Giro Audio Systems by Outdoor Tech: Wired Chips Helmet Audio System
Easily add audio to your helmet with the Giro Wired Chips Helmet Audio drop-in system. Works with a universal fit with almost any helmet that has an audio-ready liner.
- Connectivity Technology: Wired
- Oversized, two-button interface controls volume, track, play/pause, and telephone calls
- 40 mm drivers for outstanding sound and ear-crushing volume
- No battery means no charging and no worrying about going silent
- Sweat-resistant and designed for use in extreme cold (-20 Degree C/-4 Degree F)
- Connector type: 3.5mm Jack
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![The Outdoor Tech Chips 2.0 Wireless Audio System [Review]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g6g_tni55Y0/mqdefault.jpg)
Newegg.com
Micah Wedemeyer –
My only complaint is that they’re not loud enough. I was kind of hoping for ear-splitting heavy-bass power, but even with all the volume controls all the way up it’s still just “pleasant”, if that makes any sense. I’m used to in-ear earbuds (cheap ones, not the pricey stuff) that make me wince at the highest volume. With these Chips, I can hear the music clearly, but the bass is tinny and everything just seems muted.Of course, it’s playing through the cloth of the helmet earpiece, plus then through the cloth of my facemask. It’s a lot to ask for the kind of power I want, but I just want anyone else buying these to be aware that you’re not getting a powerhouse.Honestly, I’d stick with my in-ear earbuds if they didn’t hurt so much under the helmet.
Charlie Estrada –
Smith/Outdoor Tech just changed the game in helmet headphones. I love to listen to my music while riding down the mountain and before purchasing these I first gave another brand a chance, no names but they have a skull in the brand. Those died after half a season and before that the sound just came out like blown speakers. Enough about those, ok Pros: (1) Sound- if I just said they were “loud” that wouldn’t fit the product right, they have a nice crisp sound that is perfect for what you pay for and when you do turn it up the sound stays clean and clear. They are loud if thats all you are looking for but I never turned them up all the way just because I never had to because they were loud enough without hitting the max. (2) Button on the Ear- Its a great feeling when you need to shut off the music in a hurry and you don’t have to unzip your jacket and find the button on the line. (3) Great Custom Service- I asked a question on the page and within hours I had a reply (regarding the warranty) and knew that this was worth a shot. Now time for my one con…Con: I wish that this product was water resistant- I was reading through the instructions and seen that the product can be damaged by water, now being a snowboarder and loving to hit the powder in Colorado I know that while hitting turns I always kick snow up at myself and worried that sooner or later they might break down on me. OK, so overall these are great headphones, so far if I had the chance I would of wished I bought these first, Great quality, Great Sound, Good Material and great Warranty. If you have any questions let me know hope this helps and have fun out there
Wynter H. –
I’d give these zero stars (if that were possible). I never got to use these on the mountain. These were delivered today! I tested with my iphone before inserting in to my Smith helmet. The chips worked for all of three minutes and inexplicably the buttons ceased working (pause and skip functions stopped working). The wire and hand piece looked and felt cheap and I wasn’t entirely surprised that this thing crapped out in three minutes. Very dissapointing.
D.G. –
Horrible… seriously at the 50$ range I thought these would be semi decent. A weeks use the right ear died, the controller stopped working. After removing out of the helmet it started to work again. I’m assuming the wiring is so slim inside that any bend or flex causes the issues. Skiing/boarding is an active sport.. maybe they should have thought that one through a bit more when designing?
s.berry –
Overall good headphones for a helmet. It is sometimes difficult to press the in-ear button through the ear cushion with gloves on, but it gets the job done and sounds nice.The part that worries me long term is that the audio jack which plugs into the speakers is rather long and needed to be shoved into the ear cushion. I am afraid it will break at some point. I would have rather it been L shaped instead.UPDATE 2/2018As I suspected, the cord did “break” and now frequently cuts out. Despite initially emailing the company 4 days after purchase to bring up this potential issue and them reassuring that they would take care of it if something happened, they are now standing ground with the fact that it has been 15 months from purchase and there is only a 1 year warranty. This is technically correct, but still bad customer service in my opinion considering i would have just returned them immediately if it wasn’t for their reassurance, and even though it has been 15 months, they have only been used 6-7 times. Save your money.
Karim –
huge disappointment here, I matched those with a smith aspect helmet and I thought that the boast of 40 mm drivers were going to deliver.Pros- packaging and presentation is great- headphones have a nice premium feel- easy to set up and installCons:- volume was super low even by maxing phone and built in line control- the moment you want them to become loud there’s a horrible tinny sound- can barely hear others when receiving phone callsVery very disappointed as it did not serve it’s initial purpose and I had to go seek other alternatives.I’ll be returning those
Josh –
First off, I’ll say when it is working, it is fantastic — good sound, easy to use, no complaints of its performance in that regard. My only issue is that it would seemingly stop responding to input at complete random. I would press to start the song (both on the earset button and on the handset) it wouldn’t turn on, then, it would just start half an hour later and starts responding again. I tried multiple things to see if there was a rhyme or reason as to what was causing it to act up (loose connection, app not responding, pressure on a button, etc.) but I could never find a correlation.I am using a helmet that is made for 3rd party speakers to be used in this way. I’ll give them another later and hope for the best, otherwise, I’d say I’m a little disappointed in the reliability, if I can figure that problem out, then these would be closer to 5 stars. They pump great sound out.
Catherine M. Sunderman –
I honestly cant imagine skiing solo without these. They sound really good, are pretty simple to use and you dont notice they are there when you dont want to use them. The cord gets a little annoying sometimes but you knew that going into it and it is a good length. I haven’t had a problem with it. The ability to change songs by tapping the control on your helmet rather than pulling out your phone or fumbling with the inline mic is what really sets it apart. Its nice to puase your music quickly if you need to converse with someone
Jacqueline Beccari –
I bought the wired version because many of the wireless reviews stated poor connectivity (and for a difference in price of $100, I thought I’d give the $37 version a try). I used them while skiing in -15 degree temps for three days straight and had NO ISSUES with sound or connection. It is slightly inconvenient to have to feed the wire through my ski jacket every time I take my helmet off, but literally takes about 30 seconds to do. It would be a better design if there were a connection closer to the helmet, without having to take the speaker out of the helmet. But really, not a big deal at all IMO. Sound was great. I used the speaker control (vs the in-line control because that was inside my jacket and it was super cold out) where you push the ear cover to start/stop/change songs. I found that the double-tap for changing songs didn’t really work (again, probably because it was so cold and I was using mittens), but was able to start/stop by pushing the ear cover without difficulty. I would definitely buy these again given the price point.
Jody –
This is my second pair of outdoor tech headphones. I like the design, being able to control music, check time, answer phone calls, read texts… all without pulling out my phone on the chair lift. The sound is ok, but sometimes is drowned out at high speed.The reason for the negative review is that they are not very durable. Granted I wear them everyday, but the ear push has failed in both pairs. The first pair would cut out sporadically unless I wiggled the cord and the speakers eventually just stopped working.I was lucky to live close to the seller (Blauers Boardshop) and they replaced them. If my third pair fails, and they don’t replace them, I think I will try something else.
JMD –
So far, so great! One day delivery to an Amazon Locker in time fro a ski trip, the speakers slip easily into the ear flaps on my helmet and the wire tucked in nicely behind the lining. I skied two days listening to tunes the whole time and sound was really good. The inline volume control clipped onto my jacket and was very easy to adjust, even with gloves on. The button for pause, next track etc., did not work with the little mp3 player I was using but that was not a big deal and I’ll try while using my phone to see if that works. If these hold up for awhile, I will be very pleased; if not, I’ll update the review.
John Heiberger –
Works well, bass could be better at low volumes, but it is OK.
Thomas-James C. –
I’ve had two sets of Chips in the last ~4 years and each time they’ve failed due to the wiring entering the “main” channel getting crimped off and breaking inside the shielding. I honestly CANNOT recommend this brand or its chips anymore due to this issue.Outdoor Tech, if you’re reading any of these reviews, do yourselves a favor: reinforce the wiring and shielding so that it’s harder to crimp off the wiring and damage it due to more “compact” installations (for example in the ’12-’13 Bern Winter Liner for their EPS helmets). This could probably be done by adding a bit more molded plastic to the places where the wires that connect each chip to the other a bit more beefy. OR, better yet, make it modular so that if a wire fails, customers can order a replacement wire and not have to buy a whole new set each time.Food for thought.
Michael Anderson –
I love this things when they work. The ability to pause/play/skip without taking glove off or phone out is awesome. But they are just poor quality. First pair broke after ~5 days on mountain. Second pair only lasted ~3. In both cases one of the ears stopped working and would intermittently cut in and out.Back to using regular headphones until I can find a similar solution that actually works.
J. Warren –
Edit: After only one weeks use the wire has broken. The in line volume control is very cheap and flimsy, it breaks easy and is one of the worst cables I’ve ever seen.I bought 3 of these, one for me and two for friends. Mine work fine, I quite like them and do recommend them, if you get a good pair…… My mates ones didn’t work properly right out of the box, the right ear was so quiet that it was barely audible. Amazon were TERRIBLE at dealing with this, they could only send the replacement to the UK, however I’m in Austria for 4 months so that’s not exactly helpful. Turns out that Amazon UK can’t communicate and work with Amazon EU, which in my eyes is dissapointingly incompetent. Think twice about buying this product, and think twice about buying it from Amazon. My other friend has yet to open his, so fingers crossed they aren’t broken too.
Michele DeCourten –
I have this installed in a snowski helmet but…the ski hills closed due to the corona virus. Sooo…I have been using the helmet and headphone set-up while I ride my mountain bike. I have used it on five hours worth of rides and it has worked as advertised. The button works to start and stop songs, advance songs, and to connect to Siri and phone calls. The microphone works well. The volume adjust works well even with full finger bike gloves (as does the button. Sound has little bass but I haven’t tried adjusting for that yet. Volume is adequate even at 30MPH bike speeds.