Woojer Vest 4 review: This vibrating vest might be the weirdest gadget I’ve ever reviewed
I have tried out some unusual tech in my time. Bands that tap into nerves to help you lose weight or tackle insomnia. Sensors that encourage you to drink more water. Headphones that also act as a personal air purifier. But a vibrating vest? That could be the weirdest yet. The Woojer Vest 4 pitches itself as a “powerful and accurate 360-degree immersive experience”, a similar proposal to the acoustic therapy mat the company makes, but with a different target market. Instead of targeting wellness warriors, the vest is aimed at gamers, movie fans and music lovers who want to feel the audio, although you can use it for meditation too. The Woojer Vest 4 takes audio and turns it into physical vibration, through six haptic transducers you strap to your body. It doesn’t matter what the audio is – a movie, a game, Sabrina Carpenter on Spotify – as long as there is a bit of rumble to it. Low-frequency audio rumbles become vibrations and, in theory, you become fully immersed. Sounds odd? Yes. Did it live up to the promise? Not really. The device itself looks more like a life jacket than a wellness device or a gaming accessory, but I’ll keep an open mind. Handily, it comes with instructions printed on the inside. Waist straps get tightened first, then the chest straps, and finally the shoulder straps. Can a €1,100 high-tech vibrating mat help you sleep? That was where the first issue became obvious. I’m shorter than average, so the distance between my shoulders and my waist is not quite what it would be for everyone. There isn’t much adjusting I can do on the shoulder straps to get that ideal “snug fit” the vest mentions. That has knock-on effects. There are two pads on the chest, two on the back and two at the waist. Because of my lack of height, the chest vibration plates are, shall we say, interestingly placed, and the back vibration plates may as well not be there. To get things working, you need to connect the vest to the Woojer app on your phone. The unit sent for review needed a firmware update before I could get going, which requires the vest to be plugged in. That led to the second issue: there are two USB ports on the vest, one is on the back and the other on the front left side. Guess which one is for charging? The one I can’t reach without unstrapping the entire vest. I unhook everything, plug the vest in and get going on the firmware update. Time for problem number three: it fails the first time and takes its time with the second attempt, so I shut it down, reboot the vest and try again. That requires a hard reset (there’s a small pinhole for that). Ten minutes later we are updated and ready to go. Back on with the straps. Now you can choose your audio source. The vest will work with everything from iPhone or Android device to PCs, consoles, smart TVs and VR headsets. If it is a phone, tablet or laptop, you can connect via Bluetooth and use either wireless or wired headphones for audio. Other devices can be hooked up with cables, which effectively tethers you to your seat. Music is the easiest to test. A wireless connection to the vest, wireless headphones, plus some bass-heavy audio makes for vibration overload. You can dial down the effect either through the app or the physical control panel on the vest. I made the mistake of cranking it up to the highest level on a particularly bass-heavy track and it felt like being hit in the chest. Would I buy a haptic vest for this experience? Unlikely. Gaming seems like the natural use for the vest. Being able to feel the action instead of just seeing and hearing it would ratchet up the realism. It didn’t quite work out like that. The haptics are based on audio rather than the game experience. The loudest sound triggers the biggest reaction. If that is the sound effects of the action, great; on some games it was the less crucial background noise, such as the rumble of vehicles and background music. The problem is that it can all be a bit much after a while. Instead of making you feel more immersed in the content, it can get a bit muddy. If I am running around a battlefield being shot at, I want the vibration pattern to reflect that. Shot in the chest? The chest plates should vibrate to reflect that. Instead everything blends together, and you can forget the vibration is even there. It is the same for movies and TV shows; sound effects and soundtracks are almost indistinguishable. Some games have lag when connected to the vest via Bluetooth, even using the dedicated gaming modes. That makes the vibrating sensation distracting rather than immersive because it is coming too late. The settings don’t allow you compensate for it enough, focusing more on audio lag, so your best bet is to use a cable. The most effective use for the vest is hooking it up to Calm or other meditation apps. But would you spend almost €500 to haul yourself into a vest and vibrate your way to inner calm? Good Connects to a range of audio sources, so you have choices about what you want to immerse yourself in. Works well for guided meditation and bass-heavy music, or stealth games that don’t overlay a soundtrack. Bad It just doesn’t seem too effective. It works on low-frequency audio – so anywhere there is a rumble, it translates to the vest and the end result isn’t targeted; it just becomes background noise. The lag on some games devices makes the vest’s effects more of a distractions Everything else There are different modes in the app that can help tailor the experience. You can change modes, choosing between broad, focused, gaming and low latency – each has its own strengths. If you are using the vest for gaming, either low latency or gaming mode will be your best bet. Verdict The vest makes for an interesting accessory, but it isn’t as effective as I hoped.