E-MAX Shadows 23 NRR - Electronic Hearing Protection with Bluetooth Connectivity for Shooting, Hunting, and Range

After using these for a few weeks now, I have some things to write about these pretty good hearing protection, Bluetooth and ambient sound reinforcement devices. As with any larger ear plugs I find it easier to mildly dislodge them from my ear canal. This causes audio leakage and poorer sound reproduction in my ear. Not terrible, but I have never had Apple's product to compare. The Bluetooth is very nice and connects to my smartphone easily. The bass frequencies are a trifle lacking compared to some in ear Bluetooth devices I have used. The ambient (outside) sound reinforcement is surprisingly good. I like to use them on my old ears as it does tend to filter out distant sounds and focus on closer conversations allowing me to conduct a conversation in a noisy (restaurant) environment. The drawback is when connected to my phone... If I flip my phone and cause it to light up from a hibernate mode (not actually log in and use it), it drops ambient sounds briefly. It is easier to put away the phone to have a personal conversation than deal with these brief interruptions. This is probably my biggest issue with these ear buds. It is easy to shut off the Bluetooth and harder to turn back on during a phone call. Don't touch them during a call! Use the phone's volume control. Sound protection is OK. I expect they are along the lines of the cheap foam plugs for protection. If using extremely loud range time (large caliber rifle), they are a bit weak but will do for a couple rounds. I use my over ear protection device as well for loud stuff normally. Same goes with these devices. I may update my my review after more range time, I have only used these on the range once and even my ambient sound over ear protection took a few range days to utilize fully.

I duck hunt, deer hunt and trap shoot and have tried a half dozen products to protect my ears from muffs to a few other under $100 in-ear buds. So far, these are the best ones I’ve found. The foam inserts are very comfortable, and I’ve worn them on 6-8 hour hunts with no soreness or ear fatigue. The ambient noise amplification works well and is bidirectional. It will amplify wind noise to some extent, all electronic protection do, but wearing a hood and putting it up will reduce wind noise by 90%. Duck calling is just fine once you practice and get the mechanics of it figured out. The biggest secondary benefit to these are the Bluetooth capability so you can also use them around the house while running power tools or mowing and enjoy a podcast or music. The battery is good for about 6 hours and it seems to take about an hour to recharge them fully, so plan on charging them while eating lunch or whenever you won’t be shooting and they last the whole day just fine. The only con I’ve had so far was I briefly had trouble pairing them for a few minutes after having used them for awhile. Not sure what happened but a reset/re-pair to my iPhone took care of that and it hasn’t happened since. Overall, these are a really great set of ear protection for their price. No, they will not be the same as not wearing ear pro, nothing is, but you also won’t blow out your hearing by age 50. Ear pro is worth it to me and these are the best $100ish option I’ve found so far.

I was skeptical about these as I have read mixed reviews, but after using them for over a year I can say that these are the best shooting Bluetooth/noise canceling/touch control earbuds I have found. They pair automatically, cancel pulse/gunfire sounds while letting background sound through, take and make calls well, and they sound fine playing podcasts or music. They aren’t gonna deliver booming bass, but they’re completely great for functionality, and they do everything they say they’ll do. I am an avid shooter and I also work behind a 372xp chainsaw every day, and have tried 3 different sets of various brands of Bluetooth noise cancelling earphones -and have been disappointed with them all, until I found these. The others all stay in the drawer now because these Caldwells are GREAT. The slide volume control must be swept up or down a few times as each sweep does a small adjustment, but once you get the hang of it, it works fine to adjust volume. All the other touch controls are fairly intuitive and straight forward. These work one at a time as a single earpiece or simultaneously as Bluetooth headphones and have fully ambidextrous/identical controls on each bud. Although there is a right and left earbud, either bud can be used in either ear. They stay securely in the ears once you find your proper tip that fits (I use the large foam tips for the best fit/seal/noise protection), and the FDE color matches a couple of my guns and gear👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 *The foam tips MUST be used for sufficient ear protection while shooting. Outdoors anything non-magnum is fine with these. Indoor range visits and I’d double up with earmuffs worn over these for full sound protection Overall, I am EXTREMELY happy with these. One or both of them are in my ears almost all day long. They have a few specific quirks that I had to figure out (see re-syncing process outlined below), but these are hands down the best Bluetooth noise cancelling earbuds around for the price. On the newer model of these (the emax PRO version) I think that Caldwell shouldn’t have made the right and left earbuds have different controls on the new “PRO”. These original Shadows are far more utilitarian with the exact same touch controls on either earbud. Just something to consider if you’re deciding between these or the Pros, I’d pick these original Emax shadows all day long over the new PROS for that reason Many have complained about the earbuds losing sync with each other, and then the user has a very difficult time getting them to sync with each other again as a set. I can say that the number one cause of them not syncing with each other is because whatever Bluetooth device they were paired to MUST be turned off. When these earbuds lose sync with each other, their device (usually a phone) will then recognize each earbud as a separate unit, and only one earbud will give sound at a time. The fix for this is: 1. TURN OFF YOUR PHONE so no Bluetooth pairing is possible with that device. These earbuds WILL NOT sync again if one or both of them is paired with a phone or similar device, or if said device (or any other device within range) “remembers” either of them and is trying to pair with them. Turn off the device. 2. Perform the factory reset. It is a 20 second process that has a YouTube video under “Caldwell Emax shadows factory reset” 3. Once factory reset is complete (making sure your phone remains off), place earbuds back in their charging case and make sure the light on the back of each is either solid green (fully charged), or solid red (partially charged/need charging). 4. Remove both earbuds from case at the same time and place them in your ears. They should turn on and pair to each other automatically in a few seconds. Usually if you put them right in your ears you will hear the “paired” BOOP sound in both earbuds. You can perform a 2 second touch/hold on one earbud to activate passthrough mode and listen if both earbuds then allow you to hear outside sounds (make sure your phone remains off for these steps!). If long hold on one earbud doesn’t activate passthrough mode on both earbuds, they aren’t synced and the first steps outlined here should be performed again. 5. Once you’ve determined that they are synced by doing the passthrough mode test, you can turn your phone back on, enable Bluetooth, and click on “SHADOWS” under your Bluetooth menu. Click on it and you are back in business with a “paired” status on your phone and a BOOP sound in both ears to confirm the connection Your phone must be turned off and factory reset performed for them to sync with each other once they become unsynced or else your phone will pair with each earbud as a separate Bluetooth device, preventing them from ever syncing with each other. That can be really frustrating, so follow the steps above. I hope this helps those who have been frustrated by them not syncing. These are great Bluetooth shooting earbuds, especially for the price. I own 3 sets so I always have a charged one or pair in my ears. CALDWELL FOR THE WIN!!! * If you have any problem with these, contact Caldwell and they will take care of you with excellent customer service and warranty

I own 22 handguns in 11 different calibers; 8 shotguns in 4 different gauges, 16 rifles in 10 different calibers , and 1 SBR. Finding a firearm to try out these Caldwell E-Max Shadows was not an issue. I am thankful that out of all of my choices that I played it safe and used a .22 for my test. I had no issue connecting it to my phone; it paired right up. My music was loud and clear through them, if a little tinny. All the swipe guestures worked; double tap to start music, or to answer/end call, triple touch to activate Siri, swipe up or down to change volume, and tap and hold 2 seconds to activate pass through. All was working well until I took it out to the range. I turned on the passthrough so that I could hear my friend talking; everything was working well so far. I picked up my Glock 44 .22 with CCI Stingers and fired ONE round! My ears instantly began to ring; the Caldwell E-Max Shadows had not suppressed the sound ANY. Since my ears were already ringing, I went ahead and pulled them out and fired a round without them in at all; same noise level with or without them in. I took them out and put them in twice more testing them with one shot with, one shot without; they suppressed no sound at all on passthrough mode. They totally defeat the purpose of having the ability to hear others around you yet be able to muffle shot, as do my Walker Game Ear muffs. If you turn off the pass through, they work fine, but it is much cheaper to buy foam ear plugs for $2.00 a pack for that purpose. As I write this both of my ears are ringing. Very disappointed.

I bought the Caldwell Shadows and when I got them they work great. You can hear people talking and they reduce the loud noises, but you can still hear. They don't completely shut off all sound like the last brand I had. It's really nice. They have several ear plug types that come with them, so when you find the right one they are extremely comfortable. There was an issue with the Bluetooth connecting to both ear pods so I called customer service. We went through a reset process and it didn't fix the issue so they are sending me another set. Just like that. It's nice to find a company that has a great product, stands behind their product and takes care of their customers. UPDATE: I am still pleased with the Caldwell E-Max Shadows. They work great at the shooting range. Two things I have found that could be improved are 1) wind noise. If the wind is blowing it still comes through the earbuds and does become annoying. 2) Any time they try to connect to blue tooth or you make an adjustment to the volume, the LED light on the side continues to blink for several minutes. it is not good to have a bright little LED light flashing while you are hunting. I fixed this by covering it with a tiny piece of electrical tape. I have used them a lot in the last 4 months at the shooting range and hunting and overall, I am very happy with the performance and quality. I have not had any failures or malfunctions Update 2022: I am still using my Caldwell E-Max Shadows and they are still going great. I did paint over the LED light with black paint to cover it but that is the only thing. I would definitely buy them again.

I could only get sound to come from one bud. The other produced feedback. You know that ringing when mics/speakers aren't synced? Ive never seen or heard that with BT devices. The touch interface hardly ever works and syncing to my peripherals hardly ever works. It is such a cheaply made device with no app I dont know what setting it is at. My other 20$ buds has a voice that tells me. Power on/off/volume/ noise reduction, ambient noise. In/off, etc. These dont. Testing these out around the house the hearing protection is no better than the standard BT buds. I thought the foam pieces would be better but they are as hard as a rock. They dont compress expand and form to your ear to add protection like standard ear plugs, they just rest in your ear. They wont provide protection and will easily fall out. Contacted Caldwell who was going to replace but they never sent the label. Thankful for easy returns to Amazon and got a refund. Stay away from these

These work much better than I was hoping, the swiping up/ down to control the ambient noise level is very useful (I haven’t tried with gloves on so you may need touchscreen compatible ones), they pair very quickly to my phone although you don’t need a connection to use the active noise canceling, and with both foam and rubber ear pieces you can really get a good fit. The sound quality is good, on par with my electronic over the ear protection. Also to my surprise you can play music WHILE the ambient noise is on, which I’ve read other Bluetooth ear protection can’t do. The case is sturdy, although I’ll probably put some elastic around it so it doesn’t open accidentally. But there’s also another protective case that comes with it. At first I wasn’t sure about getting wireless ones because I use ear protection for shooting that involves a lot of movement so I didn’t want to lose them if they fell out, but I got a set of airpod connectors so I can take them out without worrying about them falling or getting misplaced. I’m glad I did this instead of getting wired ones because with the charging case it’s much easier to charge them when I’m not using them, instead of waiting until I’m somewhere with an outlet. Overall I’m really happy with this purchase, especially at the price compared to others. If you use ear protection with helmets, these are perfect, easy to quickly put on/ take off without needing to mess with your helmet.

Lasted almost a year. When they worked they were meh. They blocked out gun shots pretty good if you had the noise cancelling on. If you had it set to hear each other speak but block out shots it worked but it was meh. Shots were still loud. The piece hanging down hits the rifle stock sometimes. Not a fan of that design, and they had a ton of amplified background noise on that setting which makes it annoying. I have some very cheap headphones that execute that part a ton better. I would not recommend spending $100 on these nor would I buy them again. Just under a year and they aren't working. The right ear bud will not turn on. it charges but won't turn on or sync now and I cannot get it to do the factory reset. Bottom line. They are a cheaply made Chinese product that doesn't last. At least that is my experience. Didn't even last a year. I would recommend a different brand then Caldwell altogether. I will be shopping for a different brand to replace these, and these are going in the trash since only one will power on now. What a shame.