Michal Ždanský If the general requirements for headphones could be generalized, there would probably be three basic requirements: good sound, great design and processing, and finally the lowest possible price. As a rule, all three don't always go hand in hand, and really good headphones often cost several thousand crowns, especially if you want a really nice-looking pair in the style of Beats.
The Prestigo PBHS1 headphones look remarkably similar to the Beats Solos, but come in at a fraction of the price. The Prestigo company is a manufacturer of practically any electronics, in its portfolio you will find everything from Android tablets to GPS navigation. You'd probably expect inconsistent quality across the portfolio from a similar company, but the PBHS1 headphones are surprisingly good, especially when you consider that they can be purchased for just 600 crowns.
Considering the price, don't expect any premium materials, the entire surface of the headphones is made of plastic, but it doesn't look cheap at all. In general, the design is very well done and as I mentioned above, the Prestigo was clearly inspired by Beats products. For added strength, the head bridge is reinforced with a metal frame, which can be seen when the bottom part of the headphones is extended to adjust the length.
The lower part of the arch is padded, you will find the same padding on the earrings. It is a very pleasant and soft material and even after a few hours of wearing it, I did not feel any pain in my ears. The earcups are smaller and do not cover the entire ear, which results in poorer noise isolation from the environment. This is one of the weaknesses of the headphones, and especially in noisy places like the subway, you would appreciate significantly better isolation from ambient noise. A smaller gap in the headphones would also help, which would push the earcups more on the ear.
In the place where you adjust the length of the headphones, both sides can be "broken" and folded into a more compact shape, although this is not as elegant a solution as the Beats have, the bend is only at an angle of about 90 degrees. There are control buttons on both earcups. On the left is the Play/Stop button and the power off button, on the right is the volume up or down, long hold to switch songs forward or backward. On the bottom, you will also find a microphone jack, a blue LED indicating the power on and pairing status, and finally a microUSB port for charging. You also get a charging cable with the headphones. Unfortunately, they lack the option to connect a 3,5 mm jack for a wired connection, so you are completely dependent on wireless transmission via Bluetooth.
Sound and use in practice
Considering the price of the headphones, I was very skeptical about the sound. I was all the more surprised at how well the PBHS1s play. The sound is very lively with a relative amount of bass, although the bass frequencies could be a bit tighter. My biggest gripes are only the highs, which are uncomfortably sharp, which fortunately can be corrected with the equalizer with the "Less highs" setting in iOS or iTunes. I'm not afraid to say that the sound is subjectively better than the Beats Solos and although it doesn't compare to professional headphones from AKG or Senheisser, it's more than enough for regular listening even for more demanding listeners.
PBHS1 don't have a problem with volume either. The volume of the headphones is independent of the volume of the phone, so you do not control the volume of the phone with the +/- buttons, but of the headphones themselves. For the best result, I recommend increasing the volume on the phone and leaving the headphones at around 70%. This will prevent possible distortion, especially with hard music, and at the same time save some energy in the headphones. As far as endurance is concerned, the manufacturer states 10 hours per charge, but in reality the PBHS1 has no problem lasting even 15 hours. It takes around 3-4 hours to fully charge.
The weakest link of the headphones is Bluetooth connectivity. Although pairing is done by default, the use of a probably cheap Bluetooth module (the manufacturer does not state the version, but it is not 4.0) results in the sound dropping out in certain situations. Practically any time a wall gets between the headphones and the phone or other sound source, whether at a distance of five or ten meters, the sound will be very choppy or drop out completely. Other audio devices did not have the problem under the same conditions. I also experienced dropouts when carrying the phone in a bag, where movement, such as running, caused the signal to drop out.
The headphones can be paired with multiple devices at once, but it's not possible to switch between them, so you'll often have to turn off Bluetooth on one device for them to connect to another. Often they don't even connect automatically and you have to find the headphones in the settings in iOS.
The integrated microphone is also not great and its quality is very below average. In addition, when used with Skype, for an unknown reason, the headphones switch to a kind of hands-free mode, which rapidly deteriorates the sound quality. They are quite usable for receiving calls on the phone (the aforementioned switching will not occur), unfortunately, during each activity - connecting, turning on or receiving a call - a female voice will inform you in English of what action you have performed, even while receiving a call. Thanks to this, the call will be muted and you will not always hear the first few seconds of the call. Despite the fact that the female voice starts to become a very disturbing element in general after a while.
The last criticism of use is directed to the above-mentioned isolation, which is not ideal and in addition to the fact that you hear sounds from the surroundings, even if muffled, the people around you can hear what you are listening to. The amount of sound passing through could be compared to a phone playing under a pillow, depending of course on the reproduction volume. So I definitely do not recommend taking headphones to the library or the hospital.
As far as wearing itself is concerned, the headphones are very comfortable on the head, light (126 g) and, if properly placed on the head, they do not fall off even when running.
záver
For the price of 1 CZK, the Prestigo PBHS600 are excellent headphones, despite some shortcomings, which are difficult to avoid with such a cheap device. If you're looking for high-end headphones, you should probably look elsewhere, or in a completely different price range. Less demanding listeners who want good sound, nice looks and the lowest possible price, and who will overcome some shortcomings such as occasional problems with Bluetooth or insufficient isolation, the Prestigo PBHS1 will surely satisfy. Along with very good battery life, you get a lot of music for very little money. In addition to the white-green combination, the headphones are also available in black-red and black-yellow.
[one_half last="no"]
advantages:
[Checklist]
- Great sound
- Design
- Price
- Control on headphones
[/checklist][/one_half]
[one_half last="yes"]
Disadvantages:
[bad list]
- Poor Bluetooth reception
- Insufficient insulation
- Absence of 3,5 mm jack connector
[/badlist][/one_half]
Dropping sound through a wall at a distance of 5 to 10 meters? I wouldn't consider this a problem, but an expected feature. I have experienced the same situation with other devices. After all, it's BT, not wifi. The goal of this technology is not to transmit data behind walls or over greater distances than a piece of wire is normally used for. But in the bag it should work without any problems.
I agree with the opinion about the sound dropping out. I own several bluetooth headphones that even offer Bluetooth 4.0 and dropouts sometimes occur... I ordered these headphones and I would like to know if the author tried to connect them to an iPod or iPhone and if this connection is problem-free? Thank you for answer!
Tested with iPhone. I wouldn't call it problem-free, see signal dropout in the bag. I've also noticed it while wearing my iPhone in my jeans. Only occasionally, but still.
For that price, better Koss Porta Pro and you have quality
Brother has these Prestigo PBHS1 headphones, black with red bands. Compared to my Koss, the PBHS1 are weak.
I had a chance to try them out and I absolutely cannot agree that they play well. The sound is pretty terrible in my opinion... And it doesn't matter if you listen to pop, jazz or rock...
I don't agree... sound through iPod Nano 7th... great! I don't know what your requirements are, but for 649 bucks it's a great deal!
How can it be paired? I have a PC, I bought a Bluetooth dongle, but I can't pair it :( ...