Suunto Wing headphones overview: Adventurous consciousness unlocked

For what feels just like the hundredth day in a row, I am crouching on the ground of my room, debating whether or not I can muster the passion to go on yet one more wet night run. However tonight, I’ve a flicker of motivation — I am testing the Suunto Wing headphones.

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Although I’ve dabbled with using wired headphones prior to now, I am a long-time AirPods consumer and, for each causes of complacency and reliability, have by no means significantly thought of switching up my audio sport. The Suunto Wings, nevertheless, had been an attractive change of tempo. With premium bone conduction, LED lights and an influence financial institution, I used to be curious to hit the wet streets and put the headphones to the take a look at.

Suunto Wing

The Suunto Wing affords open-ear sound through bone conduction tech, which does not block the ear canals, permitting for significantly better situational consciousness when out operating, biking or climbing the wild. These are well-built, boast an enormous battery life and have an extra security function within the flashing LEDs on the flanks.

Professionals

• Protected listening for on the go adventures
• Light-weight and moveable
• Straightforward to pair and activate

Cons

• Pricier possibility
• Lower in audio high quality at louder volumes
• Open-ear placement means you may really feel music vibrations

After the admittedly very long time it took me to determine put on the Suunto Wings — the bone conduction design, because it seems, emits sound from above your ears moderately than throughout the ear canal — I used to be off, shortly discovering why the Suunto Wing is a gorgeous, modern, and protected city headphone selection, particularly for a health neighborhood searching for high quality sound whereas on the transfer.

Bone conduction design

Premium really feel, particularly for $199

The Suunto Wings, created from a mix of silicone and titanium, weighs in at solely 40 grams. The Wings are versatile, with a rubbery texture that lets you match the band across the base of your head.

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A pair of Suunto Wings additionally features a charging stand with a USB cable, a black storage bag, and earplugs. The earplugs are included to create a supposedly extra personal listening expertise for individuals who need extra immersive listening. For me, they defeated the aim of the conscious design.

Suunto affords the Wings in two colours, all black, and black with shiny crimson audio system. The triangular-shaped charging dock is conveniently gentle and moveable, full with a plastic fastener to make sure your headphones do not dislodge from the charging grooves. The correct transducer options twin microphones, and a button to activate noise-cancellation expertise. The left facet incorporates a button to skip or pause songs and reply calls.

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The Suunto Wing’s design is elevated with facet LED lights, which you’ll be able to program to flash should you plan on operating in the dead of night.

Sound high quality and match whereas energetic

Particularly designed for motion

The Wing is Suunto’s first product to enter the bone conduction headphones market, constructing on its success at making a few of the greatest operating watches, just like the Suunto 9 Peak Professional. With a wealth of data of the operating and outside expertise market, the Wing’s design is a significant try at a headphone made particularly for what runners and bikers stand up to whereas outside.

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When my music started coursing by means of my pair of Wings, it was an sudden expertise. With the audio system sitting alongside the tops of my cheekbones, the little vibrations tickled, notably as I elevated the amount.

Although the sound high quality of my music was not as deep or wealthy as in-ear earbuds, the Wing headphones are designed for motion, and after an hour on a motorcycle or deep into my weekend-long run, the machine stays as snug as ever. With a helmet, a baseball cap, or only a ponytail, the Wings are safe, sweat-and-waterproof, and nearly unnoticeable.

Suunto says that the Wing headphones are designed with anti-wind noise safety for as much as 30mph. My windy city adventures urged in any other case, and I usually turned the amount to the utmost, significantly whereas listening to podcasts.

Protected listening whereas out operating

Open-ear expertise means worry-free operating or using

Whether or not operating or biking, most athletes are nicely conscious of the inner debate between blasting music or an audiobook versus dimming audio to remain conscious of honks of oncoming site visitors.

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The Suunto Wing relieved my worries: open-ear expertise is nicely definitely worth the slight de-effect in sound high quality for the peace of mind you may take heed to music whereas operating or biking with out sacrificing your security. That is an particularly attractive function for runners like me or bikers who run at evening, as you do not have to surrender an consciousness of your environment whereas figuring out.

I usually wonder if I might run with out music, a podcast, or a e-book. Do I hear as a result of I would like a distraction? Or as a result of I really feel the necessity to continuously eat content material? Whereas I’ll not have a solution to these questions, the Wing headphones had been, to my shock, a contented medium for these questions.

Sure, I can maintain listening to no matter my coronary heart might need, however I nonetheless hear the pounding of my toes on the pavement, the dinging of supply bike bells zipping previous me, and the limitless whoosh of the spring wind whipping off the Hudson. My run instantly wasn’t a selection between the world of my audiobook and the town round me–rather, I discovered a brand new mixing of environments.

The Suunto Wing can also be a hands-free machine. Simply programmed within the Suunto cellular app, you may change on a function the place songs are skipped and cellphone calls answered with only a shake of your head.

Battery life and charging occasions

Element and value are a star with out sacrifice

Whether or not you are headed off for hours or, like many people, overlook to plug in your gadgets on a nightly foundation, the Wing’s potable energy block ensures that your subsequent journey, be it on bike or foot, does not go with out music. According to Suunto, the Wing’s battery life lasts as much as 10 hours, plus an extra 20 hours with an influence financial institution in hand.

In response to my testing, that evaluation was fairly correct. Some users are reporting a battery life nearer to seven hours, however throughout the board, excessive reward goes in the direction of the pace of the moveable charger. For these set on longer adventures, Suunto says plugging your Wing headphones into the ability financial institution for simply 10 minutes will provide you with an extra three hours of audio.

Verdict: Superior for journey seekers

In the end, the smooth design of the Wing matches the benefit at which you may be operating down trails, biking by means of the streets, and dwelling your on-the-go way of life, all of the whereas listening to your favourite beats. These headphones are a powerful selection for the outside athlete seeking to groove by means of their subsequent exercise with out dropping a way of consciousness concerning the surrounding atmosphere.

In the event you’re wanting primarily for a product to take heed to podcasts and audiobooks or music at loud volumes, nevertheless, the Suunto Wing struggles to take care of clear-cut audio high quality — particularly at increased volumes.

High 5 songs I listened to whereas testing

1. Let It Occur by Tame Impala
2. Oh Satan by Electrical Visitor
3. honey thighs by strongboi
4. Texas Maintain ‘Em by Beyoncé
5. Do-it-yourself Dynamite by Lorde (feat. Khalid, Publish Malone, & SZA)