For today’s review we will be looking at the FREETALK Everyman from Skype. Designed to be light and portable, the FREETALK Everyman comes with fold up headphones. It is a super wideband audio headset meaning it can tag advantage of Skype’s SILK codec for better audio quality. While it was created to operate using Skype; it functions and works nicely with any program requiring a microphone and/or headset.

This modestly priced ($22.88) headset features Neodymium speakers, a unidirectional microphone, 3.5 mm jack and a USB connection. The dual input system allows the FREETALK Everyman to be used with either a computer or connect to a portable media player. It is designed to work with either Mac OS X or Windows.

The FREETALK Everyman comes in inauspicious brown cardboard box with a Skype inspired design on the outside. By using plain recyclable brown cardboard material, Skype does a nice job keeping the packaging “Green”. It’s always nice to see companies who are environmentally conscious.

Inside the package we find the headset and an instruction/care sheet. The headphones come folded flat on a cardboard insert. Upon initial inspection we see the FREETALK Everyman headset is primarily composed of black plastic and weighs 124 grams.

A soft black foam material covers the earpieces and coming off the left side of the headset is an adjustable flexible metal arm with a boom microphone at the end. This microphone can be rotated 180 degrees to move the mic out of the way when using the FREETALK Everyman with a media player.

The headband is made of a relatively thick piece of plastic and is adjustable to accommodate different head sizes. The cable measures about four feet in length and Y-splits into a USB dongle and a 3.5mm headphone connection. The USB connection allows audio recording and playback via the PC or Mac.

On the outer part of the right headset is the Everyman logo in white. This same logo is found on the USB dongle. The ear pieces fold in towards the headband and rotate 90 degrees inward allowing the FREETALK Everyman to fold up for travel.

Specifications:

FREETALK Everyman (USB)

Super wideband audio headset for excellent Skype calls.

FREETALK Everyman is a state of the art, super wideband audio headset for Skype calls to everyone, everywhere, every time. Impeccable call quality when you talk to the world for free and the perfect soundtrack for me time when you use it with your MP3.

Features:
-Developed with Skype for optimal performance.
-Super wideband audio.
-Unidirectional microphone helps eliminate background noise.
-Neodymium speakers for rich full range stereo sound 20Hz-20KHz.
-Innovative, light fold-flat design.
-Plug & Play instant use with excellent USB sound quality.
-Handy optional 3.5mm jack allows MP3 connection when travelling.
-Adjustable headband and microphone.
-PC and Mac compatible.
-Weighs only 124 g.

Contents:
-1 x FREETALK Everyman USB stereo headset with fold flat feature.
-1 x Instruction and care manual.

Price: $23.00

 

For testing I used the FREETALK Everyman with my MacBook Pro, Desktop PC,iPhone and iPod. To obtain the proper fit, adjust the headband and boom mic to the optimal position. The flexible boom mic is easily adjustable and the mic’s metal arm was able to retain its position even with multiple wearings and removals of the FREETALK Everyman.

The sound quality of the FREETALK Everyman was quite good especially it’s low price. My experience has been sub $50 microphones are usually not that good. The FREETALK Everyman seems to break my preconception. Call made using Skype were crystal clear as the audio quality sounded good on both ends of the conversation. Using the headset with iChat provided similar results.

Listening to music using the FREETALK Everyman as regular set of headphones was another pleasant surprise. I was expecting “muddy” sounding audio from these “cans” but that was not the case as the mid range and bass response was crisp.

The only problem I experienced was the headset felt a little tight especially after wearing the FREETALK Everyman for a prolonged period. The headphone foam seems thick enough but I felt it did not provide enough cushion on my ears.

As a headset for music playback the FREETALK Everyman is a bit bulky. I don’t see myself using it as my everyday iPhone/iPod headset, but having that ability if definitely a nice bonus.

The headset is compact and folds up making it great for travel. Simply throw it in your laptop bag and go. Although it is constructed of plastic it feels sturdy and seems like it would handle the abuse of travel relatively well.

Conclusion:

The FREETALK Everyman is a low priced solution for the Skype user or anyone who uses audio/video telecommunications programs. The audio quality is excellent when used in conjunction with Skype. If you desire to use the FREETALK Everyman with a media player, the built 3.5mm jack makes that a possibility.

For the price, the FREETALK Everyman is a good headset and worth the investment especially if you use Skype frequently.

 

Pros:
+Low Price
+Collapsible
+Good sound quality
+Optimized for use with Skype

Cons:
-Headband a little tight
-Too bulky to use as everyday music headset

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance

This product was given to technogog for review by the company for review purposes only, and is not considered by us as payment for the review, we do not, and never will, accept payment from companies to review their products. To learn more about our review policy please visit this page HERE.