TekNMotion Airhead BT Headset Review

As a person who’s constantly on the move, it’s ever more important to me to have devices that not only keep me connected and entertained, but also provide a high quality experience without breaking the bank. For an audio device, you really want something that’s comfortable, compact, and delivers well-rounded audio for any mobile device you might connect to, be it your PlayStation Vita, smartphone, tablet, or PC. You also want a quality microphone that allows you to talk comfortably without screaming bloody murder, nor picks up every little noise in the background. The TekNMotion Airhead Bluetooth Headset delivers on all fronts admirably.

The Airhead BT headset’s overhead design is quite minimalistic with its flat black body and only a small band of silver showing across the top of the headband. Even the Airhead BT logos aren’t noticeable at a distance against the outside of the cans. The only real standouts on the headset are the buttons and the microphone port, which are labeled in silver. The buttons are positioned on the rear of the cans, with the left featuring your Play/Pause, Forward, and Reverse buttons, as well as the USB port used to charge them up. On the right side you’ll find the Volume Up, Down, and Power buttons, as well as the Microphone port and an LED to indicate connection status.

The ear cups sport a leather ring at the base, with a Lycra cloth inner area to allow your ears to breathe without the worry of accumulating sweat during extended play. The cans themselves are hinged with the intent of making them easier to stow; however, it doesn’t really cut down too much on the amount of space they take up. A hinged center along with the cans would have been a better option for packing, as it would take effectively half of the space that they do now. Furthermore, when I removed the headset from the package, I did what I typically do with collapsible headsets: folded them up and flipped them over to ensure that the headphones would remain stowed. This unfortunately was not the case for this model; the cans immediately fell out of their stowed position. This would easily be remedied by having tighter hinges, to make sure they don’t fall out of place in your backpack or handbag.

Despite the flimsy joints at the cans, the headset snugs quite nicely to your noggin. The super light design of the frame allows for extended use without the top of your head becoming too tired and sore from the weight of the device sitting across the headband. The ear pads are easily removable to be cleaned, if necessary, and can be reinstalled with minimal fuss. Furthermore, the flexibility of the headband allows for even the largest of brain boxes to use the device without discomfort. One issue I did experience with the design of the headset is with the button placement, which feels unnatural and unintuitive. Located on the back side of the cans, you’ll find that you either need to feel around blindly with your thumb, or turn your wrist in an unnatural way to get your bearings to figure out which button you’re pressing. More than once, I’ve paused a song looking for the forward or back buttons. Most headset manufacturers install the buttons on the bottom and top of the cans, or on the sides to avoid this very issue. Perhaps the designers will learn better in the next generation.

While the packaging indicates that the Airhead BT headset has “Bass Boost” technologies, it would be more appropriate to say that the headset features a well-rounded sound range – which it does. While the low-end output of the headphones delivers much meatier sound than most Bluetooth headsets in a similar price range, it doesn’t sacrifice the mid- or high-end ranges in order to do so, providing a fuller output overall. The 40mm drivers handle the full range of sound at high volume with almost no crackle. The only time the sound broke over the top was with both the headphones and my test devices (in this case my Lumia 810 and PlayStation Vita) turned to the max; however, the sound was so loud at that point that I had to set the headphones on my desk out of fear for my ears. In other words, if you really need to turn everything up to the max, I would recommend going to get your hearing checked.

The microphone is also of decent quality, allowing for clear communication without sounding too muffled or tinny. Using the device for voice chat on both my cell phone and PlayStation Vita, the recipients had no issues hearing me, even in high traffic areas with a lot of background noise.

Overall, the TekNMotion Airhead BT series headset provides some excellent quality for the retail price of $59.99. It could use some additional checks on the quality line to prevent the floppy ear cups issue from occurring, but for those looking for a decent wireless solution without breaking the bank on a pair of Sennheiser cans, the Airhead BT is something you might want to look into.

The TekNMotion Airhead BT headset receives a 4.25/5.0