I have used many bluetooth headphones over the last 2 years and i am reviwing the Boat 131 a bluetooth wireless headphone under 1500 today BoAt Airdopes 131

Bluetooth headphone technology improved a lot in the last few years. It has been evolved from bulky non reliable devices to beautiful looking, small devices that works great in all different situations.

Boat Airdopes are available in Flipkart at a price point of 1299. Very affordable pricing compared to similar known brands out in the market.

Update: After using it for few months these are the noticeable issues. Not much but still sharing it here. Each headphone in the wireless pair is having different battery levels. I use both of them at same time. I thought one got faulty. I assume what happened is when battery of the charging case got low, it only charged one earphone.

Case closing lid is flimsy and if i shake the case there is rattling sound which indicates not the best build quality. Also the battery low indicator of the case is not very helpful. It is only one colour: white. And a red battery low indicator would have been awesome. Update: New devices are always coming to the market. I saw ad of some new version from boat itself. So check those devices also.

You can buy very similar unbranded device for 1/3 of price. So why go for branded one. Not much reasons to be honest - both are from China. Boat has updated design & may be better software i guess. And also little bit hope in case of after sale service and warranty.

Pros

• Design - they made this device so compact and stylish. It is not bulky and weird looking like many other devices in Indian market.
• Truly wireless - this one should not be compared with other headphones with wires in between ear pieces.
• Bluetooth range is superb - I tested its range, and it works great even with walls in between.

Cons

• Low battery warning is a horrible sound. It is like a crazy person saying some gibberish.
• Although marketed by an Indian company, this is manufactured in China.
• Ear tips are not rubber type - it is smooth plastic. So it will fall down from ear easily. It is OK while running/other light exercises but will fall down when you remove helmet, t-shirt etc.

Update: left side of the headphone stopped working now (10 Aug 2021). I bought it on (14-march -2021). Means it worked for 5 months. It fell down from my ear/hands few times. Around 5,6 times.

Things i like Why i chose Boat 131 - as the best under 1500?

Main reasons are listed below

• Very good design & quality.
• Bluetooth range is really good.
• Service after sales is available.
• Bluetooth 5 with insta wake N’ pair.

There are some other good ‘wired’ wireless headphones for example - More details and offers - Realme Buds Wireless Bluetooth Headset comes to my mind first- and that device actually compete well with device. And it is also available under 1500 rupees.

But first of all, Realme buds is not fully wireless bluetooth device. Also it is priced more than Boat 131.

As of the now, i couldn’t find any other truly wireless bluetooth headphone under “1500 rupees”.

But, end of the day, design of most of the these Bluetooth devices including this one is obviously inspired from other brands. And these are manufactured in China.

You may find exact alternative of these products with same specs in the market at way lower price. But what boat offers is better a better customer experience, brand value & after sales service.

Things i don’t like

• Bass is not that good
• LED indicator lights will not turn off until the headphone are fully charged, Also when charging the case, it will stay turned on until fully charged. It is kind of useful feature, but it is too bright, especially in the nighttime.

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Boat as a company

Boat is a consumer electronics and lifestyle company based on New Delhi. Company was founded on 2016 so relatively new company. One of the area where it lacks is after sales service and customer support. You can get some affordable products from Boat, but don’t expect too much.

Official website - www.boat-lifestyle.com

Unboxing & first impression.

I was little surprised by the very good packing. I received it nicely and tightly packed inside a nice looking box with security seal on both sides.

What is inside - Inside you get a USB to C charging cable(charging brick not included), 1 year warranty card, and a promo card and actual case with airdops inside.

Both casing and actual airdopes looks and feels good.

Compared to devices like BoAt Airdopes 381, design is where this device shines the most. I would say it is better that both: boat 381 and even boat 402 in the design department.

If you are reading this review and considering buying this device. I have a cheap alternative for you. You should check out this product ‘Jack Klein i7 Bluetooth Bluetooth Headset’.

It is not branded - so the name may change. And I am not going to say anything about it. But have a look at it if it is still available. It is interesting.

Design and ergonomics

This is where this earbuds shine the most. Both the charging case and actual headphones are compact, smooth and very nicely designed.

Design of headphone is minimal and simple. They got rid of the rubber tip part. It loses little bit of grip on ear because of that, but i believe this design is better for long term use.

Design copied/inspired from another multinational company? It looks like, the charging case design is inspired/copied from obviously from the big company we all know, but the design of headphone pieces is actually really good. It fits well and will not jump out of ear easily.

Colours - black and grey are good. I bought the black one & it is shiny black color. I personally don’t like the cherry blossom but hey, it is just a personal choice.

Charging

Charging the actual air pods will take 1 hour.

Charging the case fully will take 2 to 3 hours.

When fully charged headphones can go upto 3 hours. And you can charge it using case 4 times. That means with a fully charged case, you can go all day with few hour breaks in between.

Battery & Bluetooth

Distance you can go away from Bluetooth source is pretty good. I tried going away from it almost 10 meter, that too with walls and doors in between and it worked just fine.

Talk time/music time - 3 Hours, and it supports HSP, HFP, A2DP and AVRCP Bluetooth profiles.

Earphone battery

I have not really tested these to its limits, but i used it from morning to night with small breaks in between. These breaks usually sometimes lasted an hour and sometimes few minutes.

Meaning keeping eardopes inside the case(and thereby charging it) few times in between is enough to keep it going until the night.

Battery case

Case battery is 650mAh and you can use this to charge the headphone 4 times. 3 LED’s on the case lights up when being charged and it is kind of annoying. It also lights up and will no turn light off until headphones get fully charged.

bluetooth

Insta’ Wake n Pair works great and considering the tiny 40maH, range of bluetooth is pretty amazing.

Sound quality

Both bass and treble are in the best range. Limited by the software nicely. It is not allowed to go too high or too low.

Treble - similar to bass, treble is also limited in the upper range.

Bass - this is one area where this device don’t shine that good. It is good enogh for a regular user, but it will not stand out against over the top bassy headphones in the market.

But personally I like the level of bass this headphone provides. If you love bass more than anything, it is better to avoid this device.

Product quality

This product is ‘designed’ in India but obviously manufactured in China. But in my experience using it since past few days, it looks and feel like of good quality.