Freedom From Wires, At a Price

You’re sitting there, or perhaps jogging, listening to your favorite playlist when the cord to your headphones gets snagged. It’s happened countless times to me, at the gym, on the handlebars of the bike, even when it’s just in my pocket. Somehow those flimsy little wires will get snagged.

But salvation has come with the advent of wireless headphones. Wireless is everywhere these days, from your Wi-Fi to new wireless eclectic buses, why not put it where it really counts? Using a Bluetooth receiver that plugs into your iPod or MP3 player, these beauties are able to transfer your music without the tangles of a cord.

For someone as prone to tangled cords as myself, I was excited to try them. After a bit of research, I decided to invest in the Logitech FreePulse, which now runs about $100. I was looking for something small and sleek, as my primary activity when using headphones is exercise. The Free Pulse were about as sleek as I could find, a model that wraps around the back of the neck with on-ear speakers.

There were some real perks I was looking forward to, like integrated controls, which allowed me to change the volume or song without fishing my iPod from my bag. Unfortunately, this also meant keeping the hold button off, making it easy for my iPod to hit something in my bag and change songs. While jogging, this wasn’t much of an issue, but on the bus this drawback proved to be more of a nucence that I would have liked.

There were other small annoyances as well, such as the fact that with my iPod skin, the Bluetooth transmitter was not securely attached to by iPod, making it pop off and once again I would loose sound, or even the fact that the headphones and receiver need to be charged in order to transmit or receive a Bluetooth signal, making it almost a vampire electronic in comparison to regular no-charge headphones. It was simply extra energy, both to charge and to use.

But I have to admit, the sound quality was great, certainly not what my poor earbuds provided. For lounging around the house, or even working outside, it was easy to put down my iPod and walk off. With a range of up to 30 feet, I could roam my whole apartment without loosing sound or annoying my roommates.

In the end, it was a good experimental investment, but not quite for my taste. I think now I’ll just wait for the price on wireless earbuds to come down a bit.

AceFisch | My Bio & Articles

I am an junior English major/ Philosophy minor at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. Currently I am spending the spring of 2009 studying at the University College Cork in Cork, Ireland.