GranVela

The GranVela G18 is a set of sweatproof Bluetooth In-Ear headphones targeting the sporting crowd with. Boasting Bluetooth 4.1, sweatproof design and a built-in microphone, are they any good? Keep reading my GranVela G18 review to find out!

Thanks to GranVela for providing me a sample to review. Purchase the GranVela G18 from Amazon via the link below.

In This Review

What’s in the Box?

Inside the box, you’ll get:

• GranVela G18 Bluetooth Headphones
• Micro USB Charging Cable
• Rubber Eartips (3 sizes)
• English User Manual

GranVela G18 Review: Hardware

The GranVela G18 is definitely targeting the fitness community. The headphones are made of bright green and grey plastic, with large ear hooks to keep the headphones in place during exercise. I can’t say the color scheme will be for everyone (I felt odd wearing them to work) but they nail the sporty aesthetic.

They’re also IPX4 rated, meaning they’re protected against sweat and other liquids which often kills other headphones.

I found the headphones’ large ear hooks kept the headphones in place regardless of what I was doing – whether it be running or headbanging. It was nice not having to worry about them falling out at a critical moment.

The ear tips themselves are made of soft silicon which let’s them easily adapt to your ear canal. GranVela pack in 3 different sizes so you should be able to find one that fits. They’re pretty comfortable, even after a day’s listening so that’s a plus.

Now, the G18 manages to fit in a full set of Bluetooth controls on the earpieces themselves.

The right earpiece houses the power button, volume controls, power LED and the microphone. Those buttons actually pull double-duty, with the power button pausing the music whilst holding down the volume controls skips tracks. I found it really useful to be able to skip tracks without having to grab my phone, particularly when I was in the middle of exercising.

There’s also a micro USB port for charging in the left earpiece. However, I found that having the power LED and charging ports on opposite sites unintuitive as you can’t just look where you’ve plugged it in. It doesn’t affect usability, but it’s an odd design choice.

Speaking of power, battery life was good, with the headphones getting around the stated 7 hours of playback. They’ll also power down when left unused to save power.

The Bluetooth connection was solid during my testing. I didn’t experience any dropouts or interference which is excellent.

GranVela G18 Review: Sound Quality

You can have great hardware, but if the sound quality isn’t there, you’re just wasting your money. However, I was actually impressed with how the GranVela G18’s sound.

Audio sounds crisp and retains good detail, with a fairly even response across highs, mids and lows.

Bass is respectable without muddying audio. However, the amount of bass will depends on how good of a seal you get. I personally liked the even approach to sound, though some may find bass lacking.

Microphone quality is usually where these headphones suffer (typically because they’re located away from the mouth) so I was surprised when I made a call and the person on the other end said they could hear me clearly. It’s not better than speaking directly into the phone but they did sound better than some of the other Bluetooth headphone microphones I’ve tested recently.

Verdict

Sport headphones are typically an exercise (no pun intended!) in compromises. Unless you’re spending big bucks, most offer mediocre audio in exchange for being sweatproof or wireless. However, the GranVela G18’s left me impressed.

Whilst they’re not going to compete with top-tier headphones, audio quality was solid for sports headphones and being both wireless and water resistant make them perfect partners for the gym. If you’re wanting a cheap set of headphones for your workouts, the GranVela G18 is definitely worth considering.

Getting One

The GranVela G18 Bluetooth Headphones are available from Amazon.