Design and features:These earphones have an integrated microphone and volume, music player function, and call connect/disconnect controls for use with paired Bluetooth devices. The manufacturer claims that it is water resistant, and when it is used with an Android smartphone with the free Samsung S Health app installed the power on/off button on right earpiece can be used to activate the apps fitness tracker timer function. This model comes with four pairs of ear pieces in various sizes, two pairs of removable ear bowl supports in various sizes, on pair of removable ear hooks, and a USB charging cable.
Sound quality: We found the Level Active delivers sound quality that falls in the very good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks. The overall sound can best be summarized as thin, bright, and when it's positioned properly in the ear, slightly bassy. When properly positioned bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes fairly deep, but is slightly prominent and somewhat boomy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is slightly thin and hazy, and somewhat grainy. The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended, but prominent and sizzly (sounds that should have a delicate shimmer have a sound reminiscent of bacon frying). While the sound has a good sense of liveliness it is somewhat closed-in -- sound-wise it is somewhat obvious that you have something plugging up your ears.
Comfort: As typical of in-ear models these earphones produce a sense of pressure in the ear canal opening might be uncomfortable for some. Some users might find that they insert uncomfortably deeply into the ear canal, and proper placement can be finicky - if the earphones are not positioned in the ear properly the sound quality is affected and the bass sounds subdued. When used with the pre-installed earhooks they stay in place and feel stable for all users; the ear hooks don't do anything to increase the stability but do take a bit of fumbling to get into place and are extremely difficult to remove for replacement with the ear bowl supports that are also provided. The ear bowl supports make the fit very stable even with vigorous head movement for most uses, but users with small earbowls might the find that even the size small earbowl supports are too big and might cause discomfort.
