Plantronics BackBeat GO 2 Bluetooth Wireless Earbuds Review
The BackBeat Go 2 Charging Case and Conclusion
Plantronics knows that 4.5 hours of listening time isn’t long enough for many, so they came up with a carrying case that has a built in battery charger. This charging case adds 10 hours of listening time, so you know have a total listening time of 14.5 hours. The theory behind this case is that most people won’t be using the BackBeat GO 2 earbuds for 4 hours straight, so why not give people a place to safely store and recharge their headset? It sounds like a great idea to us and the case is rather compact and easily fits inside a backpack or purse. The case itself is made from ballistic nylon, which is a tough material that is often used on higher-end luggage and travel cases in the airline industry.
Here is a quick shot of the Plantroics BackBeat GO 2 plugged into the charging case and having the battery topped off. Notice the LED light on the side of the earbud is glowing red, which gives you a visual indication that the battery is being charged. The battery charges rather quickly as well, just a 20 minute recharge will give you another hour of listening time! You can charge both at the same time as there is support for pass-through charging to both the case and earbuds.
On the bottom of the charging case there is a micro-USB port that is needed to recharge the battery inside the case along with indicator lights showing you how much power is left.
Final Thoughts and Conclusions:
The Plantronics BackBeat GO 2 wireless earbuds were found to be an excellent Bluetooth device and we love the mobility they give you. In this day and age you want to have wireless freedom and the BackBeat GO 2 does just that. Being able to walk up to 33 feet away from the device that you are connected to is nice if you’ve never been able to before. They look a little bulky, but springily stay in your ear rather well. Whether you are at work, home, gym or on the road, the BackBeat GO 2 wireless earbuds are up for the task and deliver solid quality audio. Not too many products are this versatile and it is tough to try to do it all. The Plantronics BackBeat Go 2’s are a big step up from entry level earbuds and pretty much do it all. We also like the fact that this is the second generation product for the BackBeat Go product line, so all the initial bugs and issues have been worked out.
The biggest con that many will have this this set of earbuds will most certainly be the battery life. Five hours of talk time and 4.5 hours of stereo listening time is a pretty good chunk of time, but some might want more. The good news is that a 20 minute quick charge gives you an additional hour of listening time and a full recharge takes just 2.5 hours. If you think you’ll be using them for more than 4 hours a day then it’s a good idea to look the battery case or another way to keep them charged. Most people won’t use them for 4+ hours straight as most people get ear fatigue with ear buds after just a couple hours. The Plantronics BackBeat Go 2’s are comfortable, but we’ve never run across a pair of earbuds that we didn’t feel good to take out after 3+ hours of use.
When it comes to pricing the BackBeat GO 2’s run $69.99 shipped w/o the charging case or $89.99 shipped with the charging case. The charging case is something that we were sure about when we first started using the earbuds, but we learned to love it as the battery charger keeps you up and running for all day use. If you travel or think you’ll be using the Bluetooth earbuds all day, the extra $20 up-sell is well worth it. Both versions come backed by a 1-year warranty.
Legit Bottom Line: The Plantronics BackBeat GO 2 wireless earbuds give you everything that you want in a bluetooth headset with respectable battery life!