My kids go through headphones like they’re candy. After figuring this out, I usually buy cheap earbuds and just let them lose or destroy them. My eldest, Marty, though, wanted something better for use with our iPad, and he hates tangling with a cord that tethers him to it, so when the chance to test out a SuperTooth Freedom headset came up, I passed it along to him.
Marty has been using the headset for the past six weeks, and he loves it. He says, “They have a low charge time and long battery life. They’re pretty comfortable, for up to an hour and a half or so at a time, although they just barely fit my head at the furthest extension. [He has a massive noggin like mine.] They have rubber padding on the inside of the arch, though, and that’s a nice touch.
“Sound quality is pretty good, and they’re durable. They haven’t been broken yet—in this house! The padding on the earpieces is nice, and keeps them quiet on the outside so they don’t disturb other people.
“They’re easy to use, and the Bluetooth connects almost instantly once you have it set up. It has a great range too. I’ve stood on one side of the house and listened to the iPad on the other.”
The headset is billed to work with any Bluetooth A2DP-enabled devices, and it supports NFC (near field communication), so you can link them to your NFC smartphone by touching them to each other. If you don’t have Bluetooth, you can use an included auxiliary cable instead, but that drains some of the fun from having a wireless headset. Still, it allows you to keep using the headset should its charge run dry, so the cable’s good to have around in a pinch.
One of the earpieces features power and volume controls, plus you can pause, play, and flick back and forth through tracks with a click without having the connected device in hand. The headset also comes with a microphone, so you can take calls on it at any time, even while listening to music or watching a show. I’ve heard reports that people on the other end sometimes hear an echo on calls, but we didn’t use this function often enough for it to bother us.
The SuperTooth Freedom only weighs about seven ounces, so it’s easy to wear and take with you anywhere. The earpieces rotate 90°, so you can flatten them, stuff the headset into the included carrying bag, and slip it into your backpack.
The headset comes in three sharp color schemes: black with gray, black with blue, and white with gray. It takes about three hours to fully charge it, but that then lasts you for up to 15 hours of play.
The suggested retail is listed at $149, although the SuperTooth Freedom headset goes for about $175 on Amazon, so I wouldn’t recommend handing them to young kids to lose or abuse. (So far, excited 15-year-olds seem fine.) However, they do come with a two-year replacement warranty, which should give you a little peace of mind to go along with the Freedom.
Disclaimer: SuperTooth sent me this headset to review.
