Plantronics BackBeat Fit 6100 Bluetooth Sports Headset, On-Ear, IPX5 with Memory Foam Headband and Earcushion, Black

Product Information

They have just about everything you will ever need except noise-canceling. But to be honest, that isn’t a big issue with over-ear phones. The natural position acts as noise-isolating, and that may well be enough. The passive cancellation is impressive. Add to this the Awareness mode, and you have a near-perfect setup.

Plantronics BackBeat Fit 6100 Review | PCMag

So, as you can see, it’s almost all about stuff that’s important to the active person. Did you know that Plantronics headsets were used by NASA on the lunar missions? Plantronics estimates battery life to be roughly 24 hours, but your results will vary based on your volume levels. PerformanceNo matter what we use, our headphones for the sound they give us is important. And some phones are set up to suit the environment they are designed for. These deliver on a number of fronts but rather surprisingly in one particular area, as we will go into soon. These things are also sturdy af. You can twist the band round any which way and they’ll survive, so you also shouldn’t worry about throwing them into a gym bag with your other gear. Plantronics has also kept them compact (well, by over-ear standards at least) meaning they a) fold up nicely, and b) are unlikely to get in the way even if you’re lifting weights overhead or throwing your arms up during a HIIT session. If you are looking for fancy designs and stunning aesthetics, you’d better look elsewhere. They look quite ordinary and actually quite bulky. However, there is something very reassuring and mature about understated designs. When you get some kind of outrageous design, it usually sends the wrong message.

Geek Review: Plantronics BackBeat FIT 6100 Wireless Sport Geek Review: Plantronics BackBeat FIT 6100 Wireless Sport

AfterShokz Aeropex: Perhaps you don’t want the clunkiness of headphones. In that case, we recommend the AfterShokz Aeropex, a set of bone-conduction headphones that keeps you aware of your surroundings by leaving your ear canals wide open.

Most people should get the Plantronics BackBeat FIT 6100

Headphones for the gym are quite an exclusive market, and these create a new style within that market. They have adjustments that you can make to match the level of your workout. And they also have very impressive water-resistant features. But the styling makes these more than just headphones for the gym. These could be used anywhere. Even on the commute and they wouldn’t look out of place. The ear cups have pillow-soft memory padding and good materials that encircles the ear. In normal mode, they do not clamp too tight and are very easy to wear, the headband is flexible and moves with you even though it is a rugged build. If you were wearing them for hours on end, you might begin to feel some overheat and general fatigue. If there is one thing that you definitely need from headphones for the gym, it is that they are tough. These are that and more and with the option of changing the clamping tightness a good choice. But it is also a plus if they can be versatile. They have an interesting extra built-in they call ‘Awareness mode’. These are over-ear headphones and also have a very snug fit. They will, therefore, exclude nearly all ambient noise. They are not, do they try to pretend to be, Noise Canceling, it is just a natural extension of their design. If you’re going to be working out, chances are you’re going to be sweating; as we all know, water and electronics don’t mix. The best workout headphones feature some kind of water-resistant certification, denoted by an IP rating. How much does battery life matter?

Plantronics BackBeat FIT 6100 Wireless Bluetooth Headphones

What mars the 6100’s performance compared to some of the more distinguished competition out there, however, is its generally low volume. Even at max volume, the sound that comes out of it isn’t anything ear-splitting. However, there seems to be a considerable amount of sound leakage when you put it on, so you might want to exercise some caution when blasting music from it in public. They have been given an IPX5 rating, which means they are certainly sweatproof and can handle moisture. They will also be ok in a rain shower unless it is a deluge. We don’t recommend them for the pool. The headband features an interesting extra we haven't seen before—there's an elastic band that can be pulled to tighten the headband a bit—it fastens onto a latch to maintain tension.

How do you connect the Plantronics BackBeat FIT 6100?

The sound is very good, but it goes up a level when you apply the extra tight-fitting option. The sound then reaches its high point whist also improving the passive noise isolation even more. There is an App that comes with the phones where the sound and Awareness mode can be adjusted to tailor it exactly to what you want. JLab Flex Sport: With a 20-hour battery life and sweat-resistant build, this headset is made for you to take to the gym. The operating controls are located on the outside of the earcups as per usual. They are quite easy to operate. As an example, to increase or decrease the volume is just a swipe up or down. The 6100 seems to alleviate that issue with this cord. When secured, will exert resistance and tighten the headphones around your head when you start moving. It’s a simple but effective mechanic, though concerns may be raised about how long this thin band will last before it wears off and snaps after all that tightening.

Plantronics BackBeat Fit 6100 Review - Tech Advisor

The mic offers mediocre intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 8, we could understand every word we recorded, but there were two issues. First, the typical Bluetooth fuzz distorts the mic a bit. More importantly, the mic signal is about as low as it gets—this may be the faintest signal we've heard on Bluetooth headphones. Conclusions But isolation aside, what’s arguably more important is how well the headphones fit. Who cares how good they sound if they keep falling off your head? You’ll want a pair of headphones that find a nice balance between clamping force and comfort, so they won’t fall off during a workout and they also won’t hurt your ears while you wear them. What is an IP rating? But not for the workout, the run, or even for the commute to work. For those activities, they are comfortable and easy to wear. At 0.53 of a pound, they are also quite lightweight, which is very surprising considering that they are a large set of phones. The SoundThese are designed for exercise people. But there is no reason why they could not be used for the commute to work or other leisure activities. They score a lot of points on their build quality and the design included. The Water-Resistance The ear cups are quite large as they are an over-ear design and are quite solid in their build quality. They are a plain design with only the small PLT logo on view apart from a couple of control buttons. And they don’t look particularly sporty and resemble many other brands. They especially have the top of the range Sony look. There aren’t many audio manufacturers that can say that. Today they have changed their name from Plantronics to Poly, but that is a recent transition. For the moment, most people still recognize them as Plantronics. For the purposes of this review, so shall we. An Overview Headphones designed for the gym are relatively common, and there are quite a few to choose from. However, over-ear headphones for the gym are rather unusual. Especially as the design is quite chunky. They are not the only ones, but they do offer a quality that some others don’t match. This, of course, is a good thing in many situations, but it can also be a negative if you need to be aware of what is going on around you. You might want a little chat on your run or in the gym. Awareness allows you to decide how much external noise to allow in.