What’s in your ears? Gossip? Your boss giving you an impossible assignment? Maybe your spouse wants you to run to the store. You can’t shut these people out, but you can make doing two of the three more fun if you stick a couple of space-age earphones into your appendages.
Which earphones? Encountering the vast array of products on today’s market is enough to give you whiplash, but we found Valhalla in a pair of Bragi Dash Pro earphones, which is why we volunteered to review them. But something weird happened as I began jotting down thoughts: I turned my review notes into diary entries!
Dear Diary,
Is it an overstatement to say that Bragi Dash Pros are “the world’s first true wireless intelligent earphones”? I thought that description was just so much manufacturer hyperbole until I got my hands on them and tried them out.
How long did it take for me to become a believer? About an hour.
I put these earphones through their paces. First, I streamed music from my Android and I thought seriously about proving the brand’s promise of uploading 1000 songs. Sorry, Dear Diary. I just couldn’t find the time to hit that number. I had other tests to conduct.
For example, I borrowed my friend’s Apple device to make sure it also streamed music and did the same on my laptop, using my Windows platform. Indeed; both worked seamlessly, proving the Dash Pro to be an equal opportunity product. And the case is pretty darn cute, too.
Now, for a confession or two
As a runner, I am perpetually skeptical about the braggadocio associated with audio devices new to the market, so I wasn’t going to let the Bragi Dash Pro get away with anything. How well, I asked, would these little buds handle reporting on my physical activities using the A.I. Activity feature? As it turns out, interestingly.
Everyone who knows me makes fun of the fact that I talk with both my mouth and my hands, so when I learned I could engage in hands-free conversations when friends call—or if want to bypass a song on my playlist simply by using head gestures—I was a bit over the moon.
Diary Dear, as I continue to explore the facets of the Bragi Dash Pro in an effort to ferret out the downside of these little gems, I had to conclude that they’re more than just a couple of clever earbuds; they’re pretty, too. Lightweight and sleek, they don’t fall out of my ears like my last two pairs did. That’s a good thing.
The best feature of all
That stated, the love of my life is the battery. I’m not being fickle. I’ve just hung out with and been involved with too many lousy batteries in my short life, so when I learned that I would enjoy 30 hours of battery life courtesy of the Bragi Dash Pro (or up to 5 hours of continuous playtime per charge enough for my full marathon race), I was satisfied.
It’s important to drive home this battery factor because if I can think of a single complaint shared by my running pals, it’s dead batteries. We have come to tell wry jokes about them and one friend suggested we hold a battery funeral. But the Dash Pro is filled with life, literally and figuratively.
Do you love a good start-up story?
I love to pay attention to the routes clever people take when they risk all to develop new products. So, when I learned that Bragi is the latest innovation in a growing collection of innovative products produced courtesy of a Kickstarter campaign, my respect for the brand increased.
With that framework in mind, Dear Diary, I feel compelled to list the pros and cons of this exciting product, so you know that I’m accountable for my review:
Runner’s Boon
- News of flaws in earlier iterations of this product have been fixed
- I love the 4D menu and language translation feature
- This product functions as an unpaid headphone, computer and companion
- The fit is divine, especially when I run, and it’s waterproof (for real)
- Have I mentioned being head-over-heels in love with the battery as well as the portable charger that allows you to replenish power up to 5 times on the go.
Runner’s Bane
- Not everyone can afford to splurge on these earphones
- Controlling the sound may be frustrating; even turned up to max volume, you might not be happy
- Even if you use an iPhone app to boost volume, you’ll have to re-set it every time
- You could have trouble syncing the buds on your computer to update things
- You may encounter fitness tracking irregularities.
The last word, Dear Diary
You know what poets say about seeing the worst in another person and loving him anyway? I finally understand what that means. Despite the 5 cons on this list—and I had to look hard and long to find them—I love everything about these earphones.
They’re cool; a great improvement over the original product and while I was shocked to see how vast the selling price spread happens to be, that doesn’t diminish my adoration—until the next iteration comes along, at which time, I’ll let you know first whether or not I plan to abandon my current audio paramour.
In the interim, wouldn’t you love to fall in love, too? Start your search for earphone bliss at the Bragi online Shop or Rack 85 for S$528.
Want to tell us about your experience? Love letters are always appreciated!
