Atto X Intelligent Headset REVIEW Comfortable Wireless Earbuds
When driving to and from work, I often listen to Audible Books via the auxiliary input port in my car. When I get home, I may transfer to my Amazon Echo or utilize headphones to listen/finish my audiobook. When out and about or exercising, I prefer the lightweight features of wireless earbuds to their heavier wired or over-ear brethren. Fearful of significant buyers remorse, I could not bring myself to pay the nearly $200 for a pair of Airpods. Luckily companies like ATTO provide cost-friendly, feature-laden, wireless earphones.
The Atto Intelligent Wireless headset arrived in an attractive 3 3/4 inches wide by 4 1/2 inches tall by 1 7/8 inches tall retail package. The cover displayed a 9/16 inches wide by 1 1/2 inches tall picture quality image of the “True Wireless Design” headset. The raised, glossy, image stood out from the black background with diagonally arranged grey squares. Toward my lower left, I found a golden 7/32 inches tall by 1 3/4 inches wide bar with “Wireless HD Calls” label. Along the bottom right, the company detailed the 60mAh battery within the earphones, the 1200mAh case battery, and the ability to use the headset with iOS or Android devices. The top panel provided a rubberized hanging tab and a green QR code labeled with “Scan me.” Unfortunately the QR code no longer worked. The bottom panel was blank but did provide an SKU sticker for the ATTOBLUE device. The left panel listed four small icons along the bottom of the panel in an odd combination of Spanish and English. The first of the icons provided an image of a feather and noted peso liviano (lightweight). The second charging icon listed “talking time about 8 horas,” the third icon listed “rango de 10 metros,” and the last battery icon listed “super long standby.” I found it odd that the editors missed the mixed language.
The opposite side panel listed “SUPER POWER” across the top and provided side images of the black, green, pink and blue earbuds. Turning the product onto the cover, the back panel was broken up into three sections. The upper section contained two 1 11/16 inches wide by 1 3/16 inches tall images. The left image showed a female driving a convertible, tapping her left earbud. The right picture showed an open earbud case and side views of the four earbud colors. The middle section provided the device specifications: Bluetooth 5.0, 60mAh earbud battery, 1200mAh charger battery, 100 hour standby time, 3 hour charging time, 8-hours talking time, 10-hours music time, 31-gram weight, 30 foot operating range and 75×45 x35.8mm box size (2 15/16 inches long by 1 7/8 inches wide by 1 1/2 inches tall actual weight). To the side of the specifications, the company warned to avoid placing the device in front of the airbag, to listening too loudly and to use a 5V charger. Although I appreciated the face and ear protection advice, I was saddened that this required space on the packaging. Along the lower section, the packaging repeated the four icons from the side panel, the Android/iOS icon from the cover and a few of the typical legal product labels.
I slid the internal white box out of the slipcover and noted the black ATTO case along the bottom and the 0.17-ounce blue earbuds at the top. Beneath the white tray, I was surprised to find two power cables, a small bag with small and medium eartips, and a 14-panel instruction manual. The first cable was a plain, round, 8 1/2 inches long USB-A to USB-Micro cable. The second 41 5/8 inches long cable was actually quite surprising. The cable had a USB-A end and a magnetic attachment end with USB-micro, Lightning and USB-C magnetic attachments. The instruction manual provided a package contents list, an overview of the touch button earbuds, LED indicator, USB-A output port, and USB-micro ports. To install the earbuds, place the right earbud into your canal first with the axis of your body and then rotate it counterclockwise. Repeat the process with the left earbud. If needed, you can exchange the eartips for a more comfortable experience. The pre-installed tips worked well for me and I did not need to use the other two sizes.
I was pleased that the two earbuds arrived paired from the factory. When you remove the earbuds, and place them into your ears, you will hear a female voice state “power on, right channel, left channel, pairing mode.” To pair the earbuds, navigate to settings on your device, select Bluetooth and choose ATTO X from the list. The female voice then announced “paired.” To turn off the devices, simply place them back into the charger. Along the front of the case, you will find four LED detailing the remaining power. It took just at 50 minutes (instruction manual noted 45) for the earbud devices to charge and about 3 hours for the case to charge. You can use the right earbud alone or in tandem with the left earbud. To play/pause a song, tap the color section of either of the earbuds. The touch button functions were laid out beautifully in a tabular format. You can navigate to a previous track by double-tapping the left earbud or navigate to the next track by double-tapping the right earbud. Hold the left earbud for 1.5 seconds to decrease the volume or hold the right earbud for 1.5 seconds to increase the volume. A triple-click of either of the earbuds activated the voice assistant, which was rather responsive. Phone calls sounded clear, despite the microphone being over my ear.
I recently traveled to North Carolina for spring break and used the Atto earbuds to endure the 13-hour drive. I was pleased with the fit, with the comfort, and with the sound. I was able to listen to music at ~60% iPhone XS volume for a total of 9-hours before receiving the vocalized low power warning. This warning repeated three times about every thirty seconds and then the voice announced: “power off.” I replaced the earbuds into the case and about an hour later I was back at full power (LED will extinguish when done charging). While driving, I started out by listening to Audible and then moved to Amazon Prime Music. To test the bass, I utilized Holly Cole “Train Song,” CeeLo Green’s “Bright Lights Bigger City,” and Home Free “Ring of Fire.” To test the upper range of the ATTO headphones, I turned to the Far and Away Soundtrack, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves Soundtrack, “The Longest Time” by Billy Joel, and Queen “Somebody to Love,” “Bohemian Rhapsody.” I listened to a variety of songs from Charlie Puth, Megan Trainer, Adam Levine, from the Beach Boys, CCR, Alabama, Anthem Lights, and Johnny Cash. Lastly, I listened to The Greatest Showman soundtrack.
To further test the sound output, I navigated to audiocheck.net and used the Low-Frequency Response and Subwoofer Audio Test (10–200 Hz) and High-Frequency Response and Hearing Audio Test (22–8 kHz). I was able to hear from 20Hz up to 15khz, which represented the lower limit of the device and the upper limit of my hearing respectively. After testing the binaural recording on the audiocheck.net website, I listened to “Sound Of Silence (3D Binaural Audio)- Simon and Garfunkel Cover-Jarvis Brothers (Ear to Ear). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LWTYjeV_Ps and then to Queen- Bohemian Rhapsody-3D Audio (Total Immersion) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnzIIhLNHqg.
To summarize my experience with the wireless earbuds, I was pleased with the sound, with the battery, with the accessory ear tips, the 8–10 hour playtime, the microphone/phone feature and the rechargeable case. The case promised 100+ hours of playback, which provided two weeks of regular utility, without a need to charge the case. The instruction manual was easy to understand/follow and pairing could not have been easier. The shorter USB-A to USB-micro cable was predictable but the magnetic charger surprised me. The earbuds stuck out a little further than I would like but the ear tips were comfortable and did not cause ear fatigue. It did not appear that sweat caused any issues for these earphones and a quick evaluation of the Indiegogo page suggested that they were IP-X6 rated. I liked that they remained securely installed within my ear canals despite running, jumping and rotating/moving my head. I liked the color of the earbuds, If you are looking for a pair of inexpensive, comfortable, wireless earphones with a long-lasting battery, look to ATTO.
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Originally published at macsources.com on April 9, 2019.
