Vanquish Pro Electronic Ear Defenders - tried & tested

Chris Parkin tests out the Vanquish Pro Electronic Ear Defenders from Champion - a new product with design features to overcome the competition!

Over-ear hearing protection is often taken for granted, but it’s nice to see a new product with some helpful design characteristics to overcome the competition. Champion’s Vanquish Pro Electronic ear defenders offer the usual padded headband with folding ear cups for compact storage and comfort in use. The innovative trapezoidal shape of the cup allows greater internal space for your ears, yet retains an excellent profile, allowing you to come in close to the comb of your gun’s stock.

The Vanquish Pro defenders ensure 24dB of sound suppression, each muff being acoustically modelled specifically with gunshot impulse noise in mind. The electronic element allows normal sound (like conversation and background noise) to be transmitted for normal perception. Its sub-1ms refresh time for the two full dynamic range HD speakers enables a normal 360° feel, while the omnidirectional microphones detect noise around you.

The other great advantage of these defenders is the Bluetooth compatibility, allowing you to connect your smartphone and answer phone calls or listen to music. Regardless of battery life, you get full sound protection. A 150-hour run time is advertised from the included 4x AAA batteries, but this drops to 60 hours with Bluetooth permanently on. However, I still found the performance excellent and I loved the fact that the natural sounds around you could be amplified up to 5x when hunting. The external Bluetooth-connected device controls its own volume, so the sound is never overly noisy or shocking if your phone rings. The automatic power off turns the defenders off after three hours of non-use to save battery — pressing any button will reset that time.

Taking into account the compression of the foam surrounding each ear, you still get at least 15mm of clearance inside, giving excellent comfort all day with minimal moisture build-up. The batteries pair up in each side, but the whole system is integrated with three omnidirectional microphones to keep a natural feel for noise perception. They were a little susceptible to strong wind noise, but the test period has coincided with gales of 40mph plus wind speeds which are generally out of the ordinary. A soft storage case is supplied with the defenders. I also note the smooth ease with which each set of telescopic arms adjust.

TECH SPECS - VANQUISH PRO ELECTRONIC EAR DEFENDERS

* Sound Refresh Time <1ms

* 2 Full Dynamic Range High Definition Speakers

* 3 Omnidirectional Microphones

* 5x AmplificatioN

* 150-Hour Runtime (60-hours with Bluetooth active)

* 3 Hour Automatic Shut Off

* Noise Reduction Rating of 24 dB

* AAA Batteries Included

RRP: £129

CONTACT

edgarbrothers.com

01625 613177