Like Bluetooth speakers, Bluetooth headphones are a very crowded product category. Wireless is popular because of convenience but at the sacrifice of sound quality. Despite incremental improvements in Bluetooth technology, that hasn’t changed much. So if you favor sound quality over convenience, stick with wires.

But, you know, wireless is cooler.

The Panasonic RP-BTD10 Premium Bluetooth On-Ear Headphones are a pair of $200 open wireless cans that also allow for wired listening. $200 is a pretty high price tag, but you can find them for around $130 on sites like Amazon, Overstock, BuyDig.com and Walmart.com. If you’re considering trying these headphones, I’d recommend buying from Walmart because you can return it in store if you don’t like them.

Rating headphones is a more subjective experience than just about any other tech product, but I gave them a whirl. Read on to see how they fared.

Unboxing

When you slide the headphones out of the box on its standard issue blister tray, you’ll find a 5 ft. USB charging cord and a 3.5mm cable with one right-angle tip included in the contents. Disappointingly, there’s no travel pouch or carrying case. There’s also no USB charger, but those are fairly ubiquitous, or you can just plug it into your laptop.

These black on-ear (aka supra-aural) closed-back headphones are handsome-looking with brushed aluminum rings on the outside of the earcups and dark green on the inside of the earcups. Otherwise, like the popular Beats headphones, the RP-BTD10 is still a mostly plastic affair with leatherette foam ear cushions and light padding under the headband. With plastic, you get a lighter pair of headphones, but the tradeoff is they feel cheaper.

The earcups swivel 90 degrees, which is suitable for lying flat but not if you want to use them as DJ headphones. For on-ear headphones, they get a pretty good seal, but that also means they’re somewhat uncomfortable for extended use. If you’re looking for hours of listening, you’re probably better off finding an over-the-ear, circumaural style.

The left earcup has the power / pairing button, USB port, 3.5mm input, pinhole microphone and NFC touch area, while the right earcup has the volume and play controls. There’s no real tactile difference between various controls — you just have to memorize their placement.

Setup

Setup is easy. The hardest part is waiting 4 to 5 hours for the initial charge. You get up to 30 hours on one charge, depending on your usage and volume. After you turn on the headphones the first time, your phone, laptop or Bluetooth device will discover them. No other button presses required.

You can pair up to eight devices. After eight, it rolls over the oldest paired device. Like most Bluetooth products, you cannot simultaneously connect (i.e. use) two devices .

The trickiest part is pairing up subsequent devices. First, the headphones have to be in the off position and other paired devices cannot be connected, then you need to hold the power button for 5 seconds (2 seconds to power on, plus 3 additional seconds). After that, you can pair with the new device.

Sound

Not surprisingly, the wired sound beats the wireless sound.

Like most stereo Bluetooth headphones, the RP-BTD10 uses the aptX codec for improved sound fidelity, but the sound was still better when I plugged in the 3.5mm cable. Overall, the 40mm drivers favor midrange and high frequencies and are good for listening to vocal-heavy music, TV shows and movies. The sound is fairly natural and neutral. The flip side is, they’re somewhat lacking in the low end, so if you’re looking for heavy bass, I would suggest other headphones.

I also found the Bluetooth (v 3.0) sound to be dependent on the device. I heard better soundstage with my laptop than with my iPhone.

The wired sound was more pleasing to my ears, filled out the low end more and sounded less compressed, as expected. You can’t make or receive phone calls in wired mode, but you do save on the battery life.

Speaking of phone calls, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the sound on my end, and the sound on the other end wasn’t bad, considering it’s a pinhole mic.

Once you get past the standard 30-foot Bluetooth range, the signal starts to break up, but you should freely walk around in your house or apartment without any connection issues.

Conclusion

Overall, I thought the Panasonic RP-BTD10 Bluetooth Headphones provided a clear, natural sound favoring vocals, making them more ideal for pop music, movies, TV or phone calls. I liked the wired listening option, although it’s not audiophile quality. They also seem to be priced a bit on the high side, although if you poke around a bit, you can find some good deals.

See the Panasonic RP-BTD10 on Amazon

Panasonic RP-BTD10 Premium Bluetooth On-Ear Headphones Review

If you’re old enough, you’ll recall that plasma TVs were the first commercially available flat-panel TVs in the late ’90s. A 42-inch Philips set boasted a price tag of $15,000! Fast-forward over a decade later and most TV makers today are producing LCD panel HDTVs, more specifically LED-backlit (or edge-lit) LCD panels, which are becoming thinner and more inexpensive by the month.

In recent years, plasmas have fallen out of favor with mainstream consumers, and then a few months ago came the news that Panasonic, the market leader in plasma HDTVs, would actually stop production of their plasma line in 2014! Videophiles around the world were in a state of mourning. But why would anyone shed tears for the plasma TV? They’re not cool anymore.

Well, because plasma TVs are better, that’s why.

Then, just last month, order was restored when Panasonic announced that those “rumors” were actually incorrect and that it plans to continue developing plasma TV technology and producing new sets. Huzzah!

So hold off on those obituaries and poetic Betamax analogies, folks, because plasma is going to stick around a bit longer, and the world will be better for it. And here are the reasons why plasma TVs are still alive and better (than ever).

Plasma Is All Growns Up Now

This 152-inch plasma behemoth premiered at CES 2010.

Let’s get the usual objections to plasma TVs out of the way. Number one is: “Plasma TVs are susceptible to burn-in.” Only in really extreme circumstances. Over the years, manufacturers have added “anti burn-in technologies” that minimize the likelihood of image retention, and if these “ghost images” do crop up (unlikely), they disappear after a few minutes. If you’re among the 99 percent of people who do not leave still images up on their TV screen for half an hour with the contrast jacked up to retina-scorching levels, you’re gonna be OK. Nothing is going to happen if you pause that movie for 5 minutes. Plus, on new plasmas, letterboxed movies and sports tickers are no cause to worry for burn-in.

Another common objection is the lifespan of plasma TVs. While the early models had a 30,000-hour rating, recent models can last as long as 100,000 hours. You’ll be getting a TV chip planted in your brain before your new plasma TV reaches its natural end.

Also, plasmas were known to be power-sucking vampires. The reality is, because new plasma TVs have improved energy efficiency and are generally cheaper than the so-called green LED HDTVs, the overall savings to the consumer is a wash (about $13 a year on your electricity bill).

But wait, there’s more! Plasmas are super heavy and thick! Yes, years ago this was a problem. (Sensing a common theme?) However, let’s compare Samsung’s 51″ 4550 Series Plasma with the 50″ F5500 Series LED. The plasma is 39 lbs. without the stand and about 2 inches thick and the LED is 29 lbs. without the stand and about 2 inches thick. All right. Plasmas are actually heavier. It must be tough watching that movie on your plasma TV as you hold it in your hands.

It’s Beautiful!

Samsung F8500 Series Plasma

If you’re particular about your picture, plasma TVs have a lot going for them. Plasma TVs have the best image quality of consumer TVs today. This includes black level, viewing angle, uniform brightness, color range, contrast ratio, and for gamers and sports fans, vastly superior response time (i.e., there’s no motion blur on fast moving objects).

Granted, plasma TVs technically do not put out as much overall brightness as LED TVs, but very few of you will ever leave an LED TV at its top brightness settings. Because that would be like staring at the sun.

As of May 2013, CNET’s top three HDTVs by picture quality are all plasma TVs. Two are Panasonic lines and one is the fantastic Samsung F8500 series, which is great for bright rooms (to answer the naysayers).

Even better, Plasma TVs are cheaper than the newer LED TVs by an average of $300 or more. The older LCD TVs (CCFL-backlit) are comparable in price but are much lower quality all around. Over at Ben’s Bargains, we recently had a 42″ Panasonic 1080p Plasma HDTV going for $400.

Revealed!! Why Are Plasma TVs Still Around?