Bluetooth Hearing Protection Ear Muffs

Review and comparison of Walker XCEL 500BT and Peltor 500BT Both Items where priced comparable at $94.99 (Walker) and $93.29 (Peltor). Two other BT devices I had to use as baselines were 3M Worktunes AM/FM/BT ($47.52) and Taotronics wireless BT earbuds “TT-BH042” ($47.95). BT Range/clarity/controls: Walkers were disappointing and Peltors were good. Peltors were rated at 25ft, but I was able to wander around my shop and house without loss of BT radio (about 30-40ft radius). Walkers only had 6-8ft of line of sight for BT, but the weird thing was; if I put my phone in my shirt I would get OK BT connection yet with periodic EMI feedback and if I put my phone in my rear pant pocket, I lost BT connection (2-3ft). Walker BT sucks! Tao and 3M’s were on par with Peltor’s. BT Controls on the Walker are 3-buttons on the rear edge of the control pack on the left head band and are v-e-r-y small, but function well. Peltors BT controls are 3-buttons on the right ear cup. Both pair fine and answer phone calls using the main/center BT multifunction button. Walkers will control phone/music volume from the head band buttons, but Peltor requires volume changes from the phone, not the headset. Both use the up/down buttons to control pause/play and fwd/back tracks. To be a good shop headset, I’d need to combine the best of both headsets. Stand alone, neither is up to snuff as a workshop head set. Head band/ear cups: Peltor Sucks! Hard sharp edges on head band, whether I wear a ball cap or not. A $15 aftermarket pad solves this issue, but Peltor should fix this. Walkers are wide and slightly padded and comfortable to wear, similar to my 3M’s. Ear cups are about the same; I believe my 3M’s are best, then Peltor and 3rd Walker. Think of this as 90, 88, 86 out of 100, respectfully. Peltors are upgradable to gel ear cups for about $50, others are unknown. Rated passive decibel rating are 26db for Walkers and Peltors, 24db for 3M’s and unknown for Tao’s. From just wearing these during my testing, I rate them best to least for passive protection as: 3M’s, Peltors, Walkers, then Tao ear buds. While rifle shooting, I felt no issues with various butt stocks. I believe I’m normal/average, but this is a very personal issue based on how you hold your rifle(s) and I tend to hold/shoot very upright. Scopes are a natural hold point for me, peeps sights are good and buckhorn sights are low but usable. Power/Auto shut-off/Prompts: Walkers use 2x AAA; Peltor and 3M’s use 2xAA with available Li-Ion battery pack ‘upgrade’. This depends on what you like or have available; not an issue to me. Auto shut-off: Walkers=2,4,6hrs,off; Peltors=2or4 hrs; 3M and Tao=N/A. Prompts: Walkers use Voice for on/off and setup menu but only beeps for all else. Peltors, 3M and Tao’s all use voice for every prompt. I prefer voice, it reduces/eliminates any confusion. ANC: Both are equal to my ears, for gunshots. Granted, this is their primary design focus. Both are susceptible to EMI feedback; Walkers were affected when my phone was within 12-18”, Peltors were afffected within 10-12”, but both were ok with my phone in my shirt pocket. Shop and Tool tests: Additionally, I use headsets in my workshop and on my tractor; BT lets me listen to radio or books while working. On the tractor, my 3M’s were the best; these are passive with BT and need to be removed when I stop to investigate a hole/ditch so I can hear rattlesnakes. Walkers were #2 for reducing tractor noice and both Walkers and Peltors would allow me to ID snakes without removing them. Peltors sucked at ANC reducing tractor noice, but Passive (power off) was on par with 3M’s (but no BT when off). I also tested with my table saw, hand-held power tools and leaf blower; all resulted aligned with my tractor experiences. My ranking best to least: 3M, Walker, Peltor (Passive/ANC-off), Tao, Peltor (ANC-on). Conclusions: In short, I am returning the Walkers and would return the Peltors, but I can not find the original packaging (argh!) Neither measures up to my demands or beats my 3M’s by a significant value. The positive outlook, the Peltors will be used to shooting only. PROs: Peltor had nice ear cups; Walker was more comfortable ‘out of the box’. Both could increase ambient noise (including wind), but both were good on windy days except when wind hit the mics directly. Remember, when you increase ambient noise this includes the wind! Additional Walker Pro’s were 4-frequency modes and the ability to turn off the auto-shutoff. CON’s: Peltor headband sucks! and for shop/tractor work the rating last to me. Walkers BT buttons were small and BT function was very disappointing. As I said before; I would return both, if I could, but I am stuck with the Peltors due to my errors. My quest for quality ANC for shooting continues. One special note, my Bose Quiet Comfort 20 ANC (QC-20’s) are still the best ANC headset I own, to date. But they are direct wired with an amazing battery life of about 15-20 of ANC use. Good luck on your quest!! Cheers! Update: 26 Nov 2019: I’ve had more time to use the Peltor’s since I was unable to return the and I don’t dislike them as much as I did to start. The ambient noise issue with the tractor and power tool can be controlled with the right ear cup up/down arrows. This was not my first thought because the BT volume can only be adjusted via my phone or ipod. I was able to get near Passive noise control by turning down the ambient noise as low as possible, but the cost was lost of ambient noise controlled situational awareness. If tools and tractor were turned off, I could increase the ambient noise to listen for “snakes and critters”. Not my fantasy desires, but workable. Also, being as it’s a headset, it hyper activates sweat and I carry a small towel to dry my ears and head, periodically. I still have issues with the headset, but I have raise my rating from 3 to 4 stars. Not great, but not bad. I still prefer my Bose QC20’s.