New Bee T1 USB-C Headphones Review
There’s a slight trend toward removing the time-honored 3.5 mm headphone jack from devices. Phones like the Moto Z and iPhone 7 are at the forefront of this movement. Removing the headphone jack leaves users with the problem of how to get audio from their phones into their ears. Wireless headphones are a potential solution to this problem. Another solution is headphones that connect to ports that these devices do have – USB-C or Lightning. Today we’ll take a look at the New Bee T1 USB-C headphones.
THE GOOD STUFF
The T1 USB-C headphones are available in black or white. The earbud housing is ceramic and they feel like premium buds. There are three different sizes of rubbery ear adapters in the box. The preinstalled ones worked best for my ears – the buds fit snugly but don’t put undue pressure on my ear internals. They’re pretty comfortable and I used them to watch 2+ hours of Netflix with no discomfort.
There’s a sturdy carrying case included in the box. It’s nice to stick the headphones in it and then just toss that in a backpack to prevent damage to the headset. The cord itself is textured to prevent tangling and it does a good job. The overall package is nice.
The sound is quite good. These are not mega-bass-boosting rattle your brain headphones but they do produce rich pure sounds. John Mellencamp’s Cherry Bomb is my standard test piece and it sounds great coming from these headphones. Guitars, fiddle, and vocals all come in clear. The sound is full and actually pretty impressive for a pair of earbuds.
THE BAD STUFF
There are only a couple of faults with the headphones. First, the connector is massive. It’s like a giant brick hanging off the end of your phone. It is seriously large. It’s made of aluminum, which is nice, and is easy to grab hold of for insertion and removal. But it is dang big.
The second issue for me is the lack of integrated control buttons. There’s no quick pause or volume buttons. This becomes an issue for me in the office. When someone walks in to discuss an issue I have no way to discreetly and quickly pause whatever I’m listening to. And there’s no microphone so you won’t be answering any phone calls with these headphones.
CONCLUSION
The real question is, are these headphones worth the $40 price on Amazon. The cheapskate in me says “no – earbuds should be $10 or less.” But the realist says “yes.” In a world where Apple charges $29 for their cheapo plastic EarPods these headphones are definitely worth the $10 upcharge. The sound is good and the fit is comfortable (for me, at least).
UPDATE: I’ve started hearing horrible electronic interference through these headphones. It’s as if some shielding has shifted or is absent. I can no longer recommend them.
