Good set of headphones, but not without its flaws
Written: Dec 31 '03 (Updated Oct 07 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Powerful, good sound quality, relatively lightweight
Cons: Hard to keep in tune, can be difficult to see when it is turned on.
The Bottom Line: Good for stationary users with high irritation threshholds
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| Godai-kun's Full Review: Audiovox JW-160 Wireless Headphones |
UPDATE:
Since I first reviewed this product, about 10 months ago, its weaknesses have become much more apparent. Not only has the analog tuning problem mentioned in my original review gotten steadily worse, to the point where you can be sitting in a chair with nothing touching the tuning knob and they will go out of tune, but the thing sometimes takes as long as twenty minutes to start responding to the transmitter (and that with a fresh set of batteries). When it finally does come on, it BLASTS you out of your chair for a few minutes, before finally settling down to a reasonable volume.
All in all, I cannot say I am happy with these headphones. I am presently shopping for a replacement pair so I can toss these in the trash. Accordingly I am modifying my rating down to two stars and a "Do not recommend" rating.
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I bought the unit for my mother, whose deteriorating hearing sometimes makes it difficult to comfortably watch television with her. I had hoped for a unit that was three things: easy enough to use that she would be able to learn to use it without getting frustrated, sturdy enough to last in the face of probable drops to the floor, spills, etc., and sound quality that would be at least the equivalent of what she got out of the television speakers.
In general, the JW160 has performed well on all of these counts. They're powerful - you can go anywhere in the house with these things on and not miss a word, nor experience any fading of volume or sound quality. They last a long time on a pair of AA batteries (if you remember to turn them off when you're not using them). And they are flexible to hook up and easy to start using right away.
But all is not roses. These cans have a couple of things that really bug me. The analog tuning can make things very difficult, particularly since they put the tuning knob on the inside of the phones where they are guaranteed to be rubbed up against by the wearer's hand, their face, or their hair. And when that happens, forget about listening - you've lost your signal and have to retune it. The knob is FAR too sensitive for its own good. I have tried tuning it and taping it in place, and the knob STILL manages to move just enough to cause you to lose your signal lock. I have been seriously considering crazy-gluing the thing in place!
The other beef is that while (as mentioned above) battery life is pretty good, it is WAAAAY too easy to forget to turn these things off - a small LED is the only indicator that they are turned on, and the switch is inobtrusively hidden so that you actually have to think to look for it. You get used to it, eventually, but we burned through a LOT of batteries before we formed the habit of always checking. Some form of auto-turnoff would be VERY useful here.
All in all, a good set of phones if you aren't planning to use them in a mobile environment. The more you (and they) move, the more its habit of losing synch will bug you. But if you're staying pretty much in one place, and don't mind needing to slightly retune them every time you put them on, you could do worse. Those who want to walk and/or run around in them should look elsewhere.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
Godai-kun
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Member: Kevin Barth
Location: Silver Spring, Maryland
Reviews written: 248
Trusted by: 55 members
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