Kinivo produces some innovative digital accessories. Let's talk about the latest addition to the lineup—Kinivo BTH240 Bluetooth Stereo Headphone ($31.99 on sale from $49.99). The BTH240 is a redesign of two earlier headphones with improvements to sound quality, LED light, and multifunction button as well as longer battery life, and the introduction of micro USB charging.
Perhaps they should not be called headphones because there’s no way they will fit over your head unless you are extremely microcephalic. Instead, neck phones might be more appropriate because you have to put them behind your neck and then over your ears.
These little double-jointed beauties are very compact and fold up into a figure eight with the two small ear pieces side by side. The ear covers are soft leather for comfort and measure two inches in diameter. Weighing just 73g, these phones are quite portable and fit into a nice, velvet drawstring bag that comes with them in the box. A micro USB cable also is provided for charges with a computer or AC adaptor (not included).
It takes two to three hours to charge the unit fully to get as long as 10 hours of playback time.
If paired to your iPhone, the music will stop during a phone conversation and resume when the call is completed. It has a built-in noise cancelling microphone, which makes this an ideal hands-free calling device.
This device is compatible with iPhone 4, 4S, 4, 3GS, as well as all iPads, iPod Touch, Android phones, tablets, and A2DP capable devices. It supports chat audio on PS3.
The headphones have controls for the transmitting device with pause, resume, forward, backward, next tract previous track. The LED light on the earpiece indicates various functions, Bluetooth pairing, and battery status. A single multifunction button is all that is necessary to make everything happen.
I am pleased to report that pairing with various iOS and Android transmitting devices was a snap. The sound quality was most satisfactory if not a little surprising given the small size of the ear pieces. I am used to having over-the-head earphones and at first I was thinking these would fall off my neck, but they don’t and that feeling goes away. They don’t mess up your hair either, if that is a consideration. They are comfortable and do not hurt your ears even after a long listening session. The only problem I found is that you cannot lean back and rest your head on a pillow or the back of a chair conveniently; it will move the phones. But you can adjust them to your needs.
The manufacturer is selling them at a discount right now for $31.99, but you can get them on Amazon for just $29.99 with free shipping.
I was happy to see that you can purchase a Bluetooth adaptor that works with Apple and Windows, but there's nothing yet for Chromebook.
