Denon Globe Cruiser AH-W200: great bluetooth in-ear headphones

Since a couple of weeks I am the proud owner of a pair of Denon Bluetooth earbuds. They have become my daily companion when I go out running.

I am very pleased with the transparent sound. They are a little bit heavy on the bass, but for pop/rock music this is perfect. For classical music I like to tone them down a bit with the equaliser of my smartphone. They are more than loud enough. I never use them over half of the maximum volume.

The fit is very pleasant. It is a bit of a hassle to put them on, but once they are fitted over your ears they won't move. The actual earbud is attached to an extensible and moveable rod, which makes it easy to adapt them to your ears. The in-ears are delivered with 4 sizes of replacement tips. As usual, I needed a bigger one on the left than on the right. Denon also supplies a pair of Comfyfoam tips. I tried these in the past with my normal in-ears and got a very good seal, but for the Denon Globe Cruiser I don't need them. The seal I get with the normal tips is more than good enough, so I don't need to go through the trouble of rolling the Comfyfoam tips between my fingers before putting them in.

The Bluetooth connection is very stable. I read reports of people who experienced interruptions and disconnects when their smartphone was in the wrong pocket or below their waist. I have never experienced this. I even tested the range in open air. With the phone laying flat, I can walk away up to 22 meters before the connection in interrupted. With the phone in a vertical position, I even reached 34 meters.

Control of your music is through 1 button on your right ear: push one time to pause, push again to resume play, push twice to skip to the next song and push three times to skip to the beginning of the song (or to the previous song, if you're already at the start of the song).

Before purchasing the Globe Cruiser AH-W200 I also considered the Denon Exercise Freak AH-W150BK. This is the sports version of these earbuds. The sports version is supposed to be better protected against sweat and rain, but sound a bit less good. The Globe Cruiser version, on the other hand, is delivered with a carrying pouch, airplane adapters and a 3.5mm cable to connect the earbuds to a non-bluetooth device. Normally the Globe Cruiser is a bit more expensive than the Exercise freak, but since I got a good deal on the Globe Cruiser for €70 I chose this one. I think the two products are the same, but with a different styling.