I got these on the last woot! I was looking for some earphones for exercise and when I saw these on sale and I rushed to buy, I didn’t hear about them previously.
After the purchase I went on internet to do some research, which I found really useful, so I thought I would leave one review myself for someone considering purchasing these. English is a second language to me so I ask you in advance to apologize me for any mistakes in my writing.
Connectivity: After I placed my order I read reviews that mentioned their awful Bluetooth connection and that they were a waste of money. I was very afraid that I made a mistake purchasing them on a rush without verifying this. After trying them out for a week I have to say that at least so far I did not have any of the issues reported. It seems the comments in general regarding the Bluetooth connectivity are greatly exaggerated (or maybe I have been lucky). I updated them to the v.3.0.1 as soon as I got them, and I have used them for swimming, running, gym, and walked outdoors with them. It is true that the connectivity is not absolutely perfect, I normally use my Beats Studio Wireless daily and those NEVER break the connection, The Dash on the other hand can have “hiccups” here and there outdoors or if you are around 5-8 mts away from your smartphone, but that is far from the “horrible” and “unusable” comments I saw around the web. These are very small Earphones so I can imagine how small is its Bluetooth trans-receptor, therefore, I did not expect them work “absolutely perfect” all the time. Normally I just get a hiccup here and there if I move quite far away from the phone (e.g. around the gym), and for me there’s no problem with that. I have to say that sometimes the issues with the connectivity depend on the quality of the smartphone used, I tried to use The Dash with a cheap smartphone I had around, and the experience was quite awful, but when I got back to my usual smartphone everything went back to normal, so, maybe if the quality of the Bluetooth on the phone is not good, that could affect the overall experience.
Internal Music Player: As I prefer to do exercise without my phone, I have used them a lot just listening to my music stored inside the device, which is more comfortable for me, and they work perfect. I put all my music on shuffle, but it has options to manage up to four different playlists, in case you want to hear something specific; I have not tried this but it seems simple to do.
Sound: It is pretty much normal, I’m not obsessed with quality of sound (especially while doing exercise) so it works well, if you expect top notch sound maybe you will end up disappointed though.
Comfort: They come with different options of “jackets” to put on to make them fit your ear well, with four sizes available. The fit is very important for the tracking and headset to work well. As I swim with these and I’m afraid they will come out of my ear I use a very tight fit. I had swim with them for several kms at a time and they never move, even while doing butterfly style and flip turns, they stay on with no problem. However, having them so tight in my ear could be a little tiring after a while. If you want to run or go to the gym with them, you could use them a little more loose on your ear with no issues and more comfort. These are very light and feel great, especially if like me, you were used to have big (and heavy) headphones on all the time.
Usability: The device is full of functions (tracking of activities, audio transparency, windshield, playlists management, head gestures… even tell you the time) so it can be a little confusing at the beginning to set them up and learn how to use them, but after getting used to the different functions, it is quite easy, and allows you to control pretty much everything without needing to touch your smartphone which is great. It is nice to be able to change a song while swimming just by shaking your head, but it is true that sometimes you can accidentally send commands while moving, but this is not very frequent.
Design: They look really cool! Exactly as they look on the images of the product.
Call Quality: It is quite good; people do not even notice I’m using The Dash to talk on the phone.
Battery: Battery life is acceptable taking into account the size of the device, and perfect for my training sessions as I never go over three hours. The fact that the carrying case is a charger is very convenient. However, if you want to constantly use them for more than 4 hours… These are not for you.
Overall I think this is a very good deal for someone very active that wants to have some earphones for sports, or for someone that does not use earphones for long periods of time during the day. If you are not into sports or plan to use them for a whole day nonstop, these maybe are not for you. I personally keep using my Studio Wireless in the office and during commutes and put my Dash on as soon as I hit the pool, the gym or the road.
For $100, is quite a good deal! I hope they keep working reliably the coming months.