Review: Bragi The Dash Pro Wireless Intelligent Earphones (Video)

Are you happy with your wireless earphones? Are you like me, who could not stop searching for the perfect one. Thanks to Bragi, I am able to test out their latest wireless earphones, the Bragi The Dash Pro Intelligent Wireless earphones.

PS: Check out the promotion at the end of this post.

Introduction

Searching for that perfect wireless earphones to pair with my phones is my mission for a long time. I have tried products from Kickstarter (crowd-funding) and off the shelves ones. I have also tried different types of wireless earphones – earphones with neckbands, bone conduction type or purely just wireless earbuds.

There are pros and cons to each design. Is Bragi The Dash Pro the perfect wireless earphones? Before I start, I need to address a few things: –

  • The review is done in less than 2 weeks.
  • I am not an audiophile, and when I say music is good or bad, please understand that it is from a layman point of view
  • I have not had the chance to test out every feature of the product.
  • I am using my Samsung Galaxy S8+ and iPhone 7 to test out the Bragi Dash Pro

The Bragi The Dash Pro is not an ordinary earphones. It is a wireless earphones that incorporate AI (Artificial Intelligence), activity tracker (Cycling, Running, Swimming) and is waterproof. It is touted to be a computer on your ears. Check out this official introduction.

Let’s begin the review.

Unboxing

Here is a short unboxing video.

First Impression

I love minimalist design. The moment I saw the Bragi The Dash Pro, I love it. It has a very clean, uncluttered look. There is no button, switch or anything on the earbuds. The only thing that is “protruding” is the heart rate sensors and the contact points for charging. Once you wear the Dash Pro, they are all hidden.

Some may or may not agree with me. It is small. Although there are smaller-looking wireless earbuds in the market, the Bragi The Dash Pro has the most secure fit without feeling the bulkiness. More about that later.

It has a nice metal casing to store and to charge it. When I travel with it, I just chuck the casing into my backpack without worrying about the content.

Internally, it has a 2,200 mAh battery that can charge the earbuds for about five times (each earbud has a 100mAh battery in it).

If you can see below, the light is showing that earbuds are undergoing charging process.

The casing has only one Micro-USB port for you to charge or communicate with the earbuds via a computer (for Bragi OS update and uploading of songs to the internal memory (4GB) in the earbuds).

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On the other side, it has a reset pinhole which is needed when I update the earbuds.

When you slide open the casing, you can see that earbuds sit perfectly onto it, thanks to the magnetic holder.

Here is a close up of the charging area. As it has a built-in magnet, the individual earbud will snap into place when you place them into the holder.

Usage

Before I can even put the earbuds in my ears, I have to charge and update it. I am not complaining. I love that the Bragi OS can be updated.

To update, you will need to download the Bragi Updater onto your computer and follows the instructions. In my opinion, it is quite straightforward but please do away with the step where you have to insert a pin to the casing. Who is always ready with a pin?

Updating the Bragi OS

Once I have updated the Bragi OS, I proceed to download the app onto my Android phone and connect with the Bragi Dash Pro.

The Bragi App

The Bragi app has a number of settings that you can meddle with. For example, you can turn on Amazon Alexa, GPS tracking. calibration and etc. You can also activate certain controls from the app like Transparency audio, Windshield, volume and etc too.

I wish Bragi can incorporate bass/treble or simple equalizer and individual sound balance control into the app.

Fitting the earbuds into the ear

Finally, fitting the Bragi Dash Pro into the ears. Initially, I am quite skeptical about the “perfect fit” because I have tried many earphones and none of them has the perfect fit.

My definition of perfect fit is that you can wear the earbuds and perform all activities without fearing that it will drop off.

So far, Bragi The Dash Pro has lived up to its expectation. With its unique twist and fit onto the ear, it is almost impossible to drop off the ear without effort. As not all ears are the same, I am speaking based on my experience.

However, because of the tightness, there are chances that for first-timers, you will start to feel uncomfortable after 1 to 2 hours. I forced myself to wear it as long as possible. I think I can manage until the battery is almost flat (less than 5 hours), and this is after a few tries.

There are also other sleeves that come with the Bragi Dash Pro – FitSleeves (S, M, L) and FitTips Pro (S. M, L). For sports activities, it is better to use the FitSleeves.

How does it sound?

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Once you fit the earbuds into the ears, it is like a vacuum. You could barely hear the sound from the outside.

If you are wearing it to cycle, it could be dangerous as you cannot hear the traffic. Thankfully, Bragi has incorporated the Audio Transparency. Once activated (swiping the left earbud or activate via the app), you can immediately hear the sound from the surrounding.

However, it is definitely different from the actual sound you hear through your ear. I believe it uses the mic to pick up the sound and transmit back to your ear. There is no way you can adjust how “transparent” you want it to be. There is only “on” or “off” setting.

Swiping the left earbud again will activate the windshield. So if you are running or cycling and you have the Audio Transparency turned on, you might pick up the sound of wind. By activating the Wind Shield, it helps to diminish the wind sound.

The sound quality is good. It is bass and treble which I expect from a premium product. However, I do feel that the sound is slightly soft even though I turn it up almost to the max.

Playing from Internal Storage

One of the features of the Bragi The Dash Pro is that it has internal storage (4GB). That means you don’t need to rely on a Bluetooth connection to a phone to play music. You can copy songs to the Dash Pro and have it play independently.

Additional Features

These are features not commonly found on earphones.

Heart Rate Monitor

I am not sure how accurate the heart rate monitor is but based on my previous experience with a headset that measures heart rate via the ear, I find that the Bragi Dash Pro is easier to ensure a good read, thanks to its “Perfect Fit”.

Heart rate is measured using light sensor via the ear canal. If it is fitted accurately, it will ensure a stable reading.

Kinetic User Interface (KUI) and Virtual 4D Menu

I did not really deep-dive into these due to the time limit. Basically, you can use your body movement to activate a function. For example, I can nod my head to receive an incoming call. I tried it once or twice and I find it funny (from another person’s perspective) because you have to really nod your head hard to activate it.

As for the 4D virtual menu, you will need to activate it via the app. Once done, you follow a set of gesture (look straight, look up, listen to signal, look straight) to activate the 4D menu (you will hear a prompt). By turning your head, you can browse the items. By nodding your head, you select it.

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Summary

The Bragi Dash Pro is not for everyone. With a steep pricing of S$528, you will not only want to use it just to answer phone calls.

I feel that this product is almost perfect for me because it is an activity tracker with heart rate monitor, is waterproof, fits perfectly, has long battery life (with additional battery inside the casing) and has that fuss-free minimalist look.

However, it falls short of the fact that it cannot be connected to multiple phones (Multipoint technology). I have multiple phones and with Bragi The Dash Pro, I need to manually disconnect one device to connect to another device. In the manual, it states that it can connect up to 5 devices but only one at a time. And it recommends some shortcut so that you could lessen the “pain” (use gestures to disconnect quickly on the device) but it is still a “pain”.

There is one feature that I did not try out. It is the iTranslate, a translation app that is incorporated into the Bragi The Dash Pro and is subscription-based. In my opinion, there are other translation software out there that is free (e.g. Google Translate). Why not use these free apps?

Pros

  • Updateable Bragi OS
  • Waterproof
  • Perfect Fit
  • Good sound quality
  • Good battery life
  • Nice design
  • Good quality
  • Amazon Alexa integration
  • Activity Tracker and Heart Rate Monitor integration

Cons

  • Expensive
  • Slightly difficult to connect on initial setup
  • No mulitpoint technology
  • Too many gestures to remember
  • iTranslate is subscription-based.

Promotion

Customers can redeem S$30 CapitaLand vouchers when they purchase the Dash Pro @ RRP S$528.

Promotion period will be from 26th Jan to 9th Feb.

Instruction
To redeem the voucher, please submit a copy of receipt and your mailing address to Bragi@ixmobile.com for validation.

Participating Retailers includes Analogue Plus, WeThePeople, Weareready.sg, Headphone SG, Lazada, Urban Toys and Rack85.

Click Here to Check Out Bragi The Dash Pro