Festool Wireless Earbuds Review
Festool Wireless Bluetooth Earbud Hearing Protection, NRR 25 dBs (Model GHS 25)
Festool GHS 25
Manufacturer: Festool
Model number: GHS 25
Power source: Wireless
Features and Specifications | Festool Wireless Earbuds
Features:
- Active Noise Cancelling w/ noise isolating microphone
- OSHA compliant
- Conversation mode
- Touch-based controls
Specifications:
- Noise Rating (dB’s): 25 (NRR) / 32 (SNR)
- Connection Type: Bluetooth 5.2
- Element Rating: IP67 (water/dust)
- Battery: 13 hrs (earbuds) / 25 hrs (case)
- Charge Cable: Universal Type-C USB
Design & Comfort
Comfortable Fit
The Festool wireless earbuds (model GHS 25) fit great. We wore them for multiple days in the shop on the job site for hours at a time and never found them uncomfortable. Unlike other earbuds we’ve used, the molded housing is slightly narrower that the radius if the foam or silicone tips. This means that the plastic isn’t digging into your inner ear over time, keeping them snug yet comfy during prolonged use. This was especially true when wearing them with other safety headgear like safety glasses, welding helmet or grinding shield.
The GHS 25’s also come with a variety of foam tips to adjust to ear canal size for any user. Festool also includes a set of silicone tips. The tips also fit over a threaded stainless-steel stud which seemed like a high-quality design. It made it easy to find the right size and material for the user and job at hand. Re[lacement and/or additional tips can be purchased from the Festool website.
Touch Controls
We also loved the touch based (vs button) design of the controls. It can get uncomfortable pressing the earbuds into your ear when trying to press the button. A light touch is all that is required to work the integrated controls for the GHS 25. We had zero issues operating the controls and even used them with gloves on a time or two.
Hard Case
The most frustrating part of case rechargeable earbuds is often how they fit into the case to recharge. A poor fit results in bas connections with the spring-loaded charging points. The Festool GHS 25 were exceptional in this regard. The magnetic connection uses an extremely strong magnet to align and secure the earbuds in the case. It was seriously impressive and appreciated. In fact, we could almost drop the earbuds into the molded channel, and they would secure themselves. They also easily fit even with the largest foam and silicone tips on which is another problem we’ve had with other NRR-rated earbuds.
Overall Performance
Sound Quality & Noise Protection
The sound quality of the Festool GHS 25’s is great. We listened to music often while running tools and could with zero complaints. It’s hard to quantify the NRR effectiveness. But after running planers, jointers, grinders, nail guns, miter saws and more for mutiple hours, our hearing was ringing-free and felt great.
Conversation Mode
The GHS 25 earbuds also have a conversation mode which uses the microphone to suppress background noise and allow you to hear a person talking. We were surprised at how well this feature worked. We were able to have a normal conversation easily even with an angle grinder running in the background!
Active Noise Cancelling
We loved the Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) feature as well. There were a handful of times when the ANC feature briefly struggled when we turned our head and because both earbuds weren’t equally picking up background noise. But it was very brief, maybe 2-3 seconds each time, and automatically kicked back on when we repositioned. This is on par with any other earbuds we’ve used though.
Final Thoughts | Festool Wireless Earbuds
The Festool GHS 25 earbuds are a great addition for any professional or handyman. They offer excellent hearing protection with very effective active noise cancelling. They were extremely comfortable through prolonged use. And we loved the easy and secure connection to the hard case. At $180 they are on the higher end for hearing protection, but we wouldn’t hesitate to make the purchase based on overall performance and comfort!
Festool
About the author
Ben Fecteau
Benjamin is a former project manager, CNC-designer, and AWS-certified welder with experience running a commercial and industrial steel design and fabrication company. Before making the jump to commercial construction, he spent years renovating houses and building furniture where he became skilled in the art of home wiring, flooring, siding, and custom tool modifications. Benjamin has a Masters Degree in Education and is passionate about sharing his love of design with his sons and through community-based outreach. He resides in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and enjoys spending time with his family, in his workshop, and serving as an Air Force Officer.
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These are just rebranded ISOTunes Free Aware Buds, right? They look identical. I love my ISOTunes but wanted to step up to the Free Aware buds and surprisingly these are $10 cheaper, even though they’re branded Festool.
Brandon,
It seems like this is an accurate statement. The technologies and features each boast are identical as far as i can tell. They have the same NRR rating, charge times, case and ear bud design, Bluetooth version 5.2 connectivity, IP67 rating. Both sets of earbuds also incorporate a background microphone to support smart noise cancelling although they call it different things (active vs. conversation mode). I don’t have a pair of ISO tunes in hand to physically compare to my Festool’s but, based on some comparitive research, it seems like you are correct. Thanks for reading! -Ben
THEY ARE INDEED MADE BY HAVEN TECH. WHICH IS ISOTUNES THEY ROCK
I was searching internet for who is actual manufacturer of these and looks like iv found. Even tho i like Festool as a brand i definetly will go with isotunes just because of color, yellow is just perfect if you lose these. Also i would like to know where can i find yellow spare buds for this model?