Bluetooth wireless headphones are the idiomatic dime a dozen these days. Thanks to the latest Bluetooth technology found in our smartphones, tablets, and related devices, most of them even sound pretty good. So what is one key attribute that distinguishes one Bluetooth headset from another? Form factor.

The FKANT Gemini Bluetooth Earbuds are completely wireless, to the point where they don’t even have a connecting wire between the two earpieces. This is the next big design trend in wireless earbuds, and the Geminis do a good job of minimizing the bulk in their design versus some other brands of this type I’ve tried.

This design acumen extends to how these fit. Using the default size of rubber ear-caps (two other sizes are included), each earpiece fit snugly in each of my relatively small ear canals and didn’t fall out. Although these aren’t noise isolating, the snug fit actual went a long way to achieving that effect, which was particularly handy at the gym where I’ve been torture testing these. Even under the most intense gym activities, I’ve rarely had to adjust these earpieces once I placed them in my ears at the beginning of my workouts. It goes without saying that they were quite comfortable as well; it’s certainly liberating not having the usual wire behind my head found on typical Bluetooth sport headsets.

Setup is as straightforward as any other Bluetooth headset. Charge them and then pair with your device of choice. You then stick each earpiece in your ear (R and L are helpfully marked on the exterior) and power on each side. A helpful voice indicates when each side is successfully paired and in sync.

In terms of sync, on my Apple iPhone 6 Plus, I would occasionally lose sync between the two earpieces and sound would only come out of one earpiece. This usually rectified itself a few seconds later and again, only rarely happened.

As for the sound, it’s a bit hollow and thin sounding, but does better with music than it does with talk-heavy podcasts (which is generally what I listen to with these). It’s also a bit bass heavy for my tastes, although others may not think it’s quite enough based on some of the bass heavy headphones I’ve listened to. Of course, you may not want to take my advice on bass, as, particularly in my advanced 44-year-old state, I’m just not a fan in the way those darn kids today seem to be (picture me shaking my fist at the screen for effect). Phone calls sounded just fine, with no complaints on the other end of the call either.

For the price, these are really a great deal. They’re roughly half the cost of similar headsets, with the only real budgetary consideration I can find being in how it charges. A lot of these types of headsets have charger storage cases that the earbuds snap into. Instead, these come with a Y micro-USB cable.

Although the three hours plus of music time these earbuds provide after a full charge is competitive, the fact that you can’t charge them further from a charger storage case means that you will be charging these more frequently than some of the more expensive models. With that said, this design certainly makes carrying these around in their case a more compact affair, which is certainly one plus.

Pluses:

• Truly wireless
• Comfortable fit
• Snug in-ear with good natural noise isolation
• Good price and overall value
• Compact design that carries over to the storage case

 

Minuses:

• Somewhat thin sound that works better for music than talk-heavy audio like podcasts
• No charger storage case

 

Thanks to FKANT for the review unit.