There are some things that naturally go together, like peanut butter and chocolate or politics and hurt feelings. Caseco believes that Bluetooth and beanies also go together on that same level. It makes sense to me, but we’ll take a closer look in the review.
Caseco Blu-Toque Dual Layered Bluetooth Beanie overview
Caseco’s beanies come in a variety of styles and colors, so it’s not hard to find one that suits your taste. Of course, the feature that sets them apart from other beanie makers is that they have a Bluetooth headset built into the beanie.
The beanie has a dual-layered design with an inside zipper that allows for easy access to and removal of the Bluetooth headset. This is important because at some time you’re going to need to wash it.
The headset itself features a three multipurpose button system. The volume buttons double as track changers and the power button does triple duty as the power button, pause button, and the call answer/hang-up button.
Caseco Blu-Toque Dual Layered Bluetooth Beanie setup
Like many Bluetooth headsets, the Blu-Toque Bluetooth Beanie is fairly easy to pair. Once the headset is turned on you press and hold the power button for 5 seconds to enter pairing mode. You can then search for Bluetooth devices from your phone. Once it’s found, all you need to do is tap on the device and your phone will do the rest.
Caseco Blu-Toque Dual Layered Bluetooth Beanie usage
So what I mainly used the beanie for was to keep my ears warm during my morning bike ride. The Bluetooth speakers were a bonus for me. I was initially worried about using them while on a bike ride because I didn’t want to block myself off from the sounds of the traffic. The knit design of the beanie proved to be very helpful in allowing in ambient noise. I found that it was a worthy option for listening to music during my morning ride.
The sound quality was good, but not great. Why not great? That would be because there is no sound isolation, but I don’t believe that is what you’re looking for when purchasing a Bluetooth beanie. If you’re purchasing a beanie in general, then you will most likely be using it outside. If you’re going to be using it outside, then you are most likely going to be involved in some sort of activity, and being able to hear some ambient noise could be as important to you as it is to me when I ride my bike.
The build quality is pretty good, but there are some things that are less than perfect. For example, the headphone pieces sit in small pockets on the inside of the beanie. This allows for a little movement, which isn’t bad because the beanie is designed with these tolerances in mind. However, it can be a little bit of a pain when you want to plug in your charger because the access hole on the outside of the headphone pocket shifts around. You won’t have to charge this very often, but it’s a little bit of pain finding the charging port when you do. Having said that, I’m not sure how else they could have designed it without including a wireless charging option. This would no doubt drive the price upward, so I’m fine with it the way it is.
My one complaint about the headphones is that there is no way to initiate your phone’s voice dialing features. You can answer an incoming call, but you can’t initiate one. While commuting this can be a little annoying, especially if you’re used to using Google Now voice commands to control your device while you ride.
3.93 out of 5 stars
Overall this is a great device to keep your ears warm and your tunes going. I would recommend it to anyone that is active outdoors when it’s cold.
