Closer Examination

After pulling the Hammo Wireless out of its box, two things became apparent: the headphones look nice, but feel extremely plasticky. No wonder as plastic is exactly what was used to build the ear cups and outer side of the headband. It can get a bit creaky, especially if you try to flex the headphones too much. Luckily, as long as you're listening to something, the creaking of the plastic can't be heard at all, so it's not really an issue that will negatively impact the sound performance, even when the Hammo Wireless is used on the go. Still, there's no going around it - the Hammo Wireless looks pretty, but feels much cheaper than it is.


The headband itself is made out of a combination of plastic and metal. It can be used to adjust the height of the ear cups. Two joints, one on each side, allow us to fold the headphones inward, which makes them easier to carry around.


The joints make a loud "click" whenever you start folding or finish unfolding the headphones. Not a satisfying one, though. If anything, I was worried the whole contraption would fall apart and I'd end up with a piece of the Hammo Wireless in each hand. That didn't happen, at least not during my two months of testing, but I can't say for sure that it won't. In short, I'd hesitate to fold the headphones on a daily basis and would recommend that you only do so when you absolutely must. Better safe than sorry.


The plastic construction has one huge benefit - it makes the headphones light, and lightness translates into fantastic comfort. I had no trouble wearing the Hammo Wireless for hours at a time without ever feeling the slightest pressure, chafing or anything else of the sort. The clamping force is adjusted extremely well - the headphones sit firmly on your head, but don't press on it too hard. The soft ear cushions, supposedly covered with real leather, surround the ears completely, and the inner side of the headband is nicely padded as well. Comfort-wise, the Hammo Wireless deserves high praise.


There are a grand total of three buttons on the outer side of the left ear cup. These are spaced apart nicely, in a way that puts the button that turns the headphones on and off, activates Bluetooth pairing, pauses and plays music, and answers/drops calls further away from two other, more frequently used buttons. As you're probably guessing, those two are used to adjust the volume (short press) or jump to the previous or next song (long press). Some manufacturers handle song skipping by adding a double- and triple-click gesture to the play button. I prefer the Noontec approach. If you want to go to the next song, which will be the most used action for most, you'll simply hold the lowest button on the ear cup without ever having to worry about pausing the track on accident. The buttons are positioned in a way that has your left thumb naturally fall over them when you grab the left ear cup with your hand.


The Hammo Wireless also offers NFC support as a method of speeding up the Bluetooth pairing process. If your smartphone supports it too, you'll be able to pair it with the Hammo Wireless by simply pressing it against the left ear cup. In order for it to work, the headphones need to be in Bluetooth pairing mode, which is activated by holding the power button for three seconds.


The 3.5-mm port on the left ear cup allows us to use the Hammo Wireless passively for when the battery is either empty or we simply want to combine it with a different DAC. Remember, when you're using Bluetooth, the digital-to-analogue conversion happens inside the headphones. In wired mode, the headphones receive an analogue signal that was already converted by the source - your smartphone, laptop, digital audio player, etc. Noontec supplies two audio cables that can be used with the Hammo Wireless in wired mode, with one of these being better suited to a device that's in your pocket and the other for indoor use. Of course, when the Hammo Wireless is used in wired mode, its built-in controls don't work. You'll have to use your source to adjust the volume and skip songs, and bring your phone up to your ear in order to have a conversation.


This connector is also used to charge the battery. The other side of the supplied charging cable needs to be plugged into any USB port. While this method of charging the battery certainly works, it isn't particularly fast. It will take about 5-6 hours to charge the battery fully, so you're best off putting the headphones on the charger before going to sleep - they'll be waiting for you fully charged when you wake up. Aside from being slow, this method of battery charging is also inconvenient. The only 3.5-mm-to-USB cable I own is the one Noontec supplied with the Hammo Wireless. At the same time, I can open just about any drawer of my desk or any pocket of my backpack for a couple of Micro-USB or USB-C cables. You get what I'm aiming at - a USB-C or standard Micro-USB port would work better for the purpose of charging the battery.

Battery Life and Wireless Range

Battery life on the Hammo Wireless is terrific. Noontec promises - and delivers - about 50 hours of music listening at high volume. That means you won't have to charge the battery more than once per week even if you're using the Hammo Wireless in your office throughout your workday. You'll even be able to take it on a round trip across the ocean and enjoy it on an airplane without recharging the battery along the way. Wonderful!

The wireless range is what you'd expect from a good Bluetooth 4.1 device - you're welcome to freely move in a 10-meter radius from your sound source. As long as there aren't thick walls between the Hammo Wireless and the source, you should be all set.

Microphone Performance

As I already mentioned, the power button can also be used to answer and drop phone calls. After answering, you can simply start talking - the Hammo Wireless has a built-in microphone that will pick up your voice. The people I talked to had no objections on the quality of my voice; everyone was able to understand me. Nobody even seemed to notice that I wasn't talking directly into my phone. Here's a microphone sample recorded in RecForge 2 Pro, after wirelessly connecting the Hammo Wireless to my Essential Phone:



Color me impressed! As you can hear, the microphone is loud and clear, and that makes it perfectly suitable for its intended purpose.