Article by Jeremy MARIE
Pros:
Easy to use
Comfortable, even with swimming goggles
Playlist+ feature is still unique and brilliant
Improved battery life
Easy to use
Comfortable, even with swimming goggles
Playlist+ feature is still unique and brilliant
Improved battery life
Cons:
Best sound in the pool is achieved when using ear plugs.
Sound is still lesser than with standard earphones.
Best sound in the pool is achieved when using ear plugs.
Sound is still lesser than with standard earphones.
Introduction
I’ve already reviewed a H2O Audio product, the pool-specific Sonar Pro.
This was a very well-rounded device, with a very specific and some might say limited usage.
H2O Audio has now revamped their lineup and offers the Tri 2 bone conduction headphone, as a replacement for their previous Tri sport device.
The Tri 2 is designed for multi sports enthusiasts, and as such offers a IPX8 waterproof certification (can withstand a 3.6m submersion for an unlimited time), onboard storage of 8GB for your music (MP3, FLAC, aac, m4a) without your phone, or when the Bluetooth does not work (underwater), bone conduction design so that you can stay aware of your surroundings, and an easy to use 3 buttons interface.
The “Pro” version adds the Playlist+ feature for on board, no phone listening.
The idea is simple and comes from a clear trend. These days music is listened to using streaming services, and by a large margin. But those require an Internet connection, a phone and all those things that are not really easy to bring to the pool.
Here comes the Playlist+ feature: connect the earphones to your device (phone..ctc), play the music you want with the device set in “capture mode” and voila: you have the music recorded to your headphones, that you can play it as you would a standard MP3. This feature is managed using the new H2O Audio App, which allows one to organize stored music as folders, playlists, and set a capture time for streamed music. The addition of the App is a big step forward and vastly improves usage of the device.
It’s a very neat feature to use and solves one of the issues of streaming services and music on the go.
The Tri 2 improves over its predecessor in almost every way: better battery life (9 hours in BT from 6 hours on the previous Tri Sport, and 6 hours in MP3), way better sound (seriously the difference is tremendous) which places it at the top of bone conduction headphones, better usability thanks to redesigned buttons, better BT for solid connection (BT 5.3), better mic for communications…you get it, it’s almost a complete overhaul for the Tri series.
Specs:
Weight: 32g
Battery life: 9h (MP3 mode) / 6h (MP3 mode)
Charges in 2h (USB-A cable and magnetic clip)
Waterproof: IPX8 rating
Soft silicon finish
Included ear plugs for a better swimming experience
In Use
The newly designed neckband and soft material cover makes for a very comfortable fit, which is usually one of the strong points for this kind of headphone.
The soft silicone material “grips” a little bit on the temples so that the sound drivers don’t move at all, even when running full gas.
The control scheme relies on 3 buttons, all placed on the right side, on the bottom face of the headphones. This is an improvement over the previous version, where the buttons were on the side: clicking on them pushed the headset towards your jaw and temples and which was far from pleasant.This new button disposition gets rid of this annoyance, for the best.
The controls are plain simple, with usual +/- buttons, and a multi-function third one. They’re quite easy to operate with bare hands, but require some finesse when wearing even thin gloves. I won’t describe the control scheme, but it’s a classicl single/multi/long press combination to switch modes and tracks (Bluetooth, MP3 with internal storage, shuffle, next song/folder…etc).
It needs some time to get used to it, but after this short time navigating songs, answering calls, calling your digital assistant (Siri, Alexa, Google…) is a breeze.
The sound quality of this headset really pleased me, despite having a really barrier for bone conduction tech. I’ve always found it to be “meh” at most, lacking bass, definition, and generally preventing from clearly hearing what you’re trying to listen to be it music, podcast or phone calls.
And the new Tri 2 speakers that H2O Audio designed erase most of my anticipated criticisms. Bass is present, sound is nicely balanced and you can actually hear the music, not just “guessing” it as was the case before. Even with a higher volume, I did not experience speakers “vibrations” against the temples, which is a testament to the great speaker design.
For phone calls, voices were clear and my interlocutor could hear me crystal clear even whenrunnign , so that’s all good on this front.
The Tri 2 is a multisport headset, and as such can be used underwater when swimming thanks to IPX8 rating.
Bluetooth does not transmit well in water so the Tri 2/Tri 2 Pro offers internal storage so you can play “local” music without the need for a BT connection.
Managing the 8Gb internal storage requires connecting the headset to your computer using the included USB-A cable - a USB-C one would have been better, but adapters exist, and the brand had to make a choice - and then you can simply copy files (MP3, flac, aac..).
H2O Audio also released a dedicated App for managing internal storage of the headset: organizing folders, and also for using Tri 2 Pro Playlist+ feature. With this feature you can choose a “record duration” from the app, then start playing music from any streaming service and the headset will record it to its internal memory for the set duration. Neat and simple.
Using this feature you can easily enjoy your music while swimming - and I advise using the included ear plugs to ensure a consistent audio quality.
The Tri 2 do not move at all while swimming and does not get in the way of your goggle strap. You really forget it while swimming,d while enjoying your tunes.
H2O Audio also released a charging protective case: You can use it to both protect your headphones and charge them, in the same way we know for Airpods and others true wireless earphones where the case serves as a charging device. This is a nice accessory that H2O, providing 2 full charges, so a whole 27h of playback time.
Conclusion
I really appreciated this product, as it erases the main cons I had with bone conduction headphones before, which was mainly the bad sound quality. The Tri 2 offers really good sound quality with plenty of bass and decent clarity, all in an easy to use device which is comfortable and which does not move at all even during the most ferocious activities.
Battery life is good, and the Playlist+ feature of the Pro version is a unique feature that sets this device apart
Ease of use: 9 Sound quality : 9 Packaging: 9 Tech: 9 Usefulness: 9
H2O Audio Tri 2 and Tri 2 Pro available now
Amazon SHOP HERE
Tester Profile
Jeremy MARIE, French, 44y/o. Running since 2013 and quickly transitioned to trails, focused on ultras since 2015 : TDS, Maxi-Race, “100 miles du Sud”, 90 kms du Mt Blanc, GRP 120 kms, Some shorter more mellow races (Saintelyon 45 kms, Ecotrail Paris 45 kms…) with always in the mix road and flat running, but not many road races. Also active cyclist and 70.3 Ironman. Recovery/easy runs ~4’45/km - 4’30/km. He has an un-official marathon PR of 2h54 (solo) and 10K PR of 36’25. He does few timed road races.
Thanks to H2O Audio for providing this free sample for review purposes. No other compensation was received by RTR or the authors for this review beyond potential commissions from the shopping links below. The opinions herein are entirely the authors'.
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2 comments:
"Awesome review! It’s great to see such in-depth coverage on the H2O Audio TRI 2 and TRI 2 Pro. Really helpful insights for anyone looking to take their workouts to the next level. Thanks for sharing! Also, if anyone ever finds themselves in need of expert legal help, feel free to check out this cuánto cuesta un divorcio de mutuo acuerdo en virginia It’s always great to have reliable professionals on your side!
Hi there, how would you say the sound quality compares to Shokz open swim pro? I was a bit underwhelmed, and having a small head/ears it doesn't sit that well. I had the same issue with the Shokz open run pro2 (even the mini version).
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