Gadgetory

when Samsung first announced a new Galaxy Note 9 they had a promo where if you pre-ordered the new phone they would either throw in a free pair of AKG + 60 + C on headphones which are a $300 value or you could get 15,000 V bucks and for those who don't know AKG is the Samsung like beats is to Apple but now we have the new AKG and 700 NCS a pair of over ear a and C headphones that compete directly against the Beast to do 3 both QC 35 and the Sony 1000 XM 3 but after getting to use these new AKG headphones I would personally prefer to take the V bugs over these AMC headphones the AKG and 700 NCS were released at IFA 2018 somehow managed to win a best product award and retails for $350 and just to let you know right off the bat these headphones rank pretty low compared to all the other $350 agency headphones I've reviewed so far and I don't want to come off as some sony fanboy or that I'm secretly sponsored by Sony but if you're in the market for a pair of premium ANC headphones I still highly recommend the Sony 1000 X and threes over these headphones link to these will be in the description down below and if you use the links he really ups out the channel first I want to adjust a carrying case because I never thought I would out write this like something as simple as a carrying case it's huge compared to most other carrying cases you see these days you can only sell the headphones inside in a specific way which always takes me a few tries to get right and I also hate how the netting inside always lets the accessories get loose so every time I go to take these headphones out of their case the cables fall out now the cables that come included with these headphones are pretty decent they're both braided and you even get an airplane adapter but AKG decided to use a 2.5 mm audio jack on their headphones instead of a 3.5 millimeter audio jack now this isn't a big problem but what is a big problem is that AKG decided to use a microUSB port for charging instead of a USB C port now like I've said in the past if your product is coming out in late 2018 we want to see USBC charging especially since Samsung owns AKG if I had a galaxy device but I don't cause of TouchWiz I would want to be able to charge my phone and head phones with the same charging cable this is one of the reasons why I like my air pot so much and it's the same criticism a lot of other people had when the Beats Studio threes were first released but now let's talk about something more important and that's the design and build quality of these headphones design wise I think these headphones look very bad everybody that's releasing headphones these days like Sony Skullcandy and Microsoft are aiming for a thin and low profile headband in-ear cup design but AKG decided to do the complete opposite the headband itself is thick and wide and when you wear these headphones it makes your head look huge which overall just make these headphones look extremely David compared to his slicker counterpart now I know design is subjective and I'm willing to bet someone watching might actually like the industrial like these headphones are rocking but I just find it very weird that the n700 nc's don't share the same design language found on the AKG and 60 NCS which were released at the same time and when it comes to these headphones build quality I'm not impressed whatsoever first I want adjust ammeter controls on the left ear cup now besides being on the left ear cup their layout is very good they're very easy to find and very easy to tell apart the volume up and center buttons have very good tactile feedback but for some reason the volume down button is complete mush but my quality control issues don't end there even though these ear cups are supposed to swivel the left ear cup has a lot of friction whereas the right ear cup feels a little loose and if you look closely you can even see that the body panels are beginning to shave now when it comes to adjusting the headband you'll notice it's also very loose and there's even a lot of wiggling going on between the top portion of the headband and the portion that holds on to the ear cup the only redeeming qualities I like about these headphones is that I do like the hit of Alcantara underneath the headband the faux leather on the ear cups feels very nice and overall these headphones fit very well the ear cups are more spacious than the Sony 1000x m3 but not as spacious at the Bose QC 35 s and these headphones also don't have a lot of clamping force making them big had approved but the design and build quality of these headphones alone would make me consider not getting these headphones when it comes to tech specs these headphones I have an advertised battery life of 23 hours with ANC turned on and that's not bad any around 25 hours is average these days because for comparison the new Microsoft Surface headphones only have a 15 hour battery life but unfortunately these headphones don't have fast charging which is quickly becoming a standard and very important feature on a and C headphones these days when it comes to Bluetooth connectivity these headphones are using bluetooth 4.2 now there's nothing wrong with that but assuming since AKG is a Samsung company how would things dancing would be trying to use Bluetooth 5.0 these headphones but more importantly these headphones can only be connected to one device at a time which does suck if you are a power user and if you're an iPhone user these headphones do have a considerable amount of latency just making them not good for watching youtube videos on your phone but latency is only an issue if you're an iPhone user if you're an Android user you'll be okay and now let's talk about the active noise cancellation on these headphones in short it does a whole lot of nothing now there is a calibration process for the agency on these headphones but unfortunately I didn't see any noticeable improvements after doing the anc calibration now the a and C on these headphones is the adaptive kind meaning that you can specify how much ANC you want they just adjust themselves on the fly very similar to the B studio threes [Laughter] in general the agency on the end 700 and sees does a very average job blocking outcasted low-frequency sounds like road noise and in general anc headphones are designed to block out constant low frequency sounds but what separates good agency headphones from great agency headphones is how they handle random high frequency sounds like chatter from the ANC test you can clearly hear that the answer 100 MCS have a really hard time blocking out chatter and when it comes to the cabin pressure of the ANC of these headphones it's not as bad as the post you see thirty fives but it is noticeable you just never forget us there like most other anc headphones these days the AKG and 700 NCS also have an ambient mode and a method for talking to people without having to take your headphones off which you can toggle with this button found under the power button the only catch is is that you can only have one of these features turned on on these headphones ambient aware will pump in all of the sound around you while you're playing music given the headphones and open-back effect and this which was good if you're walking around the city my only problem with this feature is that it pumps in everything both the Sony 1000x m3 and Microsoft Surface headphones have this type of feature but they're smart enough so that if one loud random sound happens like say a police siren rose by a dog starts barking or a car backfires they'll turn off the ambient feature and shield you from that jump scare but not the EKGs which I feel is kind of sloppy there's also the talk-through feature which will lower the volume of your music and pump in the ambient sound so you can talk to someone without taking off your headphones No Society and I like that these headphones has both of these features I just wish I don't have to choose between these two features because depending on your situation or environment you're gonna want to use one over the other and like I mentioned earlier I wish the ambient mode on the EKGs was implemented better and there's a chance AKG could address that in a future software update and finally let's talk about these headphones sound quality these headphones are made for people who prefer a neutral sound signature if you're looking for bass and want something in or out of your head these ain't it but so the bass does get deep and sputtering hasn't been an issue with these headphones which is good the soundstage and instrument separation on these headphones is also good and distortion is almost non-existent and through the AKG app you can go in and adjust to EQ on these headphones as well but just keep in mind even if you raise the bass on these headphones all the way up you're not going to get that kick you're looking for these headphones are all made for a neutral listening experience and even after all the negative things I've said about these headphones so far I will admit they sound pretty good and finally here's the microphone test and it's just not that good but this outer clip has been recorded by the microphones found on the AKG and 700 nc's so you better do that now overall even though the AKG and 700 NC's do sound pretty good for neutral sounding headphones I just find them very hard to recommend in this increasingly competitive ANC headphone market from a design and build quality standpoint they look and feel like something from 2014 especially since they're using that my curiosity port when all of the Galaxy phones AKG headphones are advertised next to are using the USB C port even though they do fit well and I can see myself wearing them for hours without any problems on a commute they're active noise cancellation is on par with other $200 ANC headphones I've tested not the $350 ANC headphones that these headphones are competing against and personally I have no idea how these headphones one that is the best product award if you made it this far I guess you enjoyed the video so hit that like button and get subscribed it helps out more than you realize support the channel by clicking on the links down below and I'll catch you next time