Tag: Music lover

Tozo – OpenReal Headphones

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Father's Day, Fitness, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Mother's Day, National Walking Month, Tech

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

When I’m out and about, commuting or working in the garden I really enjoy listening to music and audiobooks. I own a few different types or headphones and it depends on what activity I am doing as to which pair I decide to wear. When I’m walking or commuting on my bike, I use a pair of bone conducting headphones as they allow me to stay aware of my surroundings but the one downside is that the audio quality isn’t as good, so I tend to listen to spoken word rather than music when I am wearing them.

The Open Ear Design of the Tozo OpenReal headphones get round this problem by using a pair of high quality speakers positioned over your ear. The design allows me to hear what is going on around me without compromising on sound quality.

Talking of sound, it is generated from a pair of 16.2mm drivers and they give a great sound quality, reproducing a full range of frequencies with no distortion. The accompanying app allows access to a graphic equaliser to further tune the sound to your preference. With the speakers sitting over the ear there is very little contact with your skin and so none of the sweaty feeling that can come when wearing other headphones for longer periods.

I found the headphones easy to setup and operate and controlling the headphones is simple, there are two physical buttons on the right side and a single touchpad for quick music control or answering a phone call. Connection uses Bluetooth 5.3 for reduced power consumption and better sound quality. There is a brief user guide included in the box but I managed to get them up and running without reading it!

The battery life is good, the manufacturer claims 16 hours of listening from a 1.5 hour charge with a couple of hours from a quick 10 minute top-up, I haven’t timed this but they will certainly last me for a few days before they need charging.

I’m really impressed with these headphones, they are perfect for commuting and with Father’s Day coming up they would also make a great gift for active Dad’s.

RRP £59.99 available from Amazon

Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Father's Day, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Mother's Day, Tech

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own

I’ve just found my new favourite headphones! I’ve been testing a pair of Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2 Wireless Noise Cancelling headphones and I’m in love. I’m a regular headphone user, listening to a range of music plus podcasts and radio programmes and from the moment I put them on I couldn’t help but notice the quality of these headphones. I can tell that they’ve been made by a company that knows the music industry and what is expected from a pair of premium headphones. At 334g they’re not lightweight but I have found them to be very comfortable even when worn for several hours at a time. The pressure of the ear cups is firm but not overly so giving a secure feeling and the padding on the cups and headband is just right.

Most importantly though the sound quality of these headphones is simply outstanding. As soon as I put them on the 50mm drivers delivered high-fidelity sound across a range of music genres. Ordinarily I’m the sort of person that doesn’t tend to play with settings – I generally just put the headphones on and listen to music and if I wasn’t reviewing this pair I wouldn’t have felt the need to play with the settings at all as the sound quality was so good, in fact I would go as far as saying it was excellent, my music was very clear and spoken words on podcasts sounded like I was in the same room.

I have reassessed my position about settings though after using the Shureplus Play app. It offers loads of options for improving and adjusting the sound depending on what I’m listening to. There are the usual pre-set equaliser settings but also full manual control with the option to save my own presets. There is what Shure call a Spatialiser – this technology adjusts the depth of the sound, making the sound stage wider with different effects depending on what I’m listening to. Music, cinema and podcast options are available and I was amazed at the difference. The Snapdragon Sound Technology which is incorporated into these second generation of AONIC 50 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones, really gives an outstanding audio experience and no matter what genre of music I listened to the sound was crisp and crystal clear with absolutely no distortion.

Noise cancellation is available using microphones inside and outside the ear cup and is something I use when working in the garden. The level is adjustable and includes a “Max Aware” level so I don’t lose contact with my surroundings. There is even an “Environment Mode” where external sound is mixed with the music allowing conversations whilst listening, I was very impressed.

I generally connect using Bluetooth but all options are covered with analogue and USB-C cables included as is a smart hard case providing useful protection when travelling.

These new headphones have 50% more battery life than the first generation giving up to 45 hours of runtime, so you don’t need to worry about running out of charge on a weekend away. When they do need charging the quick charge feature gives an impressive 5 hour boost with only 15 minutes of charge. 

Supported codecs include aptX, aptX HD, aptX-Adaptive, LDAC, SBC and AAC. The USB connection supports high resolution sound up to 32-bit/384 kHz.

At £349 these are in the higher end price bracket for headphones but they stand head and shoulders above all the headphones that I’ve used in the past so I really do feel they are worth the extra expense. They are such high quality and durable and I know they’ll continue to perform for many years to come.

With Christmas coming up they would make a fantastic gift for a loved one or why not treat yourself – it is Christmas after all!!