Let me start out by saying I have tried many wireless headphones in my life and when I received the package of Plugfones Liberate 2.0 in the mail, I have to say that my expectations were not very high. And, I was wrong. So I apologize to any future inanimate objects for my unsupported criticism.

That said, I’m a project manager for a custom home builder in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. We do everything from high end custom beach houses (oh, you’d like your swimming pool on the second floor? Sure, OK) to commercial renovations to small remodels. I have a lot of people in the field, subs and suppliers to deal with and critical paths to keep on path. And, I’m sometimes the go-to problem solver for odd situations like erecting dust protection or people barriers or just sweeping up because everyone else—besides the client—is blind to dust.

Bottom line, I’m on the phone a lot in a lot of scenarios. And I need to be able to hear and be heard.

Packaging. Packaging is sometimes a tell for what’s inside. I was impressed with how PlugFones was delivered which showed a greater attention to detail than the kind you can get in big box or even online.

Well-designed and easy to open, the package included the wireless headphones, a handy and durable zippered carrying case, two pairs of silicone earpieces and an extra set of foam earpiece tips and a charger cable. The only issue I had was with the instruction manual. It is in VERY tiny print. I used my phone's camera to zoom in all the way and I still had a hard time reading it. I understand that this is probably the norm in the industry, but I feel that it could be larger print.

Pairing with Phone. The headphones arrived with a full charge (YES!) and were easy to pair up quickly with my iPhone. The whole process took about 2-minutes, no exaggeration. There's a nice female voice that tells you when the power comes on, when the headphones are connected with your cell phone, and (I love this) what the battery level is: High, Medium, or Low. When you power down the voice tells you "Power Off" which is great so you don’t accidentally leave it on all night.

In-Use Clarity (Input and Output). First thing, tunes. I started my favorite music app and was pleasantly surprised to find that the music was crisp and clear. The volume is easily controlled with the inline controls on the PlugFones itself. The only thing I can compare it to is a pair of wired headphones that come with your iPhone. The sound is that good.

To try out the mic I called the harshest earbud phone critic I know—my wife—but she couldn't tell if I was on Bluetooth or wired headset.

Jobsite and Sound Deadening. Sometimes it’s all hands on deck to get a problem solved and such was the case when we needed a Hilti jackhammer on a floor scraper rig to remove some glued down engineered wood flooring. The music was still clear as the previous day. While I could still hear the jackhammer, the sound was muffled tremendously. Extremely impressed. The sound of the jackhammer was picked up by the microphone while I received calls but my callers all said that they could hear me just fine while I worked and talked.

I’ll say that again, I was making calls and running a jackhammer. A + PlugFones.

Battery Life. I am out in the field all day driving from job site to job site. I start my day on the road at 7:30am and I usually finish up back at the office around 5:30pm. I have the headphones on and the right earpiece in all day long. I make and receive calls and it works great all day. I then take them with me home. After dinner I put them back in so I can listen to Frank Sinatra or Guns ‘N Roses (depends on my mood) while I do the dishes and clean up the kitchen. When I shut the headphones down at the end of the day, the sound is as clear as when I turn them on in the morning. The estimated standby life is 12 hours; no exaggeration, dear reader.

Earpiece Tips. I started off using the foam tips that are just like the ones my company gets for us, you know, the ones you squish then let expand inside your ear. They work great. I found though that, similar to the regular foam earplugs, the expanded foam makes my ear sore after a few hours. The silicone tips were easy to replace the foam tips with and fit better in my ear. I think this may be an issue specific to me and your experience may vary. The point is, making the exchange to the ear piece that worked for me was easy.

Overall Impressions. This product completely blew my expectations out of the water. I was extremely impressed by the clarity of sound and the quality of the phone calls—both outgoing sound and incoming sound. I highly recommend Plugfones Liberate 2.0 to anyone in the construction industry who needs ear protection and wants to listen to Bluetooth wireless headphones at the same time.