Otium Wireless Earbuds Bluetooth 5.0 Headphones Deep Bass 3D Stero Sound Mini Headsets 40H Total Playtime with Charging Case IPX7 Waterproof Built-in Mic Earphones for Work, Sports, Driving

To start with, I have to be fair in giving it five stars instead of four. In reality, if there was 4.7 stars, I would give it just because it has so much to like with only a few flaws. You can read them below.Now for the pros:1) It has incredible sound. This is the first thing I look for in earbuds or headphones. If you place them just the proper way into your ears, you can hear the boom of the bass, the ting of the treble and the mid range much louder whatever device you pair it with. The sound is much better compared to the other ones I own, even the more expensive ones or even compared to the wired earbuds or headphones.2) The volume is pretty loud. I like it because my TV does not have a built-in Bluetooth, so I had to attach a Bluetooth dongle to the audio output, allowing me to listen using Bluetooth headsets or earbuds. And although there is no way for me to control the volume, it is loud enough when I use the Otium earbuds. I have volume control on my PC, so I don’t have a problem either way.3) The bluetooth pairs with my devices very easily. Whether it is my computer with Windows 10 OS, or the transmitter dongle attached to my TV, it pairs easily. When you open the case, they turn on and pair each other automatically as described in the manual, but it has not been consistently turning off when placed back into the case if the lid remains open as the manual indicates; I have had instances when I could hear music when I placed them back in the case with the lid open. Taking it out of the case connects it automatically to the most recent device it’s paired. But I found that you have to reconnect it to the Bluetooth in the computer if you had paired it with another device afterwards, since it pairs only with one device at a time.4) When I watched a video on my computer, I noticed right away that the latency, the audio lag behind the video, is almost non-existent. This is a big plus for me, because I often watch movies on my computer. However, with my TV, the lag was obvious. My conclusion is that latency depends on both bluetooth receiver and transmitter.5) Touch technology. This is nifty, but could be somewhat disadvantageous too, because when you’re playing music, a light touch to adjust it on your ear could make the video or music jump back or forward to the next video or music, or they could just pause. I did not find this out reading the manual, as the manual says to “press” the multifunction button; but it is described on the Amazon web site. I am finding that the touch region on the earbud is only on the part close to the buds; that is, the lower part when you’re wearing them. Also, I found by experimentation that if are trying to listen to music or watch video on your computer, you need to change the sound setting of your computer. The “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device” check box on the “Advanced” properties of the “Headset”, not the “Headphone”, has to be checked. Otherwise, you will not be able to use the earbuds for controlling the “pause”, “play next” or “play back”. When I used it the very first time, I found out something that is not in the manual. When I pressed (not touch) either left of right earbud twice, the device scans the play, whether audio or video, for between two and five seconds. Subsequently, however, I was not able to duplicate this behavior.6) The case is a charger in itself. This if very nifty, as it allows me to recharge the earbuds on the go. And the case is small enough to be unobtrusive when placed in my trousers pocket. As an added bonus, the earbuds and the case have magnetic contacts, so that I basically just place them into the case without effort. And they don't fall out either even if the case is open and you happen to turn it upside down.7) They stay put in the ears. I tried walking up and down our stairs with them and even tried shaking my head sideways to test if they would fall off; they didn't. However, if you lie down with them, such as when you listen to music going to bed, either one or both could fall off when to turn your head on the pillow.8) As indicated in the manual, I have proven watching a video, that, indeed, the fully charged earbuds lasts 3-5 hours. My right earbud actually lasted close to five hours, while the left was about 20 minutes less. And charging the case seem to take only a couple of hours, although I did not actually time it. I tried recharging a fully discharged earbud for 8 minutes and it gave me 25 minutes of play time.9) To top it all, it’s on Amazon at a very reasonable price. For $19.99, the amount I paid, it is certainly a bargain; I plan to buy another or two pairs, one to keep and another to give away.Now the cons:1) It does not have volume control on the buds themselves, unlike some of the ones that I own. But this is not a big thing for me, because I own a PC remote which allows me to control remotely the volume when I play music or video using Windows Media Player and VLC, respectively. If you use it for the phone, it might be a little cumbersome.2) It does not come with a power adapter, which allows you to plug in to a power outlet. But you can use any micro USB power adapter from phones or other equipment you already own or use the USB port in your computer. In my case, I have several options available to me.3) The manual could have been written better. The company that sells it should have hired someone who could have translated Chinese to English better. When the Koreans started flooding the US market with electronic gadgets, I had the same problem.

These are decently durable earbuds, with only minor problems after a year's worth of use. I can barely hear anything over my earbuds, which is great. They give good sound too. I don't really think they are that waterproof, since after a workout (and a tiny bit of sanitizer swab), they started having minor issues. It's not like it glitched out on you, but they would get kinda touchy with the "fingerprint" parts of the piece. And sometimes it wouldn't charge even though it had lit up before closing, indicating that it WAS charging inside the port. I'm fine with an earbud being 3-5 hours of use. No earbuds on the market have ever been THAT truthful to it's battery life, so I'm not bothered by that.I AM bothered that the right one would just "play dead" when the left one was right as rain. This wasn't really consistent until I washed my face a couple times with them IN MY EARS the whole time. That's not waterproof. The right one would just "Be dead" no matter how long I pressed the side to activate it, while the left one was blinking and trying to connect to the right. It also wouldn't lit up when placed back inside the charging port. I would have to fiddle with it for about 10 minutes, before it decided to STOP PLAYING POSSUM and just work. For like, 3 minutes. Then it COULD/NEEDED a charge. I dunno what is up with that, but it clearly has something to do with the whole "Not really waterproof" part.The case is SUPER durable though. It slipped out of my hand in a 4ft drop ONTO CERAMIC TILE and split in two! But it could still be popped back into place, which surprised me. Most electronics are DONE at that point. (My mom can testify to dropping/breaking some of mine, by accident)I'm buying another pair anyway, because I like the $$$, the hands free-ness, I lost one of the buds, and I really need them in a house where 3 people are playing loud videos in the same room at once. 3/4, but NOT WATERPROOF