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There are a remarkable number of choices for wireless in-ear headphones (earbuds? earphones? headbuds?) in the market, with the Apple AirPods still the leader of the pack. Helm Audio offers up its entry with its lush sounding True Wireless Headphones and they're a solid entrant in the race.
Tech expert Dave Taylor of https://www.AskDaveTaylor.com/ checked them out - production run #1, unit #012 - and found that there's lots to like about both the sound and mic pickup on phone calls with the Helm Audio TWH, but a few hiccups to know about too...
Learn more at https://www.HelmAudio.com/
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0:00
Wireless headphones for the audiophile set? Let's check these out
0:04
Dave Taylor here and I'm looking at these. These are the Helm Audio True Wireless Headphones
0:16
And I say headphones and you immediately think like, you know, two big cups and a bar over them
0:21
Well, that's not what we got here. These are what I would consider wireless earbuds
0:25
So here's one, here's the other, and as you can see they have pretty distinctive styling and they're pretty big
0:32
But they sound terrific. So with that in mind, let's talk about this
0:37
Now, first thing I want to say is these are the Helm Audio True Wireless Headphones, as I said
0:43
And when I saw Helm Audio, I thought, wow, Matt Helm, played by Dean Martin in early movies
0:49
How cool that Matt Helm has a line of headphones. I mean, Austin Powers totally modeled after Matt Helm. But you know what? Nothing to do with Matt Helm
0:58
So disappointing. But what they are is actually Helm Audio is a Hong Kong based company and they've only just hit the US market
1:07
Literally, November of 2018 is when they opened doors here in the US and this is one of their very first products
1:13
They did a really nice job with it. They're really nice. So as you can see, it's a pretty big distinctive pattern and shape and they actually are remarkably comfortable
1:24
So you put it in your ear and then you sort of gently turn it forward until the little hook ends up in the sort of part of your ear right there
1:34
Here's a close up. You can see how it fits in my ear and this makes them really secure
1:40
So they actually are going to stay in if you want to go for a run or a bike ride or you want to wear them to the gym
1:46
It's totally going to work fine. And not only that, they are IPX4 water resistant
1:51
So you can sweat or get rained on or if you're going to have to lay down because you ran too far and someone splashes mud on you
1:58
How do you get mud on these devices? I don't understand that. But that's part of the IPX4 rating
2:03
So the good news is that they have three and a half hours of listening time and you can recharge them three times with the base
2:11
because the base isn't just a holding case. It's actually a charging unit
2:15
When the base needs charging, then there is a micro USB connection on the side and you just plug it in until it's fully charged
2:22
Obviously you want to have these in there. Well, I guess you don't have to. You can be using them while you're charging the base. That would work perfectly well
2:29
Now, let me tell you that one of the big fundamental challenges with all these devices is getting everything paired and connected all working correctly
2:38
So one of the things that surprised me with these is when I hooked them up to my Apple iPhone, both of them showed up as Bluetooth devices
2:46
But both of them don't need to be connected, which the whole thing was just like a little weird
2:51
Whereas it's like, well, the right ear is connected, but the left ear is not connected
2:56
But then they pair themselves. And so it actually is perfectly fine
3:01
So this setup here from my iPhone 10 is totally fine. You know, the right ear is connected, the left ear is not connected, and yet I'm listening to stereo music out of both earbuds
3:11
So the way this works is once you have them paired to connect them to a device and you can use something like a Google Pixel 3, you can use an Apple iPhone
3:19
You know, they work with any device that works with Bluetooth. So you basically put them in and then they have little buttons
3:25
So you push both of them. After a couple of seconds, it'll actually say power on
3:30
And then after a little bit more time, you know, three, four more seconds, then it will announce that it's paired to your device
3:37
And then another five or 10 seconds, sometimes faster, sometimes that slow
3:42
Then it will finally say that the two units have paired with each other and then you're good to go
3:47
And then that works fine. Now, I should also say that you can use these for phone calls because they have a microphone built in
3:54
And the phone call experience is interesting because you're listening to stereo music
3:59
But then as soon as you go to phone mode, then the left ear turns off
4:03
So it's the right ear only. So, of course, what they're simulating is you doing something like this
4:08
Now, the good news is that the calls, the test calls that I made, people said that I sounded terrific
4:15
And if anything, they were complaining that there was a little too much bass, which is definitely my voice
4:20
But that means that these are doing a very nice job of reproducing the sound through the microphone, which is really kind of amazing because they are just stuck up in your ear
4:29
There's nothing coming forward. There's nothing to pick up that audio, but they work really well
4:34
And so the sound overall is really excellent. I was very impressed
4:39
I was listening to stuff like Steely Dan Asia, which is great headphones music
4:44
And these just did a really nice job with a rich bass and a nice warm high
4:50
It wasn't too tinny or bright and a decent soundstage. I mean, the whole experience when I had these in and I was just picking out different music was just like, wow, I am very impressed
5:02
So Helm really nailed it with the audio on this, which is great because, again, the pairing, getting that all connected when you first open the case up and put them in and stuff is a little bit, you know, a little bit fiddly
5:16
So sometimes it worked beautifully and I turn, you know, open it up, pull these out, and they don't automatically turn on when you open the case
5:25
They do, however, when you put them in the case, they will automatically disconnect from your device when they go into charge mode, but they don't turn on when you take them out
5:34
So you put them in, you push the buttons, you keep your fingers crossed that hopefully within the next 10 seconds, everything's going to be fine
5:41
But every couple of, you know, every so often I found that I had to actually turn them both off and turn them on again
5:48
I'm guessing there might be some sort of, I don't know, maybe a firmware update from when they get to final production, or it might be something where you just sort of get the hang of it over time
5:58
I mean, really, it was so worth it because they're reasonably priced and they have excellent sound
6:04
So having to occasionally, you know, turn it off and turn it on again, not a huge crisis, but it is something I wanted to share with you because one of the things I really enjoy about the Apple AirPods, which I think are the reference unit that everyone else is competing with, is the AirPods are always connected
6:22
Always. I've never had any dropout. I've never had anything where I have to think about, well, wait, is the left ear working? Because the right ear is working
6:31
It just magically is always working, which is just an amazing piece of engineering. Now, I want to say zero dropouts. I had no issue with dropouts with these and they have an extraordinary range
6:42
They use something called a helix antenna in their design. Well, they're running Bluetooth 4.1, not 5.0, which is a little surprising, but they have this helix antenna design
6:53
So you get a huge range. You can walk 40, 50, 60 feet away from your device and these will still be working fine. I found that I could leave my phone and walk around my house and they work great
7:04
I could walk around the office. I never had any dropout. I never had one ear suddenly not working. None of that stuff. It all was fine. Audio file quality. It just is terrific
7:15
They've done a really great job on the engineering. So now let's see. Oh, and 20 to 20,000 hertz, 88 decibel sensitivity, you know, sort of normal standard specs for these sort of devices
7:28
But that doesn't really describe the quality of the sound. And I'm telling you, these sound really nice. Now, before we get to the price, let me ask if you can subscribe to my channel
7:38
Really appreciate when you do that. And this to me is a very up and coming market segment, the whole sort of true wireless headphones. So if you have a pair from any vendor, tell me what you have and how they work for you
7:51
Leave that in a comment. I'm really curious what other people are using. So these are the Helm Audio true wireless headphones. Tell you what, let's do it this way. So the Helm Audio true wireless headphones and they are available in black or white and they will cost you $99.99 at HelmAudio.com
8:13
I am a big fan. These are really nice. Hopefully I will over time have less and less hassles with trying to get them to start and initially connect with my device. But all in all, it's totally worth it if I have to fiddle around a little bit because the audio quality is remarkably good. So this is Dave Taylor and I'll catch you in my next video
8:43
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