How often do you find yourself absolutely and entirely relying on a piece of tech? Since getting my first smartphone, I couldn’t name another item of technology that I struggle to live without out… until coming across a pair of Backbeat GO 410 earphones. My god do I live around these little noise cancelling, sound producing nuggets of gold…
We’re no strangers to the Plantronics Backbeat series here at EFTM, including the Backbeat Go 810 headphones that were released alongside these bad boys a few months ago. My thoughts on the headphones were summed up roughly by “These are good noise-cancelling headphones on a budget”. My thoughts on the 410 earphones are closer to “This is a MUST-have product for anyone willing to look a bit geeky”.
To get this out of the way – I have no shame. It’s no question that the thick ‘behind the neck’ strap that is rather out of place in 2019, but I’ll take the quality of these Backbeat GO 410 over the aesthetic of most true wireless earphones any day. More than happy to be the nerd that runs around with the ‘fitness’ earbuds wrapped around my neck… but if you’re not a fan of the style, this product probably isn’t for you.
Very explicitly, the GO 410’s are noise-cancelling, wireless earbuds. The premise is very simple, the design is rather plain but the delivery is exceptional. With the ‘active noise cancelling’ (ANC) set to maximum strength, the amount of sound that gets blocked by these tiny little earbuds is beyond belief. I remember my first session in the gym, and the feeling of surprise at how distant the loud bangs of weights being dropped and grown men grunting were.
The sound quality of your music/podcast/phone call is consistent with every other Plantronic product, phenomenal. I found that personally, with the noise cancelling active and music playing simultaneously – I could only listen for about an hour before feeling slight discomfort at how deep and big it all sounds. Although this is quick fixed by weakening the noise cancelling. Your mileage may vary as everyone has different ears and reacts differently but all I can present to you is my unfiltered experience.
Outside of the gym, I found a LOT of practical use for the Backbeat GO 410 while on the train and walking through the streets. The noise cancelling truly does incredible work in the way of isolating the user from the world. Some would argue it’s dangerous to be out and about with no sense of the world around you, i’ll argue its absolute bliss.
Aesthetically speaking, they’re very clean and come in white (Bone) or black (Graphite) and are rather bland, but I’ll argue that helps in the subtlety of a device that by design isn’t terribly fashionable. You’ll notice the coloured tips on the earpiece and a monogrammed Plantronics logo but that’s about all that stands out from the base white design.
They don’t come cheap, retailing for $199 on the official Plantronics store, but this is unquestionably one of those ‘get what you pay for’ cases. If you don’t mind working out/running around/commuting and looking a little geeky. The Plantronics Backbeat GO 410 are phenomenal earphones.
