I tested the Challenge headphones from Cellurlarline, which can be found online as AQL Bluetooth headset. It is a headset specifically intended for sports, which becomes clear when you see the foam rubber pads, that do feel a bit cheap. However, it is material that repels sweat. In addition, they wanted to make the headphones as light as possible, so you hardly feel you are wearing them while running.
Lime green
The fact that we have a lime-green variant and not a black one is unfortunate: green is very striking and when I run, I want to stand out as little as possible. Plus, that shade of green just seems cheap. Anyway, it is mainly about what it needs to do, and not what it needs to look like: so I wondered to what extent these 39,95 euro headphones could appeal to me in terms of music experience. I’m quite a music fan, so when I listen to hip hop, I want to hear that beat loud. It is a headset for the ear, so the shell does not go all the way over your ear. That’s good to know, because it influences the music experience.
While running, the Bluetooth system performed very well: I could hear the music and because it does not go all the way over your ear, you can still hear ambient noise; something that is very important when you are in traffic. You can properly adjust the volume control on one of the caps and the sound is okay. I do think it is not really deep enough, the sound. With some types of music this is not a problem, but I really like my bass. On the other hand, you are busy with other things while running, which means that the fact that the device stays on my head and continues to work in terms of Bluetooth is actually.
Cleaning and charging
After running you can clean the device, or at least, the “foam rubbers”, which I mostly do with a cloth, although I think you can take the whole thing apart if you want. After that, you’d better put the device in the charger right away, because it takes about four hours to fully charge. On the other hand, you can also use the wire if, for example, you want to listen behind your desk. Moreover, you can use the headphones for quite a while on just one charge: listening to music all day is no problem.
I think it is a shame that the bass does not really sound like it is supposed to, because I expect more with headphones than with earplugs. But, I am surprised about its longevity and how well it stays in place while running: even if you get a little sweaty. Or, as in my case: a bit bad. Challenge is therefore not such a bad name for these headphones.
