It’s been about six months since I reviewed the Pamu Scroll, true wireless earphones that made people talk a lot about the aggressive price and a particularly successful Indiegogo campaign. Now Padmate, the company that produced these headphones, returns once again to the crowdfunding site with the Pamu Slide. The modus operandi is always the same: a ridiculously low price (only $ 49!) For the fastest, then it goes to $ 109 and finally to $ 169 / $ 199 (LOL).

Package

In the elegant sales package we don’t find particular surprises: the earphones and the case, a pair of additional rubber pads (yes, only one more pair), a rather short USB cable – USB-C and a manual in various languages. Boring and essential.

Construction and comfort

There are two big differences that can be immediately noticed between the old Pamu Scrolls and these new Pamu Slides. The new earphones have a temple that stretches along the cheek, in AirPods style and a very, very big case.

The build quality seems pretty good. It’s all in plastic, but you have the feeling of having a well-made product (better than Pamu Scrolls, in my opinion). Once again the headphones are named after the method of opening the case, and if the scroll was lifted like a parchment scroll, the cover slides horizontally for the Slide. The cover is characterized by a very pleasant fabric covering, on which stands the Pamu logo in the center.

The structure of the opening seems very well done, the slide is precise and fluid. I don’t put my hand on fire on how much the structure will last over the years, but by buying anything that includes a slide mechanism you accept the risks derived from wear.

The main “problem” of the case, however, is not so much the closing system as its size, it is really big. Forget about the elegance of AirPods, but also forget about the portability of any other true wireless earphone case we’ve seen so far.

Let’s do this, imagine the case of any pair of bonnets that you happened to see. Done? Here, the Pamu Slide case is certainly larger than double. Of course, inside there is a 2,000 mAh battery that recharges the headphones five times and is also a wireless power bank (we go back …), but the idea of ​​carrying around the headphones by putting the case in the pocket of the jeans is definitely excluded.

The earphones, by contrast, are quite comfortable to carry. The comfort factor is always very personal and not everyone likes in-ear headphones that fit into the ear canal, but considering that the thickness of the headphones is quite high, it is certainly an advantage that Padme has managed to study a fairly ergonomic shape from do not strain your ear, moreover, there is a silicone coating that increases friction and consequently stability. Even if you run or move your head a lot, the Pamu slides remain firmly in your ear.

Of cause, the IPX6 certification is not missing, testifying to its resistance against liquids, even under heavy rain, these ear pieces have nothing to fear.

Finally, a note: on the earphones there is a white LED that flashes regularly when the headphones are in use. Honestly, I find it a very unpleasant choice, which will make you look like a little robot when you wear earphones.

Audio features and quality

Once again, from the point of view of audio quality, Pamu manages to amaze, they are not audiophile earphones, but they sound better than I would have expected from $ 50 headphones. The predominant frequencies are the low and medium-low ones, which are particularly good. There are not very deep bass (I ignore the technical specifications, but it seems that the frequency response starts from 30 Hz), but in return the reproduction of low frequencies is always very clean and does not distort. On the contrary, the high ones leave something to be desired, and are rather truncated, therefore, particularly bright arcs if you listen to classical music.

Except for this flaw for high frequencies, the audio is still very pleasant and rather clean, decidedly honest for the selling price.

But the real strength of these headphones is the autonomy, almost 10 hours with a single charge, an impressive result in itself, to which at least 5 additional refills provided by the case are added, for a total of over 50 hours of I listen. Really remarkable numbers, which will make you reconsider that giant and bulky case (maybe).

About the case, this case has a unusually function, it can be a wireless charger for your smartphone. Just double-click the button on the back (whose LED around it will start to flash) and placing a smartphone on the back, will start to load. I honestly consider it a rather useless function, the phone hangs on the case, the battery of the case is not so abundant (2,000 mAh) that it can not really make a difference. Overall, everything is really uncomfortable and I can imagine very few cases of concrete use. Furthermore, wireless charging is notoriously dispersing a certain amount of energy, which is simply wasted, and no, it is not possible to use the case as a power bank via cable.

The possibility of using the case as a wireless charger is present only in the Pamu Slide Plus, not in all versions except the one sold for $ 49, in light of what is written above, I would strongly advise you to give up this function and orient yourself on the most economical model available.

The technical specifications are remarkable, at least those we associate. Inside these headphones we have Bluetooth 5.0 with Qualcomm QCC3020 chip, which supports the aptX codec and guarantees low latency and high energy efficiency (which probably affects the excellent autonomy). Obviously, the pairing of Bluetooth 5.0 and support for the aptX codecs, ensures a synchronization between audio and video and allows you to use headphones for watching movies or playing games. Considering the price, the choice of the Qualcomm chip in question is really interesting.

Also interesting is the control system, which offers several possibilities, which we will summarize below:

Left ear:

Single click: play / pause
Double click: voice assistant
Long click: reduces the volume
With incoming call: single click accepts the call, double-click rejects it

Right ear:

Single click: play / pause
Double click: next track
Long click: increases the volume
With incoming call: single click accepts the call, double-click rejects it

Despite not being a big fan of touch controls on headphones, I have to admit that they work pretty well. I occasionally had some problems using the double click, but I appreciated the extended tap to adjust the volume, which I found myself using much more often than I would have thought. It is worth pointing out that the area in which it is possible to plug is only the upper one, while the rods do not receive the commands (which can be convenient to place the caps a little by taking them from there).

The earphones can also be used individually, even (and above all) for calls. Speaking of phone call, the microphone is mediocre, like most of the true wireless earphones, it returns discrete results indoors, but moving outside often street noise can affect (very) negatively the quality of conversations.

Unfortunately, I have to conclude with a negative note: I noticed frequent disconnection problems between the two earphones, which occurred especially when I tried to connect the Pamu Slide to a second device. The transition from iPhone to Mac was quite tragic with both devices nearby, I had a lot of problems. I don’t know if it was a coincidence (since I don’t know that Pamu Slide can hold two associated devices) or anything else, but the fact is that for one morning I stopped using them due to frustration, since the right earpiece systematically disconnected from the left. In any case, after dissociating them from the Mac and leaving them in charge for quite a while, the disconnection problems seem to have disappeared.

Price

Once again for Pamu earphones, price is the real crux of the matter. Who will manage to buy a pair at $ 109, all it makes a good deal. Personally I have a bit hated the house so bulky, but if you are willing to postpone the size and to ignore the after-sales support, the caps are definitely worth this price.

Finally, of course, at $169 I don’t recommend it: there are so many other better choices in that price range.