Wireless Earbuds: Outdoor Tech Orcas Review
Intended Use: Wireless bluetooth headphones for outdoor activities, running, hiking, snow sports, or working out in your local gym.
Recommended For: Outdoor enthusiasts looking for a reasonably priced, wireless, Bluetooth headphone that is simple, lightweight, durable, sweat- and water-resistant.
About Outdoor Technologies:
Outdoor Tech, founded in 2009, is based in Los Angeles, California. The team is relentless in designing new action lifestyle accessories for your active lifestyle. From wireless audio, portable power and accessories, Outdoor Tech seeks to make your outdoor lifestyle more convenient with modern devices that you truly want.
Orcas features:
– Sweat-proof and splash-resistant
– Bluetooth 4.0 for easy one-touch pairing, and automatic reconnect to previously paired devices
– Built-in microphone
– 3-button inline controls to adjust volume, change tracks, play/pause and answer calls
– Headset and hands-free controls
– Rechargeable lithium-ion battery
– Micro USB charge port
– Play time: 6 hours
– Standby time:150 hours
– Wireless range: 32 feet
– see all the tech here
Review:
We caught up with Outdoor Tech at SIA, and not knowing the extent of their lifestyle accessories it was really exciting to see their product line. Check out a large array of their product in our SIA Day One post here . We were particularly interested in the Outdoor Tech Orcas, which are Bluetooth wireless earbuds. Boasting a battery life of 6 hours (music, streaming and talk/phone) and housed in a compact form factor, these earbuds are functional and some of the lightest wireless earbuds we’ve seen to date (they weigh less than half an ounce). These are built for the elements — being sweat-proof and water-resistant, they will hold up where other brands do not if you accidentally drop your earbuds in the water or snow.
Unpackaging and charging the Orcas wireless bluetooth earbuds was simple with the included quick start guide and USB charger. I simply plugged them into my computer and the micro USB port on the Orcas earbud. Once the Orcas were charged — full charge took about two hours — pairing them with my phone via Bluetooth was simple, as I would expect for all devices in today’s market.
The Orcas have three different “ear tip” sizes (small, medium and large), and 2 optional “ear fin” sizes to place inside your outer ear for a more secure fit. The controls for the Orcas are in one convenient location n the right earbud rubber cord, and allow you to adjust volume, take/end calls, use voice commands, and turn on/off the Orcas. They are are easy to grab on to and easy to operate. Even at its lowest setting, the volume for the Orcas is very high for me, and the sound quality is good from the low to high end ranges.
My first outing with the Orcas was a gym workout. They are very convenient, 
and I hardly noticed they were on. That first time, however, I didn’t use the ear fins, which resulted in the buds falling out of my ears sometimes when I moved my head side to side; smallest ear bud size still felt very large for my ears. Those issues aside, the sound quality was good, and I still prefer using these in the gym over my standard earbuds. At the skatepark and on the mountain, I opted to put in the ear fins, which helped keep the Orcas in my ear better, I had very few instances where they would slip out of my ears, and it was awesome to be able to keep my phone in my backpack while I skated around the park. The phone call quality was good, and taking and placing calls was easy as expected. I found the battery life on the Orcas to be great, considering the design; you’ll hardly have to charge these with 150 hours of standby time.
Summary: I like the Orcas and plan on using these wireless earbuds regularly for gym workouts and outdoors. I would recommend these wireless earbuds if you’re in the market to upgrade to a lightweight wireless alternative. If I could change anything, I would prefer smaller earbuds to fit in my ears, a nylon cord rather than a rubberized cord, and a lower level on the volume as it was still fairly loud at the lowest volume setting. Overall, for a wireless earbud they are convenient and are a great fit for my active lifestyle.
Pros:
- Good sound quality
- Lightweight
- Good battery life
- Good connectivity range
- Easy set-up
- Sweat- and water-resistant
Cons:
- Earbuds are slightly large for my ear profile
- Earbuds fell out without the ear fin sometimes
- High volume on the lowest setting
| Style: |  (4.0 / 5) |
| Comfort: |  (3.0 / 5) |
| Features: | (4.0 / 5) |
| Overall: |  (3.7 / 5) |