Olala SG1 magnetic bluetooth earbuds
With more and more flagships seemingly thinking that 3.5mm audio should go the way of the dodo more and more companies are offering Bluetooth earbuds. Olala someone we’ve looked at power and storage accessories from them in the past however this is our first look at them as an audio company. To that end they’ve sent us their new SG1 Bluetooth earbuds for review.
SG1 Unboxing and packaging
The packaging is neat and clean giving a good first impression for these headphones. Located on the back of the box even contains details specifications down to the Bluetooth chip used(It’s a qualcomm CSR8645 if you were curious). Other highlights include aptX support for higher quality sound as well as up to an 8 hour talk time. Included accessories are a small carrying pouch(nothing special although missed in the photos) a bundle of different earpieces and a charging cable. Controls are handled by a fairly typical 3 button configuration with dedicated volume buttons and a multi function on/off/call button.
Audio quality
Although I’m sure they’re not going to make an audiophile happy the sg1 offers respectable sound quality. Lacking a bit in the bass department due to their diminutive size the SG1 in general offered audio that was pleasing to the ear. Listening to a FLAC copy of yyz(which I know isn’t lossless because bluetooth) was clear and crisp with no hints of the sound becoming muddy.
Battery life
Rated for up to 8 hours playback the SG1 came just shy of this in my testing. At 7 hours I’d expect that their internal testing was simply at a lower volume than I found comfortable. Overall this is more than enough for typical uses throughout a workday or during a trip to the gym.
Fit and Finish
The default earpiece fit me surprisingly well to the point I didn’t bother trying any of the others. The cable length and magnetism however were entirely separate issues. I have a (relatively) large neck and have had to buy shirts a size too large because of this, with that preface I found the length of the over the neck cable roughly 3 inches shorter than I would have preferred causing the magnetic buds to come apart more often than not. When the earbuds did stay in contact they typically did so at the expense of my beard trying to pull out a hair or too. Outside of that everything seems to fit tightly together, I don’t see the door for the usb port going anywhere anytime soon and the magnets are strong enough to rip out a beard hair.
Closing Thoughts
Neck size issues aside these headphones did deliver everything I expected inside a waterproof package. With clear sound and reasonable battery life there’s a lot to like about olala’s first Bluetooth headphones. Considering their current cost of 30.99 on amazon today they’re in a tough market. With more phones shipping without 3.5mm audio jacks bluetooth headphones are becoming more standard and this price bracket is somewhat overloaded with options. However olala has a compelling one with the SG1 and one I expect to be a popular one.
