Gadgetory

what's up guys today we'll be reviewing these bluetooth headphones from photovoltaic stairs living room where I watch movies from my htpc is right down the hall from their bedroom so cranking up the sound bar after 10 p.m. when they go to sleep would pretty much make me a scumbag roommate I've always been a big advocate of wired headphones for their superior sound quality and power but this is the first time where I've needed sound isolation at a distance as my HTPC sits about eleven feet from the couch I'm also on a fairly tight budget at the moment so finding headphones with exceptional price and performance was a top priority it wasn't long before I came across the phbt h3 from photovoltaic and 900 reviews I bought 2 pairs to see if they lived up to the hype and I got a say well let's take a closer look at the headphones first the phbt h3 SR Bluetooth 4.0 compliant and incorporate a closed back design they Sport 240 millimeter drivers with an impedance of 32 ohms and the battery life offers 12 to 15 hours of playback time and takes 3 hours to fully charge when plugged into a power source via microUSB a red light appears on the left ear cup to indicate the device is charging once fully charged the light turns off the headphones have a wireless range of 33 feet and work best with no barriers between them and the Bluetooth enabled device and as an unexpected bonus feature that I completely overlooked when purchasing the headphones there's a built-in microphone which allows this device to be used as a headset for video chatting or taking phone calls when paired to your smart phone which I'll touch on later inside the box are the headphones themselves which come packaged in a slim hardshell travel case there's a user guide microUSB charging cable and a 5 foot 3.5 millimeter cable which you can use with the headphones to save battery life or if your battery is just dead entirely I have to admit I was impressed with the box and packaging of the product for $50 Bluetooth headphones I was expecting them to come in a paper bag but the presentation here makes for a great first impression and ultimately a sign of what's to come now the extremely low price of this product was reason enough for me to be skeptical of certain attributes most prominently the build quality but I was pleasantly surprised by photos exceptional engineering both the headband and the frame of the ear cups are made of a smooth matte black plastic construction that's soft to the touch the outer sides of the ear cups are also plastic but implement a stylized brushed aluminum look which make these headphones look like they're worth a lot more than they really are the headband can flex and Bend effortlessly without feeling like it's going to crack or break and same goes for when pulling apart the headphones to accommodate larger head size despite being super thin the metallic retractable ear cuffs feel sturdy and don't wiggle it all when adjusting articulating the ear cups also leaves no hesitation as the points at which they're mounted to the headband are very tight and secure the headband and ear cups are lined with soft foam padding wrapped in a faux leather material that seems to be well stitched together pivoting ear cups outward is smooth and easy but not so easy that they swing out whether or not supposed to overall the build quality of this product goes far beyond the expectation of other wireless headphones in its class after the headphones had checked out in the build quality department I was certain that putting them on would feel like my head was in a c-clamp but the phbt h3 surprised me yet again the stretchy headband naturally retracts into a fully closed position for portability but actually has a very slight clamping force which puts very little pressure against your head while remaining snug that along with the retractable and articulating ear cups make these headphones fit like a glove regardless of head size I should note that the foam padding around the ear cups surrounds my average sized ears perfectly so if you have notably larger ears they may get partially covered by the padding the padding on the headband is comfortable too and the fact that these are so lightweight makes it easy to forget I'm wearing them even after prolonged use without a doubt these are the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn at this price point now some of the challenges wireless headphones face over their wired counterparts are button layout and ergonomics for playback control and wireless responsiveness on this model all of the buttons and ports are conveniently located on the two ear cups on the left ear cup is the built-in microphone a play/pause button and the next and previous track buttons which are placed immediately adjacent to each other but have raised surfaces on opposite ends to easily differentiate the two on the right ear cup our volume up and down buttons also adjacent with raised edges the power button which has a couple additional functions and micro USB and 3.5 millimeter ports with connected rubber caps all the buttons on both ear cups rest behind or underneath your ears allowing any button to easily be pressed with your thumbs the port location is fine but their rubber caps are jointed at the middle and sometimes removing and replacing one cap causes the other to pop out nothing to fuss about but a minor design flaw worth mentioning for future revisions the device can be turned on by holding down the power button for a few seconds upon which the LED indicator on the left ear cup will flash blue turning off the device is done in the same fashion hold down the power button for 2 to 3 seconds until a solid red light appears momentarily letting you know the device is off the secondary function of the power button is used to pair the headphones to another Bluetooth capable device hold down the power button for 5 seconds until the LED flashes red and blue this indicates the headphones have entered discovery mode for the next two minutes and within that time will show up on another devices radar allowing you to make a connection this pairing process is quick and easy and functions as it should finally the power button is used to answer an end phone calls when paired with a smart phone if you're listening to music from your smartphone for example and you receive a call the music stops playing and a ringtone can be heard directly through the headphones press the power button once to answer the call then again to end the music then resumes playing this device performs quite well as a headset and I didn't experience any delays when answering or ending calls there are only a few times when listening to music that pressing the track selection buttons took a second or two to register but apart from that this device is incredibly responsive the design of these headphones is well thought out and facilitates fluid user interaction provided you have two working thumbs up until this point in the review the bth 3s have surpassed all my expectations making me rethink everything I know about budget wireless headphones but as with any budget device corners must be cut somewhere and that brings us to the sound quality test where the results actually seem to fall in line with my expectations mids and high frequencies veer towards the neutral side but are rich and crisp making voices string instruments and pianos sound great classical music rock and even light electronic music proved to offer a pleasurable listening experience where the drivers fall short however is in the low frequencies bass reproduction is a bit shallow at times and lacks the fullness needed to really drive hardrock dubstep or loud scenes of course not everyone prefers the sound of deep thumping bass and most casual listeners will hardly notice it in fact if you're a seasoned audiophile with ears like a hawk chances are you have no interest in this video if not for the warm sound signature of my sexy voice the closed back design of the headphones means a limited soundstage and short spatial distance which is to be expected so don't feel like you're in the Coliseum when watching gladiator overall I was unable to detect any hissing or artifacts that might result from the wireless connection during media playback in phone calls incoming voices during calls and video chat are clear on both ends and the microphone performs sufficiently for its intended use now I tried to be as objective as possible when scoring this category because for the last two years I've been spoiled by the rich open sound of my dt 880 pros but of course these are studio quality headphones that cost me 250 bucks so there's really no sense in comparing the two if sound reproduction is all that I'm looking at the bth threes sound decent for a $50 wireless headphone solution they sound great now as informed consumers we're all aware that no device is perfect and in many cases each product has that one fatal flaw that could potentially deter us from making a purchase sure enough the BT h3 has an Achilles heel of its own which is sound leakage for being closed back headphones there's virtually no sound containment in a quiet room sound is audible at just 15% volume and becomes distracting at 50% where you can start to hear the details of the audio now obviously sound leakage isn't going to be a problem for everyone take my case for example even if I was in my living room watching an action movie at 100% volume my grandparents would never be able to hear it from their bedroom likewise if you plan on using these at your home computer or while cleaning the house this doesn't pose an issue however if you intend on using these headphones on an airplane or next to your significant other before bedtime don't be surprised if they politely ask you to turn it down alright so after carefully reviewing all aspects of these headphones how do they measure up overall well given their price point the build quality comfort and design are something to be marveled I swear there are far more expensive headphones on the market right now that could take some cues from photo these areas while an excellent solution for home use their portability and lightweight construction also make them ideal for storage and travel the device is easy to pair has great battery life with a quick charge time ergonomic design once you get used to the smaller button size they offer great sound quality on a budget but the bass reproduction is nothing to write home about and as I just discussed the sound leakage is so bad he'll never need another splitter but this will only be a deal-breaker for some despite a few minor flaws and one major one it's hard to believe this device only cost $50 at the time of shooting this video all things considered these are some of the highest quality Bluetooth headphones you can find at this price point and for that it's earned a four out of five rating and the first-ever awesomesauce value award given to products with phenomenal price to performance scaling let me know what you guys think of these headphones in the comments below and if you know of a worthy opponent in its class also toss me a like if you enjoy the video and help support the