Soundot AF1 FM Headphones for iPhone

Indulge your iPhone-loving loved one with crisp, clear sound ranging from rich bass to detailed treble with the Soundot AF1 FM Headphones ($70) that feature a 15mm woofer and 7mm tweeter dual-driver design. They’ll be able to take calls, listen to music and talk to Siri, and – as a bonus – they won’t miss a beat if they’re without internet.   How, since iPhones do not have activated FM chips to access FM radio without internet?

Users who want FM radio must stream it which has delays and drains their data and battery. With Soundot AF1 FM Headphones and the associated free Soundot app, they’ll be able to tune directly into FM radio via the built-in FM receiver, even when they don’t have internet connectivity.

This could be useful if out in the country or in an emergency where there is no internet, or if users just want to listen live to sports, music, or talk shows without using their data.  iPhones do not have activated FM chips to access FM radio without internet, so users who want FM radio must stream it which has delays and drains their data and battery.  Soundot AF1 FM Headphones are the world’s first app-controlled FMTuner Headset.  It connects via a lightning cable so you don’t need ‘the dongle’ on the newer devices, and it is an Apple® MFi™ certified accessory.  

As if that weren’t enough, the headphones give really good sound quality especially for its price point of $70, because of it’s ability to customize the sound effects in the app, which you can download from the App Store.  Right out of the box, you might not think they are better than other comparable headsets, but play around with the settings and you may be surprised.  Here are the customizable options:

• 6-band equalizer (EQ) delivers broad spectrum sound
• 11 music settings optimized for acoustic, classical, dance, electro, jazz, Latin, metal, piano, pop, rock and R&B
• Bass, treble and vocal adjustments
• 3D surround sound for surround-encoded shows and movies

The presets are fairly decent on their own, I loaded mine to ‘Pop’ since that’s what I listen to the most, but it’s nice to have premade options for the odd album or songs you have on your play list to make them better.  For instance, I changed the preset to Piano to listen to my new Paul Cardall Christmas album, and it really did enhance it.  In my opinion, the 3D surround sound made a big difference in the audio when I was using the earbuds to watch movies on my iPad.  

The physical product itself comes with the Soundot AF1 dual dynamic driver earbuds which has a 3-button remote switch on it, 3 sizes of earbud cushions, a carrying pouch and a quick guide.  The quick guide is easy to follow and should answer most, if not all of your questions when setting the headphones up for use.

I don’t always like to use earbuds, but found these pretty comfortable.  I think it’s because the way the earbuds are designed.  They are offset from the base.   With most other earbuds I find the longer I wear them, when I remove them my ears hurt, I wore the Soundot AF1 earbuds for a few hours at a time and didn’t find that happening.  I am quite petite and I did use the smallest earbud cushion.

The only issue I had with the Soundot AF1 FM Headphones, was getting a clear signal.  That may or may not be a problem depending on where you may be trying to use them.  When I first started using them I could not get them to work inside my home at all.  I had to go outside to get a signal.  Once the app and the antenna (which is the headset’s wire) connected to a station, I was able to tune to the ones I wanted and saved them, could go inside and then listen.  I made sure to try it with Airplane Mode on, and it was still picking up the station.  However, depending on where I was in my home, I didn’t always receive a clear broadcast. 

Overall I would recommend the Soundot AF1 FM Headphones.  At the price the sound is good, the ability to listen to the radio offline is a huge bonus that other earbuds just cannot offer (Think about how important that could be in a natural disaster like a hurricane, blizzard or forest fire.  While my connectivity in my home wasn’t fantastic, it was coming through with a signal and that alone would get us connected with information if we were cut off from cable or a mobile signal. ).

Blackloud sent me a complimentary product to try out for the purpose of this review.

The Soundot AF1 FM headset for iOS devices is now available for $69.89 from https://www.blackloud.com, as well as from Amazon for $68.42.  Also available from Newegg, Sears, Walmart and other online retailers.