Microsoft Surface Headphones

Excelente producto

I was recommended these headphones after my old ones stopped working. I use them exclusively for work. Mostly Teams meetings, sometimes Zoom meetings. Overall, they’re the best headphones I’ve used thus far.

PROS:
– Very comfortable. I have average-sized ears, and these fit over my ears like a glove. The ear cups are shaped such that your ears fit “inside” the cup padding, and the padding is tight against my head without interfering with the shape of my ears. I initially felt some issues with the headband – I was worried that it would give me that lingering head pain that I’ve experienced with inferior headsets. But that never materialized, and now they just feel good.

– The sound cancellation is great. Enough that background noise doesn’t interfere. I can’t really say much more about this; it just works. If you’re looking for absolutely no sound, this ain’t it. But for a conventional home office room, it is perfect.

– Sound quality. My colleagues say that my voice is very clear.

– The controls. On the left, you spin the dial forward/backward to engage or disengage the sound cancellation. There’s apparently 13 levels of cancellation; I just treat it as Yes or No. On the right is the volume – same deal. Spin forward to turn up, backward to turn down. There are other controls for calls, music, etc. involving tapping and I haven’t really used these, but what I have used of them they work just fine. It’s very intuitive.

-General Operation. A button on the right side turns them off/on, and the mute button is just to the side of it. There is a sound that plays when you’re toggling the mute and let’s you know pretty distinctively whether your mute is on or off.

– Connectivity. I use these with Bluetooth on a MacBook Air M1, and they’re extremely responsive to connecting to my computer when I turn them on/put them on.

– Look and feel. They are packaged wonderfully, have a very modern look, and present themselves as a very quality product designed with thought & attention. They have a “weight” to them that doesn’t feel cheap at all.

CONS:

– They frequently produce garbled audio packets. I’ve been in meetings where the speaker’s voice will get garbled regularly, almost as if their internet connection is slow. But others don’t report this, so I’m pretty certain it’s the headphone bluetooth connection. I’m not sure what is causing this. It’s annoying, but ultimately only a moderate inconvenience because it’s not so garbled that I can’t understand what the other person is saying.

– They sometimes get confused. If I have them registered with Bluetooth on my phone and my computer, they’ll connect to both my phone and my computer, and when I have to switch between my phone or computer for a meeting or a call, they sometimes don’t know which thing to connect to. I really don’t think this is an issue with the headphones per se, but it’s a thing. A very minor thing.

– A quirk on Mac. This is entirely Apple’s fault, but worth knowing. When these headphones are put on, Apple Music is brought up on the computer automatically. I haven’t figured out how to stop this from happening. Again, nothing against the headphones, but if you are using them with a Mac it’s worth knowing.

Overall, I’m very happy with how these are performing. Despite the quirks, I’ll give them 5 stars as the most superior headphones I’ve used for work.

I’ve had 2 sets of these headphones. The first set from Amazon Warehouse showed separation of the rubbery cushioning from the headband. I thought of a warranty claim but Microsoft’s automated chat service kept saying that physical damage was not covered, so I sent them back to Amazon and bought a new set for £200.00. These have no problems and appear to be very well made. Subsequently, on chatting to a real Microsoft person, their attitude was extremely helpful and maybe they would have solved the problem. I certainly compliment Microsoft’s staff for being very customer orientated.

I wore the latest set of headphones deliberately for several hours to test comfort and they were indeed very comfortable. The earpads do exclude a considerable amount of extraneous noise without active noise cancellation (ANC), which is a progressive adjustment. At the adjustment’s lowest setting, ANC is off and external sounds are lightly amplified. This is useful if there’s an interruption and easier than lifting an earpiece to listen.

The sound quality is excellent but with volume and noise cancelling at all settings, there’s a very faint hiss from the internal electronics. Noise cancellation is not as effective as the Sony XM3’s, but is not far behind. The great thing with these is that their Bluetooth pairing and connection is well behaved and very easy to use. I had Sony headphones and sent them back because their Bluetooth was difficult to connect and the headphones often announced they were connected but carried no sound from my recent model Samsung TV.

Another great positive for me is that their control app is Windows-based. I’m probably one of the few people left who don’t bother much with mobile phones. I have one but can’t connect to Wifi and can’t access the Apple store, so Windows connectivity was a great plus for me. The app is really easy to use, too and there’s a lot of helpful information on line that is so much easier to read than in a tiny text multilingual instruction booklet or a small screen. Also, all features remain active during USB charging and firmware updates are easy to apply via the USB charging lead when connected to a computer. The audio spectrum can also be adjusted via the online app, with presets for jazz, pop, classical, rock and flat. Personalised settings can be saved.

Volume and ANC are controlled by rotary controls on the periphery of the earpieces. This is very easy to get used to. Internal prompts from the headphones are in an English accent, not a nasal American one, thank goodness.

The on/off button is just about flush with the right earpiece’s curve and could do with being a little more proud, like the only other pushbutton control – well, a short bar really, which is a mute control, apparently operative when using a phone or a portable music source. A long touch on either headphone leads to Cortana’s voice offering to learn your voice so some of the headphones’ commands can be voice controlled. Since this is mainly for use with a mobile phone or iPod (or similar) to control taking phone calls or playing music, I can’t comment because I haven’t the means to test it. Other touch controls are available for calls and music and fall into the same category for me.

The headphones don’t fold up to fit into a small(ish) case but the earpieces swivel so they can fit into an 8 inch square carrying case. It’s a bit big to lug about but its quality of manufacture is as high as that of the headphones.

I have been searching for headphones that would allow me to listen to a pocket portable radio whilst walking near to a busy roadway. These headphones turn on when a 3.5mm stereo jack is inserted into the socket and both volume and noise reduction are fully functional making them ideal for that purpose.

I’m very happy/delighted with my purchase. Dave L

I really wanted these for the noise cancellation and the fact they work well with Windows 10. I had no issues setting them up with my iPhone 7 Plus and my two Windows 10 PCs.

The head phones switch really nice between my devices too, I listen to music on my phone or one of my PCs and take Teams calls on my laptop and it works great pausing the music when I take the call. I know it seems like a no-brainer but it’s super handy.

I’ve played around a bit with the Cortana integration on my work PC and it’s cool but I rarely use it.

The noise cancellation is good, I haven’t tried Bose or Sony headphones but I it tunes out enough of the ambient noise from the street and the house that I would say that they do a great job.

I do find my ears get a bit warm as I wear them but that’s not an issue with the headphones, they are very comfortable.