At $99.95, RHA's MA650 Wireless earphones are the most affordable pair in its MA line. They enter a crowded field of solid exercise-friendly Bluetooth earphones, and are perhaps less suited for strenuous exercise than many options we test. They have a sweat-resistant build, but the collarband design and cable slack can sometimes feel cumbersome. From an audio standpoint, however, the earphones offer excellent bass depth, brightness, and balance for the price. If you're looking for a pair of wireless earphones you can take on a run once in a while, the MA650 Wireless deliver excellent value.

Design

Available in black with brushed aluminum highlights, the earphones have a rubberized section that wraps around the neck with cables that ascend from either end and connect to the earpieces. The earpieces have an elegant, smooth metallic contour, and they snap together magnetically when not in use. Some users might find the slack of the cabling between the neckband and the earpieces a little annoying—it has a graceful curve that ensures the earpieces don't pull at your ears, but it can tap against your face at times, and certain collared shirts, jackets, and hoodies will present added obstacles.

With an IPX4 rating, the earphones are resistant to splashes, but they aren't fully waterproof. Don't submerge them, and it's probably not a good idea to run them under the faucet to clean them.

An inline remote control and mic compartment on the right ear's cable houses three buttons—two dedicated volume buttons and a central multifunction button that controls playback, call management, and track navigation. There's a power button and a status LED on the right end of the collarband. A USB-C charging cable is included—it connects to a port located near the power button.

The mic offers above-average intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s, we we could understand every word recorded, and while there was a slightly distant sound, there wasn't much in the way of distortion or the typical audio artifacts associated with inline Bluetooth mics.

The earphones ship with a plethora of eartips—two pairs of flange-style tips, eight pairs of silicone tips in various sizes, and a pair of Comply foam tips. A padded mesh drawstring pouch is also included.

RHA estimates battery life to be roughly 12 hours, but your results will vary with your volume levels. The earphones can be paired via NFC on compatible devices.

Performance

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the earphones deliver strong bass depth. At top, unwise listening levels, the lows do not distort, and at all levels, the deep bass is matched well with crisp high-mid and high frequency presence.

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Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the overall sound signature. The drums on this track get some added bass depth, but nothing that sends them too far into overly thunderous territory. Callahan's baritone vocals have a pleasant low-mid richness, but just as present is the treble edge lent by the sculpted highs. In fact, even the tape hiss in the background is brought forward a bit—this is a very crisp sound signature, with plenty of bass presence to anchor it.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop receives plenty of high-mid presence to accentuate its sharp attack, and again, we hear some vinyl crackle and hiss, typically relegated to the background, brought forward here. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with a solid presence, but nothing as strong as you'll hear on truly bass-boosted earphones. The vocals and higher register aspects of this mix are the most prominent forces through the MA650 Wireless, but things never sound thin—they're just balanced, without over-the-top bass added in.

For orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the lower register instrumentation does receive some noticeable boosting, but it exists more in the lows and low-mids, and less so in the sub-bass realm. Just as Callahan's vocals get some added richness, so do the lower register instruments here, but the spotlight still belongs to the higher register brass, strings, and vocals. This is a bright, vibrant sound, with plenty of bass depth without ever going overboard.

Conclusions

If you're looking for exercise-focused Bluetooth in-ears with boosted bass, you have plenty of options. Consider the Jaybird X3, JBL Reflect Fit, or EQ-adjustable Moshi Vortex Air. And if you're not a fan of the MA650's collarband design (or $100 price), consider the JBL Reflect Mini BT. For the price, however, there's little to complain about here, other than a design that seems slightly less suited for intense exercise than many wireless in-ears we test. From an audio perspective, the MA650 Wireless earphones are winners.

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