Phiaton BT 110 earbuds review

Some people love the over-the-ear feel of headphones, and others love the in-ear simplicity of an earbud.  I am one of the latter, so when I came across the Phiaton BT 110 “Wireless Compact Bluetooth Audio” buds, I was excited.  These earbuds boast up to 4.5 hours for music and calls, and about five days of standby time, all on a two-hour charge.

Design

It’s difficult to find a great way to have truly wireless earbuds with a microphone, so one will see a wire connecting the two earbuds together, along with the volume/call button that doubles as power and pairing. Phiaton has what they call their “RightFit+ technology”, meaning it comes with three silicon ear wings and four sizes of silicon tips to adjust the fit to the wearer’s ears.

Everything fits neatly in a small black bag, so they are ultra-portable, and they look pretty cool. Their total weight is only 16 grams, so they are no burden to travel with, but I found that the buds were not the most comfortable for long periods of time. After playing around with the different tips, I found some that were more comfortable, so even if the out-of-the-box tip fits, I would highly recommend looking through some of the other tips and see if a different one is more comfortable for you.

Sound

These earbuds do not get very loud, but loud enough to hear a spoken-word track or podcast in a public place. You will still hear your train or flight announcements, even with these in your ears, but they muffle enough of the outside sound so you can concentrate on the audio.

The included microphone sounded a little muffled and distant, which unfortunately, is far too common with many earpieces and headsets.  It was not bad, and I could easily be understood and understand what the other callers were saying, but I would not use these earbuds to record a podcast, for example.

There is also a buzzing sound just before and after audio starts to play, like the earbuds are preparing to work, and then go back into standby mode, which is quiet.  Overall, the sound quality is good, but not amazing.

Features

I love special features more than most people I know, and the best one about the BT 110 is the “multipoint connection”.  With these earbuds, I can connect them to more than one device at the same time.  I paired the earbuds with my tablet and was listening to some music while playing a game, and also had it paired with my phone.  I had a friend call me, and it started ringing through the earbuds, interrupting my music–this is exactly what I was looking for.

On both the box and the website, it specifically mentions that one can pair two devices simultaneously, and that’s exactly what it does.  Once I connected my computer to the earbuds, my tablet was no longer connected.

Aside from the multipoint connection, it is IPX4 sweat and water-resistant, so it can be used on-the-go for exercising or walking in the rain–just don’t take them swimming with you.

Battery

The battery life of these earbuds work as expected.  They go from empty to a full charge in about two hours, like the box says, and with normal usage. That is, not sitting around all day with them in, they lasted me about four days before I had to recharge them.

I would typically wear them in 30-60 minute spurts to listen to a podcast or some videos while I would have coffee.  Conveniently, the Phiaton BT 110 charges with a standard micro-USB, so it was easy to grab a quick charge in my car while on the go.  In all, it performs as expected, and I was not disappointed.

Conclusion

I would put these earbuds in the mid-range market.  Although they retail for $119, there are some deals at the sites below. I like these earbuds, especially since I can use one pair for both devices.  My tablet has a 3.5mm headphone jack, but my phone does not, so not having to carry around two sets of earbuds is invaluable to me.

They might not be the perfect set of earbuds, but they do the job, even if they are a little quiet.  Their frequency range is between 20Hz and 27kHz, and work from a 10-meter distance, so that’s not too shabby.

Availability

Walmart has the Phiaton BT 110 on special now for only $50; Amazon has them for just under $60; Best Buy is selling them for $59; Newegg has them for $99.