By now most smartphone manufacturers are opting for the removal of the headphone jack, which is why it is almost taken for granted to have a Bluetooth headset.
When it comes to Bluetooth headsets, the first ones that come to mind are Apple Airpods, but in recent weeks there has been much talk of a relatively cheap alternative and we’re talking about Padmate Pamu Scroll.
Compact, elegant, powerful and waterproof earphones with a launch price of $ 39 with the Crowdfunding campaign on IndieGogo before.
The Chinese company Padmate, born a few years ago, has been involved in the construction of headphones and earphones for other brands (see Monster, HAMA, Nokia and Xiaomi) for about 17 years and with the IndieGogo campaign this company has achieved absolutely unexpected results. Consider that since it started it has had over 60 thousand supporters and has obtained over 3 million dollars, becoming the most successful campaign for audio products.
Let’s review Padmate’s Pamu Scroll, the best alternative to Apple’s Airpods.
Design and Construction
Design is certainly a point in favor of these PaMu Scrolls. Very minimal and with small dimensions, they measure only 19.5 x 17 x 27mm for 5 grams of weight.
They have a microphone at the bottom and an activity LED at the top of both earphones. On the outside they have a totally touch surface that allows you to start or pause the audio and answer calls with the simple touch. There is also the possibility to go on with the audio track and activate the voice assistant with a double tap on the left earpiece.
One thing we didn’t like is call handling and if you want to use only one headset in a call you will have to wear the right one where the Bluetooth antenna is.
Unlike the Airpods the Pamu Scrolls are in-ear, which guarantees a definitely greater isolation than the Apple headphones from external noises and in fact they are also equipped with 3 additional rubber caps of various sizes.
As for ear placement initially, we were afraid of losing the earphones but after wearing them for many hours, even doing sports like running and cycling, this fear does not exist .
Construction
We must be honest the Case will not be as minimal as the Airpods, but it is really very nice and nice. Cylindrical in shape, it has a diameter of 37mm and a height of 96mm covered in leather (internally a velvet of good quality).
The case is sold in 4 different colors: Rock’n’Roll and Glory Edition which are brown base but with different shades, the Graphene with an anthracite black color and the Sakura version with pink color.
On the lower part of the case we find a Micro USB port (at the end of 2018 we would have preferred a USB-C connection) to which a wireless charging accessory can be connected, sold separately on the Moldac at a price of $19.
Interesting and useful, the 4 blue LEDs that indicate the percentage of the battery of the case which is 500 mah (which is recharged in about 2 hours).
The case functions as a Powerbank for the earphones and allows us to charge the earphones twice. With 4 LEDs lit we have 100% battery with 3 LEDs 75% with 2 50% and 1 25% of remaining battery. Every time we insert the earphones into the case, they are automatically turned off.
Personally, I did not find it difficult or cumbersome to carry the cylindrical case with me in everyday use as it easily fits in my backpack or in a bag.
Technical Data and Audio Quality
The Pamu Scroll earphones have a 6mm drive managing to reproduce a range of frequencies ranging from 20 Hz to 20KHz with good deep bass and brilliant, crystal-clear highs.
The battery of the single earphones is 55mAh and guarantees 3 / 3.5 hours of playback and up to 100 hours in standby (Padmate data). They are also IPX6 certified which guarantees resistance to splashes of water and sweat but cannot be immersed in water.
The Bluetooth standard of these headsets is the recent 5.0 which guarantees a truly stable connection with a greater maximum distance (which has exceeded 10 meters).
The first use pairing was a disarming speed and ease, the best ever tried.
A beep from the left and right earpiece, to signal us that they recognized each other when we removed they from the case, and a further beep to warn us that the connection was made with the smartphone. All in a few seconds.
To associate them to another device instead, you need to disconnect them from the previous one and redo the pairing on the new device but it is always a matter of a few seconds.
Audio Quality:
An important point for me is the quality of the audio and I tell you right away that to get the best performance you need to choose the type of adapter for the auricle.
Choosing the size S of the silicone adapters, included in the package, the listening experience completely changes from choosing the size L.
Personally I prefer to use the larger size L, so as to have the highest listening quality with greater isolation from external noise.
Using the size M you will have less sound insulation from external noise and worse sound quality. I can’t say that they are the best earphones I have ever tried, but they undoubtedly enter the top of my personal ranking.
As for the bass I can say that they are deep, but also well calibrated and full-bodied that never bother leaving the right balance between medium and high.
These Pamu Scrolls never distort and the sound is always clean. Having a device with Bluetooth 5.0 associated with the Pamu Scroll the deelay is completely non-existent but if you want to do the 9th test I recommend a test with the metronome.
As for the audio on call I can say that it is not bad we say without praise and without infamy.
The audio for the listener will be clear, even if our tone of voice is not very high or if there are environmental noises (not exaggerated).
The master headset is the right one so if you want to use only one earpiece you can just keep it. I recommend keeping them both as each earpiece has its own built-in microphone.
The Pamu Scrolls are currently available for purchase on Moldac website at a price of $ 75. However these Pamu Scrolls really amazed me under so many sides, with an excellent sound well balanced between low and medium / high frequencies and without having any trouble wearing them even for 3 hours straight. Furthermore, the packaging is pleasant to look at and at the touch you can feel that they are very well made.