Plantronics BackBeat Fit 500 - Review 2022

There are far fewer fitness-friendly Bluetooth headphones on the market than in that location are in-ear options. Thankfully, Plantronics' BackBeat Fit 500 pair is a winner. For $99.99, audio performance is quite skillful, with thunderous bass balanced out by a sculpted high frequency response. And the wet-resistant design manages to feel both comfy and secure at the aforementioned time. That makes the BackBeat Fit 500 a solid overall value, and our Editors' Choice for exercise-focused Bluetooth headphones.

Pattern

Available in black or black-and-teal models, the supra-aural (on-ear) BackBeat Fit 500 headphones take a generously cushioned retention foam headband and earpads for a comfortable fit over long listening periods. The headband has an angular, geometric profile that is hitting, and the fit can be adjusted from ear to ear precisely using detents on each side. Despite the on-ear blueprint, the fit is quite secure on the caput and should stay in place during nigh exercise routines.

The outer panels of the earcups are a wet-resistant matte rubber, which unfortunately acts like a magnet for dust. The good news is they tin can be hands cleaned, thank you to the water-resistant P2i nano-coating. Within each earcup, 40mm drivers deliver the audio.

On the outer console of the right earcup, there's a switch for ability/Bluetooth pairing, and a button for answering or ending phone calls. A status LED is located in between these 2 controls. On the correct earcup's outer panel, there are controls for play/pause, dedicated rails navigation buttons, and a divide book switch on the outer console. (The book levels work in conjunction with your mobile device's master book levels.) Why and then many manufacturers neglect to create such a unproblematic setup that doesn't combine multiple functions onto i button is a fleck of a mystery—Plantronics succeeds in giving you all the controls you need in a graceful, easy-to-utilise design.

The headphones ships with a iii.5mm audio cablevision for wired, passive listening. The cablevision lacks an inline remote control or mic, so using it ways answering calls and controlling playback and volume manually, as connecting the cable automatically powers down the headphones. In improver to the cablevision, the headphones send with a brusk micro USB charging cord and a drawstring carrying pouch.

Plantronics BackBeat Pro 505 inline The mic offers in a higher place-average intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s, we could understand every word we recorded clearly without too much in the way of added audio artifacts—it'south a crisp, clear microphone.

Plantronics estimates battery life to be roughly 18 hours, only your results volition vary with your volume levels and your mix of wired and wireless playback.

Functioning

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Pocketknife's "Silent Shout," the headphones deliver powerful bass depth that will appeal to those who are motivated past deep lows during their workouts. At superlative, unwise listening levels, the bass doesn't distort, and at more reasonable listening levels, the lows are notwithstanding quite full, and reasonably balanced with the college frequencies.

Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, tells u.s. a little more about the BackBeat Fit 500's overall sound signature. The drums on this rail sound nigh thunderous hither—these same drums can sound thin on less bass-boosted headphones. So, the headphones definitely boost the lows beyond levels that volition appeal to purists, merely at that place is a strong high-mid and loftier frequency presence besides. In other words, this is an exceptionally sculpted audio signature that manages to balance out the boosting by doing it on both ends of the frequency range.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West'southward "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop gets an ideal corporeality of high-mid presence, allowing its assault to retain its punchy edge and cut through the layers of the mix. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the trounce are delivered with serious depth—bass lovers will be thrilled. And even so, the booming lows don't overwhelm the mix—the vocals on this runway are delivered with solid loftier frequency clarity and piffling added sibilance.

Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, have more than bass boosting than will appeal to most classical music fans, but information technology's not egregious—the lower instrumentation just takes a notable footstep forward in the mix. The higher annals brass, strings, and vocals yet retain their brightness through the BackBeat Fit 500, but the lower register instrumentation plays more than of a noticeable role and less of a supporting one.

Conclusions

If you're looking for accurate, audiophile-form sonic performance, look elsewhere. However, if you similar boosted bass during your workouts and want an on-ear fit that will stay in place without result, await no further than the Plantronics BackBeat Fit 500. In terms of competition, we also like the Jabra Move Wireless and Urbanears Active Hellas, but neither pair is quite as gym-friendly. If you desire to go the in-ear road, the Jaybird X3 and JBL Reflect Mini BT are both solid options for roughly the same price. Equally far as on-ear headphones go, though, the BackBeat Fit 500 earn our Editors' Selection.