Plantronics BackBeat Go Review - Almost the Perfect Bluetooth Earbuds
by Brian Klug on August 27, 2012 6:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
- Bluetooth
- plantronics
Plantronics rates the BackBeat Go as having up to 4.5 hours of talk time when used for Bluetooth calling, and 4 hours of play time when used as an A2DP device. That’s not a whole lot of battery life, but that’s the tradeoff that gets made when you’re talking about a Bluetooth device with very little volume that can be dedicated to battery.
| Plantronics BackBeat Go Battery Life | |||||
| User Manual Cited | Tested | ||||
| Stereo A2DP Playback Time | 4.0 Hours | 3.4 Hours | |||
| Talk Time (HFP/HSP) | 4.5 Hours | - | |||
Of course, I’m not satisfied with just citing manufacturer specs for battery life, and went ahead and measured the BackBeat Go audio playback time. To do this, I paired the earphones with an HTC One S and played an album on repeat, with the volume on the earphones set to 70%. I then placed the earbuds next to the One S (so there was good Bluetooth signal) with one of the earbuds inside a bag with a microphone.
In this manner it was possible to easily measure how long until the BackBeat Go battery died. I ran the test twice, and wound up with an average run time of 3.4 hours, which is just short of the cited 4 hours for A2DP, but relatively close. It’s possible they’re citing that number based on the earbuds being driven at a lower volume level, though 70% is where I often listened on the BackBeat Gos partially because of the lack of great isolation.
Performance
It’s hard to be overly critical about the audio performance of the BackBeat Gos since they’re so volume constrained. Inside each earbud is a ton of volume dedicated to battery and the Bluetooth controller, and relatively little volume dedicated to the actual 6mm neodymium drivers.
On the whole, sound quality is nothing to be terribly excited about, but is good enough for casual listening. I’ve never been dissatisfied with A2DP at the maximum bitpool on any device, though at the same time there is a perceptible difference between A2DP and a good analog output. I would say that sound quality on the BackBeat Go is more gated by its earphone performance and construction than the use of SBC codec.
Most of my complaints about the BackBeat Go sound quality boil down to the lack of a good seal between the earbud’s small rubber sleeve and the ear canal. With a good seal, I found the listening experience surprisingly enjoyable. Mids and bass are decent, though somewhat lacking compared to either of my usual go-to IEMs (Shure SE115 or SE 535). That said, I’d characterize the experience as more than adequate for casual listening. Given the small size of the drivers, I’d say the BackBeat Go audio quality is actually surprisingly decent.
Without a good seal, I found suppression less than ideal and bass and mids very underdriven. This is really the overarching problem I experienced with the BackBeat Go – the earbuds either slowly slide out of my ear canals, or movement of my head perturbs them, and I lose the seal and soundstage entirely. That obviously makes use while exercising challening. Thankfully there isn’t much sound communication between the cable and the earbud either; there's no noise transmitted through the cable when moving around with the cable rubbing on clothing.
Input latency is the other big concern, and on the two devices I tested, there wasn’t enough to distract from watching Netflix or YouTube videos. Some of this is a function of what the encode implementation is like on the host device, but on iOS and the HTC One X I was able to watch Netflix without perceptible audio lag.
You can also of course use the BackBeat Gos to talk on the phone as there’s a microphone in the controller midsection. I called a few people and asked how I sounded, and audio quality wasn’t super great. I was told that I sound like most car audio Bluetooth solutions, so I suspect some of this is just a reflection of the handsfree protocol quality. The BackBeat Go does include some DSP noise reduction and echo rejection, though this isn’t a two microphone solution. Again, how good at rejecting noise the system ends up being for the other party depends on whether your handset also will do further processing. For example the Audience sound processors have a port for Bluetooth audio in which will get used in conjunction with the other onboard microphones to cancel noise.
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OCedHrt - Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - link
http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Pr...That price is crazy though, but I think Sony is just gouging. I bought mine in Taiwan and it was about $60 retail (2000 TWD) with a hard case. I then lost it going through airport security and found myself another one online (with a soft pouch) for about the same price. I'm partially convinced the one I got online is a fake though, because I remember my original one having multi-point but the new one does not support it. I have to re-discover/connect every time I switch devices.
Here it is for 1750 TWD (http://tw.page.bid.yahoo.com/tw/auction/b80318099;... yet they sell it for $100+ on Amazon.
ScottSoapbox - Monday, August 27, 2012 - link
Sony made these a few years ago (HBH-IS800). They were great until recently when their play time dropped to ~2 hrs from usage. Replaced them with the JF3 Freedom which I love even more for 3 reasons. 1) The JF3's are surprisingly light and comfortable. 2) Twice the play time. 3) Physical buttons on the earpiece are so much easier to use than ones dangling on the cord.Impulses - Monday, August 27, 2012 - link
I enjoy these kinds of off beat reviews at AT, even if it isn't their core subject matter, AT editors like Brian still put more effort intro this kinda short review than most tech sites could ever dream of.cc2096 - Monday, August 27, 2012 - link
I own these as well as a pair of Sennheiser MM400's. The Senn's have a much better audio quality, better battery life and are Multi-point compatible. But they are over the ear style phones and as such are big and bulky. I like the BackBeat Go's for just bumming around the house or working out. They are the perfect size and weight for that type of activity. If I really want good BT audio then it's the Senn's, but the BB GO are extremely good at what they do, even if it is a one pony show. Pro tip: Change out the stock tps for some Comply T/TS/TX-200's and you'll hear these in a whole new way.vexingv - Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - link
I have a pair of these BackBeat go earbuds and their formfactor is perfect. I bought both these and Jaybird Freedom earbuds to try out mainly for using at the gym while I exercise. The Jaybird Freedom buds are bulkier and they also use a proprietary charging port/cable while the BackBeat Go uses a regular microusb charger and are sleek. The BackBeat Go also fit me quite well. I promptly returned the Jaybird buds. However, as I am writing this post, I'm also getting ready to pack the BackBeat GO and return them as they have stopped working. The buds no longer power on and I suspect that the sweat from gym use may have effected the wiring/circuitry. I may go back to a bluetooth 3.5mm adapter (my previous one also stopped working) or look at the Novero model.TechnoButt - Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - link
Has anyone tried replacing the foam to something that might seal better? I got a pair of Shure SL4C on the $80 deal a few years back, and have since ordered replacement 'large' memory foam ear pieces after one of mine 'broke' (ie, the foam separated from the harder cylinder in the center).Since I got 10 of them in the package, I've gone to putting these on compatible headphones and it's amazing what a simple change of the ear pieces has accomplished for various cheaper headsets, especially for sound clarity and low end response.
My Shure set lives on my PC with a quality USB/DAC for gaming, since they are the best I have. But daily I use a set of Klipsch Promedia In-Ear (with the foam pieces purchased for my Shure set), and it takes a really good source to tell the difference (for me):
http://www.klipsch.com/promedia-in-ear
I'd love to know how these sound with similar pieces for a great seal (and also if they'd stay in place better with such a good tight seal).
CrAkD - Saturday, September 8, 2012 - link
How loud do these get? I like my music loud I got a pair of Novero Rockaways and like them other then the fact they just arent loud enough so now they are collecting dust. Ive been looking at the gos but I need to make sure they get loud enough before I drop more $.devildoc10 - Saturday, April 20, 2013 - link
I am very disappointed in the earbuds. Iv only had these buds for only three months and they have already crapped out on me. I can't seem to recharge the battery even thiugh the light indicator is on. The on/off tone sound to simular so when I want to use the earbuds the battery has already been drained. I want to point out that the volume is not very loud for the the price I paid. I highly reccomend not to waste your mney on this brand of earbuds. This brand is not worth the money you will pay.Sign
Verry dissapointed
Glerm - Monday, June 10, 2013 - link
I know theese can only pair with one device at a time. Problem for me is when i did a factory reset on my phone i can no longer pair with the headset and i havent found anyway to reset the pairing so i can reconnect them to another device! Ive been reading the manual and looked around here on the internet for hours with no luck! Anyone here that have figured out hot to a pairing reset on them?abhishekpurbey - Monday, August 5, 2013 - link
Hi ,I just bought plantronics backbeat go . I am not able to add my headset with my laptop. I tried unpair
the headset with mobile but still my laptop bluetooth is not able to find it but at the same time I am able to add this device to other mobile and other headset to my laptop.
Please help in how to add the headset in windows 7 .
Thanks in advance!!