Outdoor Technology Chips 2.0 Drop-In Helmet Audio
These are the chips 2 0 The universal wireless helmet audio system by outdoor Tech Connect them to your Bluetooth enabled device Drop them into your audio compatible helmet and your Skull will be dripping with undeniable melodies for the next ten hours Loaded with full audio controls phone call capability and voice command (Siri) power Do it all while keeping your mittens where they belong Waving in the air like you just don’t care Imagine it warm hands fresh powder total audio and communication control and no wires inside your jacket.
- 40mm drivers for clear Bluetooth wireless Audio for any Audio compatible helmet HELMET COMPATIBILITY The CHIPS 2 0 are compatible with helmets from the following manufacturers (and possibly more) as long as they have slots for audio drop-ins Bern Giro Smith K2 Anon Pro-Tec Technology Wireless
- Two-button glove-friendly controls adjust volume change tracks play pause take calls and use Siri (voice control) through the built-in microphone Bluetooth version is 4 0 Bluetooth profiles are a2dp arc and operating distance is 32 feet
- 10 hours of playtime on a single charge So you can ride all day listening to smooth Jazz without concern Rechargeable lithium-ion battery
- Sweat-resistant and fully functional in extreme cold weather (-20 degree/-4 Degree)
- Included components: USB charging cable, backup audio line- in cable w/controls, carry pouch, and instruction manual.
Amazon.com
![The Outdoor Tech Chips 2.0 Wireless Audio System [Review]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g6g_tni55Y0/mqdefault.jpg)
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duehlpipes –
My experience:1. Bluetooth connection cut out all the time and finally the right speaker stopped working when using bluetooth.2. The buttons on the speakers worked great with gloves.3. Walkie-talkie feature is stupid, I didn’t by it for that and to me there is no point for having this feature because you can call or tell Siri to text someone while using bluetooth on the speakers4. Sound volume definitely is the loudest out of any helmet speakers and I would say the sound quality is average/good for what they are.5. Surprisingly, talking on the phone on bluetooth was crystal clear and worked flawlessly.I had to send in my chips since the right speaker stopped working and am waiting to receive a new set. After reading other reviews it seems outdoor tech has some quality control issues since some of the devices sold work flawlessly and the others have bluetooth issues like me. This bluetooth problem also seems to come from the fact that have separate bluetooth chips in each speaker. I expect that a company would have better quality control issues for a $130.00 product. When they worked I loved them, but I’ll have to see if my new set has the same issues. Don’t buy these for the app.
tbcustomz –
I have had 3 sets of chips and I am done trying. The concept is great, but the bluetooth never stays connected and cuts out. I had the original chips for a season and then one side completely stopped producing sound. When they worked the sound wasn’t very good or loud, but I liked the convenience of not having to use a wire or pull my phone out of my pocket. I tried the chips 2.0 and they were slightly louder, but still had issues with the sound cutting out when turning my head. Returned the first set of 2.0’s hoping I just had bad luck, but the 2nd pair have produced the same issues. These issues have occurred with multiple cell phones that work great with other blue tooth devices. Two friends who have also purchased them have had similar issues.
J. Krutsch –
I do like the headphones, but Outdoor Tech’s customer service is terrible. I bought two pair at the start of ski season. All was well until one of the units quit making sound on one side. Contacted customer service for a warranty claim. Through back and forth contacts it took 5 days to get a RA number. They said once they received the defective unit it could take up to 10 Working days before they sent out the replacement. No options and a total lack of urgency. Got it to them in 2 days. 3 weeks later I contacted them again to ask where they were and was told something errored out in their system and they would push it through and I should get a notice when it ships. No shipping notice came, but the replacement finally arrived. In all, the process took 38 days, so I was without for a large chunk of the ski season. I could not in good conscience recommend this company to anyone. I certainly will not buy one of their products again.
Leslie –
Work great so far (after some initial frustration was minutes away from shipping it back. Mostly trying to pay it forward a little here, so when entering “pairing mode” you need to start when they are off, hold the power until the light flashes blue and red. (Unit will turn on and then enter pairing mode a few seconds later) Spent an hour following the instructions and trying it while they were on, like every single Bluetooth device I’ve ever used!Initial complaint aside, they work great so far, granted it’s just day one. Sound is just as good as wired pair I used to use in my ski helmet. Volume, skip, answer controls are all very easy and work fine with gloves on. Looking forward to ditching the cord on the slope and all the hassle involved. Small note: package comes with charging usb cable but no plug, so a usb plug from another device is needed.Update: used them skiing all week. Signal does seem to get interrupted if not in pocket close to them. Also ran into weird issue where touch screen on phone stopped working once I used the headphone controls. Sound quality and volume are good. Knocked it down to three stars. Would return them but they solve more problems then they cause. (No wires and control through the ear pieces made it just convienient enough to keep)
vecdran –
I bought these after my original ODT Chips 1.0s failed (left speaker died). I was given the run around by ODT, and was offered an awful 25% MSRP discount. I opted to buy from Amazon instead, anticipating another failed unit.Pros:-Good audio quality, considering their open speaker design. Can still hear people around me, as well as the music.-Adequate battery life. Enough for a full day on the mountain.-Construction feels nice in the hands.-Microphone quality was good enough that people could understand me while I was skiing.Cons:-Poor Bluetooth connectivity. If I rotated my head to the right, with my Google Pixel 2 in my left breast pocket, the sound would cut out.-Unreliable Play/Pause functionality. The ability to “Play” after pausing would randomly go out, and would require multiple phone resets before it would return. SOMETIMES. Often it would not work at all, forcing me to use voice commands, or physically pull the phone out. This absolutely ruined my enjoyment of the device.-Right speaker died after ONE day of use.It is unfortunate that ODT appears to have a monopoly on the Bluetooth helmet speaker market. Even units by Smith & Giro are actually just branded ODT units. If I could go with literally anyone else, I would. After giving them a second try and having a garbage experience yet again, I am seriously contemplating putting up with wired helmet speakers.
Renovatio –
I own a very comfortable Oakley Mod 5 helmet and since the ear cups have pockets in them, I thought these Tech Chips would be a nice addition to provide music whilst skiing.How wrong I was. These are horrendous to wear. It is like someone fitted cheese graters to the ear cups of your helmet!The design is just plain lazy with no thought to comfort. They are certainly not worth the money!
Todd H. –
There’s no excuse for modern set of headphones to use a custom charging cable. Instead of using a standard micro-USB cable to charge the headphones, it uses a USB A (male) to 3.5mm headphone jack. So in order to keep these charges, you’ve got to carry their non-standard cable. These are definitely going to be returned to Amazon.
T. Fung –
I waited a long time for these, ever since they were announced nearly a year ago… Really wanted to have wireless audio with PTT walkie talkie function when I go on the slopes.. While the quality of these were very good, and the charging case is very nice, the main issue I had was with the app and the PTT walkie talkie function not working at all. I tried both the android version as well as the ios version on different phones, and no matter what I did, the app would not recognize the chips as connected to the phone.. Even though it was paired perfectly fine, and it worked fine as a regular bluetooth headset… No matter what I did, the app would not work and see the chips, and if you read the comments on the app reviews in google store or apple store, it seems that this problem is almost universal… So unfortunately, these will be going back.. Will purchase again if they decide to fix the app….
Pete Horam –
Connectivity – They worked perfectly well at chill factor at -5 degrees – I was expecting to run into issues given how horrendously glitchy my airpods performed with my android phone both in the chill factor and Austrian alps. Not a glitch from these. So far the connection looks promising – I’ll let you know how well they hold up this season in the alps.Sound – They go plenty loud – they sound better if you do your helmet strap up tight. The sound is not going to blow anyone away – its decent enough – passable but still enjoyable.Comfort – they hurt my ears causing pressure against them even when my helmet wasn’t tight. I thought I was going to have to return them. Then I noticed my helmet had foam ear padding glued in the ear cups. After removing that they are very comfortable and not noticeable. Great stuff.Functionality – I like the functionality pressing the ear pads to control various things. I haven’t tried the walkie talkie and I doubt I will. I bought them just for music. They’re a bit more of a pain to put in the helmet than I would like but still the battery lasts a good while.The novelty of having your helmet turned into a party with nothing that can fall out of your ears is immense. Really cool product. I think i’m going to really enjoy it.
Justin –
I’m a new convert to wearing helmets and was worried about my options for audio. Found these Chips Ultras and thought I’d give them a try. Definitely a great purchase and worth the money.Great audio. No issues with connectivity and plenty of battery life, plus more power built into the case, what’s not to like. Answering and making calls is easy. Same for sending texts and you don’t have to remove your gloves to do access any of those feature.Great item.
C. Jones –
I have been using Chips old 1.0 wireless bluetooth headphones for five years now so I figured it was time for an upgrade. I liked the idea of having these be truly wireless and to see what advancements have been made over the past five years. Overall they are good headphones, but not great ones. Over the past few years bluetooh headphones have progressed rapidly, but these feel like they are a generation or two behind the times now.Pairing – Pairing is pretty easy, mine did so with minimal fuss.Sound – Sound quality is good, improved from my first gen Chips bluetoohSize – They are about 1mm thicker than the original set, but that didn’t affect my use at allUse – Each earpiece must be turned on and off separately, which is a little odd, again with the bar being so high it was unexpected. Also unexpected, they shut off after 5 minutes. This is ANNOYING! My usual day is riding up the lift with some buds, a six minute ride, then we split up for our run and meet up again at the bottom. Normally I like to pause my music in the lift lines and on the ride to chat with my friends and listed for instructions from the liftiez, then tap them on once I’m on my run. If I ride solo, I’ll leave them playing more, but still find there are several times during the day when I pause them for more than five minutes. So with the old Chips, they would come back on when I tapped to start the music, with these, I have to hold each headphone button for a couple of seconds to turn them on, then wait a bit and tap again to get my music going. I have had mine cut out once or twice on a ride, feels like a weak bluetooth signal, but it hasn’t been frequent yet.The charging case is lovely, though I do find the fit of the headphones in mine is very tight and they can be hard to get out of the case.What’s missing – App, settings, updates? No where to be found. Listen for Siri without tapping? Not here on these yet. Do both headphones have a microphone? Can’t tell, I don’t see any information on this. Chips docs are ok, but I I’d love to see detailed information on these like if you can get updates later, is there ways to configure them at all with some button pushing? Will there be an app that could setup things like the power-offer timer? (Please please please add this!) This day and age, expensive headphones (which these are) have come a long way and raised the bar as to what we expect out them and the Chips Ultra are not up to that standard.
CMC –
They sound decent but the Bluetooth range is really bad. I keep my phone in a chest pocket in my ski suit and if I turn my head too far the one on the far side cuts out. Also have had to re-pair them randomly one morning on the mountain which was really annoying in snowy conditions which was sort of annoying.The biggest annoyance is they shut off automatically after a few minutes which always seems to happen while I’m on the ski lift so I have to turn them back in every run. Annoying!