Jason Drinks a Lot of Coffee and Reviews Curious Gadgets: The Bluetooth Beanie
When I first heard about the Bluetooth beanie, a winter hat with built-in wireless headphones, I thought: “Well, here’s a stupid product.”
This is not a new or unique thought for me. I see plenty of stupid products. Why would you put Bluetooth in a beanie? Why would you want your bag of dog food to be WiFi-enabled? In what scenario would you need a mechanical pencil that runs Android?
That kind of thing.
After using the Bluetooth beanie for a little over two months, however, I am here to say that I was wrong: The Bluetooth beanie is not a stupid idea. On the contrary, it’s pretty clever. Why wear two things on your head when you could wear one thing on your head? I’m a true believer in the concept.
In the future, all of our beanies will double as headphones, or all of our headphones will double as head-warmers. We will regard beanies made simply of cloth as we do the Nokia brick phones of the late 90s: “Look at that stupid hat, ma! I bet it plays Snake!”
The Bluetooth beanie I tested is made by a New York-based company called 1Voice and costs $59. It turns out that 1Voice’s Bluetooth beanie is not even the only Bluetooth-enabled beanie you can purchase. A company called BE Headwear, for example, specializes in Bluetooth hats and beanies. An audio startup called Bluefingers (Slogan: “Wear the sound you love”) produces a line of Bluetooth beanies, too. Even the French tech giant Archos makes a Bluetooth beanie.
If you want a Bluetooth beanie, in other words, you’ve got options. The Bluetooth Beanie Revolution nears; all non-Bluetooth beanies will be converted posthaste.
1Voice’s Bluetooth beanie comes in four colors: black, charcoal, gray, or black with a white stripe. All of the beanies look like –– well, winter beanies, with one noticeable difference: a chunky dark disc on the back of the beanie. This serves as the music controls and the beanie’s battery and charging port; it contains little flashing LED lights, and it cannot be hidden.
If you are committed to wearing this Bluetooth beanie, you will have to live with people occasionally staring at the blinking black disc above your neck. It’s quite clunky, and looks like one of those security beacons on clothes at department stores. (I had two people ask whether I had stolen the Bluetooth beanie.) This disc can also get a little warm, which, in the wintertime, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Still, a little disconcerting.
The Bluetooth beanie is very easy to operate. Push the beanie’s sole button to connect it to your phone’s Bluetooth. Play music on your smartphone, and you hear it, amplified through these two little plastic discs that align with your earholes.
The sound is actually pretty impressive. It’s clear, and it can get loud, too. I was also able to make several phone calls through my beanie, and no one I talked to said I sounded strange or distant or like I was talking through my hat. Also, noise doesn’t leak out from the Bluetooth beanie, like it does on Apple’s earbuds or Beats headphones, so people won’t even know you’re listening to music. You’ll just look like a hip guy or gal wearin’ a beanie.
Really, though, you’re wearing a beanie AND also listening to Fugazi. What a world!
I understand how silly this all sounds, but I’m telling you: It works, and it makes sense.
1Voice’s Bluetooth beanie has some major shortcomings, I admit. It’s a fashion nightmare, for one thing, because of that weird blinky flickering knob. That knob also much heavier than the rest of the beanie, so it drags down the material in the back and constantly makes you aware that you must look like a total weirdo in your illuminated space hat.
I hope the makers of the Bluetooth beanie figure out a way to hide the knob in Version 2.0.
I will also say that the functionality of the beanie’s controls are a bit of a let-down. The Bluetooth beanie has but one button. Hold it down to power on, hold it down to power off. You can also tap it to pause and play the song.
Unlike other headphones, however, there is no way to skip tracks, and no way to activate voice control on your phone. Also, for $60, you are paying more for the headphones than for a quality beanie; the elastic on the Bluetooth beanie is fairly weak, and it’s not nearly as warm as competing, cheaper beanies, that do not have headphones.
Otherwise, I was fairly pleased with the Bluetooth beanie, if only for its concept. As for the price: $59 may sound like a lot, but you’re getting a beanie AND a pair of decent wireless headphones. If the beanie were more attractive, and the controls a little more sophisticated, I would consider shelling out for one.
If you look good in a beanie, and also enjoy listening to music while it is cold outside, that’s not a bad investment.
Do I want a Bluetooth beanie? Hell yes I do. If Apple made an iBeanie, I’d buy it. If Skullcandy gets into the beanie business, count me in. But for now, with this first Bluetooth beanie, I’m just not quite on board.
I will, however, be there for Version 2.0. Of the beanie. Yes, there will be a Version 2.0 of a beanie. Oh brave new world, with such beanies in it!
