Hey guys here's my review of the Shure SE215-K-BT1-EFS Bluetooth headset.
Some years ago I had Shure SE535s and used the iOS remote control cable with them as I wasn't keen on the standard braided cable that didn't have an inline remote. After having to replace the cable several times in the course of a year because it kept fraying where it went into the earpieces I eventually decided I wasn't playing their game anymore and switched to other headphones.
I've been using Bose QC30 since February but again I am plagued with reliability issues, I've just had them replaced for the 3rd time due to the rubber around the ends of the neckband coming apart. So again I decided it was time for some new headphones and quickly discovered that Shure has just released a bluetooth cable and paired it with the SE215s. Luckily I still have my ACS custom moulds and they still fit my ears so this seemed like the perfect solution.
I won't go into sound quality in this review because the main thing I'm reviewing is the bluetooth cable (which is also sold separately and compatible with the entire Shure SE range). I don't have my 535s anymore and although I remember them sounding pretty good, I can't really tell how much better they are than the 215s. I can't afford to get another pair of 535s at the moment and these days I mostly just listen to podcasts so the extra quality probably wouldn't make a lot of difference to me. Needless to say the 215s sound way better than the Bose QC30 but I'm sure that's a huge surprise to exactly nobody.
The wireless 215s come with a decent set of accessories, plenty of tips, a clip for attaching the cable to your shirt or jumper, earpiece nozzle cleaning tool and a carry case that seems sturdy enough to protect them. Having experienced many problems with Shure accessory cables in the past I am slightly concerned about the longevity of the cable. The wires near the earpieces are strong mouldable wires similar to the standard braided cable allowing you to mould them into position around your ears and they also have a fairly long piece of insulation further supporting them as they transition down to thinner cable away from the earpieces. The weakest point seems likely to be where they join the centre piece which houses the battery, however there are pieces of insulation on both sides of it to hold the cable and one would hope that now with them being "wireless" there will be less snagging on clothing to stress the wires. In any case they come with a 2-year warranty and are relatively cheap so even if I only get 2 years out of them I'll feel like I got my money's worth.
Pairing wasn't as straightforward as the Bose, which start up automatically in pairing mode when they've never been paired before. This flummoxed me for a few minutes until I checked the instructions and realised to pair them you have to turn them on and keep the centre button held down until they go into pairing mode. The headphones give voice feedback for various actions which is much clearer and better sounding than the Bose voice prompts which generally just annoyed me until I turned them off.
One issue with this headset which quickly becomes apparent and is rather baffling is that Shure have attached a white label around the cable very tightly with no easy way to get it off. You'll need a small sharp blade and a lot of care to get it off without damaging the cable. This is a very bizarre thing to do with a product that depends so much on its cable.
Unlike Bose products there is no smartphone app for the Shures and they don't currently feature the "audio sharing" function that Bose products have with the latest firmware. It's not clear if the Shures will support firmware updates in the future, I rather hope they do because there is an annoying issue with the way they currently work with multiple devices. If you have a pair of Bose headphones paired to two devices, once one of them is playing it will take priority over the other device if that tries to play anything. This means if you're watching a movie on your computer and someone sends you a text message it doesn't interrupt the movie. This is not the case with the Shures, where both devices supersede priority whenever they try to play anything. This quickly becomes irritating and forces you to manually disconnect the device that you don't currently want to be playing. Hopefully there will be a firmware update at some point that fixes this - I will enquire about this with Shure and reply here when I have an answer from them.
Battery life seems roughly in line with what they advertise but obviously depends on the volume. I also noticed they charge really quickly - mine were below 50% and charged to full in 15mins flat. Very handy for long journeys. Another huge benefit over the Bose is that they can be used while charging which is awesome. I did notice that they will disconnect when connected to a charger and have to be reconnected but that's a minor inconvenience, again hopefully that will get fixed in a software update. Battery level indication is only provided via voice prompts and is approximated in 2-hour blocks, so you get "more than 2 hours", "more than 4 hours", "more than 6 hours" etc.
The clip that attaches them to ones shirt is well made and sturdy, not likely to fall off. The inline remote works well, although some actions are irritatingly slow requiring a press slightly longer than is comfortable. If software updates are possible we may have a chance of this being addressed in a future update.
I think these are a great buy for anyone looking for low-cost wireless IEMs, just be careful with getting that white label off them. The software deficiencies are relatively minor and it won't bother me too much if they can't be updated.
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