Here's The Spec:
| Materials Colours Acoustic Design Headphone Style Drive Sensitivity Frequency Response Rated Impedance Earpads Headband Pressure Connector Net Weight | Steel, Plastic, SofTouch™ Surface Treatment, SoftFeel™ Earcups Black, White, Red, Blue Dynamic, Closed back, Over-Ear 16µ, Neodymium magnet, Φ40mm 96db /1mW 20hz-20khz 68 Ω SoftFeel™ Approximately 5N Gold-plated Φ3.5mm stereo mini-plug with aluminum sheath 200g |
What Comes In The Box:
Straight out of the box, BitFenix keeps it very feature rich but simple and easy to use. You get four items that connect to the Flo headset, three of which are cables and the fourth being the removable micrphone. Lets quickly cover them before go in-depth in the review.
| The first cable we get is a one metre long four pole cable you will use if you are using the Flo as a headset. This one features inline controls which we will get to in the design section of the review. Next up we have a two metre extension cable that can accept both four and three pole cables, splitting near the end into 3.5mm audio jacks four audio and mic connections, remember you need a 4-pole cable to use the mic. Finally our last cable is a very simple, one metre plain 3 pole cable for if you want to just use the headphones without the mic plugged in or a bulky inline control getting in the way. Other than the cables, the only extra accessory we get is the detachable mic which plugs in just like the cables do with a 3.5mm audio jack. It also features a flexible mid-section for the unidirectional pick-up. |   |
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Product Design:
Headphones Ex. Mic:
In BitFenix's first attempt in the audio market they have gone for a fully featured headset that can pretty much be used for any purpose, Let's go over the design starting from the cables (even though we just went over them) and going all the way up to the headband.
| BitFenix as we have already discussed provide two main cables to connect to headphones with, one is a simple one metre cable that is 3-pole and therefore headphones only while the other being a 4-pole, is for being used with the included microphone. The 4-pole also being one metre long has an inline control that allows for you to turn the microphone on or off as well as control headphone volume. I am not happy at all with the length they chose to go with for these cables as for the most part it's under the assumption you will use it with the extension cable when at a computer. I have gotten used to the 1.2 metre standard on headphone cables, it works, it's the perfect length for almost every scenario, why change it? 1.2 metres for me is a great |   |
length for using with portable music devices on the go and when sitting at the computer I am also almost exactly the same distance from my computer than I am from the pocket where I would put for example my ipod. the 1 metre cable means there is absolutely no slack at all on the cable and it generally gets pulled out of the audio jack if I move at all and adding another 2 metres through the extension would be just as absurd. Rant aside, I think that having the extension cable is great, it gives you some sort of freedom but keep the 1.2 metre length on the main cables, it makes the headphones so much more compatible.
Both supplied cables are particularly thick which is great for protecting the internal wire and feels very high quality, the downside being it's less flexible. The audio jacks themselves are just as high quality as the cable between them, with an aluminium exterior and solid connection to the cable you won't see any degradation to this part of the cable over time which we commonly observe on thinner cables. I do like the fact it is also completely removable as well because most of the time, this is the part of headphones to break first so if it DOES break, you can just replace it! I also like the shape and design of the inline controls as although it's a little bulky, its simple and easy to use without needing to take your eyes of what you are doing and with an overall quality feel too it, props to BitFenix as it's tricky to find the right design for a good inline control. The slider is responsive with enough friction to not get knocked by accident.
Both supplied cables are particularly thick which is great for protecting the internal wire and feels very high quality, the downside being it's less flexible. The audio jacks themselves are just as high quality as the cable between them, with an aluminium exterior and solid connection to the cable you won't see any degradation to this part of the cable over time which we commonly observe on thinner cables. I do like the fact it is also completely removable as well because most of the time, this is the part of headphones to break first so if it DOES break, you can just replace it! I also like the shape and design of the inline controls as although it's a little bulky, its simple and easy to use without needing to take your eyes of what you are doing and with an overall quality feel too it, props to BitFenix as it's tricky to find the right design for a good inline control. The slider is responsive with enough friction to not get knocked by accident.
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The white portions of the headset, mainly the outside of the earcups and the connection to the headband, are covered in BitFenix's SofTouch treatment and feel a lot softer and smoother than the treatment we've seen on the prodigy, brighter too. Audio jacks shown in the picture above are located on the left ear cup and while the ear cups can tilt 180 degress, the left side is blocked by the flat protruding design on the cup which protects the weaker points of the audio jack from damage caused by overly tilting the cup onto the cable.
The white SofTouch coating is complemented nicely with a silver trim and BitFenix logo. This design is very reminiscent of BitFenix cases with the logo being the centrepiece of the product. As far as fingerprints go only the logo itself is really going to attract any and it's only noticeable up close due to size. I am very unopinionated on this accenting as it neither adds nor takes away from the overall simplistic design, I just wish they had gone the extra mile and used real metal of a sort for that extra 'expensive' feel to the product.
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| The only outright unattractive part of the ear cups is this little black portion here. I have no idea if this could be avoided by using a different colour, I just think it kind of halts the overall flow of the design and looks a little cheap. Turning the cups around however reveals something quite the opposite. The SoftFeel earcups which I can only imagine are made of |  |
a high quality PU leather, feel absolutely amazing to touch with a memory foam style bounce back and a very soft smooth exterior. The black material backing to the interior of the cup has the consistency of foam without the nasty texture. We will cover how they feel and perform when wearing them later in the review!
Moving on up the headset we find the connection between the headphones and the headband.This type of headband, commonly referred to as a 'sling' design features two structural metal bars that keep pressure and tension on the ear cups when they are on your head for a snug fit, followed by an elasticated headband to give the headphones a tight and supported fit when being worn. The connection between these components of the headband is very messy and uncoordinated, one second the black support bars end, the next they reappear but then disappear just as fast. I would have much preferred the entire white portion of the housing to be or at least appear as all one piece.
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The headband itself is designed to be incredibly functional, comfort is definitely the focus here. The two support bars as we've said really just support the whole headband while the cushioned 'elasticated' section provides a very minimalist 'tailored' style fit that requires no adjustments as its fits itself to the size of your head rather than having to adjust it yourself. I like the feel of the cushioning as it has a sort of feel to it that the SofTouch exterior has and as it's definitely not there to hold up the earcups as some headbands are, you won't need any more padding than this. Most of the time the headband isn't even noticeable.
My only grudge to this design is looks... mostly. As opposed to the standard single band design (insert every single other set of headphones we have reviewed) it looks quite weird on the head which can be a problem for people who go out in public with their headphones and want a pleasurable experience. It just looks awkward having a large gap between the upper band and your head. Functionality wise it's obviously a superior design as it constantly readjusts to your head as you move, providing a superior fit all around but I kid you not, when bending over while wearing these, I have accidentally gotten caught and hung them on a wall hook, removing them from my head. Maybe that's just an outcome of me clearly getting way too intimately close to the wall and my own fault, I'll leave that for you to decide.
My only grudge to this design is looks... mostly. As opposed to the standard single band design (insert every single other set of headphones we have reviewed) it looks quite weird on the head which can be a problem for people who go out in public with their headphones and want a pleasurable experience. It just looks awkward having a large gap between the upper band and your head. Functionality wise it's obviously a superior design as it constantly readjusts to your head as you move, providing a superior fit all around but I kid you not, when bending over while wearing these, I have accidentally gotten caught and hung them on a wall hook, removing them from my head. Maybe that's just an outcome of me clearly getting way too intimately close to the wall and my own fault, I'll leave that for you to decide.
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HeadPhones Inc. Mic:
Plugging the microphone in really transforms the headphones look, almost to a 'call centre' look if I'm honest. With the connection limited to the left side along with the cable, you don't really have any options to change things around which is important to some people.
With a flexible mid section and short stature, the microphone is very unobtrusive and depending on how you wear it, it can be completely out of your field view, perfect for gamers who can find visible microphones easily distracting.
With a flexible mid section and short stature, the microphone is very unobtrusive and depending on how you wear it, it can be completely out of your field view, perfect for gamers who can find visible microphones easily distracting.
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Photo Gallery:
Here is all the product shots taken for the review, plus some that haven't been used. Have a look through to get a good feel for the product!
Performance:
Fit:
BitFenix's Flo headphones thanks to the headband design put absolutely no pressure on the top of the head and for the most part you wouldn't know it even had a headband, but this is more than I can say for the earcups. Coming inherent with it's design is a much tighter fit to the sides of your head caused by the metal portion of the headband making the earcups push into your head/ears as opposed to 'hanging' next to them. I could deal with this most of the time and if I wasn't consciously aware of the headphones or moving them around myself it wasn't a huge deal but over time it really did become impossible to wear the headphones for long periods without it getting really painful. Put simply I could not watch half way through a standard length movie without needing to stop and take them off. I generally need to take headphones off after so many hours anyway just to let my ears 'breathe' so to speak and I get round this by keeping multiple pairs of headphones that differ in styles from in-ear, on-ear and so on, so that I can continue working as each style can feel refreshing to your ear.
The biggest positive caused by this design however is very much correlated to how tight they are, this being it's sound isolation. The tight fit coupled with the ear cup material make for a seamless barrier that stops sound leakage to the point I would have to turn my volume up to full and sit in a silent room for anyone else to be able to distinctly hear my music. Active-noise cancellation is not a feature of the Flo but I don't believe it needs it, for the same reasons as its high performance in sound isolation. Overall a relatively uncomfortable fit for long-term use for me but with quite a lot of important benefits for short-term uses such as your daily commute.
The biggest positive caused by this design however is very much correlated to how tight they are, this being it's sound isolation. The tight fit coupled with the ear cup material make for a seamless barrier that stops sound leakage to the point I would have to turn my volume up to full and sit in a silent room for anyone else to be able to distinctly hear my music. Active-noise cancellation is not a feature of the Flo but I don't believe it needs it, for the same reasons as its high performance in sound isolation. Overall a relatively uncomfortable fit for long-term use for me but with quite a lot of important benefits for short-term uses such as your daily commute.
Audio:
What BitFenix have achieved well here is an extremely flat frequency response for it's price, the primary thing I look for in any audio product. In fact it's ability to reproduce all frequencies up and down the range not just in comparison to each other but as individual frequencies shocked me as well. Unlike most products in it's price bracket I never noticed the Flo's struggle to reproduce any sounds with the lower frequencies being punchy, the mid's being clear and present up and down the volume range, and the high frequencies being extremely crisp and tight. One of our audio tests involves an audio track from the song "One (Your Name)" by Swedish House Mafia, this is the 'vocal mix' version and we use it to help test the upper and lower ranges in a practical and realistic test. The Flo's are some of the best headphones we've tested with this song. Overall I was very impressed with it's ability to reproduce sounds, coupled with the flat frequency response, remember for day to day life you may prefer something other than a flat response but this is what EQ's are for, it's easier to work with a blank canvas than try to fix a messed up one.
As far as soundstage is concerned, it's not extremely impressive given the size of the headphones, though we aren't told how large the drivers are (I expect 40/50mm at least due to 68ohm impedance). Most people will be more than happy with it and in movies and music unless you constantly use better headphones you wont even notice. In FPS gaming situations however a large soundstage can be seen as a huge advantage as it makes it easier to pin-point your target by allowing you to hear a lot more clearly where each part of the audio is coming from. I haven't reviewed many gaming headphones in the past, just the CM Storm Pitch, but I can only assume if their market is anything similar to the normal headphone market, for £40 this is a little better than average just not as good as more expensive headphones you may be going up against.
As far as soundstage is concerned, it's not extremely impressive given the size of the headphones, though we aren't told how large the drivers are (I expect 40/50mm at least due to 68ohm impedance). Most people will be more than happy with it and in movies and music unless you constantly use better headphones you wont even notice. In FPS gaming situations however a large soundstage can be seen as a huge advantage as it makes it easier to pin-point your target by allowing you to hear a lot more clearly where each part of the audio is coming from. I haven't reviewed many gaming headphones in the past, just the CM Storm Pitch, but I can only assume if their market is anything similar to the normal headphone market, for £40 this is a little better than average just not as good as more expensive headphones you may be going up against.
Microphone:
Having tested the microphone in a multitude of situations I can say it definitely varies in performance for what you want to use it for. When testing it as a simple headset for phone calls my associate told me it was and I quote "infinitely better in ever way than that inbuilt phone mic". Transfer over to an over the web Skype call and results weren't so definite being described at times as sounding under water (though I would put this down to skype as they are to put it kindly, an awful service at times). Other scenarious showed there to be very little noise produced and the mic only picking up my voice and nothing more. Quite a nice microphone to use and being removable is just that extra little bonus.
Conclusion:
For their first pair of headphones brought to market BitFenix have done a really good job. The build quality alone is exceptional and while I don't particularly like the design, I know it will hold up and take a beating. Part of my confidence in the product is grown from the removable audio cable feature as the cable is generally the weakest link on a pair of headphones.The cables themselves are a let down though, the high quality is held back by the unhelpful sizing.
Sound quality is something I never expected to be this good first time around. The Flo's flat frequency response makes them adaptable and usable for multiple purposes, even audio production on a budget. The response is impressive too with an all round solid performance, I just wish the soundstage was that tiny bit bigger for a fully immersive experience.
Price wise the Flo headset is good choice for performance and for anyone who maybe even just wants the headphone functionality without the mic. In summary the only things I can see holding the Flo's back are comfort and aesthetics. They look nice but not nearly as nice as many others and the comfort levels just aren't high enough to achieve its maximum potential as a headset.
Sound quality is something I never expected to be this good first time around. The Flo's flat frequency response makes them adaptable and usable for multiple purposes, even audio production on a budget. The response is impressive too with an all round solid performance, I just wish the soundstage was that tiny bit bigger for a fully immersive experience.
Price wise the Flo headset is good choice for performance and for anyone who maybe even just wants the headphone functionality without the mic. In summary the only things I can see holding the Flo's back are comfort and aesthetics. They look nice but not nearly as nice as many others and the comfort levels just aren't high enough to achieve its maximum potential as a headset.
Verdict:
Rating: 70/100 | Awards: |
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