112 MACWORLD APRIL 2020
PLAYLIST REVIEW: PHIATON BOLT BT 700Wide wings push down against your ears, helping to keep the heavy BT 700s in place.
and static to any track; the onboard
speaker any modern smartphone
outperforms easily.
This much extra size and weight going
toward a speaker as bad as this one is a
real shame, and a serious problem for
earbuds that specialize in portability. I will
never wear pants baggy enough to fit the
BT 700 charging case in my pocket; it’s so
boxy and hard-edged that it could even be
uncomfortable in some jackets.
BATTERY AND FIT
The brightest spot of my week with the BT
700s was in observing its battery life,
which regularly outperformed Phiaton’s
estimates. I expected to get about 5 hours
of constant playtime out of the BT 700s,
but my tests wrung between 6 and 7 hours
out of them several times. I’m not sure
where the discrepancy comes from, but it
was a nice surprise. The BT 700s lasted
just shy of an entire work day on several
occasions. Pausing for lunch and a few
meetings was more than enough to make
the BT 700s last all day long.
Whatever its other faults, the case
also charged the BT 700s pretty quickly,
taking them from empty to full charge in
a couple of hours. With 750mAh onboard
to top up the BT 700s three times each,
the case provides a lot of battery backup
power. The case also has a standby time
of 220 hours, which is enough for
several days away from a charger under
heavy use.
I was also impressed by the fit of the
BT 700s. They come with four tip sizes