Toa Pere wearing the Florence x TRI 2 headphones from H20 Audio. Photo: H20 Audio
I, like many of you, I assume, like to do things outside. Things that require movement. Things that require time. Things that require both air and water, both inside and outside the body. Things that can often be improved ever so slightly by good music. Which is where H20 Audio comes in with their latest partnership with Florence, with a bone-conducting, waterproof, multi-sport headphone called the Florence x TRI 2 ($150).
I recently had a baby. A little less recently, I moved home from California to Vancouver Island, Canada. The waves here are good, yes, but fickle and cold, and I’ve found myself not surfing nearly as much as I used to (which was daily, so it’s not hard to surf less). But with that lack of surfing, I’ve had to find other outlets. Outlets like swimming and, much to my surprise, distance running.
I generally like to run with music, but not being able to hear cars coming up beside me (or, since I live in the sticks and usually run trails) wildlife, of which there is a lot. Bears, the very occasional cougar, and plenty of elk are common sights on morning runs, and I like to be at least slightly more aware of my surroundings than I can be when wearing regular headphones. The collaboration features H2O Audio’s award-winning open-ear bone conduction technology, combined with a best-in-class IPX8 waterproof rating.
They’re made, as you’d expect with any product associated with the Florence brand, to work just as well in or on the water as they do out of it. The headphones, which do tickle the jawbone slightly if the volume is up, manage to deliver great sound quality without blocking ambient noise, like a car coming up behind you, a boat coming up behind you, or a bear coming up behind you. With a battery life of about 8 hours, you’re likely not going to run them dead before you get home again.
“At Florence, we build gear with purpose—for athletes who thrive in the elements,” said Pat O’Connell, president of Florence. “This collaboration is an extension of that—equipment that inspires you to get out there, whether you’re crossing open ocean or training close to home.”
Want to get wet? Still can. Photo: Alex Haro//The Inertia
Notable Features of the Florence x H2O Audio TRI 2 Headphones
Waterproofing: The headphones have an IPX8 waterproof rating, which means the device is protected against continuous, long-term submersion in water. In this particular case, the Florence X Tri 2 headphones are engineered to withstand submersion up to 12ft/3.6m for an unlimited time.
Feel: Lightweight and not in your ears, the Florence x TRI 2 headphones basically vanish once they’re on your head. The silicone coating feels like skin on skin. The open ear design allows you to be fully aware of things around you while still hearing your music perfectly and comfortably.
Connectivity: Thanks to good old Bluetooth technology as well as the ability to simply upload a playlist onto the headphones themselves, annoying cords are a thing of the past. Even the mic is waterproof, so if you feel like having a chat while you’re paddling your way somewhere fun, you can just… do that.
MP3 Player: Taking your phone out in the water is generally not a great idea. Sure, if you’ve got a waterproof carrier that you trust, but the easiest thing to do if you’re going for a long swim or a long paddle or a long surf is to simply have a playlist directly on your headphones, which is possible with the Florence x TRI 2 headphones. They feature a built-in MP3 player with 8 GB of storage, allowing you to store up to 2,000 songs, amounting to about 130 hours of music (approximately one Pink Floyd song).
Three buttons is all you need. Photo: Alex Haro//The Inertia
User Interface: I am a big believer in a saying coined by Henry David Thoreau: “Our life is frittered away by detail,” he said. “Simplify, simplify, simplify!” H20 Audio must be too, because the Florence x TRI 2 headphones are incredibly intuitive and simple. It’s clear that a lot of thought went into them, because they’ve got three buttons and that’s it. Controlling your music and the volume of it couldn’t be easier. Just a simple touch of a button and you’re set for whatever you’re doing, whether it’s swimming, surfing, running, riding down a mountain, or pedalling your way somewhere.
Battery Life: A few days ago, I was taking our son on our nightly walk. It’s one of my favorite times of day where I catch up on my podcasts, generally about some horribly violent murder (thanks, Keith Morrison!), and I realized I hadn’t charged my headphones in well over a week. I honestly can’t remember the last time, but by the time I got home that evening with a baby who was decidedly not asleep like he was supposed to be, a little voice chimed through my headphones warning me that my battery level was “medium.” Not low. Just medium. That’s after more than a week of daily use. Impressive, no?
Drawbacks: The only real drawback I’ve run into with the Florence x TRI 2 headphones is that the Bluetooth doesn’t seem to go very far. Your phone needs to be relatively close to them (they cut out if I put my phone in my sock) to maintain unbroken sound.
Final Thoughts
H20 Audio has made an incredibly useful product in the Florence x TRI 2 headphone. Waterproof, lightweight, and comfortable, it allows the user to run, swim, surf, paddle, bike, ski, or snowboard without having to think about anything other than what they’re doing. Thanks to the bone-conducting technology and open ear design, you’re still aware of your surroundings while wearing them.
Editor’s Note: For more gear reviews and features on The Inertia, click here.
