I am a very active person. Especially I like to jog and to cycle. Also I love music and to combine them if needed. The standard cabled in-ear headphones are annoying and the wireless sport orientated ones are getting there but still they get in the way. The best solution comes from a product like Sandberg’s Bluetooth Earbuds & Powerbank Combo. Because this as I will show it is a true wireless approach with even more advantages !
Sandberg states that their brand stands for quality and user-friendliness.
Their ideology “IT is for everybody” is part of everything we do. A Danish firm that since its inception in 1985, private consumers, institutions and companies have benefited from this simple philosophy. Distributors and dealers appreciate the availability, range, simple procedures and the exceptionally low failure rate. Every year over half a million Sandberg products find their way to users in more than 65 countries.
Choosing Sandberg means choosing a safe and conscientious product that meets all applicable regulatory requirements. A product manufactured by subcontractors who are committed to following Sandberg’s Code of Conduct to ensure decent working conditions and reduce the environmental impact of the production and waste disposal.
Price when reviewed
£ 74.66 – via Amazon.co.uk
SANDBERG 126-00 Bluetooth In-Ear Headphones with Mobile Charger/Powerbank USB Charging Port 5 Year Warranty – (Phones > Power Banks)
The video review is live !
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Presentation and Specifications
“True wireless sound directly to your ears, entirely without cables, not even between the two ear plugs. You get an attractive earphone for each ear, which sits comfortably and discretely in the ear providing a sublime sound quality. They connect wirelessly to a Bluetooth device, such as a smartphone or tablet computer. They are charged in the included dock, doubling as a powerbank, which can charge your smartphone while you are on the go. In this way you always have backup power and wireless sound with you!”
Like I said in the beginning, this promises a lot of versatility especially when you can use it as a powerbank as well.
Now looking at the specs we realize that it truly is a 3 in 1 device:
So, you get a combined talk and playback time of around 3 hours, it has almost 5 days in standby mode and takes one hour and a half to recharge. Regarding the feature as a powerbank it outputs at 0.5A and with 2100 mAh under the hood that should give you an emergency at least half a charge to your smartphone to get you through the day.
Packaging & Visual inspection
It comes in all white background box with a full visual representation of the product plus all the important details like capacity, warranty and the main features.
The back contains a quick product intro in 24 languages !
And on the bottom we have all the main specifications.
Then the box also has a flip cover via magnets and you can see the Bluetooth Earbuds & Powerbank combo securely housed by a transparent plastic.
Opening it up, we have the following, all perfectly secured and nested in the plastic tray:
* 2x Bluetooth wireless earbuds – one master and one secondary
* 1x Powerbank & Earbuds charge dock
* 3x Sets of changeable ear-cups in Small, Medium & Large choice
* 1x USB charge cable
* 1x User guide
* 1x Cloth Pouch
The main body of the combo has a gun metal grey aluminum shell that as we know by now acts as the docking station to charge the earbuds when not in use and also acts as a universal powerbank.
Then it has a another cool feature: it slides to protect the earbuds when docked and charging !
From this angle we see the USB port when you want to charge your smartphone and then the input microUSB when you want to charge the powerbank. That small hole is an LED that shows you the status of the battery.
The blue light is constantly lit when fully charged and will go out when the powerbank is discharged. To see the current status just count the number of flashes from the LED in 25% increments ( 1 flash for 25% and so forth). And to see status just shake the powerbank gently.
On the other end we have the charging docks. They are magnetic and every time you remove or place them it gives you such a satisfying pop and secure feeling.
And this is when you slide the inner body to protect the earbuds while charging on the go.
Now for the earbuds which have this half black body with chromed accents for the other half. They are really small and light at only 3.5 grams.
The earbuds have one button each for various task and one LED light which flashes in different colors, again, for different circumstances.
This is how they look when connected in the powerbank and witness the red LED active to show that they are charging.
And when you slide the whole module to allow for them to charge and be more protected on the go.
Ok then, scroll further please to start the testing.
Testing
We used it for a couple of days to see what kind of real endurance you will get, the signal strength and reliability and the sound quality.
First, you must do the following:
1 – Charge the powerbank – from flat it may take up to 2-3 hours via an AC adapter or 5-7 hours via the PC; the status can be observed from the flashing blue LED on the bottom charging side
2 – Connect the earbuds to be charge – a red LED will stay on and will go off once they are fully charged; they may take up to 1 hour and a half
3 – Then you must press the button located on the earbuds simultaneously for 6 seconds until the red and blue lights flash, to begin the pairing sequence; After a few seconds, the earbuds will automatically pair with each other; one will now flash slowly in blue, and the other will alternate between red and blue. The latter is the Master earbud and goes in the left ear.
4 – Activate your Bluetooth on your smartphone/device and pair it the the earbuds; “SandbergBuds” is the name that they will appear under; one quick observation to take into consideration is that if the name appears twice, wait until the scan is complete by your smartphone and connect only when one name is present to avoid pairing with only one earbud.
5 – To close the earbuds, if you close the Master (left) one by pressing the button for 4 seconds, they will both close automatically.
6 – They also include a microphone and for best performance place the earbuds with the round end of the multi-function button should point towards your mouth; to answer a call press once the button, then once more to end it and to reject a call press the button twice; same double press will call back the last entry in your log.
Right, so far so good and lets find out how they performed.
Results and impressions
This is how they look in your ear. The pre-attached ear tips are comfortable and because the earbuds weigh only 3.5 grams each, you barely feel them.
Thus this brings me to my intro where I mentioned how great they are for sports – lightweight and wireless. I went for a jog and they never come out of my ears.
Music playback is good even at 50% volume on my smartphone (Samsung Note 4) and the same for an incoming call. At max volume only minor distortions but nothing to irritate you. I witness no signal interruption on both music playback nor calls.
Regarding endurance, the theoretical maximum charge is about 21 cycles to use the earbuds to charge them with only one full powerbank charge. We managed around 19 which is in specs with a power loss coefficient for batteries.
Do the math and you get almost 60 hours of playback/calls which is damn impressive if you ask me !
The included pouch is really handy to keep the dust away from the earbuds and protects the powerbank shell from any unwanted scratches.
And every time I pop the inner body out to use the earbuds which are securely in place by magnets, I fell like James Bond with a cool spy gadget !
I must say I am impressed by this combo from Sandberg. Thus let’s wrap things up.
Conclusions
Wow. Sometimes you think of some solutions and imagine such a product in your head based on your needs, thus it is truly impressive when you see brands that make those dreams a reality. Sandberg with their Powerbank and Bluetooth in-ear earbuds combo has done something really unique in terms of versatility. Not only that it is highly practical, it also has a great and sleek design, making you feel like James Bond every time you slide it to access the earbuds. Being so lightweight they are a perfect solution when you want to listen to music and do sports activities without the fear that they will came off or any wires present to interfere. Such an excellent overall experience and quality product they have created !
The Good:
+ The perfect solution for a true wireless implementation
+ Superb and elegant design
+ Sleek and very enjoyable experience when sliding the inner body
+ Elegant solution via magnets to hold the earbuds in place while charging
+ Can act as a powerbank to give you an emergency charge reserve
+ Quality and sturdy feel
+ Good sound quality and great signal reliability
+ Really easy to setup up, pair and use
+ 5 years of warranty
+ Nice touch with the included cloth pouch
The bad:
– Only 3 hours of usage until to recharge the earbuds but given the portable nature of the powerbank, divide 2100 mAh by 100 (50 mAh per earbud) and you have almost 20 cycles / 60 Hours of max playback !
– Maybe on the high price but it oozes of quality and versatility so in our opinion it deserves the price tag
Glob3trotters “Epic Wireless Solution” & “Superb Gadget” Awards – 5 out 5
A lot of thanks to Sandberg for supplying us with this sample !
