I got to test Valco's future headphones, which were intended for the poor, i.e. for working outdoors. I already had the Valco Sorsas, which turned out to be an absolutely great value for money purchase. So we asked our factories if Valco could also offer headphones for the outdoors and the gym. The ducks were too good for outdoor use, in my opinion, and are more comfortable to save for civilised indoor travel.
As a guinea pig, I later got my hands on a set of devices called Pula Sors. What attracted me to these headphones was that they were intended for outdoor use and a small splash of water would not interfere with their operation. Another plus was the durability of the sweat, these were obviously designed for the mobile person.
At first glance, I was not as impressed with the response noise as I had been with Valco's more expensive headphones. On the other hand, at this price, even this good noise cancellation is good enough for me. Later on, I found that the anti-noise is particularly helpful when listening to music, as the low frequency cut-off allows me to listen to music at a much lower volume than with headphones without anti-noise at the same price.
To my delight, these headphones also take better account of the protection from wind-induced rattling in the mics and are therefore also ideal for calls at the cottage, for example. However, high-pitched sounds can be heard through quite easily. When driving an old rickshaw, I found myself driving with these on, as the tyre noise and diesel rattle was cut out perfectly by these.
For a layman like me, the quality of the music reproduction is quite good. The sound is very good for a leisurely outing. Usually Chinese headphones want to run out of kick in the lowest tones, while the music from my own experience goes loud and high. These headphones clearly show the hand of the Beats engineer.
The sound is good (for the price) and if the feedback was a little better implemented, I don't think these would be a disgrace even in the company of the more expensive ones. It is worth mentioning here that another test listener found the sound "a bit stale" and "unnecessarily bassy". Maybe it depends on the music you listen to, I don't listen to Mozart with these.
The battery life of these headphones is in a class of its own and the fact that you can charge them at the same time as listening makes it easier. Not once has the battery run out or even indicated that it is running low in my use. The handsfree function also seems to work reasonably well despite the older bt chipset.
As for usability, these are not heavy on the head and even felt a little loose on the head at first, but not once have they fallen off my head. The nicest thing about these is that they fold up into a lump the size of an adult's fist, which goes nicely into the pocket of a winter coat.
Good: Cheap, lightweight, good sound (in my opinion), very good battery life, weatherproof, cool looking
The bad: Feedback could be better quality (though for this price, quite adequate), loose first impression
On a side note, despite everything, I put these on every time I go for a run and leave the old Marshall earbuds on the table. If nothing else, at least they'll keep your ears warm in the coming frosts. I've spent money on more foolish things in the past.
My brother borrowed the headphones for a trip to Tokyo, even though he has more expensive ones of his own, because they fit in such a small space and the quality is still decent. Maybe that says something.
Jani