Review: Tarbull Musicmate 550-First Bluetooth Neckband with Pre-loaded Songs

Neckbands have been "in" for some time now, and it has started to seem like there is not much innovation left with the product line. However, a brand called Tarbull has changed that for the users and lovers of the Bluetooth neckband. The company has come out with a product called the Tarbull Musicmate 550. It is a usual-looking neckband, but comes with a little tweaking. The tweaking, which is also the USP of the product, is that it comes with 1001 preloaded songs. This makes it very different from other products in the same category. It is no more just a plug-and-play device, it now stands as an MP3 player as well.

In the Box

The Tarbull Musicmate 550 comes in a small box with the neckband accompanied by the user manual, extra ear-tips and a USB-C charging cable. The implementation of the USB-C cable implies that the charging speed of the earphones will be fast, and this might also give it good battery life. More on battery performance ahead.

The Neckband Earphones

The Tarbull Musicmate 550 are very well-made. The build is complete plastic, making it very light to be around the neck. The finish of the earphones is matte and gives a premium feel. Control panel of the earphone is on the right and the microphone block is on the left. The earphones house a good shell for the microphone, making the audio output good. On the control panel, there are 4 buttons, the power on and off button, the play and pause button, and the volume rockers. There are multiple modes and functions of the power button, you can turn it on and off by long pressing on it. After powering on, pressing the button once will activate the Bluetooth and your devices will be ready to be paired. One thing to keep in mind is that the earphones do not support multiple device connectivity.

The MP3 player mode is one of the key features of the earphones. This can be activated by pressing the power button twice after being powered on. This mode comes with 1001 preloaded Hindi songs from across genres. The play and the pause button is one button, which can also be used to take and end calls. The call quality on the headphones is good, and you won't experience any lag. Talking of lag, the earphones come with the latest Bluetooth 5 so if you plan on gaming with these, you will have a good experience. However, if you plan on playing competitive with these, it is best not to. The lag is very less but still prevalent.

The Sound

The sound quality on the Tarbull Musicmate 550 is good. The earphones come with 10-mm dynamic drivers that make the audio quality immersive. There is no mention of ANC(Active Noise Cancellation), however, if you turn up the volume to maximum, you won't be disturbed by anything, but a bang.

The bass output of the earphones is also good. If you are someone who takes a lot of calls and will be using these for video conferencing, these will do the job just fine. The voice over calls is rich, and you will not miss out on any details. The 36-hour battery life makes it a more reliable device than other options. Since it comes with USB-C support, the charging on the device is fast. You can get 10 hours of battery life on a 10-minutes charge. It has a 15-hour standby on usage and 36-hour standby on idle.

Rating

Sound Quality: 9.5/10

Build: 9/10

Features: 9.5/10

Price: 8.5/10

Price

The Tarbull Musicmate 550 costs around INR 1900 and can be bought from Amazon. If your budget is 2K for an earphone, this can be a very good choice.