We love good design and great sound,
but hate wires. What else can we do but fall in love with Parrot’s Zik
earphones?
There were nor many signs coming from
Parrot that it would come up with such an audacious product like the Zik
headset. Sure the company manufactured good quality earphones, headsets and
Bluetooth car kits, but the Zik is in another class. For one, it’s designed by
one of the hottest industrial designers of the past two decades Philippe
Starck. The Zik is classy on so many levels, allowing us to forgive its slight
weight issue and difficulties in adjusting its fit.
It’s not difficult to recommend Parrot’s
Zik headset, especially for those who find Beats Audio too bombastic and heavy
on the bass.
Parrot
Zik bluetooth headset
Sound and fury
Now on to the Nitty Gritty sound quality is
excellent once you adjust it through the free Parrot Audio Suite app available
for iOS and Android devices. In this app the equalizer provided a few presets
but we found it best to simply manually adjust it to a custom setting. Once
done there, visit the ‘Concert Hall’ feature to adjust the speaker angle
virtually. The app is a useful touch, one that far too few headset
manufacturers utilize.
Take
off the headset and it automatically stops your music player
We’ve been struggling with the Beats Audio
headsets to easily adjust the volume and control playback via buttons on the
ear cup of the headset. This is not a problem on the Zik, since the one earcup
is touch enabled slide your finger upwards or downwards on it to adjust the
volume, and left and right to control track selection. This worked without
hassle on Android-powered smartphones and Windows 8 Media Player.
We’ve
been struggling with the Beats Audio headsets to easily adjust the volume and
control playback via buttons on the ear cup of the headset.
Adding to the Zik’s usability is a sensor
embedded in the left cushion, which can tell if it is in use or not. Take off
the headset and it automatically stops your music player. This not only
provides savings in terms of battery life, but for use in an office where you
can be easily disrupted, it avoids the hassle of having to start your playlist
from the beginning if you’ve forgotten to put the headphones back on.
To the point
Apart from providing a sterling audio
experience, you can also receive your cellular calls through the Zik, and it
contains active noise cancellation. In all, it’s not difficult to recommend
Parrot’s Zik headset, especially for those who find Beats Audio too bombastic
and heavy on the bass. If you’re up for the price, it’s worth it.
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Specifications
§ Price:
$439
§ Accessories
Type: Bluetooth Device; Headphones
§ Battery
Type/Life: 800 mAH Lithuim-ion battery 6 hours (everything enabled)/12 hours
Active Noise Cancelling
§ Size:
7.8 x 5.9 x 3.14 inches
§ Weight:
11.4 ounces
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