Wildhorn Alta Wireless Bluetooth, Drop-in Headphones - HD Speakers Compatible Any Audio Ready Ski/Snowboard Helmet Headphones. Glove Friendly Controls, Microphone for Hands-Free Calls

In the 2024-25 season, I tried out - side by side - the Wildhorn Altas, Smith x Aleck Nunchucks, and Outdoor Tech Chips 3.0. I used them in my winter helmet to listen to music via bluetooth. Overall - I liked the Altas the best, based primarily on sound, but also with regard to ease of use, and price (far cheaper than the other two). The Chips sounded almost as good, but the controls are not as easy/useful to me as the Altas. The Nunchucks sounded very distorted, the app would not pair properly, and the buttons were hard to control. Buttons - Alta has 3 buttons, making volume, track changes, voice commands, and calling easy and intuitive (and similar to most other bluetooth headphones). It's easy to locate and operate each with gloves on. Nunchucks are two buttons and are less intuitive (requiring some memorization), for example, to change volume, you hold a button, and the volume cycles higher and higher, until looping around to lowest setting and stepping upwards again. Also, some two handed gestures are required (tougher when holding ski gear), and buttons are a bit harder to find and operate with gloves. The Chips are similar to the Nunchucks, and you'll need to memorize some key combos to use them (one click to lower volume, two to raise volume). Sound - I tested the units side by side (one brand on each ear) The Altas have nice bass and clarity (though they're slightly lacking in high end). The Chips were similar but not quite as good: the sound on the Altas is slightly more assertive and full. The Nunchucks have more high end treble and somewhat less bass, but the mid and upper ranges are significantly distorted and compressed. Sound quality is subjective, but I honestly don't understand how any reviewers can enjoy the sound of the Nunchucks… the harsh, distorted midrange gets tedious quickly. None of the headphones has hifi sound, but the Altas are pleasant and on-par with most good sounding sub-$100 bluetooth headsets that I've owned. Volume on all models is fine, though Nunchucks sound distorted at any volume. Features - The Altas were up and running in seconds with simple bluetooth pairing. The features all worked fine - voice command, volume, pause, track change, calls (no intercom included). The Chips were easy to pair as well.The Nunchucks require an app, and after 20 minutes of trying, I could not get the headphones to pair with the app, because the required firmware update consistently failed. I did get the Nunchucks paired via my phone's regular pairing, but without the app, you lose intercom, equilization, and all other advanced features, making the headphone features equivalent to the more rudimentary Altas. Other - My only gripe with the Altas (other than lack of intercom) is the micro-usb port (rather than usb-c). An added bonus to the Altas is simple packaging (a pouch in a baggie), compared to the elaborate cardboard packaging of the others, which gets immediately thrown in the trash. Each of the models fit well into my large helmet, though the wire on the Chips was slightly short. I hope this info helps… isn't it sad that even "professional" reviews just regurgitate the feature lists of these items, and don't seem to do real, hands-on, side by side comparisons anymore?

Ok I came back just to review these after using these all last season & using them yesterday because I found myself enjoying them so much! And no, this isn’t your typical AI-generated Amazon review ;) Tried several pairs of Bluetooth headphones & were disappointed with either sound, battery life, bluetooth connectivity - after reading the positive reviews, decided to pull the trigger at around $100 last year. Compared to other similar products I’ve tried, these are the best in quality & absolutely worth the $. I like listening to more bass heavy music while riding (EDM, hip hop) and these definitely do it justice, are some of the FEW headphones that offer a nice bass response, volume gets nice and loud, controls are easy to click, BT connectivity is stable and consistent and has a great battery life. Essentially all the functions you want in a speaker that is designed to fit in the helmet. Now all the reviews mentioning the sound is flat, thin, lack of bass clearly are not getting a proper fit with their helmet/ear. If the speakers are too far from your ear & have a load of padding on the way, of course they’re going to sound dull/flat. Make sure you use these with the right audio capable helmet/ear pads and you’ll definitely appreciate the sound quality. To note, I used to have them in my Smith Mission helmet but found it a bit uncomfortable after some time (due to lack of any padding between the speakers and my ear) so switched to a audio capable helmet from Amazon and now I get to enjoy riding with high quality music which makes the experience so much more enjoyable. I do agree the micro USB charging is a bit outdated, but I’m sure they are planning on upgrading the tech in their next version of this speaker :). But Wildhorn has definitely earned a supporter/fan for this product!

I bought the Wildhorn Alta bluetooth headsets at the start of the 24/25 season, with the main goal to use it with the Carv ski training unit and listen to music. As others have mentioned, you'll need to remove the foam placeholder inserts in your helmet first, otherwise you'll be listening through 1/2" of foam. Pairing was straight forward and for the 5 sessions I've taken them out so far, the headset connects right away to my phone without any fuss. I haven't encountered any loss of connectivity while using the headset. The audio quality is good for what it is - I find it super easy to hear the Carv feedback and instructions at medium volume, even mid-ski. I also find the music quality to be good - maybe light on the bass, but with deadmau5, Grandbrothers, and Orbital on heavy rotation, I've been pretty happy. Controls are super easy to use, but if it's your first helmet audio system, it'll take a little bit of time to build muscle memory to know where the buttons are. The ridge on the left ear piece can be felt with gloves, but I wish it were just a little more prominent. The buttons will give a prominent audible and tactile click - it's a small thing, but unlike mushy buttons, you're confident you've pressed the button. I don't know if this is a software or hardware thing, but one downside is if you click the up/down buttons too quickly, the headset appears to treat it as a long click, so it adjusts the volume rather than allow you to go through your music tracks quickly. You do need to be a little deliberate in your actions when trying to change volume or tracks. I also used the "OK, Google" audio commands using the built-in mic. It works well most of the time. However, when there is a lot of background noise or wind, it will often not pick up the command. When it works, it's great - simple things like sending a text message, choosing a different playlist, or just finding out the time provides a lot of quality of life improvements. One last nit pick, the charging port is on top of the left ear piece - this means you'll need to pull out the earpiece to charge it. The flat cable between the two earpieces is braided, but I do worry a little bit about it's durability if you need to take the earpiece out frequently. If you only use it a few days a season, it's probably not an issue, but if you do quite a few days a season, I can see it as being a weak point in design where cable might break. Overall super happy with the purchase - the sound is clear while the environment is audible, the voice commands improve your quality of life, and it's easy and reliable to use. -1 star for the mic issue in noisy and windy situations as well as button behavior when clicked quickly, for a final score of 4 stars. Highly recommend the headset, particularly if they are ever on sale or have a coupon.

Searched for a long time before I decided to get these speakers for skiing. I have been using them for over a month now and they are perfect!! - Battery lasts for the entire day of skiing and still has more than enough life at the end of the day - Sound quality is perfect - Fits in both my wife’s and my ski helmet Definitely recommend these if you want some good speakers for half the price of some of the competitors options out there

Bought these back on Prime Day, and have finally been able to use them out on the hill a couple of times now, and I have to say these are pretty good little speakers: The initial Bluetooth connection was quick and easy, and I have had no problems with it dropping. When you power them up a voice tells you they're on and ready to pair and the battery level. If your phone is nearby they will then automatically pair and the voice confirms once paired up. I have 3 helmets (Wildhorn Drift, Giro Jackson, and an old Smith Variance - all size L), and these fit in the ear covers of all 3 with no-problem. The cable between speakers is long enough, and the extra cable stashes behind the liners so that they're almost invisible. The sound quality of music is great. Songs are clear and crisp. Bass is full sounding , but not heavy, as some reviewers have noted. However, I wasn't really expecting them to be bass-heavy. These are not in-ear or over-ear speakers. They are barely-pressed-against your ear speakers. (Pull your Beats headphones away from your ears so that they are barely touching your ears and the Beats will not sound bass-heavy either.) The sound quality remains clear at high volume, and these get louder than I would ever need them to be. They still allow outside noise in, so you can still talk to friends on the chair, or hear what's going on around you during your run. I can't really comment on call quality as cell service is spotty at my hill, so I haven't made any calls on them. The buttons are a little difficult to use/locate at first, but once you use them a couple of times and get used to where the buttons sit inside your ear pad they get easier to use. The speakers respond quickly to button commands, and I haven't had any issue using Google assistant with them. The battery seems pretty good. 3-4 hours of use seems to only zap about 15-20% of the battery. I've never run them all the way to 0%, but would expect to get at least 14-15 hours out of each full charge. All in all, these are great little speakers, and to me they are way more comfortable/practical than trying to use ear buds inside your helmet. At $70 the price is right, and is half the price of the other guys. If you're looking for speakers for your helmet, I'd give these a try first.

For the past few years I've been skiing with PowerBeats earbuds. I'd kind of worn them out, so it was time to look for a new solution to having music on the mountain. I was resistant to the idea of wearing a helmet at first - I am not an extreme skier by any means, but decided it was time, and having bluetooth "built in" to the helmet could make it worth it vs. dealing with buds falling out or getting tangled with the goggles. I am extremely pleased with this solution. The sound quality is fine. It doesn't produce deep bass like a studio headset or anything, but it's perfectly enjoyable, and appropriate as you want to be able to hear your surroundings. It was nice being able to hear my music clearly but also be able to understand people if they said something to me on the lift. I was very happy with the controls. There's one big button on the right with a distinctive click that lets you pause, or invoke voice control. If someone wants to chat I can quickly and easily stop the music with my gloves on. Or a double tap lets me do voice control commands which is good for almost everything else. There is an up/down control on the other ear. it can be used to skip tracks and change volume. This was almost useless in practice, it was hard to feel which button was which through the gloves and through the helmet, and they don't have as significant of a "click" when pressed. But these functions are all do-able with voice control, so it's okay. I used it to skip tracks a couple times, though. The microphone quality is interesting. It was far superior to what I had before with the PowerBeats. Siri usually understood "read my messages" while going up a windy lift, which made me happy as I don't like taking my phone out. Actually sending texts was a mixed bag though, Siri comically couldn't understand certain words and sent some hilariously wrong texts at times. But it worked better than expected, overall. Battery life seems very good. I accidentally left it on overnight a couple times and still had 75% left the next day. Probably should auto-off if not paired for several minutes, but the battery life seems so long it's probably not a big deal in practice. Good stuff!

I bought these because of the great reviews. But they are not as good as my 4 year old cheapo headphones from Walmart. What to dislike? Let me count the ways. 1. I cannot use Siri and say "Start Music" or "Call John" unless I unlock my phone. I though the whole idea was to not need to take my phone out of my ski jacket and risk dropping it off the chairlift. My 4 year old, $28 headphones does it fine. 2. By the way, I use it on the chairlift because the sound quality on the other end is terrible (worse than my $28 headphones). Is there a Noise Rejection setting? I can be skiing with my older earphones, and people can still hear me fine. But with these, they have trouble while I am inside the gondola in Vail, where I have decent reception. 3. The large Play/Pause button sounds great, but you have to push dead center on the button. I had to glue a piece of wood on the center of the button to push on it with gloves. 4. The sound quality sucks unless you play Rock when the volume is high all the time. I listen to Movie Soundtracks. The volume is non linear. On the soundtrack The Greatest Showman -- "From Now On", you cannot even hear the beginning of the song, unless you crank the volume to max, and then it is painful in the middle of the song , when it hits crescendos. 5. The battery life is good --- just as good as my old headphones. I emailed Wildhorn to address the first 2 issues. I will upgrade it if they can help me fix those issues

The buttons work great, even with gloves on. Sound quality is better than I expected (considering the lack of competition), but is very tinny with no low end. Considering the size of the drivers, they could definitely do better. And considering the price, they SHOULD have done better. Other reviewers stating that the sound quality is good have probably never used decent headphones and don't know any better. The volume goes much higher than you'd ever want to use while skiing. The lack of USB-C is a major deficiency since nothing should be made with micro USB at this point, and USB-C should go without saying. The headphones are somewhat overpriced for the sound quality and outdated charging port, but considering the lack of options are pretty easily the best choice. You could pay less and get junk headphones, or you can overpay slightly and get usable ones. Just get these and don't think about what you just paid.