Product Review : Monster I-Sport Victory Wireless Headphones

When it comes to headphones, wireless or not, I have an absolute nightmare. I don’t know if it’s just my very funny shaped earbuds, but for some reason they NEVER seem to stay in, resulting in me spending most of my outdoor runs either stopping to wedge them back in my ears, or giving out and going without music altogether. Less than ideal when you’re needing a bit of Britney for that extra motivation! (Excuse my taste, I’m a 90’s kid.)

 

 

 

So, when I came across these Monster Sport Wireless Headphones, I was intrigued. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried wireless before, and had little luck, but having read a number of rave reviews about these ones, I was prepared to give the whole wireless malarkey one last shot….





Design


Available in three different colour ways – black, blue and neon – I went for the latter – anything that helps me find them when rummaging in my bag! Coming with a handy little carry pouch, the device consists of two buds with secure fit ear hooks, a thin cable to be positioned behind the neck, and a three button remote control that sits around chin level.





Relatively easy to figure out (too many buttons and functions always puts me straight off!), the control’s central button is used to turn the device on and off, pair with your phone via Bluetooth, and also handle incoming calls (which allowed me to perfectly dodge my Dad’s mid-run ring. He always picks the most awkward of times!).

The other two buttons, with a plus and minus sign on either end, allow you to turn up and down the volume, or scroll through tracks (perfect for when my Paul McKenna ‘I Can Make You Sleep’ began to blast through – again, not quite the right time for that!).


Sound





Sound wise, whilst I’m no acoustic guru, and some have claimed the bass is slightly too high, as far as a sport headphone goes I had no issues when it came to the music quality. Furthermore, as they’re designed to block out outside noise, I could even use them in the gym without having that frustrating layer of secondary background music! Nothing should attempt to spoil Ed Sheeran. Nothing.





Fit




Now, for fit…. the main issue I have with ALL headphones! Fully expecting the buds to be too large for my ears, I was most pleasantly surprised to discover 3 different sizes of ear tips inside the box. Made from flexible silicon, the smallest ones sat perfectly on the outside of my ear canal, and securely remained there throughout the duration of my run. Thinking it was too good to be true, I even tried ‘testing’ them further with some post run burpees. Result? Head phones still secure, thighs now double as sore!




Power




As for battery life, Monster advise it to be around 8 hours + depending on your usage and required power levels. Given I had the volume fully turned up, I found it slightly less than this (about 7 hours total), however this is still impressive compared to many other models on the market. To charge, you simply plug the USB cable (included in the pack) into your computer/convertor, give it an hour or so (depending on how much charge you need), and you’re good to go.

Conclusion

Although a couple of minor flaws (it can sometimes take a couple of attempts to connect the Bluetooth to your phone, and the bass may be a little too heavy for some), all in all I would highly recommend the Monster I-Sport Victory to anyone looking for a durable, well fitting, sweat proof headphone. Available online through the likes of Amazon and Currys for £99.95, you’d find it tough to find a better sports specific headphone for under £100.