Fistful of Awesome takes a look at a cool piece of gear and gives you the down and dirty on what makes it great, what makes it suck, and if it's worth the cash.

The Privates are a set of wireless headphones from Outdoor Tech. We wouldn't be surprised if you've never heard of them; the little California-based company just opened shop a few years ago. Company mandate currently revolves around making audio gear that's wireless, rugged, and damn cool looking.

Apart from the headphones, Outdoor Tech gives buyers a nice, braided 3.5-mm cord to use the headphones even if there is no battery power, a soft carrying case, a charging cable, and a few stickers.

The Good:

First off, the Privates look epic. The army green color matched with the square speakers, canvas-wrapped headband, and metal mounts gives the Privates a tough military look that's classic in just the right ways. Think a combination of a Willys Jeep and a military rucksack. If you don't dig the green, they also sell these in black, blue, and yellow.

Sound quality is far above what you would expect from a set of wireless cans. They won't match a good set of dedicated wired units, but they handily trump most Bluetooth headphones I've tested.

Battery life is also solid, with my test unit lasting me a few days of heavy use. Outdoor Tech quotes 10 hours, but I think it's a little closer to 12 if you don't blast the volume.

To increase portability, the Privates fold nearly in half to fit into the carrying case. It's a nice feature, and the hinges feel pretty sturdy.

A lack of buttons and moving parts helps increase ruggedness and durability.

The Bad:

The big design point of the Privates is the buttonless swipe controls. The idea is great in theory—slide a finger to change volume or skip songs—but in practice, it can be frustrating. The volume swipe doesn't change device volume. It changes the volume of the headphones themselves. That wouldn't be so bad, but the volume jumps are huge, meaning I was reaching for my iPhone more often than not for volume duties. Changing songs works much better, but there are still response issues, and you may have to try a few times before it works.

Fit can also be a bit weird. With the flat earpieces just resting on my ears, the Privates didn't feel very snug. To the credit of the guys at OT, they never really became uncomfortable, but I prefer an over-the-ear cup design.

Like most every pair of on-ear headphones, sound leak is an issue. If you have the volume cranked, expect to get angry stares from everyone around you. Just because you want to listen to Katy Perry doesn't mean they want to, as well.


The Outdoor Tech Privates look amazing, sound great, and have battery life for days. The touch controls are iffy, but overall, the Privates are a solid piece of kit. For the $100 asking price, you would be hard-pressed to find a better performing set of Bluetooth headphones.

What Do You Think?