Introduction

Remember the era when the Bluetooth headset is a premium?Something like oh dude, that guy is so rich! He has a Bluetooth earphone, so damn cool?That was when Bluetooth technology was so rare and new, most of the time if we want to enjoy the Bluetooth technology, then it must probably out of our wallet reach. Not so on today, when Bluetooth technology is in every smartphone, we will have that feature even when we don't really want to use it. Let see how this impact the audiophile world that we are in.First of all I would like to clarify that Bluetooth is not anything new, even Bluetooth headphone are already out many years ago, it is not secret that some of the bigger manufacturers, such as Philips, AKGs, Sony, Parrot, Sennheiser have been making bluetooth headphones long time ago, but as far as I observed, none of them was really marketed as "audiophile" headphone, it might because of the sound quality simply can't match of those wired high end headphones, or it is just that fellow audiophiles prefer headphones with wires. But we can't denied that Bluetooth enabled features are now very common in even entry level media player, cd player or car media player.I don't want to comment on if Bluetooth headphone comparable with wired headphone in terms of sound quality (Even with the aptX (A Bluetooth technology that in theory have lossless CD quality 320 kbps audio quality) simply because I don't have handful of experience in Bluetooth headphones, but I will review the Brainwavz Blu-200 from the aspects of usability and sound quality.Brainwavz Audio, which predominantly focuses premium-quality earphones and other audio related accessories, recently delivered me the Brainwavz BLU-200 in-ear Bluetooth 4.0 earphones to review.The Blu-200 is the answer for those who looking for budget Bluetooth in ear monitors. Blu-200 is not only cheap in price, but it is also comes with lots of good feature, such as the aptX (The Lossless audio quality through Bluetooth connection, which can transmit full bandwidth signal), Bluetooth 4.0 features, come with various ear tips including the comply ear tips, out of these, there is even a 12 months warranty. Brainwavz is kind to provide buyer with the famous Comply tips, it is pretty much for 50USD only.



I'll start by listing the specifications, before taking a few pictures of the earphones.




Packaging & Contents

The Brainwavz BLU-200 comes in a small, simple box. No material has gone to waste on packaging, which is a big plus for an environmentally conscious person as myself. The front of the box contains a picture of the earphones, while the back contains additional information about them.



First, there is the standard red and black Brainwavz branded hard case to keep the BLU-200's safe. Brainwavz always do accessories well and yet again that is the case with the new BLU-200.



A pair of ear hooks is included to ensure your BlU-200 are an absolute secure fit.



Brainwavz BLU-200 also packs a set of Comply Foam Tips S-400 and three pairs of ear tips in sizes such as small, medium and large.



The box also contains a Velcro Cable Tie, a Micro USB cable for charging, an instruction manual and warranty card.




The Earphones

As with most Brainwavz earphones, the build feels very solid and robust. The housings are made quite large, but at the same time aren't very heavy.The materials used in BLU-200 are top-notch, like the plastic and metal.



The markings of L and R can be easily spotted, which means you won't be wasting a time for insertion. It is good to know that the Bluetooth chip comes fitted with the in-line control, which reduces the exposure to the harmful radiation emitted from the chip.



The Micro-USB charging port is covered by a rubber flap on the rear of the right earbud.



The cable doesn't seem to curl very easily.



The in-line remote features a microphone and a small white LED to indicate, charging, pairing and power status.The remote has three dots for the play/pause, next/forward and previous/rewind buttons. These buttons have decent tactile feedback and are easy to locate as well.



The Blu-200 uses two 9.2mm dynamic drivers and has an impedance of 16 Ohms, which is around the sweet spot for most portable devices. It operates in the frequency range of 20-20,000Hz. Sound is received over Bluetooth 4.0 and there is support for the apt-X codec as well. The Blu-200 can pair with two devices at once.




Testing

Pairing a source device to the Blu-200 is a fairly simple process and once the connection is established the device remembers it for future connections.First you need to enable Bluetooth on your phone. Once this is done, you simply need to power on the earphones and keep the middle button on the remote control pressed for 5 seconds to scan through the list of available devices and connect.




The sound performance of Brainwavz Blu-200 has been impressive, despite the fact that it transmits the sound from Bluetooth.Brainwavz has ensured to put little extra effort on bass here, but not the strong one. It has also been added with aptX codec in order to enhance the audio quality.The mid is also quite clear, and this is, of course, one of the strongest points of Blu-200 here. The female vocal sound felt good through Blu-200 though a bit on the darker side. The highs also felt good, and clarity felt plenty good too.




Call quality is as expected with calls coming in nice and clear and the caller also reporting clear audio on their end.These are comfortable to wear and the selection of tips on offer contribute to this as well as help isolate you from outside sounds.Once you get the correct fit, the level of isolation should be perfectly satisfactory. They reduce most of the unwanted noise, while still allowing you to hear important sounds like cars etc.One thing I did note during charging is that the inline remote and right driver got kind of warm to almost hot which was surprising. It does cool down quickly after disconnecting though and the BLU-200 does not display any residual heat during play back. Charging time is a handy 1-2 hours and playback time is a stated 4 hours but mine topped out around 3.5 hours max depending on usage it may be possible to get 4 hours. Standby time is a healthy 100 hours.




Final Thoughts

In all honesty there is very very little to dislike about the Brainwavz BLU-200 earphones when you see just how much you are getting for the RRP of $50.The BLU-200 is a great pair of in-ear headphones, and once you take into consideration its price-point it actually becomes a bargain. The sound signature is good, it's actually impressive for $50, since I've tried +$100 pairs that didn't sound as great. They're are also built like in-ear tanks, both bulky and damn resilient.Operation of the unit is extremely simple and its very well built.Accessories are plentiful and practical.You can?t go wrong with all the features included.



These are currently my favorite earphones of those that I own (but remember, I?ve never spent more that $50 on earphones). They are inexpensive, remained in my ears without falling out during exercising, connected to two devices at the same time, provided almost four hours of listening time, charged in less than two hours, and they sounded wonderful and provided strong enough bass for me to eagerly replace my wired Philips pair. The basic calling features also worked well and are all I really need.