Sbode Bluetooth Earbuds Review

In addition to my involvement with pro audio and recording, I also do a fair amount of casual music listening and consuming other media on my phone, tablet, and computer. At the office, I’ve typically used a pair of standard wired earbuds for listening to music on my computer while I work. Apart from being a little bass-heavy, those earbuds (some cheapies I bought from Monoprice) have always sounded fine, but somehow the fabric-covered wires often get twisted, tangled, and knotted-up in such a way that I find myself spending more time than I like just straightening out the cables. At home, I’ve used a pair of regular wired headphones (some budget-priced Sennheisers) for listening to music or watching movies on my phone before going to sleep at night. However, those headphones tend to block out too much background noise (I actually WANT to hear any unexpected “bumps in the night”), and the 6-ft cable on them can also be cumbersome. More than once, I’ve tripped and nearly fallen just getting out of bed while wearing them. To that end, I recently found myself in the market for a wireless listening solution, which led me to the Sbode Bluetooth Earbuds. After testing them out for a few weeks now, they’ve left a very positive impression.

Full disclosure: This review is based upon my experience with a sample unit provided by the manufacturer in exchange for my honest opinion and review. I do not profit monetarily in any way from this review, nor from any subsequent sales of the reviewed product.

I’ll start with the packaging. It’s very nice, with a quick start guide printed right on the back of the box. There’s also a printed manual included, but I tend to like to cut to the chase and skip the fine print when I can. It’s also nice that if you save the box, you don’t even have to open it to retrieve the manual to see how to access a certain function. These buds also include a nice carrying case, although fitting them back in the case was a little tricky at first–you have to nest the ear pieces together to get them to fit so that the case will close and zip easily. But once you get the hang of it, it’s a breeze. 3 different sizes of rubber tips are also included to fit pretty much any size ears comfortably.

The general appearance and construction is impressive. The pair I received is all-black, except for some red highlights. My 8-year old son even saw them lying on the kitchen table, picked them up, and commented “wow Dad, these look really nice!” The earbuds are labeled “L” and “R” on the inside to remove any guesswork. All of the surfaces have a soft, rubbery feel to them. There’s a flat cable that connects between the two ear pieces, which seems quite sturdy. The cable is reinforced where it enters each ear piece, which should help prevent sharp bends which could lead to shorts. There’s also a rubber attachment for the cable that lets you cinch up any excess (although there’s not much) so the cable will fit snugly against the back of your head. The box and manual says these buds are also water-resistant for those who want to wear them while working out.

Now I’d like to highlight one of the best features of these earbuds: the over-the-ear hooks. They are incredibly comfortable because of their soft feel and extreme flexibility. At first, I thought they were almost too flexible, but when I put them on I realized, “oh, that’s why they’re made this way”. They’re so comforable, you really hardly notice them at all. This is in stark contrast to some other similar devices that I’ve used in the past, including a Bluetooth earpiece for my phone, a wired telephone headset that I’ve used at the office, and some over-the-ear microphones that I’ve used with a wireless system for public speaking. I should mention that I also wear glasses, and the ear pieces from these earbuds did not get in the way of or interfere with my glasses at all.

The controls are extremely simple. There are 3 buttons on the right earpiece: power, +, and -. The power button is actually a multi-purpose button, and does something different based on the context in which it’s used and how long you press and hold it. The + and – button raise and lower the volume, as you might expect. This is very handy if you’re out of reach of the paired playback device (phone, tablet, desktop, laptop, etc.) and you need to adjust the volume. Instead of having to walk to the device, you can simply use the onboard volume controls.

As for the sound quality, I listened to a variety of music (ranging from pop to hard rock) and other media (including many YouTube videos and a few movies) and the sound was always clear, pleasant, and never harsh. These earbuds seem to have a fairly neutral frequency response without a lot of exaggerated highs or lows, which I tend to like. This allows one to listen for an extended period of time without experiencing so-called “ear fatigue”.

These earbuds have also become a problem-solver for me. Years ago, I watched a lot of DVD’s late at night on my desktop computer while lying in bed. However, controlling the volume became such a problem, I had all but stopped. I would set the volume at a listenable level for some spoken dialogue or a certain song (for live music DVD’s), but then it would increase very suddenly (e.g. an explosion, a louder song would kick in, etc.), which could wake my wife or kids. For a while, I tried using a remote control to chase the volume, but it became such a chore I had pretty much stopped watching DVD’s at all at night. However, I have a fairly large collection of DVD’s (many of which aren’t available for streaming), so these Bluetooth earbuds will allow me to begin enjoying my DVD collection again since I won’t have to worry about disturbing my wife and kids, and I can even make volume adjustments directly on the earbuds if needed.

In a market that appears to be getting more crowded by the day, the Sbode Bluetooth Earbuds set themselves apart through a host of great features, great performance, and all at a very attractive price. In my case, they also became a real problem-solver, allowing me to enjoy my DVD collection again for late-night viewing without disturbing the rest of my family. If you could use a pair of Bluetooth earbuds, definitely check these out.