Review
Roderick Scott 1

When it comes to choosing a set of wireless headphones, the options in the market can make it more than just difficult to select one or even two.  There's honestly a lot within the market right now that all have great sound & battery life.  Narrowing it down could be a bit difficult.  

Plantronics just released a new one that could make it a lot easier w/ the BackBeat Sense.  Think of this as the little brother to BackBeat Pro.  This is a bit smaller and more lightweight for a more comfortable, all-day wear.  We've been rocking out w/ them for just over 2 weeks now and we're ready to talk about them.  

So w/o further ado, here's our BackBeat Sense Review.  



Design/Comfort

When it comes to the look for these headphones, Plantronics went for the minimal approach.  It weighs only 140g or 0.30lbs being super light and ideal for all-day wear.  The Sense has a aluminum frame sitting above the self-adjusting headband.  Plantronics made it to fit heads of all sizes: average to the really big heads all comfortably.  The actual cups have memory foam cushions to sit on top of your ears w/o putting too much pressure on them.  And like the BackBeat Pros, they rotate 90-degrees so they can rest around your neck.  

Definitely one of the more comfortable headphones I've used.  

During my 9-to-5, I usually zone out to music/podcasts to help the day go by a lot faster.   So on days where I work longer hours, I need something comfortable to rock out w/ for long periods of time.  I can easily wear these for 7-12 hours pleasantly w/o feeling like my ears are getting smushed.  Definitely a rarity for Bluetooth headphones.  Kudos to Plantronics for this one.  

Features/Sound

The BackBeat Sense were made to be an in-between for the Pros and Gos.  So it won't outperform BackBeat Pro but that doesn't mean that it offers bad audio.  You still have the great features like smart sensors that pauses your music/media when you remove them from your head.   As well as the Open Mic that allows you to tune into the outside world at the press of a button.  You even have option to utilize Google Now/Siri and connect up to 2 devices too.  All of this and you get 330ft range via Bluetooth 4.1 Class 4.

  It's hard not to love these headphones.  

You got a great balance for all things sound for video, gaming, & phone calls.  Crisp vocals, nice mids, and good lows on the audio side of things.  There is no Active Noise Cancellation but thanks to its dual mics, its still great for handling phone calls.  These aren't for heavy bass lovers but it is great sound experience for headphones of this size/caliber.  It's hard not to love these headphones.  

Battery Life

Thanks to the aforementioned smart sensors, this can help achieve massive battery & standby time.  Plantronics touts an 18-hour battery life but I easily got more than that.  With my time w/ them (almost 3 weeks), I only had to charge them about twice after using them about several hours for 4 days a week at work.  The battery on these Sense headphones are gonna spoil me to wonder why my smartphone can't last this long.  

The BackBeat Sense has the right amount of features/performance to make this stand out among the pack. 

TG 2 Cents

So where does the BackBeat Sense fit in the sea of Bluetooth headphones?  This has a bit more tricks up its sleeve compared to your average Bluetooth headphones.  Those smart sensors made me forget to use the Pause button.  The cups rotate 90-degrees so when you place it on your shoulders, it can rest comfortably.  

Overall great sound but no noise-cancellation on-board so these might not be the best for travelling.  However, they are great travelling locally like buses or trains.  Plantronics knocked it out of the park w/ the newest member of the BackBeat family.  Job well done guys.  With everything on-board in these cans, it will be hard for me to have something else on my ears. 

Tags:
Categories: Review

Author: Roderick Scott

Father. Husband. Creative. Mild foodie. Batman in my dreams.