Beribes Review

Our Beribes Headphones Experience

These cheap headphones are popular on Amazon and have a startlingly high approval rating, making them a shoo-in for testing. With everyone looking for ways to save, it would be amazing to find a budget-friendly set of headphones you won't hate. These are not that.

The headphones have no real redeeming quality outside of their price. They look cheap, they feel cheap, and they fail to meet the basic objectives of headphones, leaving us thinking most consumers would be better off with old-school wired earbuds that sound better, make better calls, and are more comfortable.

To say the sound quality is horrible is an understatement and being generous. It felt like a crime being committed against our ears, and there was no genre of music that sounded good; even podcasts and audiobooks sounded weird.

While the headphones are lightweight, the material has a plastic feel that is sticky on the skin and gets hot. We could only wear them for a little over 4 hours despite the light clamping that should have translated to better comfort. They did work well with glasses, but part of this could be the shortened comfortable wear time.

However, the most traumatizing part is that the audio commands the headphone uses are unsettling and have a haunting quality that goes beyond being grainy or hard to understand.

The Beribes have a longer battery life than most, likely due to the lack of active noise-canceling technology.   Credit: Matt Lighthart

The Beribes come in a variety of fun colors.   Credit: Matt Lighthart

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Likes

We like the low, low price of the Beribes and the quick delivery, but otherwise, there isn't much to like here. They come in a variety of fun colors, so there is something for everyone, and they fold compactly, making them easier to shove into a backpack or sling bag. Their initial comfort is okay, but any wear over an hour is likely to be a no-go for most

They have an impressive battery life of 65 hours, which means you can go for days without charging, but one reason it might be so high is the lack of active noise cancellation technology.

Dislikes

It isn't a secret that we didn't like these headphones; pretty much everything about them is disappointing. The sound quality is one of the worst offenders, with the lowest results in the group.

We'd describe the listening experience as akin to having a head cold and driving over a high-altitude mountain pass with water stuck in your ears. It is congested and flat.

Listening to our favorite songs with these headphones felt like a disservice to music at large; the sound is so squished it feels like cramming a band into a closet. The bass is muddy, the mids are inaccurate, and the treble hurts our ears.

The padding on the Beribes is nice, but the material feels like cheap plastic, and the ear cups are shallow.   Credit: Matt Lighthart

The Beribes are some of the lightest in the group.   Credit: Matt Lighthart

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The comfort is limited with plastic covers over the muffs that get hot and sticky quickly. They are lightweight with light clamping, but the earcups are shallow, and not all ears fit well inside. The worst part, really, is how hot and sweaty they get.

The noise cancellation is non-existent beyond the barrier that the ear cups create by blocking the ear. In essence, it blocks virtually nothing, leaving you to hear everything. In some instances, it even seems to amplify the sound, which we know isn't possible and sounds crazy.

There is no app, and the controls (including an equalizer adjustment button) aren't significant or work well. The headphone voice prompt sound is also loud and overrides music.