shock proof. Outside of being a glutton for punishment, the speaker also totes a speakerphone and microphone for conference calls, from poolside, topped with onboard controls while your Bluetooth device is safely dry. What else is unique to Outdoor Tech's boom box is that it houses standard camera threading allowing to mounting on a tripod or Outdoor Tech accessory; I used my Joby Magnetic GorillaPod.

We have seen many Bluetooth speakers on our doorstep, and usually each one is different and has some unique feature to it. In the case of Outdoor Tech, it was a little harder to figure out that the feature was the design, because you strap some wheels on it and you have the Batmobile. Having the standard camera threading, you can do just that by being creative with some camera accesories. I wanted to take the turtle shell everywhere because it fit in my bag nicely, offered plenty of playback for the work day, tells the elements to piss off, and most of all for the sound. The depth of the mids and lows were impressive and in terms of depth, the Turtle Shell takes the cake.

I am about to bring out the crotchety old man, because straight out of the unique packaging I noticed the charging cable. It is not the standard micro USB connection, but a unique fit, so be sure to know exactly where it is when the battery dies. The Turtle Shell is wider and heavier than I had expected, enough to quickly learn not transport in pockets, unless you had a big lunch. I then hoped that with the additional weight came additional listening time and it does not as the Turtle Shell provides the same amount of juice if not a more than some of the more budget speakers.

The Turtle Shell is a fun speaker, whether used as a conversational peice or Boom Box, it will get the job done in spades. On top of easily filling most any room with a wide range of sound, 96 decibels worth, it is small and easy to carry around in most any backpack or laptop bag. While it does not have the ability to charge devices from it and does not use a standard charger, it is easily in my top 3 for sound against other bluetooth speakers in the same size and price range. Also, if you still require more sound then you might want to wait a bit as Outdoor Tech will be releasing the Armadillo soon and that bad boy will be packing twice the heat.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Capcom takes me back to the arcade, with D&D: Chronicles of Mystara

It is great to be back from E3, mainly so I can get caught up on sleep and the other reason is because I can go back to playing Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara. I started to play this classic game on the Playstation Network the week before the show and have to had to wait a week before getting a chance to play it again. Chronicles of Mystara includes not one but two old arcade updates, Tower of Doom from 1993 and Shadow over Mystara from 1996. Two decades later and now we have the same coop arcade gameplay but now online with updated graphics. Let’s see how the years have been to this classic.

For starters, the gameplay is a blast much like the original, playing like Golden Axe, but with deep RPG elements and the ability to choose your story path from start to finish. The controls are smooth and held up surprisingly well, albeit slightly clunky at times when in an online multiplayer match, but still being easy to lose yourself to a couple hours of gameplay. There is also massive amounts of replay value with numerous character classes and unique skills based on your play style. However, in those couple hours of gameplay, much like playing in the arcade when your parents left you with a roll of quarters, you will play with a lot of different people and it is difficult to find party members thatplay for longer than a couple minutes. Also, I must clarify that most of the enjoyment came from Shadow of Mystara as it held up the best, looked a lot better than Tower of Doom, and have more people to share the experience online. Tower of Doom did not feel like the years have treated her well as the looks are not improved by the HD update and the gameplay is slower, but it did set the groundwork for a great sequel.

Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara is a great package for retro gamers, D&D, and online platformer fans alike. Those that focus on graphics will be pretty let down as it was made to look and feel like the original with a fresh coat of paint, just not with the same coat that other Capcom HD reboots have received. That said, being a fan of just about all of Capcom’s arcade title’s this provides a huge sense of nostalgia and does a superb job on providing the experience that most of us had the privilege of experiencing, the neighborhood arcade. Chronicles of Mystara is one of those games that make you think how far ahead of their time a lot of classics were, that or gaming has just evolved visually.

MashButtons gets a half hour with LootCrate

Last month I received a package from a company I had never heard about, Lootcrate. Similar to that of Birchbox, Barkbox, and a number of other monthly “grab bag” subscription sites, Lootcrate was tired of waiting for one tailored to their own interests and that of millions of others out there, the geeks and gamers. Beginning just eleven months ago, a small Los Angeles startup consisting of a handful of employees and two guys, founders Matthew Arevalo and Chris Davis, that had only recently met earlier at Hackathon to bring the gamer gift box to fruition. On day one of officially launching the Lootcrate site, 60 people had signed up, but now almost one year later, their subscriber base is over 10,000 and rising.

I have reviewed last month’s crate and it is strange for me to say that just the action of unboxing was fun and satisfying, to see what will come out of the box next. Items vary from month to month but was informed the retails value varies between a 30-40 dollar retail value to help make sure you aren’t disappointed about the overall contents of the month’s contents. Using just social marketing to get Lootcrate out among the community, there has been impressive success, but what surprised me was how active the community was and that people were often times trading with fellow craters their swag for others as each package's contents are uniquely packed, as some contents are different. Also, one lucky winner has the chance of the mega crate, which is valued at over 250 dollars, and additional information on Lootcrate, possibly the best gift idea for geeks and gamers, can be found on their site.

Zensorium would like to track your wellness with the Tinke

Next up we have the wellness monitor from Zensorium dubbed the Tinke on my review docket. This small device hooks up to the bottom of most iOS devices via the 30-pin connector, and interacts with the app to track your Zen and Vita readings. Vita readings track your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and respiratory rate to assign a fitness score then tracks usage in the Tinke app after registering a free account. The Zen index is a measurement of stress levels after a 60 second breathing excercise. Let’s see how this small wellness tracking device holds up in comparison to other similar devices out there.

To start, when I plugged in the device, it prompted me to download the app but required a code to install. After 10 minutes looking desperately for a code, killing my Zen score, I tried to download the app from the app store...success. After setting up an account for index recording, I was ready to begin measuring, and that was easy to do after the fifteen minutes setup. A few attempts In and I got into a groove of recording three times a day, then going through the measurements to see why scores may have varied on particular days to better manage my Zen and Vita Indexes moving forward. If you have a case on your phone, you will likely have to remove it for Tinke to plug in and register with the phone.

In the end the Tinke felt more like a novelty device as it is interesting to take measurements on a schedule to see how the scores vary and how to try and better manage my Zen and Vita Index levels.Other than the index being provided after measurements, it does not really explain what the score meant or what to focus on, it just takes a measurement at provides you with your own score and tells you how it compares with total averages. The Zensorium Tinke is available now in a variety of colors; Blue, Pink, Grey, and White for the price of $119.00. Please take note that it only supports iOS devices with 30 pin connectors and will not work with devices that use the lightning bolt connections.

Got Wood? Griffin sends us their Woodtones

Griffin has provided us with their latest headphones, and this is a first for me but these cans come with a real wood housing. The Woodtones come equipped with the wood housing to provide both a stylish look and a unique sound for the 50mm drivers to resonate off of. With three different options to choose based on your preference of wood, Griffen has crafted the Woodtones in Walnut, Sapele, and Beech wood housings. Aside from the wood housings, the rest of these over ear headphones have a soft satin finish, made with lightweight materials, soft cushions, and a removable cable with in line remote also equiped with wood accents.

Now that the fact sheet has been covered, it is time to rip into the packaging and see how Griffin’s Woodtones perform when put up against my music library. Surprisingly the Woodtones are more that just a novelty appearance, I immediately noticed how light they were as it was barely noticable when they were on my head. On top of being shockingly lightweight, the comfortable ear cushions and elastic strap on the top work hard to minimize what little pressure there is during long periods of use, also making longer listening sessions easy with no discomfort. The sound quality was right in the middle of the road for me, They did sound clear but did not stand out in terms of quality and amount of mid rage or bass. This isn’t a bad thing, it is just standard sounding to go with such a loud design, but being that they are right at the hundred dollar mark, most of that amount is going into the design and not so much the internals of these featherweights.

When all is said and done, these headphones stood out to me in two big ways. The first being the design and materials, using real wood for a unique look and easily being the lightest pair of over ear headphones I have experienced. The other is that for a headphone that has such a unique look and quality to them I was surprised by the sound quality, they do provide a nice, subtle sound when listening but other than that, there was not anything particularly impressive or disappointing about them either. These are definitely for the fan of natural looking cans and less targeted to the audiophiles. My Sapele headphones were always making a statement as just about anytime I had the headphones on, someone would ask me about them.

Goodbye PLYR2 and Hello PLYR1 headphones from Skullcandy

Skullcandy is back with their highly anticipated gaming headset, the PLYR1, a Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound wireless headset for console and PC gaming despite your gaming preference. Much like the SLYR and PLYR2 before it, this wireless package includes the Flip-Up Mic Mute and Voice Balancing to suit any online session or just when people are trying to sleep. Since game/voice and master volume are all on board, it is only fitting that the three EQ presets be as well with Bass, Supreme, and Precision Modes. Aside from the Dolby 7.1 the wireless receiver also doubles as a stand for the headset when not in use, it is time to put this upgrade to work.

To start, there is a lot to this package and right out of the box these are some good looking headphones and no longer do I have the unsightly receiver puck but slim receiver that doubles as a stand perfectly behind my TV. Hooking up was simple, as I just had to run a USB and optical cable from console to receiver for power and a cable from the controller to the headset when using with the Xbox 360. The ability to use on the current three (360, PS3, and PC) makes it nice for those that game on numerous platforms. The Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound is wonderful, simulating accurate surround sound to identify opponents and just increase the audible experience, all without wires across the living room.

Now that Skullcandy is and has been making a durable headphone and product for the last three years or so, I no longer worry about having to be overly delicate, but there are some changes to the build quality I would have preferred. Mostly in the build as they do not have as solid of a build as some of the other headsets in it's class, part of it was due to the plastic feel and how each side moves and shakes rather loosely when around my neck or carrying around. The other is the volume, the sound is just so clear, I just wish it could have gotten a little louder, when watching movies I tend to have the volume all the way up while still wanting more.

I loved my time spent with Skullcandy's PLYR1 and while it looked and felt very similar to last model's PLYR2 the sound quality was so clear, allowing me to hear more than I was experiencing prior to these. Ever since Astro and Skullcandy joined forces, the quality of the headphones have increased greatly but most of all because I knew that they used a lot of the internals from the significantly costlier Astro Gaming headset but at a fraction of the price, almost half as much as the Astro A50. The PLYR1 is available in a black or white color and is available for the price of $179.95.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Divoom adds a speaker and more into new Onbeat-200

As some may remember, we recently reviewed Divoom's mini wireless speaker solution, the Bluetune-Solo, and it was nice for the size, but just could't provide the same experience as that seen in Bluetooth speakers with dual drivers. Well, the Onbeat-200 comes packing 2 50mm drivers and to add that additional bass seen in most bluetooth stereo speakers, a passive radiator and an eight watt output. This speaker comes at a lower price point to what I have commonly seen at the price point of $79.90 and comes in black, red, blue, and silver from Divoom's online store.

Monday, June 17, 2013

What is black, blue, green, berry and linen all over? ECBC's K7 Color Collection

ECBC is at it again with their rugged line of laptop backpack and messenger bags, boasting that the lineup is scratch, puncture, and tear proof. While sticking with their previous Thor, Hercules, Poseiden, and Zeus lines, ECBC has added the K7 Color Collection to their lineup. We had previously had reviewed the Thor and it was my pack all for the CES show floor this year. Thor, along with the other mythological bags now have some flair instead of the plain black, as colors now include berry, linen, green, and blue. Bags in the new K7 color collection start at $99.99 and can be purchased from the ECBC site.

MashButtons goes really really fast in GRID 2

Codemasters is at it again with the recent release of GRID 2 and we were lucky enough to receive a review copy to see if the sequel was worth the wait. GRID, spawning after DiRT was released with new fast looking races and similar licensed cars to those seen in the Race Driver games, it was a likely formula to a good racer. In the sequel, we still get that breakneck speed and replays to correct a race losing mistake, but this time with polished graphics and improved AI. There is a lot more focus around the online aspect as RaceNet has been juiced up to keep us hooked, so it’s time to see if the sequel was deserved or if it went the way of DiRT Showdown.

I had forgotten just how fast the EGO Game Technology Platform was capable of being, that being said, I started on easy for frustration’s sake of grasping the gamplay. The online was vastly upgraded, making navigation and finding matches easier. Best of all there is a bustling community, providing a variety of opponents, and less time trying to find someone to play against. Visually, it looked stunning from the tracks to the cars, that is until the two collide, then the wreckage looks even better. The car list offers a decent variety of sports cars and exotic race cars based on your individual racing style and does a good job of ramping up the difficulty through the multiple tiers.

There were some changes that stood out to me during gameplay and the first would be the lack of cockpit view. While I did use it more in the DiRT titles, as online races were more fun when all participants were racing in cockpit view. This is a minor change for those that typically race in the outside of the car view, which is myself, at least in the single player mode. Next is when breaking, the camera goes into a slow motion effect, which was unique at first, but I quickly found it annoying and taking from the breakneck gameplay that had me edge through, ofeten finding myself white knucked and holding my breat through races.

GRID 2 was a lot of fun, just about what i was expecting in terms of gameplay. While I always like having both a racing simulator and an arcade racers, I have preferred Codemasters’ racing games for my online experience as they provide a fun racing experiences without being very technical and not trying to shove some story into the mix. This does try to push some story in but nothing compared to that of the Need For Speed titles or Forza’s latest attempt with Horizons. Sure the single player in GRID does not provide anything groundbreaking in the experience, I will admit it is more of a tutorial to learn the mechanics and prepare you for online play, in which I quickly changed a couple hours in to where I really lost track of time.

Pantone Universe first wraps my iPad Mini and now the iPhone 5

After recently equipping my iPad Mini with Case Scenario’s Pantone Universe case and loving it, I figured the iPhone 5 case would be worth checking out if it is anything like it’s bigger sibling. Much like the Pantone Bookcase for the Mini, the iPhone case is just about identical, especially in regards to appearance. While it still has the same book or folio design, color, speed bumps for multiple viewing angles in landscape, and magnets in the flap to secure shut. The only immediate differences that stand out are the lack of Smart Cover support and that it is a fraction of the size, so now it is time to see how it functions and compares to it's larger counterpart.

While I loved the Pantone Bookcase for the iPad Mini, I did not feel the same enjoyment in the iPhone version. Most likely due to the size, it just did not feel as sturdy as the Mini's case. What's nice is that the phone slides into the case from the top and does not cover any of the screen, the downside to this was that I had to keep my finger over the top when plugging in as it slides out if I don't. I felt really secure when my phone is in the case as it covers the phone and the flap protects the screen. The other nice feature is how the flap doubles as a stand for streaming delight in close quarters where a tablet is too much. I was disappointed that the weight of the phone barely is barely held up by the case unless standing almost vertically.

The Pantone Universe Bookcase is just as unique on the iPhone as I found it on the iPad Mini. It does not hold up as well functionally to the tablet version but it still provides the same abilities sans Smart Cover. Surprisingly the white stays white, after marking it simply takes a wet wipe to clean, the inside of the front flap does not stay clean as easily however. The Pantone Universe Bookcase by Case Scenario is available for the price of right around thirty euros and comes in either black or red to match the iPad Mini Bookcases.

I-MEGO send us ZTONE to review, pronounced stone

I-Mego ZTONE is next in the product review lineup, now that I am back from E3 and the dust has settled, it is time to stray from gaming for a couple items and play with some electronic accessories. The ZTONE, pronounced stone, are in ear monitor earphones that come with four feet of braided cable, three pair of silicone fittings,four pair of custom molder gels, and a compact metal case to store it all in. Monitor headphones are typically used by musicians to hear their music while performing, having become more popular as of lately due to the accuracy in reproducing the music to be heard as intended, and now to see how they compare to both on and in ear headphones.

After tampering with the custom molded gels to figure out exactly how to set them and then trying to determine the right size for my ears, I was ready to go. The chamber while bulbous looking at first delivers deep bass and the mids and high blend the sound across a wide spectrum. Despite the volume chosen, I did not once hear these earphone pop under pressure. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a size of the custom molded gels that fit without beginning to feel irritation from the pressure or wanting to fall out. I was able to find a silicone fitting that felt at home without the pressure of the molds. Lastly, they do not include a microphone or in line remote, so do not expect to use these earphones on calls or chatting with Siri.

The ZTONE is by far my favorite model in I-Mego's lineup mostly for its clear playback and wide range. They also come with the most extensive set of tips to provide a comfortable feel for long listening periods, just be sure to take the time to find the right size or they can be cause for a sore ear. It is surprising that there is not an inline remote which means you must use your device to turn up or down and change tracks. ZTONE is available now for $99.99 and available in gunmetal, chrome, and rose gold.

It's time to cut the cord with Scosche's RH1060 Bluetooth headset

Next at bat is the latest Bluetooth wireless stereo headphone from Scosche, the RH 1060. Crafted with genuine leather and viscoelastic memory foam on the headband and ear pads to provide a comfortable fit during long periods of use. More importantly though are the insides, as the RH1060 sports 40mm REALM drivers, Bluetooth 2.1, and a rechargeable battery that allows around 8 hours of wireless playback when fully charged. If the battery is dead, just plug in the headphone cable and you can listen until you get a chance to charge. Let’s see if the RH1060’s have what it takes to run with the big dogs.

To start, these cans are big but with the over ear fit they are built to rest nicely for longer periods of time by removing the pressure by way of the memory foam. Don’t be worried about the space for packing on trips because both sides fold in and a hard case is included which also holds the headphone and charging cables. The sound quality is incredibly clear especially for a Bluetooth headset. The highs are crisp and the mids provide that additional range. Once powered and synced up I was able to turn the volume up/down, track forward/backward, pause and take calls by buttons on the side of the headphones without needing access to my phone.

On the other side of the spectrum is that these are a big pair of headphones, yes they are comfortable with the over ear fit, they are just larger than the norm. The build quality feels strong and never in my time spent with the RH1060 did I feel that they weren't up to the challenge or couldn't take the abuse and while they have a glossy finish subject to fingerprints, they did not scratch from being set down multiple times whenever I had to get up and am always wired when the battery runs out of juice. Lastly when it comes to the sound, my only complaint was that I was expecting deeper bass, when listening to bass heavy music, it just could not go that low.

At the end of it all the type of music in which you listen to and the type of fit you prefer will help determine if this headset is the one for you. The over ear fit was nice but added to the size and the sound quality was crisp and clear though not capable of hitting the low end while both wired and wireless. The quality is that of most Schoche products I have received, that being sturdy and little to no interuptions during playback via Bluetooth. Schosche's RH1060 is available now for $199.99.