Review: PTron Zap wireless neckband earphones

Mobile accessories-maker PTron launched the new neckband earphone series Zap in India for Rs 1,499 in August.

The company had shared PTron Zap review unit with DH. I have been using for the past several days and here's my observation about the new earphone.

Design and build quality:
PTron Zap flaunts ergonomic smooth liquid silicone rubber material-based neckband. It features two nodules, which houses a 200mAh battery each. Yet, it is light and I barely noticed the weight on the neck. Most importantly, it is sturdy.

The earpieces are magnetic in nature and this comes handy, when not using them. They can be attached to form a closed-loop so that it can stay on around the neck and we don't have to worry about misplacing them. Or, need not have to frequently take in or out of the bag.

It also comes with IPX5 Sweat & Water Proof certification, meaning the consumer need to not fret about using them in the rains or take it for a long sweaty jogging or gym sessions.

The in-ear buds fit perfectly in my ears and also, it can be noted that the company is offering two extra pair of buds in different sizes, in the retail box.

Interface:

The in-line controller comes with a mic and three multifunctional buttons: 'volume down', 'call/pause', and ' volume up'. Long pressing the volume up will the let jump the current song to the next and with the volume down, he/she can go back to the previous track.

With the middle button, you can receive or pause phone calls with a single tap. While listening to the music, if you double-tap the key, it will call back the last person called on the phone.
It has a latch to close the micro-USB port and you can open it with ease to charge the earphones.

Setting up the PTron Zap was pretty straight forward. Just have to long-press the multi-functional middle button in the in-line controller and it automatically searches devices for pairing and it pops up on the phone's Bluetooth devices list and just the tap on PTron Zap name and it gets connected seamlessly. It supports phones (iOS & Android), computers and tablets.

Sound quality:

During the testing period, I listened to rock, hip hop, blues, classical, Carnatic and numerous genres of music and even acoustic. PTron Zap fared well in almost all aspects.

It offers deep bass and there is less scope for outside noise to creep in thanks to in-ear design. Just over the 50% volume is enough to block you from outside noise and beyond that, it got too loud for me.

It advisable for users not to pump up the volume to the max, as it will affect hearing health over time and also it's not a good practice to use the earphone while crossing a busy road.
One qualm I have with the PTron earphones is the pre-recorded messages are loud even when the volume is set to low and it's difficult to understand. For instance, when the device is switched on, it says pairing successful, but the voice is too distorted.

Battery:

It is one of the best aspects of PTron Zap. It comes with 400mAh battery and truly lived up to the expectations, lasting more than 20 hours of listening time. In the testing period, I used it to listen to music for an average of 100 minutes every day, while commuting from office to home. In a single charge, it lasted more than 12 days. But, it takes close to four hours to fully charge, double the time taken for a phone with 4,000mAh battery with normal charging speed.

Pros:
Decent sound quality
Long-lasting battery
Good build quality

Cons:
Pre-recorded messages in the earphones during phone pairing or while switching off are loud and distorted

Key specifications of PTron Zap:
Bluetooth: v5.0
Bluetooth Transmission Range: Class 2 (10 meters or 33 feet)
Speaker Size/Driver Size:10mm
Speaker Frequency Range: 50~20000Hz
Speaker Impedance: 16Ω
Speaker Sensitivity: 94+/-3dB
Speaker Output Power: 3mW
Communication: 2.4—2.485GHz
Mic Sensitivity: -42+/-3dB
Mic Impedance: 2.2K
Speaker Dimensions: φ10mm×4.1mm
Speaker Weight: 30g

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