Thanks to Anker for the opportunity to test these headphones.
Previously I worked in mid to high end consumer electronics sales and was spoilt with the availability of products.
Still having high end audio equipment, it’s been 10-12 years since I’ve used headphones so I was quite excited to get my hands on these.
Unboxing and build quality,
Packing design is quite pleasing to the eye and protects the product well.
Taking the headphones out of the inner plastic insert, feeling the weight and quality of the materials immediately gave a sense that these would endure the test of time.
The only sign of cutting corners are the buttons, these are very clicky and plasticky but not in a good way.
So enough caressing, time to get them on.
Comfort,
Putting these on I noticed the softness of the headband and ear pads, first impressions are that these are very comfortable.
Adjustment is straight forward and their is plenty of movement in the speaker part to ensure a good fit.
I would say I have normal size ears, which fitted in the pads fine.
Synced to phone quickly as you would expect, so time to play some test tracks!
First impressions,
I have a collection of tracks for audio testing, I chose the following,
Touch the Hand, Bryan Adams.
Part of the Process, Morcheeba.
The Guitar Man, Weiss.
Frogbass, Snails.
Poison, Prodigy.
Bryan Adams & Morcheeba,
Nice balance and reasonable separation of sound with vocals falling a little behind on the Bryan Adams track.
Weiss & Snails,
Immediately you get a feel these headphones were made for electronic dance music.
Turn the volume up and bass hits you like it’s being delivered by a cricket bat to the head. Treble comes in equal measures but nicely balanced.
Prodigy,
This is quite a busy bass heavy track in parts and the strain showed here.
At higher volumes the sound became a little muddy and out of control during this track.
In-depth / longer term testing,
My preference is electronic dance music so I’m getting on great with these headphones.
I haven’t found any music that benefits from Bass-Up. For me it’s just too much, and even though my preference is bass heavy music it just overpowers.
Noise isolation is pretty good. Listening at work and in the cafe hasn’t generated any comments or looks to say I’m disturbing people.
ANC,
Not to sure what to make of this if I’m honest, I prefer it switched off when I really want to get into some music.
When on I feel it muffles the sound a little, fine if you’re casually listening to music in a noisy environment.
I use it most, not while listening to music but at work or at home when trying to focus on something.
I’ve never used a noise cancelling product so wasn’t sure what to expect from it.
Folding up/pouch,
Folds reasonably small considering the size when open.
The pouch is soft with a nice feel. Some might prefer a hard case, but that would add to the bulk when carrying, I’m happy with the soft case.
Conclusions,
Comfortable to wear, easy to connect and good battery life.
At high volume, when pushed with a busy track, sound starts to become a little muddy and out of control.
For the majority of my test tracks, and more regular listening to electronic dance music, they performed very well.
Let’s not forget, these are £55 headphones so it’s not realistic to expect perfection.
Considering they are Bluetooth, noise cancelling, have a good battery life and built well, I don’t think you can’t fault these.
I would recommend these with confidence.