Spiritual experience
Although the last of the summer sun has just about run out, we're not letting that put us off from running. To be honest, running in the autumn feels a tad easier, as the cooler weather helps, and we won't be cooling off on the motivational tunes that keep us going mile after mile. Fortunately we've been testing a product that helps with just that. Read on for our review of the handy Monster iSport Spirit Bluetooth headphones.
First up, these are sports endurance headphones designed to be worn in all conditions. They are end-to-end wireless earbuds, meaning you pop them in your ears and have only a light wire running between them behind your neck. They are waterproof (so Monster claim), feature a handy clip design to keep them in your ears while exercising, and boast up to eight hours of battery life. All sounds good so far.
The second thing to note is that these babies aren't that expensive. Available exclusively from Argos (at time of review), the Monster iSport Spirit weigh in at just £49.99, making them extremely affordable. They might sound cheap, but they don't feel cheap, with a tough yet flexible housing and an apparently rugged wire. There are two 'hubs' situated on the wire - one that houses the controls, and another that seems to house the rechargeable battery.
Charged up via Micro USB, these things are fairly comfortable in the ear, and Monster have included a few differently sized tips to help with that. The silicone clip offered a decently secure fit, and we never experienced an instance of them falling out when running, but can't comment on other more energetic sports. Like wrestling. Or sky driving.
Pairing via Bluetooth was as easy as it ever should be and, as they're sports headphones, you really don't have to worry about connection range as you'll always have your music device close by. That said, they achieved the typical ten-ish metres before the stream started to break up.
The Monster iSport Spirit headphones feature two different sound profiles that can be quickly switched between. There's Normal and the excitingly named Turbo. Essentially, Turbo seems to up the output, strengthening the bass. We couldn't claim it made the music sound better, just stronger, and that certainly helped when out on a noisy street. However, even the Normal mode performed well, delivering a clear sound with all genres of tunes, and respectable bass levels despite the relatively small 9mm drivers.
They served fairly well during a long run, and even survived a heavy downpour of rain, so points there. As you can imagine from sub-£50 headphones, they aren't going to knock your socks off, but they will do the job, and do it admirably. The built-in remote is good, and obviously doubles as a mic for phone calls, and the magnetic earbuds will stick together around your neck when not in use, so handy there, too.
The Monster iSport Spirit Bluetooth headphones are a solid choice for cheap(ish) exercise 'phones, and you could do a lot worse. We like the waterproof housing, the secure ear clip, and the overall output. Nice effort here from Monster.
£49.99
Available from www.argos.co.uk