For me, one of the least motivating things in the gym is the sound of some attention-seeking meathead grunting through every rep like they are trying to give Nadal a run for his money; the best antidote to this annoyance is to plug into your favourite tunes and drown out the world around you. The Optoma NU Force BE Sport 4 have been specifically designed for use within the gym, the Bluetooth headphones remove any annoying dangling wires shackling you to your phone and come with a sweat- and water-resistant IPX5 rating. The BE Sport 4 come with a 10 hour battery life and just 15 minutes’ charge will get you 2 hours of continuous playtime, leaving you with one less excuse not to hit the gym. The instructions for pairing aren’t the clearest but with only 3 buttons to play with it isn’t too difficult to work out, and the posh English voice prompt lets you know when you are connected and ready to go. Once connected to your smart device via Bluetooth you get 10 metre range without obstacles, allowing you to put your phone in your pocket or on the equipment whilst you work out, the earbuds feature graphene-coated drivers for a lighter weight and good conductivity that requires less power than traditional drivers. The aptX function lets you listen to CD-quality music wirelessly with a much higher quality than standard Bluetooth codec, while the AAC improves the quality of sound when playing music from Apple devices and other sources such as YouTube, DAB radio and streaming services. The built-in microphone, located on a lightweight in-line remote, lets you answer calls handsfree, this can also
be used to adjust the volume, play, pause and skip tracks as well as activate Siri or Google Voice. These earbuds come with a whole host of ear tips including SpinFit TwinBlades for a secure fit in the ear canal during vigorous activity, the Wings Tips have a soft silicone wing that locks the ear bud in place in the outer ear (to be used with regular or SpinFit earbuds). The earbuds are magnetic so you can wrap them around your neck and hold them in place when not in use, (as a person who still has to make Lshapes with their finger and thumb to tell their left from their right an indicator as to which earbud is which would be useful). The sound quality is impressive for the price range, with rich mid tones and clear top note, it does lack a little bass but overall it provides an enjoyable experience. The Optoma NU Force BE Sport 4 are a good choice if you don’t want to spend a fortune on headphones that are going to get covered in sweat but still want decent sound quality whilst you work out, they don’t have the most extensive range of features but they are easy to use, lightweight and comfortable, more than enough to get you through the gym session. RRP £89
4 out of 5
Pros
Good sound quality
Comfortable
Lightweight
Loads of ear tips for precise fit
Magnetic earbuds
Inline remote and built in microphone
ACC and aptX
Cons
Limited features
Instructions not clear
Lacks bass
No left/right earbud indictors
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