Plantronics BackBeat FIT 3150 Review

Design and Fit

One of the things I like most about these headphones is the open design of the tips on the earbuds. It has a one-size-fits-all design, similar to the Apple EarPods or AirPods. As such, the earbuds do not “seal” to your ear canal like many earbuds and, therefore, do not completely block outside noises. This is important when you’re running near a road and need to be aware of traffic.

The earbuds also have a hook that goes around the outside of your ear, helping to secure the earbuds even further. While running and even do burpees, I did not at any point feel like they were going to fall out. The ear hooks are soft and comfortable, even after wearing them for an hour.

Sound Quality

Typically, earbuds that do not “seal” to your ear canal don’t have strong bass performance, but that is not the case with the BackBeat FIT 3150s. In fact, sometimes the bass is a little too strong and music can sound “muddy” at times. I’m a fan of bass so I don’t really mind the over emphasis on the low frequencies, but this will be a matter of personal preference. Otherwise, sound quality is great with nice mids and highs.

Compared to other headphones, the sound quality is not quite as good as the Apple AirPods or the Beats PowerBeats earbuds, but at this price point the sound is more than acceptable.

Features

• Stay Aware: Again, this is one of my favorite features of these earbuds as they allow you to hear the cars and people around you which is important when exercising outdoors. As such, these may not be ideal if you plan on wearing them in loud locations such as airplanes and trains.
• IP57 Sweat-proof: I haven’t noticed any issues with these earbuds and my copious amounts of sweat. However, they are not completely waterproof and should not be submerged in liquid.
• On earbud controls: You can adjust the volume by tapping on the left earbud, but it’s a little awkward. A single tap increases the volume while a long tap decreases the volume, which for some reason is tough for me to remember.

Bluetooth Performance

From the factory, the right earbud will serve as the primary earbuds. However, unlike many other truly wireless earbuds, you can actually switch the primary earbud. Ideally, you’ll want the primary earbud to be on the same side that you normally carry your phone. So if you carry your phone in your left pocket, you’ll want to use the BackBeat app to make the left earbud the primary.

While using the earbuds indoors, I did not notice any issues with the earbuds’ ability to connect to each other and the sound came through both earbuds fine. Outdoors, the signal can be more susceptible to interference and I noticed that the left and right earbuds would get out of sync momentarily, but this was very infrequent and typically only happened when I was handling my phone (where my hand was likely blocking the Bluetooth signal).

Battery Life and Charging

The earbuds can last up to 8 hours before needing to be recharged. The included charging case stores about 2 additional charges, so you can get up to 24 hours of listening time before you need to connect to a USB wall charger.

If you’re in a hurry, you can charge the earbuds in the case for 15 minutes to get up to get about 1.5 hours of listening time.