The first two cautions: low quality cable and lack of mic is enough for me to not investigate them any further. They might be the best sounding but I can't recommend a product that you have to be careful as if it was a baby. Throw that baby away and get a new baby.
Note: I used to do everything in my power to NOT accept the situation I am in. I used to take earphones, IEMs, headphones, retro consoles, external gamepads just so that I can be doing anything else than these peasants around me are doing. More about it in a huge blog...
Questions/Comments on this post until a video is one.
Cautions: VVI before you buy
Wires are very weak and if they snap off, connecting them again even with a proper solder gun is going to be a hassle.
Lack of any sort of mic means if you have to take call with them, you will have to take these out of your pocket all the time.
They are open back so you can quite easily hear what's going on around you, the problem is, they cover your ears, so other people might assume that you can't hear anything.
That is a big deal. With a bone conduction or open mic, people saw my open ears and understood that they can communicate with me. With these I have to retrain everyone to know that yes, I can hear you calling me a dork for wearing these headphones.
Yes, the design, which I don't really care about in most products, makes it look medical and people assume you are deaf and keep eye-balling you wherever you go.
Even at a comfortble listening volume, they being open back, there is some sound leakage which can be heard if a person is sitting right beside you like in a metro if there are no other sounds and yes they can clearly hear everything.
Extra Notes/To confirm later/FAQ for people who can't find something on it.
Please comment on youtube video if you have more.
My phone sucks giant ass and is always making me assume the problem lies with someplace else. On my phone while connecting it via a USB-C to 3.5mm jack, the mic is completely disabled and I have to physcially remove them to get the mic to work.
This makes taking a call a fucking nightmare and I thought the headphones are horrible but when I tested in the same cases on another phone(Redmi Note 10 Pro) it need not be plugged out with or without dac. So yeah, once more, FUCK IQOO Z9S PRO.
I can't put my finger on it but there is something about the open ear deisgn or what not that makes my ears go just like they become when in a flight that's ascending due to air pressure change. It might just be something else entierly so will update this further.
Due to the cautions above, I didn't bother going into a detailed review.
However, a few things that I will look for in another products as a replacement for this:
In it's current state, just add an in-line mic and strenghten the cable. That in itself is a huge win.
I feel such easy cupping, portable over hear headphones are better off as wireless and I would agree with you that the sound quality will be terrible but after listening to OneOdio Y80B on bluetooth mode, I am inclined to disagree, as I have heard pretty good sound via bluetooth also.
And I should also piont out that for enjoy the best sound out of these open backs, you need a quiet room by yourself, at which point, why not just use a speaker.
I don't give a fuck about how a stuff looks but making it look like a medical equipment is taking a step too far.
You will see I wasn't even able to go into the sound aspect of the headphones because I couldn't see myself using it on a daily basis and what's the point of doing a sound test if I can't stand behind and defend the whole product.
I don't recommend IEMs or earphones due to health reasons at all and that's why I was interested in trying out such easy on the ears, open backs, I guess my adventure continues with some other open back which either are proper headphones to use alone or have embraced portability fully and can be used outside.
P.S: I really wanted to love these headphones but I really can't recommend it if I take the longevity of the device into account.
Pros/Cons
Pros
Good Quality Bass. Not overdone but sounds pretty good.
Very light, very easy to carry.
Neutral
Neutral-Good
Neutral-Doesn't Matter
Although it says that it's open back but on a comfortable listening volume in a quiet room of under 50% without external DAC is more than enough and at 2-3ft away it's barely noticeable.
Makes you look like a pretentious little bastard. Get a green apple and eat it menacingly while wearing it to complete the look.
Good enough cable length to go from ear in your shirts to your pocket
Neutral-Bad
Takes some time to getting used to the clamp. Had to take out my specs to fit them properly all the time and even then I was not sure if they are sitting properly.
People kept staring at me after wearing these. Even more than they stared at bone conduction headphones. There is something medical like look with it that makes people assume you are suffering from some ear disease.
Cons
Wire strength is very weak. It's the same sort of cable that are found in very cheap earphones and I would not be surprised if people just ripped it straight out accidentally.
