A few weeks ago, we wrote about PaMu, unique wireless earphones on Indiegogo that start at $29. Well, we were able to get our hands on a pair of PaMu’s headphones to let you know if they’re worth it, even at the $29 price point. After a week of testing, it seems PaMu could give the current truly wireless headphones out there a run for their money. Read on for our full first impressions.
These headphones are unique in many ways. One of the biggest things that sets them apart from other headphones is the design. Many in-ear truly wireless headphones are either really small, or kinda small, and are almost always designed to sit right inside your ear and be as discrete as possible.
Pairing is fairly straightforward, though there are a few quirks. From my usage, it seems the left earbud is the dominant one. This is the first earbud that pairs with your phone, and then the right one pairs separately. Here’s where the “quirk” comes in. When listening to both earbuds, only the left will connect to your phone as the earbuds connect together. But, when listening to just a single one, just that earbud connects to your phone. I never really had any major connecting issues with PaMu though.
PaMu is different. These earphones make a statement, and generally, there will be no missing that you’re wearing them. That’s good and bad, in my opinion. Good in the fact that people will realize you’re not ignoring them when you have them in, as when I wear my AirPods people never see them and think I’m either talking to myself or just straight up ignoring them. Though, bad in the fact that everyone will see this black circle hanging outside of your ear.
The design of PaMu isn’t bad overall, though. The outside pressure-sensitive surface looks similar to carbon fiber (though it’s not at all). This gives it a nice texture on the outside and the large batteries make the earpieces super easy to grip.
The part of PaMu that actually goes into your ears is surprisingly comfortable. When I first saw $29 headphones, I figured there had to be a drawback somewhere. Even AirPods get uncomfortable after long wearing sessions. I’ve worn PaMu headphones for hours at a time while working and never once did they become uncomfortable.
There is a silicone tip that goes into your ear and is fantastic for noise isolation. On the outside, there is a small winged tip that fits into the grove of your ears in order to hold the earphone in place. It’s all balanced out by the larger battery on the outside, and I’ve had no issues with them falling out or wiggling loose while wearing.
Each earbud will last a few hours on a charge. I’ve only had them die once, and that was when I first got PaMu. Once they do die, you can easily just toss them back in the case and top it off. Charging is done via two pogo pegs that are on each earbud and inside of the case.
The case charges over MicroUSB. I do wish that PaMu had USB-C, but at its price point, it is acceptable to have MicroUSB. To let you know how much charge it has, PaMu has four LEDs on the outside that tell you power level.
The case is a circular huge bin that isn’t the most comfortable thing to carry around. My AirPods case is super small, smaller than a normal thing of floss, and PaMu is about twice as thick as the AirPods case with a larger circular footprint. It’s not too big to carry, but it takes up a decent amount of pocket space for sure.
Onto audio quality. This is where I was utterly surprised. PaMu sounds good. No, great. I wasn’t expecting the full soundstage that I received when I first listened to PaMu, and it only got better with time. Don’t get me wrong, these aren’t high-end headphones and you shouldn’t expect Bowers & Wilkins quality here. But, for the price, they sound great. I’d venture to say they honestly sound better than my AirPods.
Overall, PaMu are great earbuds. I’ll use them while working outside or even when riding my bike. They’re nice, have no cables at all, and sound great. At just $29 during the company’s Indiegogo campaign, if you’re in need of a spare set of earbuds to use that sound great, these are perfect. There are obvious quirks, but nothing huge or show-stopping. Head on over to the Indiegogo page where PaMu has already raised over 7,000% of its funding goal.
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