Mu6 Ring Review: Sports headphones that lack power
Verdict
The Mu6 Ring are an affordable, workout-friendly set of headphones for those wanting to remain enlightened of their audio environment. Nonetheless, average sound quality matched with an awkward-looking design means they stand out for the incorrect reasons.
Pros
- Light design
- Good bombardment life
- Well-integrated controls
Cons
- Boilerplate sound quality
- Not the sleekest looking
- Plasticky build
Key Features
- Onboard controls Control play, pause, book, and voice assistant on headphones
- Waterproofing Up to IPX5 resistance against sweat and light pelting
Introduction
The Mu6 Band are wireless open-ear headphones firmly aimed at runners and cyclists, offer that hit of audio without entirely drowning out the earth around you.
Unlike os conduction headphones such as those fabricated by AfterShokz, the Mu6 Ring use something they call 'air conduction' to evangelize that open up-ear feel. While that sounds exciting, it actually means planting speakers in shut proximity to your ears.
The promise is that by swapping bone conduction for the air kind, you tin enjoy louder, better-quality sound while nevertheless getting the benefits of being more aware of your surroundings.
At a price that certainly won't interruption the bank, at that place's enough that intrigues about the Mu6 Ring. The question is whether the headphones evangelize where it matters.
Availability
- United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland RRP: £59.99
- Usa RRP: $89.99
The Mu6 Ring are available to buy for £59.99 from Amazon UK and $69.99 from Amazon Usa.
Design
- 120-degree rotating ear pieces
- Physical controls
- Weighs 35g
The Mu6 Ring don't embrace bone conduction; however, they certainly prefer a like headband-fashion to such headphones, dropping a reasonably slender frame around the head, which rests in a higher place the height of the ears.
There are no specific details about the materials from which they're fabricated, but from sight it's clearly a predominantly plastic build. There's a more than flexible section at the back of the headband-mode frame, with soft padding to ensure you lot don't have plastic rubbing against the back of your head. At that place'southward some soft padding at the temples, as well, where you lot might feel some pressure of wearing these headphones for longer workout sessions.
I can't say that comfort has been a major consequence for me. The Mu6 Band counterbalance just 35g, and once they're on, they don't feel cumbersome at all. I've used them whilst running, rowing, using an indoor bike and for HIIT workouts, and they've stayed put. They're light, sure, but they practise offer a reliable fit.
I would definitely question the long-term immovability of these headphones, though. While I didn't experience whatever issues in my fourth dimension with them, that plasticky frame doesn't fill me with hope that the rotating earpieces would survive being thrown into the lesser of a gym handbag on a regular basis.
While I don't exercise with spectacles on outdoors, I do sometimes wear them for indoor bike and rowing sessions, and despite the Mu6 website suggesting these do play nice with spectacles, I'm not convinced they do that very well. They didn't slip effortlessly over spectacles or aslope them, making them a tough set to recommend for glasses-wearers based on my feel.
Where these headphones really suspension from the norm is with their rotating earpieces, which twist downwards towards the front of the ears to greet that open up-ear design. Move them closer to the ear for larger audio, motion them further abroad to permit in more exterior sound. I can't assist wishing that those rotating earpieces were a little flake smaller. They're not the sleekest or most stylish headphones to habiliment out in public, particularly when you compare them to some other headband-style models out there.
Y'all will find some concrete controls here, which are inside piece of cake reach when you're running or working out. Sitting on i side of the headphones, a long slim push button hosts on/off controls, play/intermission, skipping tracks and pressing either end to suit volume. This push button too provides access to your smartphone vocalization assistant. The length of the control button makes it cracking to interact with on the movement, particularly for tinkering with volume and hitting pause – but information technology's definitely trickier to use when y'all want to skip through songs.
In the box with the headphones you get the micro-USB charging cable; the charging compartment sits beneath the same arm that's habitation to the physical controls. There's also a very thin textile storage pouch and some reflective strip stickers, which can add extra visibility for those nighttime runs and rides.
Features
- IPX5 waterproof
- Built-in microphone
- Upward to 10 hours of music
Exercising is, of class, a sweaty business organisation, so it'southward always desirable to find fitness-focused headphones that really offer some proficient protection against it – and also for maybe getting caught in a light rain shower. The Mu6 Ring are listed as waterproof on the website, but I had to practise some investigating to discover they carry an IPX5 water-resistance rating.
This means they're suitable to withstand a low-pressure water spray. In real terms this means they should concur up well confronting sweat and some calorie-free rain. I didn't get to test them in the rain, only they survived the sweat downpour whilst running, through indoor cycle sessions and HIIT workouts.
When you're not listening to music or podcasts, these headphones tin can handle calls – and they practise an okay job as far every bit call quality is concerned. You won't become best-in-grade clarity here, and when the atmospheric condition is windy that clarity is an upshot. I'd say information technology'due south on par with what you lot tin await from a lot of bone conduction headphones in this scenario.
A 200mAh capacity battery delivers over 10 hours of battery life, although that doesn't tell the whole story of how long these headphones will concluding. If yous heed at 70% volume, the Mu6 Ring will likely deliver more than 10 hours, but if you're listening at maximum volume so that drops to vi.5 hours. Wearing them through an 60 minutes's conditioning with the volume turned up to the max saw bombardment life drop-off past 20%. That works out to around 5 hours, then short of the claimed numbers.
Sound quality
- 16mm dynamic driver
- Air conduction technology
The overall feeling you become from using the Mu6 Ring, plus considering how they perform through exercising, is that they're pretty boilerplate. This is truthful even when you take into account that you're supposed to still hear sound outside of the headphones. In improver, I also wouldn't say they offer a huge step upwardly on bone conduction models in this price range, such as the AfterShokz Trekz and the Viddon F3.
First and foremost, the sound delivered past the 16mm drivers doesn't go as loud as I'd like it to. Granted, at that place'due south a reason to keep maximum volume in bank check to brand them a safer selection to use, merely I'd yet accept liked another notch on the volume settings.
The sound profile in general is underwhelming. There's no rich, warm bass to enjoy here; it feels a bit dirty, and then the Mu6 Ring aren't a hugely satisfying listen if yous favour more than uptempo workout music. Neither practise they present a satisfying level of detail to make them a great partner for listening to podcasts.
The Mu6 Ring aren't harsh-sounding; simply a flake dull and lifeless. I was hoping that essentially planting two speakers by your ears would offer audio with a bit more than personality. Sadly, that wasn't the case here. Since at that place's no accompanying app, there's no way to tinker with the sound either, so you're pretty much stuck with what you become.
Equally far as delivering that bone conduction-style experience of letting you hear your sound as well equally that effectually you, they fared better indoors than they did outdoors.
Out running on busy roads, the Mu6 Ring piece of work well enough; they aren't entirely blocked out past noisy traffic. Nevertheless, if you're on your bike or on a run in blustery conditions, y'all might not get to enjoy a proficient residuum between the sound from the headphones and that externally. In fact, in such conditions when I did somewhen hit the quieter parts of my route, looking to savor improve sound from the Mu6, what they delivered wasn't particularly worth waiting for.
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Should you lot buy it?
You don't similar the idea of os conduction With the air conduction (speakers past ears) approach, you don't have to worry about the tickle experience from using bone conduction headphones.
You want great sound for workouts The sound delivered by the Mu6 Ring is pretty lacklustre, both indoors and in busier environments.
Final thoughts
Affordable and conditioning-friendly headphones for those want to remain aware of their surroundings, the MU6 are allow down by average sound quality matched with an bad-mannered-looking design.
How we exam
We exam every headphones nosotros review thoroughly over an extended menses of fourth dimension. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We'll ever tell you what nosotros discover. We never, e'er, accept money to review a product.
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Tested with real world use, indoors and out
Testing with music streaming services
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FAQs
What is air conduction?
Air conducting is where an audio bespeak travels through the air to accomplish your ear, every bit oppose to bone conducting headphones which rest on your cheekbones and play audio through your skull, bypassing your ear canal.
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Source: https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/mu6-ring
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