GRACE NOTES

Cable cutters are all the rage these days; even headphones have become completely and totally free from cables. The new X-Shock earphones from Soul Electronics are absolutely wireless, even for charging. For marathon listening sessions, the X-Shock has up to 60 hours of charging capabilities between the earphone and portable charging box.

The X-Shock earphones are probably the simplest headphones to pair to your phone. Take them out of the charging box and they’re automatically searching for a Bluetooth connection. They feature both Siri and Google Assistant. They can be set up as a headset with only one earpiece needed to take or make calls. When I set it up for phone calls, the person I was talking to were having no problems hearing my voice, however they said it wasn’t as clear as it would have been on something with the microphone closer to my mouth. I could hear them just fine.

Operating the X-Shock isn’t the most intuitive, but after a while, it becomes simple. Pressing a switch on the outside of either earpiece either once, twice, or three times accesses features such as play, pause, take a call, hang up, etc. It is a switch that needs to be pressed, not a touchpad. Since the earphones are already snuggly pressed into the ear to provide a secure fit and acheive the best bass response, pressing them repeatedly isn’t the most comfortable to do. If the switch was on the side so you can use another finger to support it or if it was a touchpad, it would be a bit more comfortable.

The biggest selling point of the X-Shock is the large capacity of the charging box. The 3000mAh battery can provide up to 16 complete charge cycles for the earphones. The earphones play up to 3.4 hours on a single charge, with up to 200 hours of standby time. This gives the system up to 60 hours of playtime when the charging box is topped off. It takes 1.5 hours for a complete charge.

The playback sound of the X-Shock is interesting. There are no volume controls on the earphones, and using my phone and my laptop as playback sources, I found that the sound didn’t play loud enough for my tastes, and I’m a bit conservative about how loud I like to listen to my music.

They have a very bright sound and don’t have much deep low end. Bass response is very dependent on the fit of an in-ear earphone. I tried the X-Shock with both supplied tips and neither provided a great bass response. They lacked the impact and drive that today’s music needs. Even pushing them uncomfortably deep into my ears didn’t give them enough bass to be adequate.

Speaking of fit, they are secure in the ear. I wore them for over an hour while working out and running around my house and they stayed in without ever feeling like they would fall out. Another advantage of the X-Shock is that they are waterproof and can be submerged for up to 30 minutes. This also makes them sweat-proof. Soul says that they are designed with safety in mind with a built-in LED, but the amount of light they emit is negligible. There is a translucent version available too that might have more light than the black ones I have.

With a handy charging box that comes with a carrying case and handy carabiner, the Soul X-Shock are great if someone needs a long-lasting wireless option. It’s not the best sounding system available, but it might be one of the longest playing, and sometimes, more is better.