Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Being an electrical engineer myself and having seen the electronics retail industry closely for years now, I've seen many headphones come and go. If you want decent sound quality, noise cancellation and ergonomic fit to ears, you need to shell out close to a hundred bucks. Bose and Beats have surely got them right but out of reach for many. I was looking around for a cheap and good one under $25. After spending some time comparing various brands, I went for Otium. I fell in love with them right from the start. I gifted a pair to my girlfriend and my younger brother and they talk highly of it too. Pros: 1. I am a prime member, so I received them within 48 hours. Though there was nothing that could break, amazon took great care while packing. Otium provided a nice box (not a pouch!!) which keeps the headphones clean and untangled. 2. Connecting to my iphone was very easy and intuitive, took me less than 2 minutes. 3. The silicon ear hook fit perfectly in my ears unlike other headphones of similar price range and significantly more comfortable. I have worked out with them for 3 weeks with my spectacles on, and they haven’t fell off once. 4. They come with two sets of additional ear padding, so that you can find the best fit with your ear size. 5. Noise cancellation and sound quality are its biggest selling point to me. To be honest, it exceeded my expectations. 6. Battery life is decent. I work out 4 days a week for an hour and one-time full charge is enough to get me through the week. Cons: 1. Although battery life is decent, the headphone dies within 10-15 minutes of first warning of low battery. A little improvement on battery or an early warning would really help. 2. I haven’t tested the water proofing yet, but I am little skeptical about the water proofing rating. As Wikipedia puts it, “There are no hyphens in a genuine IP code. IPX-8 (for example) is thus an invalid IP code”. The product description reads “IPX-7” and “100 % prevents ordinary splashing water and rain”. FYI, IPX7 means that product has been tested 30 minutes under immersion, up to a depth of 1m. Verdict: They are a bang for your bucks. Go for them if you want ‘Beat’esque sound quality in less than 1/5th the price. Go for them if you are working out, as long as you don’t plan to swim wearing them.