XCEL 100 Digital Electronic Muff

The fit is very good for my head and is easy to adjust. The controls are easy to identify and manipulate while the muffs are on my head. I tried this with a pair of lightweight gloves...can be done but not quite as easy. The head band and ear cups are the most comfortable that I've used, even with eyeglasses. I bought these muffs, in part, because of the impressive noise reduction rating, but I can't confirm the NRR without some expensive instrumentation. Originally, I had one complaint and it was significant. On the side with the controls, there is a constant static 'hiss' sound. The nature of the sound changed a little bit with different settings of the controls, but it is always there. I tried a new set of batteries, but that didn't help. These muffs are intended to be worn while I hunt feral hogs at night, using the ambient sound amplification to help identify game that is not yet in visible range. I wear the muffs almost continuously for as much as 5 hours per hunt, so this background hiss is not going to be acceptable. For range sessions of 1-2 hours, it might not be a big deal. But considering that my primary application is hunting, I have to return the muffs and select something else. After posting this review I contacted Amazon about the hiss/noise problem. They quickly agreed to exchange the muffs for another pair, which arrived the next day. The second set operates without the hiss and I think even more of these muffs now. Now that the noise is gone, I can tell that the sound amplification is most robust while in the "Power Boost" mode. This will be really helpful for my hunting application. And the impulse sound attenuation seems quite good. I haven't gone to the range with them yet, but just the snapping of fingers near the microphones causes the electronics circuit to completely cut off for the duration of the impulse. I expect them to work well around gunfire. I'm giving these muffs a 5-star rating, in part, because of the great Amazon customer service, which provided a solution to the original issue of noise.

Headphones like these are generally used for shooting, and I've used them for that plenty, but I bought these for another purpose entirely which I'll get to in a sec. First off for shooting, these are amazing. They block so much noise Just putting them on. Keep in mind they are quite snug which is great for my small head haha. The four modes are pretty gimmicky honestly. You either need power boost mode or clear voice mode for 99% of applications. These do work great, and you can hear people or any noise that doesn't surpass the decibel cutoff really well. Now for what I use these for mostly. have you ever had to do something monotonous and very noisy and thought, "I wish I could hear the radio but this darn tool is too loud"? that's what I use these for. Planing boards down for hours straight, Grinding or cutting concrete, sanding a custom butcher block table... Just today I was grinding a concrete floor for 8 hours and thought dang I should write a review about how good these are haha. Not only do these cancel most of the noise, but the music coming thru them sounds really good. Not too good mind you, not like studio headphones, but like a cheap set of headphones, and when there's a deafening noise 3 feet away and you're clearly and happily listening to your favorite Spotify playlist, that's darn impressive. Just a few gripes to finish up. First these auto shutoff. It seems like about 2 hours before they shutoff. they do give a one minute warning and when that warning comes up it would make sense that you could interact with the headset to reset the timer right?? Well I've tried several different buttons when the one-minute warning sounds out, and none of them seemed to have any effect. It seems as though once the warning comes there's no way to stop it from shutting down the muffs in 60 seconds. Not a big deal, just turn them back on and reconnect and get back to work. Next issue. These muffs being geared for shooters seem to leave off features for ppl like me that are using them for loud noise cancelling, while listening to music headphones rather than shooting muffs. For example, I'm running a dust extractor and 13 inch wood planer. Put headphones on to listen to music while working for a few hours. Now you HAVE to use one of the four noise boost modes. All of which perfectly accentuate the hum of the dust extractor very annoyingly. There is no mode that doesn't use the mic to boost noise thru the speakers. So I have to find the least annoying hum and lower the volume all the way down, which again annoyingly does not shut it off all the way. Doesn't bother me too much while working but when you pause music or shut off the planer you can hear it. Not big enough issues for me to knock off a star. I'm not using the product as it's intended to be used anyways. As far as I'm concerned these things are a lifesaver for anyone that likes to listen to music while working on long, very loud projects.

!!!!! READ ENTIRE REVIEW WORTH READING BEFORE YOU PURCHASE ANY OTHER KIND!!!! I GO TO MY GUN RANGE AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK OR MORE TO PRACTICE AND EVEN THE OWNER, TRAINERS AND RANGE STAFF TRIED THESE OVER WHAT THEY WEAR AND COULDN'T BELIEVE THE SOUND QUALITY AND PROTECTION SO THE OWNER PURCHASED THESE FOR ALL EMPLOYEES AND SINCE THEY HAVE WALKIE TALKIES THAT HAVE BLUETOOTH ALREADY THEY SEEMLESLY CONNECTED TO THESE XCEL BLUETOOTH EAR MUFFS. DEFINITELY THE BEST HEADBAND STYLE EAR MUFFS I'VE EVER TRIED FOR DIGITAL EAR MUFF PROTECTION. SOUND QUALITY IS EXCEPTIONAL AND VERY CLEAR FROM THE HI-GAIN OMNI DIRECTIONAL MICS THAT WORK PHENOMENALLY WELL AND THEY HIGHLY IMPRESSED ME ON HOW EXCELLENT THEY WORK PICKING UP LOUD NOISE INSTSTANTLY AND THEN ACTIVATING SOUND- ACTIVATED AND DYNAMIC SOUND SUPPRESSION. 4 LISTENING MODES THAT YOU CAN CHOOSE WHAT'S BEST FOR THE SITUATION YOU ARE USING THEM IN. I ALWAYS USE MINE IN THE POWER BOOST MODE OR THE HIGH FREQUENCY MODE AND YOU RECEIVE COMPLETE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS WITH VERY CLEAR VOICE PICKUP FROM OTHER PEOPLE FROM 10 FEET OR MORE AWAY WITH NO PROBLEM AND STILL BLOCKS OUT LOUD NOISES. WORKS PHENOMENALLY WITH ADAPTING COMPRESSION TIME TO NOISE LEVELS. VERY COMFORTABLE AND LIGHT WEIGHT TO WEAR FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME. BLUETOOTH CONNECTION TO YOUR PHONE FOR CALLS, MUSIC OR USE ANY HEY GOOGLE, ALEXA, SIRI OR MORE TO SEND A TEXT OR ANY OTHER COMMAND. THE BUILT IN VOICE GUIDENCE WHEN YOU PRESS ANY BUTTON SO YOU KNOW WHAT SETTING YOU'RE IN ALSO THE LOW BATTERY ALERT SO YOU KNOW WHEN TO CHANGE THE 2AAA BATTERIES VERY QUICKLY BY PRESSING THE BATTERY PLATE UP. THESE ARE DEFINITELY WORTH TRYING OUT AND WITH THE MONEY. PROTECTION IS EXCEPTIONAL AND STILL AMAZES ME HOW VOICES ARE VERY CLEAR. SOME SAY THEY GET A BUZZING SOUND BUT I HAVEN'T HAD THAT ISSUE. WHEN YOU'RE AMPLIFYING SOUND YOU WILL HEAR MINIMAL TO NONE FREQUENCY THAT'S THERE DUE TO PICKING UP THE VOICES AROUND YOU. THE ADJUSTABLE HEADBAND SIZE IS A PERFECT FIT FOR ANYONE AND VERY COMFORTABLE BEING SURROUNDED IN RUBBER.

Sound is great. All the modes are impressive. I wore these and watched a movie testing each mode. Truly an impressive experience! Unfortunately, the fit is not the best. The ear muffs could be softer. After 2 hours, I was happy to take them off. With the sound off, I could still hear sounds clearly - The seal around the ears is not perceft. Sound will cut out when loud bangs are detected. Nice feature that works well. Folds nicely with little struggle and stores easily. I do not like the buttons to control sound, modes, and power. They are hard to feel/find making quick adjustments quite difficult. If you are wearing tactical gloves, adjustments would be nearly impossible. Overall the sound quality is better than expected. The modes are impressive. The sound suppression is adequate, but I was expecting better performance in this area. The fit is not so great. The function is not so great.

I am an avid target shooter, and have had many hearing protectors over the years. Among the better ear muffs in the collection are: Howard Leight Impact Sport, Axil Tracker, and Walker Ultimate Quad BT. The Walkers have been my protectors of choice for the past two years because of their superior noise cancellation and comfort. Lately, when using the outdoor range, I have been enjoying Bluetooth ear buds to listen to music while shooting, and have found this to be so enjoyable that I took the next step and bought these Walker Xcel earmuffs. They are definitely keepers. Comfortable, easy to connect ( although button placement takes some getting used to) and great sounding. The isolation is perfect. On 'clear voice' you hear voices quite clearly, your music programing is right there and very clear, and....... That's it! All other harsh and damaging sounds are comfortably suppressed. These are my new 'Hearing Protectors Of Choice' . Update: Oops, there was a problem. The Bluetooth, which had functioned perfectly on my first trip to the range, failed to connect on the next range day. I tried many times on multiple devices. DOA Fortunately, it is still within the return period, so I should be able to receive a refund. I enjoyed them so much when they did work, that I'm going to take a chance and order another pair. Call me crazy, but they are that good. The hearing protection is also a cut above my other units, so I'm not totally crazy, but I'm certainly hoping the Bluetooth function will perform. It was so totally enjoyable to hear music and audio books while making a racket at the pistol range.

This review is for the XCEL 100 Digital Electronic Muff W/ Voice Clarity. I never write a review when I first get a product. I feel that to do it justice it is important to use it, get use to it, and see if you are as excited the 5th time you use it as you were the first. Simply put, I am. I am in love with these ear muffs. I use them when I go to the gun range. Just before entering the range itself I put these on and sound basically disappears, which is great. But then I turn them on and the voice of the range master or instructor comes in nice and clear yet the gun sounds are greatly compressed. Not only are the sound levels great but it actually clears my head to the point where I do not feel isolated from the rest of the world. This makes it comfortable to wear beyond just fit. These are great and accomplish in the best way possible what they were designed for. If I can ding anything it is not the product itself but the accompanying instructions. There are some brief instructions but I cannot tell you what they say because the writing blends in with the background and it is tiny. TIny beyond tiny. I wish they were as concerned with my old eyes as they are with my hearing. There was one other issue, again not with the product itself, it was very difficult to determine what case would work with these ear muffs. I spent way too much time measuring and reading and trying to figure out what would work. Turns out Walker themselves has a case that fits perfectly though you would never know it based on their description. They are the Walker's Game Ear Razor Slim Electronic Hearing Protection Muff case. It says it ONLY fits the one model but it works for the XCEL 100's. PERFECT FIT! All in all, these are great ear muffs with a great design. Now that I've done the work of identifying the right case to buy, also sold on Amazon by the way, do not hesitate to buy these. If you want to listen to music via bluetooth while using these try the next model up, the Xcel 500's. Same design except has bluetooth added and I believe it will allow you to talk on the phone as well as listen to music well which I would not recommend while shooting.

This is a review for the 500BT model. So I got these today and tested them instantly. I can honestly say for the price I paid during Prime days I got a steal. The noise reduction is great. Noise gets blocked out instantly when a loud bang happens. Hell even the flick of my pocket knifes has the same effect. The voice enhancement is also incredible. It enhances the voices surrounding you and also enhances other noises. The weight on these is good. They arent on the light side but also not heavy. The standard earpads are good but for the money I saved during Prime days I opted for and ordered the gel pads which makes wearing them a whole lot more comfortable. I also ordered the walker case which is very tiny. But they fold absolute nicely into a small package and fit snug into the case. Imo they work exceptionally well and also look good. All the controls are easily accessible on the headband and work well. Last but not least the bluetooth also works great. No cutouts. I tried some phone calls with them and had no complaints. And I can clearly understand the people as well. Even music sounds somewhat decent. Not as good as some high-end headphones but good enough when at the range and wanting some music. All in all I can highly recommend this set of earmuffs if you're on a budget and can't spend the big bucks.

The first thing I noticed was the speaker for one ear, was considerably louder, than the other. I figured, "meh, no big deal, I'll get used to it". The "clamping" pressure is just right. Nice and snug, yet doesn't make me feel like my head is getting squashed like my old ones. They're also lower profile, which I like ...and they're not bright friggin red, which is also nice (LOL) Due to ammo shortages, I wasn't able to actually go out and shoot until 2 days ago (well past Amazon's return policy date). They seemed to work ok. My old cheapo earmuffs definitely reduced the decibels a lot more, but there was no speaker/microphones, so you can't hear anyone at the range, which can be a bad thing. I usually shoot out in the middle of the desert, so I don't really NEED to hear people talking, but it's nice to be able to hear other vehicles approaching, or if someone at the next range over yells for help or something (hasn't happened yet, thank god) Anyways, they were serviceable. I did however, hear a "whoosh" sound for the rest of the day and night ...and I was only shooting a 9mm AK-V and my 18" AR that uses an A2 style flash suppressor ....if I'd been shooting an SBR or AR pistol with a short barrel and a brake, I don't think they'd have been "hearing safe" and you'd have to probably wear earplugs inside of these (which kind of defeats the purpose if you ask me) ...though I'm not sure there's ANY "electronic" ear muffs that would be hearing safe under those conditions (especially if you're at an indoor range). Here's the reason I give it 1 star, instead of 3 or 4: Got home, and noticed the little plastic door that holds the batteries in, is gone. Out in the middle of the desert somewhere, no doubt ( double checked my bags and in my car, nowhere to be found). I already had the batteries in before I left, and didn't play with said door once, didn't bang them on anything, etc. There was no reason for it to come off, whatsoever. So, basically I got to use it once, before something bad happened. Kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. At least the batteries don't just fall out really easily, sans the cover (....yet). I suppose I'll have to check around to see if that part is sold by itself, and if it's cheap or not ...and possibly using a dot of super glue to make sure they don't come out, and just chip it off with a pocket knife when I need to change batteries, then re-applying it. Regardless, I don't see myself buying another of the same set any time soon...