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Etymotic's boxy ety8 Bluetooth earbuds get reviewed
There just isn't anything like throwing trendy to the wind and kickin' it box style, and Etymotic's ety8 Bluetooth earbuds not only deliver "surprisingly good" sound quality, but a comfort not often realized when wearing atypically sized cans. The folks at iLounge got their hands on a set of these perplexing headphones, and did their testing with the 8-Mate iPod adapter that comes bundled in the $299 package. Reviewers were quite pleased at the functionality presented in the track / volume controls on the right, um, sound box, and noted that the "8 to 10 hours" of battery life was more than respectable. As was expected, Etymotic clearly took its time in developing the system, as it even takes advantage of the "volume mirroring" feature on the 5G (and later) iPods. Moreover, the 'buds were (amazingly) said to be the "least fatiguing Bluetooth headphones" they had ever tested. However, the firm's "first endeavor" in the wireless realm came up a bit short in a few crucial departments; testers noticed annoying "clicking interferences" in the bass notes of some songs, and stated that the overall audio quality didn't quite live up the wired ER-4Ps. Overall, however, these digs aren't likely to bother those who aren't self-proclaimed audiophiles, but the $299 pricetag ($199 without the iPod adapter) is likely to send consumers darting for Logitech's $99 FreePulse solution nonetheless.
Etymotic's new high-larious ety8 Bluetooth headphones
Bluetooth headphones: great idea. Etymotic headphones: great idea. What resulted when the two were smooshed together by the Etymotic guys: the ety8 Bluetooth headphones, or, as we're already calling them around the office, the wireless abomination whose name shall not be spoke. The ety8s come with A2DP and AVRC Bluetooth profiles, an iPod adapter, a few eartips, and some pretty high quality 20Hz - 16kHz/ 1kHz sensitivity / 122 dB SPL output drivers, tacked on to some transceiver / controller boxes unsightly and ungainly enough to make you look like a serious fool, but not before sentencing you to two ears filled with some dowel-thick shafts of plastic, the whole of which looks more like a UN headset than an audiophile's jogging kit. The sad thing is we'll still probably buy them.
