Phonaudio ioClassic Bluetooth Earphones Review

Introduction

The Phonaudio io range has been engineered to fit comfortably in your ear, whether you’re on the move or working out. Keeping to the brand ethos, these are designed to be an essential accessory that connects with your lifestyle. They have a nice premium look to them but does this translate to the audio quality? Join me on this review and we shall find out!

The io range features:
• Powerful audio performance.
• Metal casing Magnetic Earbuds.
• Noise Cancelling.
• Up to 10m Wireless Range.
• Music and call control with mic for hands-free calling.
• Micro USB input charge.
• Up to 6 hours of battery life.
• Ergonomic and Sweat proof design for enhanced wearing comfort.

Specifications

The ioClassic and the ioSport both have the same high-quality features and hardware used as you can see below:

• Dimensions
  30.9 x 23.6 x 4.65mm
  1.2 x 0.9 x 0.18in
• Weight
  40g
  .09oz
• Colours
  Gold, Black, Rose
• Cable
  Wireless
• Sensitivity
  96dB
• Frequency Response
  20 Hz – 20000HZ
• Frequency Response (Mic)
  20Hz – 20000Hz
• Sound Driver Size
  10mm
• In The Box
  ioClassic
  USB charging cable
  Eartips 4x size options
  User Guide

Packaging & Closer Look

The packaging the ioClassic comes in, as you can see, is really minimalistic with no garish colours or branding. It’s short and simple as to what it is and who makes it, this I thought is pleasant packaging to look at as I have in the past seen earphones in bright neon packaging that tends to be over the top and put me off buying them. I’m quite impressed with the complete change in direction once you get into the packaging, I have to admit I’m a little bit of fan of the exploded earphone view, you also get to see all the extras Phonaudio have given you to play. The extras go from the three different rubber hooks, one set of these and the ear cushions are pre-installed, to the three sets of in-ear cushioning which is always great to have.

The io earphones actually have two different models to choose from, in this case, I opted for the classics as they both look smart and have more muted colours which as I mentioned before are a factor in choosing my next bit of tech gear. It’s really nice to see a selection of sizes for both the ear cushions and the rubber stays, the rubber stays or ‘hooks’ help keep the earphones hooked in, so you can get the just right fit out of the box.

I’ve been using these since they arrived in my hands and so far I’m really impressed with the quality of sound for a Bluetooth device, I’ve had Bluetooth earphones in the past that have been somewhat uncomfortable and haven’t had a great sound quality. The ioClassic headphones are brilliant when walking down the street the background noises are blocked out and I get to hear my sweet music which is awesome. I’ve found the rubber ‘hooks’ are quite handy as you get a set of three in the box; as everyone’s ears are different Phonaudio have done a good job of trying to cater to as many users as possible, the same goes for the ear cushions as you are provided with three sizes to get the most comfortable fit for you.

Performance

This is the important bit for the audiophiles among us, for me, the ioClassic has the best wireless sound quality I’ve heard in a good while without seriously breaking the bank for some high-end audio tech. The earphones feature an inline controller for volume control and pausing music, interestingly the song skip and back buttons have been tied into the volume buttons with a short press skipping or reverting back a song. I do have to say that the in-ear cushions fit just right and they let in very little if any background environment sounds. I’m also really impressed by the call audio clarity, I tend to be a bit of a mumbler but the microphone picked my voice up really well, so well that it was hard for the people calling me to realise I wasn’t using the actual handset. This really did impress me, I’ve used Bluetooth devices for calling before and people have noticed from the audio quality so this a good plus!

The audio is, as I touched on above, really high quality but I have noticed that some of the music I listen to has really hard bass in it so sadly the earphones do sometimes struggle to give the rumble of hard bass but this is something I’ve noticed with a lot of brands that the bass is too heavy, even my cars system has trouble sometimes so I blame my music for this one! I’m always really impressed with battery life on wireless devices and these earphones, with my turning them on and off, do great. I have been using them for around an hour or so at a time they last a good 3 days with the volume at a decent level which is ace. Even better than that I waited about an hour and a half until they were fully charged again and I’m back to bobbing along to my music once more.

Conclusion

So here we are, you’ve made it to the end with me and that is great, to conclude my review of the Phonaudio ioClassic. Overall these earphones are a really nice stylish accessory, which is sometimes hard to find, they are also really good functionally which is a great bonus. I do feel a little blown away by the pricing though as the Classics have an RRP of £45 and the Sports rock in at £40 RRP, I’d like to see a little bit of drop on this pricing as you can pick up a nice wired set of earphones with microphone for quite a bit less than these prices, but they do have a really premium build quality so you can sort of forgive the pricing which is recommended but not set in stone.

Right then, overall I would actually recommend these earphones just for how nice they look, feel and perform. If you don’t want to get these fancier ones, you can go for the Sports which would be at home in the gym. The Phonaudio ioClassic get a resounding yes from me for our Play3r Design award just for how smart they look!

So after all will you be heading to Phonaudio to grab yourself some? I hope so as these are the best Bluetooth earphones I’ve had so let us know in the comments if you’ve taken the plunge for them and please do tell us how you get on with them.