Confession: I’m not particularly interested in gadgets, devices and the latest tech toys. This mentality has caused some small distress in my husband who (between you and me) has an almost pathological need to collect and test every new product that comes out. Over the past few years we’ve had a few discussions about whether we really need that 7th Samsung phone that’s gathering dust in the spare phone drawer – which leads to the discussion about who really needs a drawer specifically for spare phones?
The point is, Peter collects these things. He’s interested in the difference between all of them and the industry behind it all. I’m not. Give me a phone that basically works, a TV that looks good and a computer that meets both those requirements and I’m fine. I rarely have strong opinions about any of them and have been known to not notice when Peter switches out one particular device for another in our home.
A few months ago, I broke a pair of headphones. (I often break Peter’s things, he’s a saint about it). He mentioned he had a new pair ready and waiting to be tested so I took those to work and promised to buy myself some and hand these ones back that evening. These temporary headphones were the Parrot Zik 2.0 in black.
That was in March and frankly Peter can take these out of my cold dead hands.
These headphones are fantastic. The sound is crisp, complex and true no matter what I’m listening to. If I’m wanting a different sound I can also set up my own tuning presets or download a pre-made one using the app. DJ Jazzy Jeff has an excellent one I’ve been using today. The basic profile is great but I’d recommend at least downloading a different setting for Acoustic music.
The noise cancellation is powerful to the point I’d recommend turning it off when walking near traffic. All office based chatter and public transport noise is gone, which is everything I need. If you work in an environment where you need to listen to your team, you’d better switch this off. If you’re the office grump like me you’ll be in heaven.
The battery life isn’t great, but if you’re fine having them connected to a charger at your desk you should be fine. I always have mine connected via Bluetooth with noise cancellation on so your mileage may vary, but I generally get less than 4 hours on a full charge.
They look great and are very comfortable, even after being on all day.
The only slight issue is the touch panel on one ear. This has come in handy, with pausing music only taking one tap to my ear rather than getting out my phone. I can also change the volume, skip through and replay tracks with a swipe of a finger. Very very useful – but I can’t help but feel this was designed for men. My long hair has often set this off, and don’t get me started on scarves. Weirdly enough there isn’t any setting to turn this off.
Overall I’d say these are as close to perfect as I can imagine. They have a hefty price tag — at US$399 (AU$549.95 at the moment) RRP — but they definitely won’t disappoint.
This is a guest post by the lovely Megan Wells.