FiiO LC-BT2 Neckband MMCX Bluetooth 5.0 Earphone Cable with aptX LL/LDAC, 24H Playtime, Microphone and Remote Shure SE215 SE315 SE425 SE535 (MMCX)

I'd say after trying half a dozen neckband BT headsets, this is, by far, the best I've had, and except for minor quibbles, may be the perfect headset. NOTE: Please see long-term updateThe item arrived in a beautiful box and inside is a hard-shell case, and further inside is the neckband carefully placed in the proper elastic holders, plus the USB-C cord, and a couple extra silicon ear-tips of different sizes. And a quite decent manual.NOTE: This is a headband only. You will need to supply your own 0.78mm earbud tips, and those I do have. It was installed easily after making sure which is left and which is right. The wires do have a slightly harder loop so the earbudges are fitted from "above" to hang behind the ear.The design also featured shorter wires from the body to the earbuds as the wires emerge from mid-body, not all the way at the tip.Upon wearing the device for an extended time, I find the band tends to shift right, as if it weighs more on the right, but testing the balance found it to NOT be unbalanced, so I don't know what's going on there.One of the most impressive feature is the multi-color LED that actually changes color depending on which Bluetooth codec is being used. Only my phone was capable of AptX (HD), but the headset was able to recognize it and changed color. I am not an audiophile so I don't know if the music was actually better, but it's there.Did not detect any notable hiss in the background noise (unlike the KZ Bluetooth wire). Fidelity is excellent in general.And the battery life is phenomenal. With intermittent listening I can make the battery last more than a day. And what's even better, resume from sleep is possible. Most other BT4 headsets timeout after 15 minutes or more of being idle and requires a reset (power cycle) to reconnect. This one, if you hit play on the device the sound comes back immediately, no reconnection needed.I have replaced the silicone tips with memory foam tips and fitment is perfect for me. The ear loops go on the ear next to the glasses arms easily. And the weight is so light you barely feel it. All in all, a worthwhile investment.LONG TERM UPDATE: after using it for months, there is one problem: the device HATES running out of power. If you run it out of power (auto-shut-off), it may go into a hibernation mode and may not come out of it for DAYS (during which it cannot even be recharged).

i popped on a couple MMCX ear pieces I had from another neckband style bluetooth device and this one just is so superior in every way. #1 - bluetooth does not cut out. So many devices have a flaky connection, but this one is always rock solid - when walking or exercising. The microphone is clear when connected to my cell phone and everyone says they hear me very clearly. The ergonomics of this work really well for me, the cables are just the right length to allow my head to move a bit without dislodging the ear pieces. i'm 6'2" with a normal length neck. i'm going to buy a couple more of these to keep on hand in case I break this one.

**3 year, 8 month update, March 15th, 2024**This headband continues to perform nearly perfectly after 40+ hours of use a week for over 3 years. Battery life has degraded a little, about 16 hours per charge now but it's still more than enough to get through a full shift.After a few months of being bothered by the wrap-around style IEM wires I decided to modify them. I purchased an MMCX IEM cable and soldered the MMCX end onto the now trimmed IEM wires, eliminating the hook part that wraps around my ears.This headset is now perfect.I also found MMCX to 2-pin wrap around adapters that enable me to use nearly all modern IEMs. I no longer have to worry about compatibility issues.With foam earbud tips I never have to worry about my IEMs falling out of my ears with the bonus of great noise isolation and better sound quality.I hope Fiio reads product reviews and implements some improvements on the next model of this headset as I will more than likely purchase the new model.**Original review**Right off the top, I would like to commend FiiO for making this neckband headset. Neckband headsets seems to be a dying breed, especially such a niche product that doesn't even have the ability to play sound unless you have IEMs already.I've had this headset for about a month and use it for work five days a week, all eight hours. I can't really comment on sound quality as that is entirely dependent on the IEMs you connect so I won't be commenting on that.Overall, the headset is nearly perfect for my needs. I listen to podcasts and music while I work and the battery life is exceptional. I have yet to get the full 24 hours that is advertised but I can get about 20 hours between charging. The fast charging is great as I can charge this completely in two hours. I can get about two hours of playback from only fifteen minutes of charging which is awesome not to mention it uses USB-C. The only down side I can find for this in terms of battery life is I don't get a warning when the battery is low, it just shuts off. I have noticed that I can turn it back on for a few seconds and it reads 20% battery life, but it shuts down without warning. I don't know if this is an issue with the particular unit I have or what, but that's what happens with the unit I got.Operation of the headset is pretty straight forward. The buttons are fairly small which can make it a little difficult to find the button you are feeling around for. If the buttons were, I'd say, 50% bigger and stuck out maybe one millimeter more they would be perfect. They already have a nice tactile click when pressed and the silicone cover helps make pressing the buttons themselves easy. The functions are easy to understand as well; Volume Down for two seconds is skip forward, Volume Up is skip back, Play/Pause will answer/hang up calls and holding it for two seconds activates voice assistant. Long hold the Play/Pause button to enable the pairing function.There was some thought put into the extra functions. I would have preferred the Play/Pause button be the closest to the front as that's the button I use the most, but as it is the Volume Down button, they chose to make it's extra function skip forward. On every other headset I've ever used, the Volume Down button is skip back. FiiO had the same thought I did and put the second most used feature on the easiest to reach button. Kudos to the software engineer for making that decision, I at least appreciate it.Bluetooth audio codecs are very well supported, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, SBC, LDAC, pretty much all the high quality audio codecs an avid listener could need. Android 9.0 and later has native support for LDAC over bluetooth now, so if your phone has, I think Bluetooth 4.1, you can use the highest bitrate codecs. Finding that high of bitrate music is the real problem.The app that can be used with this headset is pretty easy to use. You can customize the EQ of the audio, turn off the LED indicator (which blinks different colors depending on the currently used codec which is a nice feature even though you can't see the LED when you wear the headset) and manage some of the more advanced settings of the headset.The construction seems very solid. The back of the neckband portion is coated in a buttery smooth silicone material. The dangly bits are a soft plastic, the buttons are covered in silicone, probably for the IPX waterproofing. The wires are silicone insulated and the extra padding bits on the ends are fairly soft to prevent pressure points, but...The wires for the IEMs are my biggest gripe. They are the kind that wrap around your ears and depending on the IEMs you have, you need this. The kind I have, Linsoul's Tin Audio T2 Pro's, do not but can work regardless of their orientation. The wires themselves are silicone insulated but there is no memory wire in the part that wraps around your ears! This is what bugs me the most. I can't get a good fit because of the lack of wire which causes me to be fiddling with them often. Pinching this way, bending that way, all to get a perfect fit. I had to get out my heat gun and persuade the wires in order to get them to somewhat conform to the shape of my ears and head.In my opinion, the issues with the wires not fitting well would have been solved had they not been the wrap around kind to start with and had little 3" adapters that could be added if you have the wrap around kind of IEMs. That way, FiiO could have two sets of adapters, both MMCX and 2-pin which would allow compatibility with a much wider array of IEMs instead of having to buy one style of connector/headset or the other. But that's just me. I have very sensitive ears and as such, I do not like the wrap around style because it causes migraines. But with this headset, I persist because it's so good.I like this headset, like, a lot. The few minor issues I have and one glaring issue with the wires aside this headset is close to perfection. Long battery life and fast charging, support for a wide range of IEMs, ability to play nice with high-bitrate Bluetooth codecs, USB-C and being a neckband style all make this my now daily-use headset. I just wish the wires were customizable. Because of my issues with the wires I'm subtracting a star but don't let my preferences detract from the capabilities of this headset.

This has changed the way I experience IEMs for the better. I also have A Shure BT-2, but the battery life, comfort, call quality and sound quality are all superior with the Fiio and the price is right. I can't seem to run the battery down even on purpose. The only time I use Shure now is when discretion in appearance is paramount, not this is my go - to. It is even comfortable to sleep in if you so desire.