Chubby Buttons 2 – Wearable & Stickable Bluetooth 5.2 Remote for iPhone & Android

Happily skipping podcast commercials while in the shower.
I don’t usually review products, but I decided to this time because no product of this type addressed my specific questions. Buying Chubby Buttons was a gamble that paid off.I’m using the product with an iPone XS Max running IOS 12.1.3 (and then upgraded to 12.1.4). My intended purpose was skip commercials while listening to podcasts in Apples podcast app while in the shower. Yes, I’m talking about skipping forward 30 seconds, and back 15 seconds within a podcast, not skipping to the next podcast (or track in music terms).First off, while doing research, I discovered that Apple provides a setting in the podcast app (Settings->Podcasts) to specify how external controls are to work. The options are Next/Previous or Skip Forward/Back. I switched the setting to Skip Forward/Back, and my car steering wheel controls began behaving the way I wanted. This gave me reason to believe that the Chubby Buttons would follow suit, and it did.I followed the directions, and the product paired instantly, and worked perfectly. I pealed the plastic film from the back, and stuck it to my shower wall (fiber glass with smooth finish). it’s solidly mounted, and not going anywhere. I’ve used it for several days with wet, and sometimes soapy fingers, and it gets reasonable splash spray (like a light rain). No problems at all so far. One press of any button wakes the product, and it pairs instantly (less than one second). Each subsequent button press gives instant results. No delay at all. They claim the product sleeps after 60 minutes of inactivity. I’ve gone as long as about 25 minutes and it hasn’t slept, so no need to constantly double press (once to wake/pair, and again to do what you intended) to accomplish a skip/pause/play. Other competing products would sleep after 5 minutes, and irritated many reviewers of those products. I would agree. I never have to wonder if it’s asleep and need to double press. I just press the buttons as needed, and it just works!Another thing to note. Other devices claim to connect as a HID device, and disable the on screen keyboard while paired. Essentially, while paired, you can’t send a text, navigate to a location, do a google search, or anything else requiring keyboard input. Not so with this product. All functionality of the phone works as normal (on screen keyboard included) while paired. And yes, for those wondering, I’m paired to multiple devices, including a bluetooth speaker while using the buttons. The product controls the phone functions. The fact that I’m outputting the sound to a bluetooth speaker, a wired headset, or air playing to a device is irrelevant.Excellent product, solid build, nicely implemented, very responsive, and no annoying or compromising sleep/keyboard issues. Well worth the cost, and I highly recommend it.

Works well but overpriced in my opinion
I’ve had this product nearly 3 months since I received it and it’s still working as intended. I waited to review it to see if there were any durability issues.Background: I like wired headphones as the sound quality is better and I don’t have to worry about charging wireless headphones. I typically purchase more expensive wired headphones and they have controls on the wire that I use for volume and changing songs. Unfortunately the very first thing that typically goes bad on the wired headphones is the controls which is usually a occurs after the headphones wire has snagged on something. So I have several old pairs of perfectly good wired headphones with broken controls.I like being able to switch songs and easily change the volume, so I thought I would try the Chubby Buttons out so I could use my older headphones at the gym and when running. So far it has worked flawlessly and I like it much better than the controls on headphone wires as it’s easier to skip & go back to previous songs. It was like getting several pairs of new headphones since I now can use them all again.Rather than use the arm band, I created my own strap and put in on a nylon belt I wear. I was already using the belt to clip my phone to when I workout. The arm band is probably good for skiing, but when I run outside in the sun I don’t want to get crazy tan lines from it. I would like to suggest to the Chubby Button guys that they make a smaller version to clip on a belt or shorts for runners to use. Folks who use the wireless earpods typically can’t control the music with their pods, and I’m sure there’s a market for bluetooth music controls for runners. Maybe make it approx 3/4 the length & width of current Chubby Buttons.I go to the gym or run outside 6 days a week and so far the battery is still going strong. I typically turn off bluetooth on my phone when I’m not at the gym, and when I turn it back on I typically start a song, then just hit one of the volume buttons on the Chubby Buttons and it quickly reconnects and adjusts the volume.My only complaint is the price. I thought it was a tad overpriced when I first purchased, and I see they raised the price roughly 38% since then. While I understand it’s more expensive for a small shop to make things, this product seems like it should cost roughly half of what it does. I’m not saying the product is cheaply built, I’m just saying there’s not that much to it.UPDATE: I noticed the product stopped working all of a sudden while on the treadmill and it wouldn’t pair. Since I hadn’t replaced the battery before I assumed that was the cause, as I didn’t recall what the low battery indicator was on the unit.Happy to say that after replacing the battery it works again. I use Chubby Buttons primarily at the gym 4 to 5 times a week for a couple of hours, and had been using it for 3-1/2 months. The batteries cost roughly $5 unless you buy a larger pack of them. So if you regularly use Chubby Buttons, plan on spending roughly $15 to $20 a year on batteries.

Speaking from experience, this one works, even in the cold while snowmobiling. I had one of those little round ones before. It worked for a while but was difficult to use with a gloved hand and stopped working in the cold despite putting in a new battery. So far, this one works well and easy to use with gloves on. Two small gripes. It can be finicky to wake up to make it do something. If you don’t use a while, it goes to sleep and the first press is actually to wake it up and reconnect with your phone, then you do a second press and it will do the command twice. So if you push pause, it will stop and start again. Second gripe is its price. For what it is and compared to the price of those other ones, it’s expensive. I almost didn’t buy it because of the comparatively high cost. However I don’t regret buying it because it works so well. You’ll have to decide for yourself if the price is justified for you.

Use it as I ride my motorcycle. Good build quality, does what it says!