Brainwavz is at it again. Not too long again we reviewed the M100 earphones — which were decent earphones, to be sure, but had their issues. Now, the company has taken the wraps off of the Brainwavz B100’s, which offer a similar design as the M100, but have an around-ear design — perfect for the sportsperson looking for something to run with.
But are the Brainwavz B100’s worth the $59.50? Sure, that’s quite a bit cheaper than the $89.50 M100’s, but that doesn’t mean that you should buy them. Turns out, they’re actually not that bad.
Design
The design of the Brainwavz B100’s is extremely similar to that of the M100’s. The box is the same size, the hard case is the same color and shape, and the headphones even come with many of the same eartips.
Of course, there are a few differences, the most prominent being that these have an over-ear design, whereby the cable hooks over your ear and the earphones have a design designed to more easily fit into your ear because of it. That’s pretty nice, and we’ll go into more details as to why later on.
Like the M100’s, the Brainwavz B100’s have a kind of twisted plastic cable. At first glance you might assume that its a braided cable — it’s not, but it’s still pretty nice. The detail of the cable gives it a more premium feel even if its not technically much stronger than any other cable. Still, like the M100’s, the cable on the B100’s seems to help prevent tangling, which is very nice.
Unlike other Brainwavz headphones, you won’t get in-line controls with the B100’s. That’s a bit of a bummer, especially considering the fact that these will be ideal for runners or other sportspeople.
Brainwavz has always been pretty generous with the accessories you’ll get. With the B100’s, you get a nice hard carry case to help keep the headphones safe in your bag or pocket, along with a clip and a huge range of eartips. That includes a hefty six gel tips, and a pair of Comply memory foam tips, which is a very nice addition, and helps keep the earbuds safely in your ear.
Comfort
Of course, thanks to the over-ear design you may not need to use the Comply tips unless you want to — the earphones easily stay inside your ear, and quite comfortably too.
Like any earbud-style earphones, you’re going to experience some slight discomfort after long periods of time, but we have to say that these are definitely on the more comfortable side of things. Even then, you’ll want to experiment with the different eartips, just because it’s nice to be able to find the pair that fits you perfectly. Ironically enough, the eartips that came pre-installed on the earphones fit our ears the best.
Sound
So the headphones look pretty nice and are decently comfortable, but how do these closed-back earphones sound? We were actually pleasantly surprised. That’s because they seem to sound better than the more expensive M100’s. Before we dive into the, keep in mind that whether or not you use the Comply tips has a pretty big impact on how the earphones sound.
The bass on the Brainwavz B100’s is pretty pronounced, but if you’re into heavy bass we would strongly recommend using the Comply tips, which help offer a lot more bass pronunciation. The hip-hop fans among us should be plenty happy with the bass on offer with the B100’s, however that doesn’t mean there’s too much bass for every other style of music. AC/DC’s Back in Black sounded quite good with the level of bass that the B100’s had to offer, while even Bach’s Violin Concerto No. 1 had plenty on offer.
The mids on the B100’s are a bit tricky, like other Brainwavz plugins we’ve tried. The low mids seem to be pretty well tuned, but the upper mids are a little pronounced on some songs, giving that radio vibe in some situations.
Like other headphones in this price range, the high-end is where these headphones really seemed to suffer. With that said, the high-end on the B100’s isn’t bad at all — but they could use some more. Because of a slight dip in the high end, things like guitar and vocals seem to sound a little dull on the B100’s.
Conclusions
For the price, the Brainwavz B100’s are actually quite nice earphones. They look pretty sleek, they’re quite comfortable, and for the price they sound quite good. Sure, they have their issues, like every other pair of headphones, but especially for the price we really like these.
If you’re interested in getting the Brainwavz B100 earphones for yourself, check out the links below.
| Store | Price |
|---|---|
 |
$59.50 |
| Brainwavz | $59.50 |
| Frequency response | 15Hz – 22kHz | Active noise cancellation |
No |
| Driver size | Unknown | Noise attenuation | No |
| Driver type |
Balanced Armature | In-line controls | No |
| Design |
Closed | Microphone | No |
| Sensitivity | 110dB at 1mW | Earpad material | Gel, Comply |
| Rated impedance |
50Ω | Magnet material | Unknown |
| Total harmonic distortion |
Unknown | Water resistance | No |
| Rated input power |
Unknown | Battery life | N/A |
| Maximum input power |
Unknown | Wireless distance | N/A |
| Wireless connection |
No | Cable length | 1.3m |
| Wired connection |
3.5mm | Case type | Hard case |
| Detachable cable |
No | In-the-box | Hard case, six pairs of gel tips, one pair of Comply tips, clip |
| Weight | Unknown | Colors | Black |