Digital Opera S5+ review

Bluetooth earphones, whether you love them or hate them, are, seemingly, here to stay with new designs and models hitting the market every week. So, amidst all this competition, how do the Opera S5+ Bluetooth earphones for the iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad shape up?

We were lucky enough to get our hands on a pair of Opera S5’s at this year’s Gadget Show Live and, on the whole, we really liked them – we gave them four out of five. Check out the review here. So, why the inclusion of iPad support, what’s different with the Opera S5+ Bluetooth earphones?

Well, on the surface, not much has changed. The S5+ earphones still have the wrap-around-neck design, keeping the design, look and feel pretty much the same as was present on the original earphones.

In fact, the only real difference between the two pairs – that’s the S5 and the S5+ – is that the S5+ are now fully compatible and rated for use with the iPhone and iPad, as well as the iPod Touch.

Sound wise, the S5+ earphones are very good. Because they operate in the 2.4Ghz band, it minimises dropouts by not competing with other frequencies, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth – and, if you’ve used Bluetooth headphones before, you’ll know how annoying these “dropouts” really are…

But that’s not all Opera has to offer. Opera promise not one, but two things: no dropouts and better than Bluetooth sound – CD quality.

Granted, these claims sound a little far-fetched, but after testing we’re satisfied that they aren’t – we didn’t experience one dropout during our testing period and the sound quality of the earphones, which have a frequency response of 20Hz – 20Khz, was superb.

There’s also minimal distortion, even when played loud, and the general overall sound quality produced by the earphones is extremely well balanced with bass, middle and treble are equally competing for your attention – although, we would have liked a little more thunder in the bottom-end.

Obviously, there are better – more expensive – headphones on the market, that’s a given. But we have to admit that these Bluetooth earphones are up there with the best of them, even if this is just for the fact that they don’t cut out – seemingly ever.

The battery is also pretty good too, and we got roughly 10 hours of use out of a single charge of 2 hours.

Another cool thing about the Opera S5+ earphones is that you can use the connecting dongle in your stereo at home – providing it is has an iPhone-compatible slot – and run up to four sets of headphones and receivers from it.

Overall, the Opera S5+ Bluetooth earphones are very impressive. Not only do they boast superior sound quality, especially when compared with the significantly more expensive Nokia BH-905 headset, but they also look great, are extremely lightweight and have excellent sound quality.

In short, if you’re looking for a decent pair of Bluetooth earphones for under £100, get the Opera S5+ earphones. You will not be disappointed.