Maybe you already noticed that finding a pair of earbuds or headphones that can be used to exercise can be difficult. If you’ve ever searched the market and noticed “what’s hot”, then you will know that there are literally hundreds of different headphones you can choose from. It is easy to spend a lot of money, but is it completely necessary? Not really. If you are want to save a few bucks, then there are plenty of budget-friendly options. One of the best is the Aelec S350.
Yes, it is true, that Aelec S350 headphones are made in China and arrive in a cheap price point, but are they worth to try? We decided to give them a shot, as they’re one of the best-reviewed headsets on Amazon. We are going to go in-depth to investigate general performance, sound quality, comfort, their features and more.
Table of Contents
First Appearance
Upon their arrival, we opened the Aelec S350 Bluetooth Headphones and were pleased to discover how compact and mobile they seemed. They arrived coiled up and packaged all inside a small, zippered carrying case that was protected. Aelec provides you with three distinct sets of ear tips ear hooks, a micro USB charging cable, and user manual. Each earbud is connected together with a small, flat cable, which makes “one unit” from the 2 buds. Each of the operations is situated conveniently on the right earbud. There is also a mic built into the left earbud for accepting and making telephone calls without taking them off.
Call Quality
Though the majority of people frequently use headphones for listening to audio, most pairs have an integrated microphone that produces telephone calls completely hands-free. There’s a pinhole-sized microphone as we explained earlier. Therefore we chose to test it out.
When you get an incoming telephone call, the audio track will automatically be paused. You can then hit the multi-function button ignore it to reject it, or just to take it. Linking to a phone call seemed instantaneous — there wasn’t any lag or latency issues. The calls themselves appeared to be high quality without distortion or any feedback. We had experiences with the microphone feature and continuously tested them.
Audio Quality
Describing audio quality can be a tricky thing to do because the sound is usually perceived differently by different people. Some individuals are more sensitive than others and can pick up about the fine nuances which may ascertain if a pair of earbuds is “poor” or “amazing”. However, we can surely tell when a pair of headphones is lacking or seriously underwhelming. Obviously, the Aelec S350’s are right in the middle. They appeared to work with genres or all kinds of music, but excelled. They provide a balance of clear tones which make hearing the lyrics simple, while never getting out of control with the bass. With small earbuds, we’ve noticed that some manufacturers like to attempt to cram a lot of basses. Ultimately, this leads to a general listening experience that is poor and distortion. This is not the case with this S350’s.
The bass isn’t all that impressive, but it is kind of to be expected. Don’t get us wrong, it’s suitable and does the job, but somewhat lackluster. In our and many others’ view, the bass isn’t as important while you are working out than say, on a pair of studio (over-ear) headphones. Truth be told, if you’d like phenomenal bass, you are likely going to get to spend a lot more. The best part of this is, the bass is not overkill – Aelec did not “try too hard” and they’ve created a decent balance between treble and bass.
Battery
As with any set of wireless headphones, the internal battery can be a game changer. We found the battery life to be quite okay with about 5-6 hours or usage each full charge. Within the span of a week, we all needed to charge them up twice, but we put them to use daily for about an hour or two at one time.
The wonderful thing is that they tell you right as soon as the battery is in need of a fee. But it can become quite annoying since about every minute the voice prompt will tell you, “battery low”. This is simply a qualm of ours, but nothing serious at the grand scheme of things. When you find that the battery needs a bit of a charge, just plug in the USB cable and within one hour or not, they’ll be ready to go for next time.
Fit
Feeling the earbuds for the first time, you will notice that they are not the smallest, but not the biggest. We did not find this to be much of an issue, although they are slightly bulky though. They are comprised mostly of plastic with a rubber “hook” that is to be placed inside your ear canal. The trick is to be put together with the hook applying a very small bit of pressure that is leveraged to your inner ear’s rigid shape. As long as you have the appropriate ear tip and hook on, you need to get no wiggle or any “loose” feeling. If you do, simply swap out the hook or the tip to an appropriate one that provides a fit. It is simple to do and. The thing is, you’ll probably never need to adjust them, once you attain a cozy match.
Pairing
The nicest thing about the Aelec S350’s is their ability to be paired with virtually any device. That is, so long as that device supports Bluetooth connectivity. In case you were not sure, pretty many laptops, tablets, and all smartphones support Bluetooth.
Simply visit the device’s settings and be sure that Bluetooth is activated. When you’ve done this, turn on the headphones by holding and pressing the button for three seconds. The LED indicator will start to flash a signal that is red and blue. This means that they’re scanning to pair with. Then go back to apparatus or your smartphone and assure that it scanning for the headphones. After a few seconds, you need to see “Aelec” appear in the listing. Simply select it and you should hear a voice prompt state, “Connected”.
The pairing method is really simple and straightforward. Once you do it you won’t need to go through those steps again. Only power and make certain it’s not too far from your device.
Connect Multiple Devices
This usually means that you could listen to music tracks on your tablet/computer, but still make and receive calls with your smartphone — in the exact same moment. This feature means that accept/reject a call, take the earbuds out and you won’t have to pause the audio. All of this functionality could be achieved using the buttons found on the perfect earbud.
Final Thoughts
But, putting them to use and thoroughly examining them out for several days had surprisingly impressed us.
They offer excellent sound quality but are somewhat lacking in the bass department. This is as to be expected however, you can not presume a “budget” set of earbuds are going to offer the best bass on the planet. You may want to take a look at the Beats from the Jaybird X3’s or Dre Powerbeats3, if you are an audiophile or want something that sounds impressive.
Even though they may seem a bit bulky at first, the fit is excellent when you place the correct tips and hooks onto them. We went jogging, to the fitness center, hiking, traveled on the bus with them and simply played with Basketball. Just be certain that a fit is achieved by you upon wearing them. You might discover that they may wiggle out over time if you have the ear or tip hooks installed. So long as you achieve a fit, they need to remain in place.
Overall, we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Aelec S350’s to anyone who wants to experience wire-free sound without the hefty price tag that normally comes with it. They are designed for people on a budget but provide an excellent listening experience.
Or you can try to read a review of another wireless Bluetooth headphones – Morul U5 Plus.
