Hello and welcome to my review of Havit's Bluetooth On Ear Headphone. These were sent specifically for review purposes after I was kindly picked as a member of the headfi review team by Gary Zhang of Havit. Thanks Gary
Havit HV-H2555BT Bluetooth Headphones
How much cheaper can you get for a pair of on the ear bluetooth headphones! These retail at £24.99. And what’s more- they work! With even a few extra touches, or should I say, sweeps thrown in.
Features
There are touch switches normally found on a bluetooth headphone on the left and right cups which control volume , take and end phone calls, pair to your device and switch the headset on and off.
In addition there are sweep gestures on the outside of the left cup which pause and play, skip and reverse and volume up and down.
A few hours of use and this quickly becomes the easiest way to control your music and offers even more convenience over the conventional limitations of a wired system with a phone in your pocket or in an armband.
The wireless function of the Havits work as an NFC device or as Bluetooth. My Samsung Note II works as NFC. Activating the function in the settings of the phone and sweeping the phone over the headphone soon gets things working,
Alternatively Bluetooth was equally as painless to set up on my Macbook. Once pairing had taken place there was no need to repeat this process.
Sound quality
Given that everything worked successfully , I proceeded with some trepidation into proper listening sensing the sound would be the fatal flaw. Something offering so much for so little was too good to be true. I have been a casual browser of the headphones available at HMV to try and keep up with the flavour of the month stuff out there and have been appalled at some of the sub £100 gear. I am pleased to tell you that despite some flaws, I can give the sound of these little things a thumbs up. What a relief that there’s stuff like this out there for those on a limited budget.
There are a few preconceived ideas I have about budget headphones and how their sound will be tuned. I assume there will be huge bass , muted mids and shrill highs, the V of vengeance for the high end headfier……
The bass
The low end was strident and glaring on all the tracks I tried using the normal eq I have set up for all my current headphones. What suits an HE-6 does not suit the Havit - not one bit! I made the bass so much better by taking 3 db off the 3 bands.
Vox Music Player for Mac
Still plenty enough there with no pushing into the mids and no fatigue to listening to the drummer or the producer putting a bass wash around everything.
The Mids
The mids found their space once I had pulled the bass where it belonged. Voices were easy to follow. I left the mids fairly flat across the EQ and thought they were perfectly acceptable at this price point.
The Highs
When I first put these headphones on I honestly expected a shrill noise instead of cymbals strings and echo. Instead I found the highs to be pleasantly rolled off with no hint of harshness. I eventually turned up the 4k 8k and 16k bands very slightly to get more detail and texture.
The soundstage
The soundstage was somewhat closed in compared to more expensive models out there but what you get is perfectly good enough for £24.99. Instruments can be followed in the mix with concentration and the highs and mids being so good for the price offset any small loss of airiness in the presentation.
Overall impression of the Sound Quality
Straight out of the box I would not expect many headfiers I know to be happy with the sound the Havits produce. But with some time on the EQ these phones can be easily tamed and their positive attributes can come to the fore with the over zealous nature of the lows can be quietly moved into the corner.
Field Testing
The final testing was less about sound quality and more about field testing the HVs where they were designed to be used (and abused). So I took them for a run to see whether they would fall off. How they fare when being pushed against a sweating head is a good way to separate the men from the boys in the headphone world. Let’s get them working…..
Bluetooth headphones are more comfortable to run with. For me I dislike the constant movement of a headphone cable slapping against my chest when I run. I have also had problems with sweat running down the cable and into the unit I’m using as a source. Not to mention the ever present evil of microphonics. So in my opinion , wireless headphones were made to run with. And I intend to put these to the test with my longest medium paced run in 25 years. Stand by…..
Wireless Reliability
I found the Havits dropped out on average once every 2 minutes for the first 10 minutes of my run , only for a split second each time. I had my phone approx 6 feet from me. After 10 minutes I experienced no dropouts in the sound at all and had 81 minutes of uninterrupted music.
Isolation
The isolation was not the last word in noise cancellation , ballads were wrestling with my pounding feet, the whirring of the treadmill and the gasp of my rather loud breathing (especially after an hour). The volume I set by default to maximum, more than loud enough to follow any song and distract me from the pain I was going through!
I am heavy footed and although the Havits clamp well enough I was experiencing a movement noise from the left pad of the HVs. This disappeared after 50 minutes and at the 75 minute stage I got a minor vibration noise from the right pad. All vibrations , breathing, pounding, whirring etc disappeared once the music got going on any particular track.
The Music - it's all about that Bass
Only 2 tracks were problematic from a listening point of view in over 90 minutes of hitting the treadmill. Road Tripping’ by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers
- wow the bass guitar on this was unlistenable at full volume and was tamed with a 50% reduction in volume. This was done in a fraction of a second using the sweeping motion on the left ear cup.
Stan by Eminem featuring Dido
- again the bass on this is ridiculous - that’s hip hop for you I guess. The synthetic drum and bass sound was not as painful as the Chillis so I listened through. A disturbing song in more than one way….
I did not believe that the irritation of these 2 songs was the fault of the Headphones or my EQing - some tracks have certain traits that I find grating, I’m sure we all have particular songs we can’t listen to without wincing. The new type of scrunchy ultra low synthetic bass found in “Stan” is not something I would need to change my EQ settings for because it wouldn’t be something I would listen to often enough for this to be a problem.
Survival
The Havits survived the 90 minute run intact, I survived too more importantly. The sweat on the headband and the pads and the cups was wipeable easily enough and had not intruded into the middle of the inner pads. This is where the drivers are situated.
Conclusion - are they worth Having?
Retailing for one fifth the price of a ticket to a reunion ELO concert
I had very little expectations of these bluetooth phones. The last phones I bought were slightly south of £600 and that was second hand and I was apprehensive to say the least that I no longer had my feet in the budget market enough to properly evaluate a £24.99 headphone. I was pleasantly surprised that I had not become some sort of an Audiophile Snob who sees no good in anything under £100.
Are there things I would change? Yes , I would make both ear cups twistable to the left and right as well as up and down, I would put a little more material for the pads to try and absorb any extra vibration and I would tune some of the bass down. Whether this could be done at the price level is debatable. And none of these issues are major issues ; they would not affect whether to hav or to hav not in my opinion. I could live with all of these issues no problem.
I recommend these Bluetooth Headphones unreservedly for the price…… well, providing you have the patience to tailor the sound to your personal preference , this is, after all, what EQ settings are all about.
And one more thing before I go......
https://www.prohavit.com/
Don't say I don't do anything for you.....
Havit HV-H2555BT Bluetooth Headphones
How much cheaper can you get for a pair of on the ear bluetooth headphones! These retail at £24.99. And what’s more- they work! With even a few extra touches, or should I say, sweeps thrown in.
Features
There are touch switches normally found on a bluetooth headphone on the left and right cups which control volume , take and end phone calls, pair to your device and switch the headset on and off.
In addition there are sweep gestures on the outside of the left cup which pause and play, skip and reverse and volume up and down.
A few hours of use and this quickly becomes the easiest way to control your music and offers even more convenience over the conventional limitations of a wired system with a phone in your pocket or in an armband.
The wireless function of the Havits work as an NFC device or as Bluetooth. My Samsung Note II works as NFC. Activating the function in the settings of the phone and sweeping the phone over the headphone soon gets things working,
Alternatively Bluetooth was equally as painless to set up on my Macbook. Once pairing had taken place there was no need to repeat this process.
Sound quality
Given that everything worked successfully , I proceeded with some trepidation into proper listening sensing the sound would be the fatal flaw. Something offering so much for so little was too good to be true. I have been a casual browser of the headphones available at HMV to try and keep up with the flavour of the month stuff out there and have been appalled at some of the sub £100 gear. I am pleased to tell you that despite some flaws, I can give the sound of these little things a thumbs up. What a relief that there’s stuff like this out there for those on a limited budget.
There are a few preconceived ideas I have about budget headphones and how their sound will be tuned. I assume there will be huge bass , muted mids and shrill highs, the V of vengeance for the high end headfier……
The bass
The low end was strident and glaring on all the tracks I tried using the normal eq I have set up for all my current headphones. What suits an HE-6 does not suit the Havit - not one bit! I made the bass so much better by taking 3 db off the 3 bands.
Vox Music Player for Mac
Still plenty enough there with no pushing into the mids and no fatigue to listening to the drummer or the producer putting a bass wash around everything.
The Mids
The mids found their space once I had pulled the bass where it belonged. Voices were easy to follow. I left the mids fairly flat across the EQ and thought they were perfectly acceptable at this price point.
The Highs
When I first put these headphones on I honestly expected a shrill noise instead of cymbals strings and echo. Instead I found the highs to be pleasantly rolled off with no hint of harshness. I eventually turned up the 4k 8k and 16k bands very slightly to get more detail and texture.
The soundstage
The soundstage was somewhat closed in compared to more expensive models out there but what you get is perfectly good enough for £24.99. Instruments can be followed in the mix with concentration and the highs and mids being so good for the price offset any small loss of airiness in the presentation.
Overall impression of the Sound Quality
Straight out of the box I would not expect many headfiers I know to be happy with the sound the Havits produce. But with some time on the EQ these phones can be easily tamed and their positive attributes can come to the fore with the over zealous nature of the lows can be quietly moved into the corner.
Field Testing
The final testing was less about sound quality and more about field testing the HVs where they were designed to be used (and abused). So I took them for a run to see whether they would fall off. How they fare when being pushed against a sweating head is a good way to separate the men from the boys in the headphone world. Let’s get them working…..
Bluetooth headphones are more comfortable to run with. For me I dislike the constant movement of a headphone cable slapping against my chest when I run. I have also had problems with sweat running down the cable and into the unit I’m using as a source. Not to mention the ever present evil of microphonics. So in my opinion , wireless headphones were made to run with. And I intend to put these to the test with my longest medium paced run in 25 years. Stand by…..
Wireless Reliability
I found the Havits dropped out on average once every 2 minutes for the first 10 minutes of my run , only for a split second each time. I had my phone approx 6 feet from me. After 10 minutes I experienced no dropouts in the sound at all and had 81 minutes of uninterrupted music.
Isolation
The isolation was not the last word in noise cancellation , ballads were wrestling with my pounding feet, the whirring of the treadmill and the gasp of my rather loud breathing (especially after an hour). The volume I set by default to maximum, more than loud enough to follow any song and distract me from the pain I was going through!
I am heavy footed and although the Havits clamp well enough I was experiencing a movement noise from the left pad of the HVs. This disappeared after 50 minutes and at the 75 minute stage I got a minor vibration noise from the right pad. All vibrations , breathing, pounding, whirring etc disappeared once the music got going on any particular track.
The Music - it's all about that Bass
Only 2 tracks were problematic from a listening point of view in over 90 minutes of hitting the treadmill. Road Tripping’ by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers
- wow the bass guitar on this was unlistenable at full volume and was tamed with a 50% reduction in volume. This was done in a fraction of a second using the sweeping motion on the left ear cup.
Stan by Eminem featuring Dido
- again the bass on this is ridiculous - that’s hip hop for you I guess. The synthetic drum and bass sound was not as painful as the Chillis so I listened through. A disturbing song in more than one way….
I did not believe that the irritation of these 2 songs was the fault of the Headphones or my EQing - some tracks have certain traits that I find grating, I’m sure we all have particular songs we can’t listen to without wincing. The new type of scrunchy ultra low synthetic bass found in “Stan” is not something I would need to change my EQ settings for because it wouldn’t be something I would listen to often enough for this to be a problem.
Survival
The Havits survived the 90 minute run intact, I survived too more importantly. The sweat on the headband and the pads and the cups was wipeable easily enough and had not intruded into the middle of the inner pads. This is where the drivers are situated.
Conclusion - are they worth Having?
Retailing for one fifth the price of a ticket to a reunion ELO concert
I had very little expectations of these bluetooth phones. The last phones I bought were slightly south of £600 and that was second hand and I was apprehensive to say the least that I no longer had my feet in the budget market enough to properly evaluate a £24.99 headphone. I was pleasantly surprised that I had not become some sort of an Audiophile Snob who sees no good in anything under £100.
Are there things I would change? Yes , I would make both ear cups twistable to the left and right as well as up and down, I would put a little more material for the pads to try and absorb any extra vibration and I would tune some of the bass down. Whether this could be done at the price level is debatable. And none of these issues are major issues ; they would not affect whether to hav or to hav not in my opinion. I could live with all of these issues no problem.
I recommend these Bluetooth Headphones unreservedly for the price…… well, providing you have the patience to tailor the sound to your personal preference , this is, after all, what EQ settings are all about.
And one more thing before I go......
https://www.prohavit.com/
Don't say I don't do anything for you.....
