The Pamu Slides are headphones that focus on a range above the average, and on a discreet build quality.
The name Pamu is certainly not new to technology enthusiasts. With their first wireless Scroll headphones (our review here) they achieved global fame, thanks to the good price-quality ratio, at least in the first Indiegogo distribution phase, when they were sold for just $ 49. Now the time has come to renew and for this reason the Pamu Slide have been created, an evolution of the previous model that focuses almost entirely on the long life of the batteries.
We had never seen the true wireless headphones of this type with such battery life, a feature that stands out above all others, even on the listening quality, suitable only for certain musical genres.
Sales and design pack
Pamu listened to the criticisms that were addressed to her with Scrolls, which were sent in a very poor and minimal packaging, worthy only of a low cost product. This time the pack is more refined, the packaging is black and has a casket opening, which once opened immediately shows the refill case and headphones, housed in special spaces. Below it is a small package with the supplied accessories, including a Type-C USB-SUB charging cable and rubber pads to adapt the size of the earphones to the ear.
To hit the eye right away are the size of the case, definitely larger than average, a choice made to install a 2000 mAh battery inside. The upper part of the case is in canvas and has the Pamu logo on it, while the rest is made of polycarbonate of discreet quality but not exceptional. On the back there is a button to activate the wireless reverse charge, you read that right, this case is capable of charging other devices in addition to the headphones inside.
A solution to be used only in case of emergency, since it is very slow and any phone should be kept leaning against the case, in the balance, with the risk of falling. Next to the button on the back is the USB Type C charging port.
The Pamu Slide take their name from the particular case that contains them, which opens precisely by sliding the lid outwards and thus revealing the earphones. The case is magnetically attached to the case but attention must be paid to the positioning of the headphones, it has sometimes happened to withdraw them without the contacts for recharging being well aligned, causing one of the two headphones to not load.
Even the earphones are made of plastic but of slightly better quality than the case. The dimensions here are also quite generous, even in this case, however, the choice was made to increase the battery as much as possible. In the right earpiece a status LED is installed, which flashes during use, which could be done without.
In general, the build quality of the Pamu Slide is discreet but not exceptional, the leather seen in the first model has been replaced by plastic, and the generous dimensions may not appeal to everyone. The IPx6 certification, on the other hand, is very good, allowing the use of headphones even in the rain without any problem.
Technical characteristics and user experience
The Pamu Slide uses a Qualcomm QCC3020 chip and a Bluetooth 5.0 connection for data transmission, with AptX codec (no HD though). The earphones integrate a 85 mAh battery, while the case has a 2000 mAh battery. According to the specifications, 60 hours of listening are guaranteed, the earphones can be used for 10 hours without recharging. A truly impressive battery life on paper but also in practice. In fact, in the two weeks of testing we never had to recharge the case. Battery life is the real highlight of the slides, if you are looking for earphones that you can even forget to recharge every week, then this is the right product.
The headphones also offer touch controls, differentiated according to the right or left earpiece. You can send a track forward or answer a call, as well as turn down the volume or activate a voice assistant, to be chosen between Siri and Google Assistant.
During our tests we found some sporadic disconnection but nothing serious, on the audio front instead the future buyers must evaluate at best if these Pamu Scroll are suited to their musical tastes. The yield is very good with genres that make good use of the bass, since the bass is the most emphasized during playback. If you are a classic lover better to change direction, because mids and highs tend to be slightly compressed and decidedly less present.
Could something more be done with a cost of just $ 50 on Indiegogo? Absolutely yes, that’s why we believe that this was a precise choice of Pamu, who wanted to calibrate his Scrolls to better represent the bass rather than the other frequencies. If this is how you like to hear music, then these Pamu headphones are a serious consideration. Turning instead to call quality, this is very good at listening but the built-in microphone is not the best in noisy environments and tends to capture a lot of background noise.
The Pamu Slides are wireless headphones that make battery life for their main strength. It is the first time we try a product of this type with such a long battery life, you can practically forget to load them. Another merit, for some, is the audio rendering that points to low frequencies, which on the basis of the musical genres that are heard can be considered a good or a bad thing. On the other hand, we have above-average dimensions and, indeed, a representation of the unbalanced sound spectrum, which makes the Scrolls less versatile in terms of musical listening. The price of $ 50 is correct, however, and it is this figure that should be taken, after the campaign on Indiegogo, in fact, the cost would rise to a good $ 169, definitely out of parameter for the general quality offered.
