Archives for March 2017

Moshi Vortex Air–Solid, Premium, and Bluetooth

Let me tell you a brief story. Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending my very first Toy Fair NY at the Jacob Javits Center. As great an experience as this was, my trip didn’t end there. I still had a multi-hour Megabus ride back to Boston to endure. Lucky for me, I remembered to bring along Moshi’s new Vortex Air Bluetooth in-ear headphones to demo on the return leg. This 4½-hour stretch of time did not go to waste. So without further adieu, let’s take a closer look in this Moshi Vortex Air headphones review.

For once, I was able to ignore the bumps, the braking, the acceleration and deceleration of the bus’s journey and focus on the music.

Moshi Vortex Air Headphones Review – Solid Design

The design of the Vortex Air headphones is one which is mid-weight (0.98 ounce) and easy to operate.

Upon examining these headphones, you’ll notice the solid construction of the Vortex Air. Even though the headphones are made of RigidBody™ steel alloy construction, they weigh in at just under 1 ounce. While this may or may not be lighter than what you’re currently using for wireless in-ear headphones, still, you’ll barely feel them in your ears. You’ll only notice the music. I know this to be true as I’ve typed much of this review while wearing the headphones listening to The Black Keys.

As of today, the Vortex Air headphones are available in one color: Dark Steel. Should additional colors be introduced down the road, this post will be updated.

(If more than one color were available, your mobile device would recognize the color of the headphones. This is how pairing operates with the Mythro Air. Your mobile device would list all colors and recognize them as individual devices.)

The 5 Things You Need To Know for Operating the Vortex Air

1. To power on the Vortex Air, press and hold the (single) button until the blue light appears. It will only take a few seconds for it to appear.
2. To power off the Vortex Air, press and hold the (single) button until the red light appears. Again, it will only take a few seconds for it to appear.
3. To pair the Vortex Air to your mobile device, hold the (single) button until the blinking blue light appears. It will take about 5 seconds for it to appear. Then head to the Bluetooth Settings on your mobile device and pair the earphones.
4. On the volume controls, volume up and down is controlled by pressing the upper and lower silver tabs. The center tab controls answering calls, playing or pausing the track, and forwarding and reversing the track. To forward and reverse the track, be prepared to press 2x or 3x quickly or the desired result won’t be achieved.
5. Play time lasts for 8 hours at 50% volume with a 100 hour standby time. Charging the headphones takes approximately 2 hours. You’ll notice a pulsing red light while charging.

You’ve got to appreciate a pair of headphones when there’s little that you need to know for proper operation. It couldn’t be simpler.

Specifications

Audio Performance

Per Michael Leonhard, President of Moshi, “Mythro Air and Vortex Air are designed to deliver the ideal Bluetooth audio experience for the everyday commuter and traveler. Compact and light, our new Bluetooth audio lines are built with sound quality, ergonomics and battery life in mind to provide a pristine audio experience.”

As we often state when reviewing headphones, the most important performance factor is the quality of sound. I tested the Vortex Air with a broad range of music per the list above. In my review of Moshi’s Mythro Air, I made comparisons against the Monster iSport SuperSlim Bluetooth wireless in-ear sport headphones and the Decibullz Custom-Fit Bluetooth wireless earphones. Since the Mythro Air outperformed both competitors, there was no point to review against them again. Rather, I reviewed the Vortex Air against the Mythro Air.

In the Moshi Avanti and Mythro Air reviews, I noted that “the sound across the 15Hz – 20kHz spectrum was rather good.” With the Vortex Air, the gaps (particularly with the bass) I noticed with the Mythro Air have been closed.

Having reviewed the Mythro Air, I already knew rock music would perform well. I was not disappointed. The playback of both Muse and 30 Seconds To Mars was incredible and performed per my expectations. So I needed to kick it up a notch.

Remember the Megabus ride I wrote about in the opening paragraph? This drive was the perfect opportunity to test the Vortex Air with My Chemical Romance and The Prodigy. Say what you want about these two groups, they are talented artists and have millions of fans worldwide. And having seen both groups live in concert, those memories are ingrained in me.

If I were in a less public space, I would have totally rocked out and started my own mosh pit. There aren’t many wireless in-ear headphones that can transport me back to a concert to relive it between my ears. While the driver would have objected, I so wanted to get up and mosh with the other passengers on tracks like The Prodigy’s Thunder and Take Me To The Hospital. The same can be said with tracks from The Black Parade.

The vocals of Lana Del Rey and Lady Gaga were sharp and vivid, just like with the Mythro Air. Throughout all the listed albums, keyboards and lower frequency bass and percussion sounds were pronounced and defined. The Vortex Air headphones blew me away.

I nearly forgot to mention that switching back and forth between music and incoming calls worked like a charm.

Moshi Apps

Burn-In Tool App

Moshi takes the earphones/headphones market with a high level of seriousness, so much so that they offer an app which assists with the burn in of their products. The app called Burn-in Tool is available via Apple’s iTunes and Google Play Store. We’ve sampled dozens of earphones and have never seen any of these established brands offer such a tool. The closest app that comes to mind is Captune by Sennheiser, but it’s quite different than Moshi’s Burn-in Tool.

I used Android-based Motorola Moto X Pure and Google Pixel mobile phones and had no issue with the app. The one thing I will say about Burn-in Tool is the sound pattern is quite annoying and not meant for your ears. If you plan to use Burn-in Tool, I highly recommend you place your mobile phone and earphones in some other room, close the door, and let them do their thing for at least four hours. If you need your phone at some point, you can always pause the sound pattern and complete the task later.

Bluetooth Audio App

Currently available only on Apple’s iTunes, Moshi offers its Bluetooth Audio app. This app provides customized support for Moshi’s Vortex Air headphones. According to Moshi, this app allows for the following:

• Use their proprietary DJ4two™ functionality that lets your friend listen to the same music you’re listening to so you can enjoy your commuting and traveling together.
• Lets you adjust and save your preferred equalizer settings for a truly customized listening experience.
• It provides battery level status, so you know how much power is left in your Bluetooth headset.
• Lets you set the alarm when the battery life is low, lets you change your headset’s device name, enables auto power-off, and shows a list of accessories that are currently paired.

Conclusion

In my testing, the Vortex Air earphones from Moshi performed phenomenally. The production of strong, clear vocals, guitar, and bass was a breeze for the Vortex Air.

It’s easy to say that the Vortex Air are now my go-to Bluetooth headphones. I can only imagine how much better they would sound if I had accessed an equalizer. Finally, I had a pair of Bluetooth in-ear headphones that could play my music library the way I expected it to sound.

While these aren’t dedicated sport headphones, I still needed to test them during a cardio workout. The result was they performed quite well, holding in place when used with the memory foam ear tips. On the same workout, the silicone ear tips are likely to fall out from the constant movement, even with the use of the magnetic clip.

There was no issue when used during weight training or cycling. And the sound isolation from your surroundings is excellent.

Just like the Mythro Air, these headphones are quite comfortable even after many hours of continuous listening. As mentioned above, you won’t notice they’re in your ears after a short while. You can thank a minimalist design approach for this. At $120, the Vortex Air headphones are well-priced in the marketplace while outperforming much of its categories competition.

Have you tried Moshi’s Vortex Air headphones? Do you agree or disagree with our analysis? Let us know in the comment section below or via social media. We’re eager to hear your thoughts.

Don’t hesitate to head over to the Moshi’s Press Page to see their latest announcements. The Vortex Air headphones come with a one-year limited end-user warranty.

FTC Disclosure: Moshi provided Beantown LLC with one (1) Mythro Air Dark Steel Bluetooth headphones sample for review purposes. This writer’s opinion is 100% his own and not a paid product ambassador.

All photographs are the copyrighted property of Beantown LLC © 2017.