With safety features for outdoor enthusiasts, remoldable custom fit, and no dangling wires, the Decibullz Black Diamond earphones claim to be an industry first that almost anyone can afford.
Hearing-protection brand Decibullz claims it has the only custom-molded, truly wireless earphones on the market — for under $200.
If you’re into shooting sports, you might know Decibullz for its custom-molded earplugs. But the Colorado-based brand also makes moldable wired and wireless headphones.
And now, the brand pushes custom fit at a pocket-friendly price one step further with the Black Diamond DIY remoldable wireless earphones. The product launches via Kickstarter today.
With it, Decibullz aims to have the only custom-moldable, truly wireless earphone that virtually anyone can afford.
Decibullz Black Diamond Tested on the Toughest
Decibullz’s CEO Kyle Kirkpatrick, a former gymnastics coach and tinkerer, spent some serious R&D on this device. That said, the idea for wireless earphones that stay put and sound good came while he was just bouncing around.
“I made these so I could jump up on the trampoline while listening to Outkast,” he told me.
The professed tech geek tested the Black Diamond prototype on hardcore athletes, including pro gymnasts who wore them while bouncing, twisting upside down, and sprinting toward the vault. He claims they won’t fall out. And this video appears to prove the Black Diamond’s mettle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUiKO081oy0
Custom molding keeps the Black Diamond earphones super secure. I tried the hot-water molding process with Kirkpatrick to see — well, feel — how it works. One boiling pot of water and two warm pieces of plastic oozing to my ear later, I experienced the snug fit firsthand.
I also saw just how ugly the human ear is. They’re all wildly different shapes, and ears even change over time; the organ fluctuates with humidity and weight changes. That’s why nonmoldable earphone products rarely work well, Kirkpatrick told me.
Fit Features and Sound Quality in the Decibullz Earphones
The Black Diamond is meant to overcome every issue in the wireless earphone industry, namely poor fit and sound quality. You can custom mold the earphones and remold them any time you need to change the fit. Just reboil them.
The Back Diamond also circumvents the drawback of a super-snug fit: not being able to hear anything outside your favorite tunes. That can be dangerous when athletes listen to music while working out, especially outdoors. You might not hear a car approaching, a biker passing, or an elk bugling.
To make the experience safer, Decibullz put something called “digital awareness” in the Black Diamond. Basically, with the press of a button on the earpiece, you can hear the world all of a sudden. And everyone sounds like a robot — including you.
It’s weird, but it works. For example, I could imagine using this feature to hear friends when waiting in a lift line, but turning it off to keep my music crisp while ripping through some pow.
In addition to remold-ability and some on-demand ambient sound, the Decibullz Black Diamond earphones charge right in a mini box, providing about 24 hours of juice before they need a wired recharge.
More Pros and a Couple Cons
Like most Bluetooth earphones, the Black Diamond pairs instantly with smartphones and has standard calling and voice assistant compatibility. And the core controls are also pretty straightforward — quick clicks on the earphones for on/off, volume, call answering, and digital awareness activation.
Additionally, with an IPX7 waterproof designation, like the Apple Watch, you can immerse the Decibullz Black Diamond earphones up to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes.
But there are a couple of issues to think about before you buy. The same material that makes the Black Diamond earphones mold so well also allows them to melt. So don’t leave these in a burning-hot car.
Also, while they’re designed to stay in your ears at all costs, no one can guarantee that a massive MTB endo in the woods won’t lead to a lost earphone — or two. That’s some field testing we haven’t tried.
Decibullz Earphones: The Lowdown
For people who like training with music, the Decibullz Black Diamond earphones are a piece of gear worth considering. There are few, if any, truly wireless, custom-fit options out there that can compete on price.
With its Kickstarter launching today, you can preorder some Decibullz Black Diamond earphones for $99. The first 500 pairs go for $99, and they’re $109 after that. The earphones will retail in May 2019 for $180.
