Back to you today with another headphone review; our eighth in the series. Full disclosure, H2O Audio reached out to me via email and asked if I would consider testing their product. The difference here being I didn’t seek these out to try on my own. I was more than willing to give them a go as I’m always on the lookout for good options when it comes to headphones for active people. And the nice thing in this case is that I had a totally open mind for this review as I hadn’t heard of this brand before they connected with me and thus had no idea what to expect. I will say that I was instantly intrigued, mainly because of the company’s name, H2O Audio, which implies that they can be worn in the water. I have yet to try to swim with headphones but I do get painfully bored in the pool so the notion that I could listen to music while doing laps kind of blew me away.
Unfortunately, the RIPT Lites are not, in fact, fully submersible, so I won’t be swimming with this particular model. It’s perhaps a little misleading if you happen to be seeking out headphones with this criterion as a must-have. That said, they do have several other models designed specifically to work in the water, so if you search their website, you would be pleased to see multiple options.
The RIPT LITE (Real Isolation Performance Technology) is a new product for the company and is, as implied, a lighter version of the RIPT Ultra, which is an over-the-ear model. Both are designed specifically for running, working out, or really for doing anything active. Quick reminder that I try each pair of headphones for a minimum of 50 miles before I write up my review. I also make sure to wear them in all types of weather (though, lately all we get in New England is rain) and for different kinds of workouts such as long runs, track days, etc. So with that, here’s my breakdown of the RIPT Lite by H2O Audio.
From the looks of it, these seem to be very good quality. They come in a solid, rounded case that opens and shuts easily and fits into a pocket, which is always good. The case itself has a screen that shows you both how charged the case is as well as each individual earbud. I have never seen this before and I love it. There is nothing worse than having your headphones die mid-run. With this feature, it would be really hard to see this happening. They are very easy to set up right out of the box and once they have been charged and connected to Bluetooth they work like a charm. The touch pads for commands like play/pause and skip are a little sensitive so I found myself accidentally pressing them as I fitted the earbuds into my ears. It’s not a huge deal, as it’s easy to skip back or turn the volume up or down if you do it by mistake. But something to consider if you’re running with them as they might be tricky to control if they are this sensitive to touch. They hold a charge for 4-5 hours, which to be honest, is not that long. If you are running an ultra, they’re not gonna last unless you carry the case which holds an additional 30 hours. I suppose it’s not a big deal to carry the case, but if you don’t have pockets that might be an issue. As I mentioned, you can’t submerge these in water but they are fully sweatproof so they will work for intense workouts which is key.
The first pair I received clearly had an issue with the speakers. When I put them in and pressed play I heard a crackling noise that was heavy when the bass played. After trying them a few times I gave up and reached out to customer service. I explained the issue and they immediately got back to me, told me they’d send me a new pair right away and asked me to put the broken ones back in the pre-paid envelope that they were including which I was more than happy to do. High points for customer service. That is a big one for me. The second pair sounded great. No issues at all. Crystal clear and sharp. The volume on these doesn’t seem to be as loud as other brands as I have to turn them all the way up when I run which I haven’t had to do in the past. That said, perhaps my hearing is getting worse and this is just par for the course. I can’t answer this one and don’t really want to. Overall, good quality sound. They do have active noise cancellation, which is a nice feature when you want to block out the world, but of course you can use them in both modes and it’s easy to shift between the two. Overall, they’ve got all the bells and whistles when it comes to sound.
Again, these synched up to Bluetooth easily once they were fully charged. All you have to do is open the case to make the connection. Sometimes this process is ridiculously tricky, like pressing and holding an earbud for a certain number of seconds to connect. Who has time for that? I really appreciated the simplicity of this process. I also was able to hear the music all throughout my house and outside on the driveway with the phone sitting in the kitchen which I thought was pretty impressive.
Alone, these earbuds would not stay in my ears. But they come with a set of silicone tips which are easy to slide on and with those they stay nice and snug. The drawback here is that you have to remove the tips every time you wear them as the earbuds don’t fit in the case when they are on. This is a little annoying as I’d prefer them to be ready to go every time I go to use them. It’s minor, but still. Other pairs come with multiple sizes of tips and I’m wondering if people with bigger ears will be able to use the one set they provide. It’s not an issue for me, thankfully, but I’m surprised they don’t provide a couple more sizes. Beyond that, they fit really well and they are so light I honestly didn’t even notice they were in my ears which, when you’re running for hours, is huge. Less is more and these have that concept nailed.
At $99.99 these are a steal. They are absolutely worth this price and I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to purchase them given how well they work. A great alternative to the more expensive Apple Airpods in my opinion. The only reason these don’t get the full A for me is that the tips have to be taken off and put back on before each use. Otherwise, they’re rock solid and I highly recommend giving them a go.
