I have been intrigued by the idea of Bluetooth headphones for the gym and office use for some time. I had seen users wearing Jaybird, Beats, and other brands at the gym. My problem with Beats is that they are overpriced and with exaggerated bass. I also was looking for headphones that had the aptX and AAC HD, which allows for supposed cd quality sound when I am listening to my flac or 320kbps encoded mp3 music. Enter the Mee Audio X7 plus. My wife recently went to CES and went to the Mee audio booth and told me about the X7 Plus Bluetooth wireless headphones. I contacted Mee Audio and they sent me these X7 Plus for review.
Design
After charging the headphones, I went ahead and tried the different tips that were available. It seems that the best fit for me was the medium tip. The headphones fit a happy medium where some IEMS(in ear monitors) need to be inserted deeply into the ear canal to get a decent fit. The X7 Plus uses some of the body of the headphone to also fit inside the ear to help block out ambient noise. This might also be welcome to some who do not like the feeling of pressure with deeply inserted headphones. These headphones also utilize memory wire to keep the headphones securely in your ears. For controls the X7 Plus has a 3 button remote built in on the wire towards the right ear with 3 easy to manipulate rubberized buttons. The center button is used to turn on, pair, play and pause music. The other two buttons advance music, fast forward and rewind. Short presses of these buttons also lower and raise volume. I want to note that I do not listen to my music at loud volume, but these headphones could go loud enough, that is if you want hearing damage. There is a rubberized cinch to tighten the headphones for a tighter fit. For charging, there is a supplied micro usb cable that connects to the side of the controls to charge the X7 plus for 8 hours of playback. There is also a circular zippered case to protect the headphones when they are not in use.
Here is what they look like when worn:
Here are the inline controls:
Here is the included case:
Another shot of the headphones:
Apple and Android
My main phone is a LG G3 which I have had for over a year. I have gone back and forth between Android and Iphone over the years, I am not a fan of Itunes. Anyway, I found that when starting and listening to the first track after connecting each time, that there is almost 10 second timeframe where the beginning of the first track stutters. On the my work Iphone 6 there is no hesitation\stuttering, the track plays clearly. Now this might not be a condemnation of Android, but rather my LG G3 seems to not have the best Bluetooth capabilities.
At the gym
I next auditioned the X7 plus at my local gym where I go several times a week. I wanted to see if they could stay in while ding chin-ups, bench press, running and so on. The X7’s were used during all my workouts and they stayed in and required minimal reseating. I find nothing more irritating than having my headphones pop out during a set. I found that even while perspiring on the elliptical trainer or doing planks that the X7’s kept chugging along and I had only the occasional dropout, but that is to be expected when in an environment with so much interference from other devices. I often also forgot my phone and walked away, but the signal sometimes held past 40 feet away. I mostly had my phone on a shelf or near me while working out.
At Work
Upon first listening to them at my office, I noticed that they had a decent soundstage, the instruments had good separation, with crisp highs. For a change of pace, I listened to a best of Mozart compilation and the headphones accurately played back the tracks and they did not sound congested but rather very pleasant. I changed pace and moved to Megadeth’s Dystopia and the album sounded great, there was no harshness to the highs. I am not a bass head by any means but the bass and mid bass were very good without being overwhelming. Overall the sound was not fatiguing and I could listen to them for some time. My experience with the X7 plus at work was great. Despite right next to my server room I experience no dropouts and enjoyed not being held to one spot as I worked on building computers and so on.
Call Quality
I normally do not use headphones to take calls, but these did a decent job. The caller’s voice sounded clear and their voice sounded natural to me without my having to strain to hear what they were saying. You can also use the multipoint functionality so you can manage call and media from two different devices at the same time.
Conclusion
For $99, the Mee Audio X7 Plus are a great alternative to the other wireless headphones on the market. They sound great, have decent ambient sound blocking capabilities without being uncomfortable, and have good range without lots of signal dropouts. Mee Audio also has great customer service and is very receptive to any problems you might have.