MPOW Flame 2018 Limited Edition IPX7 Bluetooth Earbuds – A Holiday Delight

This season the folks at MPOW have released a limited edition of their popular Flame Bluetooth Earbuds just in time for Christmas: The  MPOW Flame 2018 Limited Edition IPX7 Stereo Earbuds are presented in a lively box which would look great under any Christmas tree. Let’s take a closer look and a listen:

Christmas Present

Every detail of the MPOW Flame Limited Edition Stereo Earbuds says “Happy Holidays.” The box itself is holiday themed with a black/red color scheme and even includes a “best wishes for the year” type greeting card inside. The MPOW FLame earbuds are bright red as are all the silicone eartips in extra small,  small, medium, and large. MPOW included a set of memory foam eartips in black and a red cable tender along with the ubiquitous Micro USB charging cable. There is a carrying pouch in black for your Flame earbuds and any spare eartips.  Lastly, MPOW included a multi language instruction pamphlet which is very clearly illustrated and easy to understand. Here you can find the detailed functions of your new MPOW Flame Earbuds.  The MPOW Flame 2018 limited edition earbuds are rated as IPX7 waterproof which means you can use them in the pool, in the shower and snorkelling, too. As I’ve mentioned in the past: the IPX7 waterproof rating means you can have the devices submerged in 3 ft of water for 30 minutes without harm to the product. I’ve of course tested these in the shower and hot tub. Unfortunately the company pool is closed this time of year or I’d have treated you do another great water test video. The MPOW Flame earbuds take about 1.5 hours to charge, have a play time from 7-9 hours and can last up to 220 hours on standby before charging. The units use voice prompts to clue you into functionality so pay attention. The voice is clear and says things like “Power on” “Power off” and “Your headset is connected.” I took these into the listening room where I enjoyed Classic Rock, Hip Hop, Classical, some Christmas Metal, a lot of Christmas music, and more without a great amount of distortion. The MPOW Flame earbuds can get very loud when volume is high on the earbuds and your source device depending on the apps being used so always be aware of the volume when listening to any in ear device. The sound from the MPOW earbuds can be a bit harsh in the upper midrange at louder volumes but the bass is clearly present and not overpowering. Like most wire connected Bluetooth earbuds the stereo imaging was as expected but not exceptional.

Here Comes MPOW Claus

As soon as I got the MPOW Flame 2018 Limited Edition Earbuds out of the box, I stuck them on a Micro USB charger and took a look at the Instructions. The device has ergonomically designed earpieces with soft silicone over the ear hooks The USB port has a silicone cover which keeps the unit waterproof at the IPX7 level. Don’t forget to carefully replace the cover when done charging. While charging there is a red LED visible on the right earpiece. When charging is complete that LED will be blue. When you are connected to your bluetooth device, the LED will blink Blue about every ten to fifteen seconds. Blink. Blink. Blink.  All of the controls are on the right earpiece. Blink. Those controls consist of a Multi function button and two volume/track buttons. Let’s talk about function: The MFB is your power on/off button. Hold it until you hear the voice prompt when turning on or off or to pair with a source device such as a tablet or smartphone. When pairing look for the MPOW FLAME in your bluetooth list and connect. The MFB button is the main control when you are connected to your smartphone. It’s used to answer, hang up, or reject while in phone mode. In music mode the MFB is used to play/pause your music whether from files in a media player, or when using apps such as I Heart, Amazon Prime Music, or Google Play Music.   The Volume/Music control buttons function in this manner: Quick clicks on the buttons will raise volume with the rear button or lower volume on the front button. Longer clicks  of 1-2 seconds will allow you to change tracks with back button moving to next track and front button playing last track. While “Next track” will play the next track,it seems “previous track” will only go to the beginning of the song you are presently playing. The MPOW Flame 2018 holiday earbuds will sound a tone when you have reached maximum volume as a warning. The same tone will sound when you reach minimum volume. The earbuds came mostly charged out of the box and only required about 15 minutes to bring the device to a full charge. When I put them in my ears, I found the Medium size eartips fit my ears great. Remember to always use the proper size tips for maximum comfort while realizing the quality of sound reproduction also depends on a good fit in your ear canals.

No Phoney 

I put the MPOW Flame Bluetooth Earbuds through the usual phone tests: The phone calls were made with Android and iOS devices with no issues whatsoever. I could make phone calls using my smartphone, answer or reject phone calls or redial the last number using the MFB. The voices were clear in both ears and the business calls I made or took over the last couple of days had no complaints of “you sound like you are in a box” or worse and demonstrated complete functionality as described in the manual. When receiving a phone call the voice prompt will recite the phone number in entirety which is very convenient.  I did notice that the Bluetooth range was average and not amazing. I would occasionally get drop out at less than 30 ft in the office environment.I used the MPOW Flame 2018 earbuds while watching videos on various devices. I noticed that the play/pause functions  and volume functions work. Using my Amazon Prime app on my Kindle Fire HD the Next/previous track feature would skip ahead or back ten seconds. When watching Hulu or other video apps on my iPad I could only adjust volume on the iPad, or play/pause video. Just play with your device and apps, there doesn’t seem to be any pattern.  My one major complaint would be the constantly blinking Blue LED. It reflects into my eye from my glasses and is totally distracting. 

Final Thoughts

The MPOW Flame 2018 Limited Edition IPX7 Bluetooth Earbuds should be stuffed into a lot of stockings this year: The price is great, the color is great, they are IPX7 waterproof, and they reproduce some pretty decent full range sound. I put them on the test bench and the low-end was present down to about 40 Hz and after that it was pretty soft but most people would be quite happy with the sound quality. The bright-colored and easy to operate MPOW Earbuds had the ability to make, take or reject phone calls on one’s smartphone and had a natural sound while doing so. The battery charges quickly and play time was at minimum 6 hours before recharging.  Our office manager took a listen then “borrowed”  them from me for about an hour during which she sat working at her desk singing loudly and out of key the entire time with a great big smile on her face.  These MPOW Flame Holiday earbuds are a perfect gift for your favorite bicyclist, runner, or cross training buddy or just about anyone and you don’t even have to buy a card. 8.5 out of 10. Blink.

*Average price is based on the time this article was published

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Specifications:

• Bluetooth Standard: V4.1
• Operating Range: 10m (33ft)
• Standby Time: 220 hrs
• Charging Time: 1.5hrs
• Talk /Playing Time: 7-9 hrs
• Charging Voltage: DC 5V
• Battery Capacity: 100mAh/3.7V

• Package Contents:
• Mpow Earphone x 1
• Regular Ear Tips(XS,S, M, L) x 4 Pairs ?Memory Foam Ear Tips x 1 Pair  ?Cord clip x 1 ?EVA Carrying Case x 1 ?Charging Cable x 1

Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.

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