When these arrived this week, I was in no rush to test them; after all, I test quite a few headphones each year, and for the most part they’re all vastly the same. Indeed, direct out of the box these Glow headphones look pretty much like any other. While they have a nice long cord, there’s a huge controller disc in the middle of the set up, which is big, bulky, and kind of gets in the way. Not to mention the fact it feels rather cheap.
But once I unwrapped these headphones and got them plugged into my music and started playing, I was blown away! The color laser light that emits from these headphones is strong and bright and very noticeable. It casts quite a glow around you. These are definitely what you might call “look at me” headphones.
The set I tested are red but Glow are also available in green or blue. Using an app that’s available for these headphones you can also control the glow pattern, from having them always on, or always off, to “pulsating” with either the beat of your music, or just off and on .
Turns out a feature that would have pulsated the Glow to your heartbeat is not an included feature in the model I tested.
The controller I mentioned, though definitely big and bulky, serves several purposes. It’s a five way remote control that does what you’d expect, including allowing you to change volume and skip tracks as well as snapping photos from your smart phone. But it also acts as a remote control for photo taking too, giving it a nice extra function.
I like that Glow headphones’ earpieces have a hook design that holds them securely in your ears, and as you would expect there are different size attachments so you can fit them to you.
While the sound seems rather tinny and a bit hollow and not what I’d call high-quality, that’s probably OK, since I’m pretty sure these headphones are meant for a younger crowd that isn’t as demanding when it comes to sound quality.
I suspect these will be a popular item this holiday season, as they’re like nothing else on the market right now, particularly when it comes to headphones. I see Glow being a huge must-have for teens and kids in particular.
The Glow headphones originated on Kickstarter, but will be available in Canada exclusively from Bell. You can also find them here.
To have a look inside the package, watch my short unboxing and test video. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkDPazJ53FA&w=853&h=480]
4 Comments
Hey! Thanks for the post!
You’re apparently one of the first person to receive these headphones, and your video made it to the glow kickstarter comment section. And what we saw worries us a bit.
Are these the final version, or is it some preview hardware? Did backed the kickstarter or is it promotion material? Is the sound really mediocre?
Thanks!
Hi Loics2, Thanks for the comment.
The pair I have and am testing was loaned to me by the Canadian retailler, Bell who will be carrying them here in Canada.
The sound isn’t what I’d call rich or full; rather it’s kind of.. ordinary.
Now did you test all the features or did you just read the kickstarter campaign?
You write, “pulsing with the beat of … your own heart.” which is in their campaign, but only as a stretch goal of $1 million dollars.
The kickstarter campaign did not reach 1 mil, and as of the first production line, this function is not included.
Hey Um,
Thanks for the note. I have been testing these headphones and have a pair on loan. While they do have a “pulsate” setting for the lights which reminds me of a heart beat, no, it does not actually beat to my heart (though I didn;t try it with a stethescope ;). I’ll amend that; thanks for pointing it out!