Swimming is a good exercise, but it surely’s boring as grime. Not less than that’s how I felt swimming all by way of highschool. The H2O Audio Tri Professional makes an attempt to be the last word reply for that boredom, promising to allow you to take heed to music, podcasts, or no matter else when you’re swimming and, because the identify suggests, operating and biking as nicely. Utilizing bone conduction, they play audio by way of your cheek bones, preserving your ears unobstructed so you possibly can keep the situational consciousness you want in these contexts.
The Tri Professional are meant as an improve to the Tri headphones, however their one massive further function is way from sensible whereas the worth improve is critical. And until you’re fortunate sufficient to have them match completely proper out of the field, you’ll be a reasonably terrible expertise throughout.
Supply: H2O Audio
H2O Audio Tri Professional Multi-Sport with PLAYLIST+
The H2O Audio Tri Professional could possibly be a formidable pair of bone conduction headphones which are able to go swimming, biking, and operating, however their sound high quality utterly hinges on good match, and there’s no mechanism for adjusting match to the multitude of head shapes on the market. Contemplating their solely significant improve to H2O Audio’s normal Tri headphones is a tedious audio recorder, there’s little motive to pay the additional $60 for these.
- Connectivity Expertise
- Bluetooth
- Play Time
- 5 hours
- Waterproof?
- Sure
- Model
- H2O Audio
- Energy Supply
- USB
- Particular Function
- Constructed-in 8GB MP3 participant
- Speaker Expertise
- Bone-Conduction
- IP ranking
- IPX8 (as much as 3.6 meter for limitless time)
- Music Supply:
- Bluetooth, MP3 participant
- Supported codecs:
- MP3, WMA, M4A
- Weight:
- 33g
- Shade:
- black
- Maintains situational consciousness
- Swim-ready
- Inside storage for underwater use
- Audio relies upon closely on match
- Impartial match is a matter of luck
- Brief battery life, lengthy recharge time
- Stiff controls
- Successfully ineffective mic
Worth and availability
The H2O Audio Tri Professional have a listing value of $179 on H2O Audio’s personal web site, however has an ongoing low cost to $159 and have been listed at $159 on Amazon for months, so we’ll take $159 to be the true value.
Design and match
The H2O Audio Tri Professional are designed like a fantastic many different bone-conduction headphones. They situate two drivers on the ends of ear hooks and hyperlink the 2 sides with a versatile neckband. The design is almost similar to the sooner H2O Audio Tri headset.
This design sees the drivers press into the cheekbones proper in entrance of the ears. There are two extra cumbersome bits that sit behind the ears, containing the battery, storage, and controls. Sadly, these bits can press slightly uncomfortably into the bones there.
Talking of match and luxury, it’ll come down largely to the form and dimension of your head. Although the neckband is versatile, it doesn’t modify to new positions like typical headphone sliders. On my head, the band is stretched large, which sees the drivers missing strain towards my cheekbones. The result’s a lot weaker audio until I’ve a separate headband or swimming goggles serving to press the drivers again down. Sporting the headphones on a stroll, I’m not making these lodging, and get a sub-par audio expertise in consequence.
Although the headphones are branded as being suited to a triathlon, I additionally discover them significantly uncomfortable for biking, as they aren’t getting held in place by my biking goggles or helmet straps. In actual fact, each of these gadgets get all awkwardly tangled and bunched up round my ears and with the neckband of the H2O Audio Tri Professional.
The H2O Audio Tri Professional are made to get moist, and as such has an IPX8 ranking the corporate says is sweet down to 3 meters underwater with no restrict on timing (fairly a bit higher than what the official IPX8 ranking suggests).
The management unit behind the appropriate ear hook is kind of easy, with a play button and a + and – button. The play button is answerable for turning on the headphones and switching between Bluetooth and inner storage modes. H2O Audio says it’ll additionally name up a voice assistant, however I used to be unable to get it to do that. The + and – buttons can modify quantity with single faucets, skip tracks whereas held, or change folders if double-pressed within the native storage mode. The buttons are fairly stiff, so lengthy presses and double clicks generally is a little tough.
The headset prices with a particular USB cable that has a four-pin adapter on the top with magnetic alignment. Whereas this has labored merely sufficient for charging the headset, it’s a precarious connection to make use of for USB knowledge switch, and I’ve run into points with the subtlest jostle disrupting the hyperlink.
Options
These headphones supply a primary Bluetooth connection to be used exterior of water. Since Bluetooth doesn’t penetrate water nicely, in addition they have 8GB of inner storage so that you can load up MP3, WMA, and M4A audio information to play again regionally. These audio information could be transferred from a related pc over the charging cable.
What units the H2O Audio Tri Professional aside from the H2O Audio Tri (non-Professional) is the Playlist+ function. Whereas related to a Bluetooth supply enjoying audio, a double-press of the + button will start to document the audio to be saved regionally. Desire a 5-hour recording? You’ll be operating this course of for five hours. Not solely is that this an extremely tedious course of for making a recording (suppose making customized combine tapes on precise tape decks), but it surely’s probably in a legally grey space, for the reason that headset is making a replica of, presumably, copyrighted content material.
H2O Audio’s smartphone app may also begin and cease recording for the Playlist+ function. It’s additionally important for re-naming and organizing the recordings. Past this, it presents little performance for the headphones.
Efficiency and audio high quality
Audio high quality out of the H2O Audio Tri Professional is hit and miss. Get the drivers located good, and it’s spectacular, the audio they pump into your head. They’ve a stable vary, getting modest bass alongside balanced mids and treble. What’s particularly wild is how the sound shifts after they sink underwater, as now they’re vibrating your cheekbones and the encompassing water, making for a fair fuller sound. It will probably sound rather less exact like this, but it surely’s a wealthy listening expertise for some heavy jams to remain pumped up throughout train. H2O Audio gives ear plugs to maintain the dashing water in your ears from impacting the sound as nicely.
That mentioned, audio efficiency relies upon majorly on match and strain. If the strain loosens up just a bit bit, the tone shifts dramatically, the bass will increase however is a bit muddy, and the highs and mids turn out to be skinny and tinny.
Whereas the H2O Audio Tri Professional can appear loud after they’re correctly pressed towards the cheekbones, they don’t really cowl the ear canal, so it’s simple to listen to every thing that’s occurring round you. With match, I hear exterior sounds alongside the audio. With a nasty match, exterior sounds will drown out the audio. In a reasonably calm cafe, I needed to max out the amount to listen to a podcast over the ambient sound, but when I pressed the drivers into my cheekbones, I may hear simply high-quality at decrease volumes.
H2O Audio doesn’t make a lot point out of the microphone on the headphones, and that’s maybe as a result of it really works terribly. In a quiet room, I made a voice recording with the built-in mic, and it hardly picked up any sound. The whole lot sounded prefer it was coming by way of a thick wall. If I spoke very loudly, it did just a little higher, and if I held the entire headset in entrance of my mouth it carried out higher nonetheless, however that’s not how anybody must be required to make use of their headphones for a name.
Battery
Battery life isn’t nice for the Tri Professional. They’re rated for five hours of runtime, they usually take 2 hours to recharge — no fast cost to talk of. Not less than they maintain as much as their rated time, draining solely about 20% after an hour of combined use. However they’re decidedly not good when in comparison with different Bluetooth earbuds you may be which may usually run for much longer and recharge in a fraction of the time.
Take the EarFun Air Professional 3, as an illustration. This high quality pair of buds can run for as much as 9 hours between prices, they carry 36 further hours within the charging case. The Tri Professional even look dangerous subsequent to H2O Audio’s personal alternate options, just like the Sonar headphones, which supply 7 hours of battery life and value a lot much less.
Competitors
The H2O Audio Tri Professional face some severe competitors from their very own sibling. The H2O Audio Tri might have a listing value of $149, which wouldn’t make them less expensive, however they’re commonly discounted to $99. At that value, they’re a considerably decrease outlay, and all you’ll actually miss out on is the doubtful Playlist+ function of the Tri Professional. It’s an analogous story for the corporate’s Sonar headphones, that are designed particularly to strap to swim goggles and achieve this fairly successfully.
You would go together with one thing from a competitor, just like the Shokz OpenSwim, however you’ll pay $150, get much less storage, and run into related fitment points.
Must you purchase them?
The H2O Audio Tri Professional simply aren’t nice. They sound respectable in water and might go deep, however they don’t add a lot to the package deal — past a questionable and tedious audio recorder — over the usual Tri. In the event you’re fortunate sufficient to have the ability to get match, you’ll save a bunch of cash and be served kind of simply as nicely by the usual Tri. And match is a priority, because the headphones’ flexibility doesn’t really imply they will modify to totally different head shapes.
With little further to supply at $159, the Tri Professional don’t advantage the additional cash you’ll spend on them as a substitute of one in all their rivals. In the event that they lasted longer on a cost or had upgraded storage, they may have justified their existence, however as it’s, they simply function a robust case for H2O Audio’s cheaper choices.
Supply: H2O Audio
H2O Audio Tri Professional Multi-Sport with PLAYLIST+
The H2O Audio Tri Professional could possibly be a formidable pair of bone conduction headphones which are able to go swimming, biking, and operating, however their sound high quality utterly hinges on good match, and there’s no mechanism for adjusting match to the multitude of head shapes on the market. Contemplating their solely significant improve to H2O Audio’s normal Tri headphones is a tedious audio recorder, there’s little motive to pay the additional $60 for these.
