The Griffin iTrip Clip is an excellent Bluetooth accessory that can turn any pair of wired headphones into a fully wireless hands-free system.
Griffin has made quite a name for themselves in the accessory world recently, providing a multitude of low-cost, quality products that fit a variety of tasks. The iTrip Clip isn’t something you would necessarily think of when you need an audio accessory, but it’s actually a very useful gadget that fixes a common problem associated with modern devices.
As smartphones move ever closer to abandoning the audio jack in favour of USB-C/ Lightning and breakout cables, users of standard headphones face a lingering problem. Either upgrade to a pair of lightning cans, of which there is currently limited choice, or use a cumbersome breakout cable and endure the inconvenience.
The iTrip Clip overcomes this issue by offering a cheap and simple solution; a simple Bluetooth transmitter that can be used with any headphones that have a 3.5mm input. Coming in the company’s distinctive orange packaging, there’s very little in the box. You get the transmitter itself and a micro USB cable for charging. A setup manual will guide you through the process of pairing the device to your phone, though it’s such an easy thing to do that most people will probably work it out for themselves.
As smartphones move ever closer to abandoning the audio jack in favour of USB-C/ Lightning and breakout cables, users of standard headphones face a lingering problem.
Once everything is set up, you should be good for around 4-6 hours of solid play time. This figure increases significantly if the device is on standby. The little transmitter is only slightly larger than a two pound coin and has a handy clip on the back for attaching to clothing. You get enough controls to navigate your music comfortably, without any unnecessary features which would likely make the device bulky and confusing. In a nice additional touch, the iTrip Clip also has a built in microphone for hands-free calling, turning those bare-bones USB-C/lightning headphones into fully-fledged wireless cans.
We used the Griffin iTrip Clip successfully for several hours, making calls and listening to music. The quality of the built-in microphone is perfectly acceptable given the price, while the audio reproduction didn’t seem to sound any different when using a standard pair of Bluetooth headphones for comparison.
Given the bargain price and its intended use, there’s very little to fault with the iTrip Clip. It serves its purpose very well but more importantly, solves an inherent problem with modern smartphones. If you’ve just picked up an iPhone 7 and are in need of a quick fix so you can keep using your expensive wired headphones, we really can’t recommend this enough.
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