Belkin SoundForm Bolt Review: Belkin SoundForm Bolt Review

Best Prices Today: Belkin SoundForm Bolt Wireless Earbuds

$51.11

Belkin sells a range of affordable headphones, from the entry-level SoundForm Bolt (£19.99/$39.99) to the SoundForm Pulse (£69.99/$119.99), so even its high-end pair range is more affordable than most.

I tried the Bolt headphones to see what you get for a very small outlay and I’m impressed with the results. You’ll definitely find better audio quality by spending more, of course, but what you get at this price is impressive.

The Bolt headphones come in a protective case and in three colors: black, white, lavender, and teal.

You don’t get active noise cancellation (ANC) like with more expensive headphones, but the sound quality is clear and the battery life is decent for a very attractive price.

Design and build

The Bolt earbuds are chunkier and larger than Apple’s AirPods, much like the Sony WF-C700N or Google Pixel Buds A.

They come in a large, matte-finished oval charging case and three pairs of ear tips in different sizes. There’s a USB-C port on the back for charging and four LEDs that indicate the remaining battery charge.

There’s no supporting app, so you can’t see how much charge is left in each earbud like you can with more expensive earbuds.

Belkin

The buds weigh 4.5g each, so they don’t feel heavy in the ear. The box offers a choice of three silicone tips, which I highly recommend you try, as sound quality and in-ear stability are improved with a proper fit.

IPX4 water resistance is basic but should at least protect the buds from rain or sweat.

Bolt uses Bluetooth 5.2 for connectivity and I had no issues with losing wireless connection during testing.

Features

Pairing the heads was a painless process and took less than a minute the first time.

You can control various features by touching the earbuds: tap for Play/Pause; two for the next song to take/end a phone call; three for the previous song; and hold for 2 seconds to block calls or activate the microphone.

There is no volume control option on the earbuds themselves, which is normal for budget earbuds.

Foundry

There’s also no active noise cancellation, but I wasn’t expecting that with a pair of headphones at this price. The ANC cancels out ambient noise, and you’ll hear more around you than you would with a more expensive pair of ANC headphones.

But for those who wear their headphones on the go, having a better awareness of what’s going on outside their audio bubble can be an advantage. There’s a Mono mode that allows you to use one earbud at a time to extend battery life and/or stay more aware of your surroundings.

The earbuds don’t have auto-pause (i.e. wear detection), so if you remove your earbuds, a song will continue playing unless you manually stop it yourself by pressing or on your phone.

Sound quality

Inside the Bolt headphones are 6mm dynamic drivers for clear sound, but not as premium as headphones with 10 or 12mm drivers which will produce more powerful bass and quality higher audio and volume.

Compared to the higher-end Belkin Pulse headphones, you’ll notice higher quality with the 12mm drivers, but it’s not a significant difference even though the Bolt costs a third of the price.

In a busy environment, the sound from the Bolt headphones is a bit tinny but is better in a quiet space. This is where ANC would really improve the audio quality, but with the right choice of tip you will notice an audio improvement.

Foundry

The volume is easily loud enough. I wouldn’t want to hurt my ears by pumping the headphones at full volume.

To listen to audiobooks and podcasts you don’t need absolute audio quality and the voice quality on the Bolt headphones is clear if a little lacking in bass.

The SoundForm Bolts come with just one mic per earbud, compared to Belkin’s higher-end SoundForm Pulse earbuds which have six in total. However, the quality is impressive despite a more than affordable price.

Battery life and charging

The Belkin SoundForm Bolt headphones have excellent battery life.

According to Belkin, the buds can last around nine hours out of the case. In this case, this duration is then extended to 28 hours, which is sufficient for a long-haul flight and intermediate trips.

The case itself charges via USB-C, which is an improvement over cheaper earbuds that charge using fiddly micro-USB but lack more expensive wireless charging earbuds .

You can see the remaining charge in 25% increments via four LEDs on the front of the case.

Pricing and availability

The Belkin Bolt headphones cost £19.99/$39.99 and are available now from the Belkin store in the UK and US. You can also get them from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

The price is excellent for heads from a premium audiophile brand, if not appropriate, especially for UK buyers who generally have to pay more than their US counterparts.

You can find more options in our table of the best cheap wireless headphones, including several with active noise cancellation (ANC). We also offer more premium options in our table of the best wireless earbuds overall.

Should you buy the Belkin SoundForm Bolt?

If you need an entry-level or aftermarket set of headphones with a choice of colors, the Belkin Bolt headphones offer more than reasonable audio quality and decent battery life for a great price.

Alternatives to Belkin

As mentioned, Bolt is Belkin’s entry-level SoundForm earphone. If you want better audio quality and features, consider the rest of the lineup based on their features.

SoundForm Bolt ($39.99 / £19.99):

• 6mm dynamic drivers
• 28 hour battery life
• Charging case
• 1 mic per bud
• No active noise cancellation
• IPX 4 water resistance

Moving SoundForm ($49.99 / £29.99):

• 6mm dynamic drivers
• Battery life of 19 hours
• Charging case; wireless charging case, add $20/£10
• 1 mic per bud
• No active noise cancellation
• IPX 5 water resistance

Sound shape reading ($59.99 / £34.99):

• 6mm dynamic drivers
• Battery life of 38 hours
• Charging case
• 2 microphones per bud
• No active noise cancellation
• IPX 5 water resistance

Sound Shape Flow ($89.99 / £59.99):

• 12mm dynamic drivers
• Battery life of 31 hours
• Wireless charging case
• 2 microphones per bud
• Active noise cancellation
• IPX 5 water resistance
• SoundForm app

Impulse SoundForm ($119.99 / £69.99):

• 12mm dynamic drivers
• Battery life of 35 hours
• Wireless charging case
• 3 microphones per bud
• Active noise cancellation
• IPX 5 water resistance
• SoundForm app