Review EC Technology sports headphones

Last year I reviewed two pairs of bluetooth earphones: the QCY Qy7 and a pair from EC Technology. I've been really impressed with both these earphones because they are cheap, comfortable and easy to take with you. However, a couple of months ago I started to run three times a week. With that new habit came a new desire: find decent wireless sport headphones that don't fall out of my ears.

EC Technology approached me and asked me to test a new pair of sport headphones. I liked their previous product, so I decided to give them another go and write an honest review.

My problem with sport headphones

The problem I have with my previous bluetooth sport headphones is that they are only supported by a little stabilizer. While running I found that these stabilizers aren't enough to keep the headphones in my ears. Every bluetooth headphones I've had so far always started to slip out of my ear during workouts. So every couple of minutes I have to press them deeper in my ear again.

So now that you know my problem, let's take a look at these new sport headphones. What's in the box? How do they sound? And are they actually good for sports?

In the box

Besides the earphones themselves, the box contains a few earpieces, a charging cable and a manual. They obviously don't include stabilizers and instead have supports that go over your ear. The headphones themselves are neatly tucked away in soft foam to protect them during shipping.

Neatly packed away

The earphones have a mat black finish which I really like. The cable connecting both ear pieces is a lot thinner and more flexible compared to the other bluetooth headphones that I tested before. For now that is a good thing, it's less heavy and curves easier around my neck. However, I don't know if making the cable thinner also made it less durable. Time will tell.

Again, the mat black finish is something I really like. Both earpieces have a little print on them: the left one has the company's logo on it, the right one has a heart beat on it. Not too bad, but they would've looked nicer if they created a "stealth version" without any of these prints.

What's included

The left earbud has three control buttons on it. These three buttons serve a double duty. The plus button (+) goes to the next song when you press it once and when you keep pressing it turns the volume up. The middle button acts as play/pause and power button and the minus button (-) goes to the previous song and turns the volume down.

Button layout

It's really easy to go to the next and previous songs with these buttons. I use them frequently when I go on a run, skipping songs I don't want to hear at that moment or going back to hear a really motivating song again.

Pairing & battery life

Initial setup of the headphones was pretty easy. Power them on by long pressing the middle button on the side. Keep pressing longer and the headphones enter pairing mode. I then looked at my iPhone and saw them turn up as "S1041105". At first I didn't realize that those were my headphones so I waited for about a minute before realizing that they don't have a friendly name.

Weird name for headphones!

After this little road block, I successfully paired them with my phone. It didn't require a passcode and started working immediately afterwards. Pretty much what you expect from bluetooth headphones! Being an iOS user I also get the benefit of seeing the battery level of the headphones right on my phone. It's a nice touch, but sadly only available on iOS, not on Android or macOS (I've complained about this before). The headphones are not at fault for this, so I'm addressing this complaint to Google and Apple.

iOS users see the battery status

EC-Technology promises 6 hours of music playback and 7 hours of talk time. I didn't test the 7 hours talk time, but the promised battery life for music playback is accurate. I charged them completely when I got them and haven't charged them since. I went on 6 runs with them (in total about 6 hours) and they still had some charge left. I didn't drain them completely (I hate running without music) so I don't know how much further they can go.

Sound quality

Probably one of the most important aspect of any headphones is the sound quality. Even though these headphones are made for sports, they should sound good. Unfortunately I can't say that they sound good, but they don't sound terribly bad either.

The output of the headphones is muddy. The bass isn't as hard as the other bluetooth headphones that I've tested before and the highs aren't that clear either. The sound is flat, nothing jumps out. It's almost a tinny sound (like playing something through a tin can).

However, I found that this is only a problem when you are using the headphones indoor, while you are really focusing on the music. I went running them multiple times the past two weeks and I didn't notice the crappy sound while I was going for a run.

Running with them

So the sound quality is a lacking, but the headphones make up for that by being comfortable to wear. As said, I've had a lot of trouble keeping my earphones in while running. The Apple EarPods, the Qy7 and the previous pair of EC-Technology headphones all tended to fall out of my ear during a long running session.

The supports keep the headphones in my ears during runs

These however have special supports that go around your ear. It looks a bit weird and clunky but it keeps the headphones firmly attached to your ears. I've been running with them for the past 3 weeks and I must say they are super comfortable. There was never a moment during my runs where I felt that I was going to loose the headphones. They stayed firmly in my ears during any of my runs and even while I was jumping up and down to test if they would fall out.

Conclusion

Will these headphones replace my daily driver when it comes to listening to music? No. They don't sound good enough to be daily driver material and I think they don't aim for this anyway. Are they my favorite headphones to wear on a run? Absolutely.

The headphones on my arcade

EC-Technology has created a pair of wireless headphones for people who like to work out with some music. The battery lasts long enough for two weeks of workouts and they fit your ears so well that you don't have to worry about them falling out. Overall, I really like these headphones but I wished they'd had better sound quality.

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