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The perfect wireless earbuds for welders and metal fabricators

ISOtunes offers three versions that are OSHA- and NIOSH-compliant, suitable for loud shops

Metalworker using Bluetooth earbuds

Detroit welder Josh Welton of Brown Dog Welding offers a detailed review of ISOtunes’ OSHA- and NIOSH- compliant earbuds. Spoiler: Metal fabricators will love them. Photos provided by Josh Welton

Music, podcasts, and audiobooks are a huge part of our everyday lives. As a fabricator who spends long periods of the workday in a noisy, dirty environment isolated in a booth working on prototype parts, I think the invention and evolution of wireless Bluetooth earbuds have been the greatest thing since Monster Energy and the Miller Dynasty. For years I went through brand after brand and style after style looking for the right pair, a set not just with stellar sound, solid connectivity, and good battery life, but that could endure shop life. Now I have three, all built by ISOtunes.

To be clear, ISOtunes sent me these to test and review. But they’ve been patient with me, because I really wanted to put them through the paces. So many of my past buds started out with great promise only to crash and burn, and I’m careful of who and what I attach my name to. The first pair they sent was the Xtra, and that was two years ago. Then last year they sent me a pair of both the FREE and the Pro 2.0. I say that so you know that these aren’t pieces I’ve used a few times over the last week; no, they’ve seen my abuse for a long while.

And this is a brand that cares about our community, to the extent that they had a booth at the most recent FABTECH. Before ISOtunes I’d lamented out loud, more than a few times, Why isn’t there a company building Bluetooth earbuds for the blue-collar worker? I’d find myself trying the “sport” or “athletic” version of a brand’s offering, figuring that at the very least they’d put up with some sweat. Then Plugfones made some that actually looked like safety earplugs (sneaky, which I’m all about), but the build quality wasn’t that great and two sets I had just didn’t last. ISOtunes changed all that.

The three versions I have each offer something unique, but to start off they all have a few things in common. First and foremost, there’s safety. Ear protection is something I’ve written about before, because as a young tradesman I ignored it and now I suffer from the irreversible consequences of extended exposure to loud noises. Tinnitus sucks. I can’t emphasize this enough. When I eventually go insane, it’s the siren in my brain screaming 24/7 that’ll be the breaking point. So you know you’re talking about legit industrial stuff when you see “OSHA and NIOSH compliant” in the description.

All three pairs have a decibel limit of 85, so they can be maxed out safely over your entire shift. As far as hearing protection from outside noises goes, they are also tested by the American National Standards Institute for their Noise Reduction Rating (NRR), which comes to 27dB for the Pro 2.0 and Xtra and 22 dB for the truly wireless FREE.

And all three have background noise protection for taking calls. Admittedly this is a feature I haven’t often used, but it warrants mentioning.

Real-world Experiences

Xtra is the pair I’ve had the longest. Mine are black and green and the buds themselves are magnetic, so when you take them out and drop them around your neck, they click together securely. They also pause what you’re listening to when they click, and they start playing again when you pull them apart. It took me a minute to get used to that, as with other magnetic buds like the Beats X you need to manually hit the play/pause button every time. The Xtra’s “click” to pause/play is a really nice feature when you’re in a situation where you have to take the buds in and out to talk often. The inline controls are relatively easy to use with gloves on as long as they aren’t too thick.

The sound quality is good, and while I typically have my iPhone X in my pocket, the range is strong enough to move around the entire shop without dropping out. Even after a couple of years of use, the battery will last me six to eight hours and it charges quickly. There’s another acronym, IP, for “Ingress Protection,” that is important. Basically it’s a two-digit number that is based on international standards for the resistance of dirt and water in the enclosure. The Xtra has an IP45 rating, though I think it’s even a bit more dust-resistant than that. The charging port has an attached cover that snugly snaps in, which is huge to me. I’ve ruined a couple different brands of buds when too much metal dust gets into the port.

The Pro 2.0s are the pair I’ve used the least of the three, but not because they aren’t terrific. The build quality is robust as hell, the sound grades out as the best of the three, and the battery life blows every other pair of buds I’ve ever had out of the water. Speaking of water, the charge port protection is even more robust than the Xtra’s. It’s IP67, meaning the Pro 2.0s are completely dust-tight and can actually survive being immersed in water. That’s important to me as I may or may not have destroyed a set or two of other brands’ “industrial” buds in the past by getting them wet.

The earpieces are supersturdy with chrome-plated brass ear stems in place of the normal plastic stems. Functionally, the inline controls are so well-defined that you can adjust the volume or play/pause the sound wearing thick welding gloves. While I like the magnetic buds on the Xtra, that’s not always the move in a metal fab shop. The Pro 2.0s aren’t magnetic, but the cord is long enough to droop around your neck pretty securely.

ISOtunes Bluetooth earbuds

ISOtunes earbuds come in different sizes and styles with threaded insert that works on all the pairs.

So why don’t I wear them as much? They have the ear hook built into the wire, which isn’t a personal favorite. If I’m alone in my shop, especially if I’m working under a car, it’s a nice thing to have as they really keep the buds in place in the ear. But in my usual work environment, I need to take buds in and out often, and the ear hook just isn’t my thing. To be honest, a big part of that right now is my hair; I haven’t seen my man Ryan at the Village Parlor in a minute due to the pandemic, and my luxurious head of thick hair has grown to epic proportions. It tends to get wrapped around the ear hook.

Now I’ve saved the best for last. Also contributing to the Pro 2.0s getting used less are ISOtunes’ truly wireless FREE buds. These are, bar none, my favorite pair of earbuds of all time. The style, comfort, weight, functionality, and durability combine to check all of my boxes. True wireless means the two buds are self-contained; there is no wire connecting them. I have been looking for something that fits this bill for years. I do have a pair of the (very expensive, very slick) true wireless Bragi Dash, so I have those for a comparison. The Dash are supercool but early on they were buggy, needing software upgrades and such. Instead of buttons, they have a “touchscreen” on the outfacing sides. In the shop that can be problematic when you sweat or your hands are dirty. The biggest issue is that one side kicks out while welding. The high frequency interferes with them. They do have the ability to store music, but that’s not something I’ve ever needed.

In comparison, the FREE are better equipped for shop life in pretty much every way. They’re lighter, the battery lasts longer, and they have a tactile “button” to control the sound. You can have gloves on while tapping the left side for volume control and right side for play/pause and skip ahead or back. Another nice feature is that the left and right buds can each be used independent of each other if you want to leave one ear free. And I have never had any connectivity issues while welding.

They don’t block out quite as much noise as the other two and in my experience don’t turn up quite as loud, but they fit so nicely in your ear you forget they’re there. And in this age of wearing face masks, it’s great not to have earbud wires get in the way of securing the masks. The FREE don’t officially have the same IP ratings as the others, but I’ve had zero issues with dust or sweat damaging them. They come with a carrying case that is the charging port as well. The case holds two more charges too. It snaps shut to keep crap out and is small enough to carry in a front pocket comfortably.

All three have ear stems with a slight twist, and the inserts kind of screw on. Just another thoughtful feature to keep everything together in a dirty, sweaty environment. I would order extra foam inserts, as the plastic threaded center does wear out after a bit of abuse. ISOtunes offers quite a few different shapes and sizes of them, because we’ve all got different sizes and shapes of earholes.

Bottom line is, I’ve pushed the hell out of these for quite some time now, and they rock. It’s a brand that supports and serves our blue-collar community, too, which is a big deal. I’m about to plug the FREEs back and drop the hood. I hope this has helped.