Syllable Professional Wireless Bluetooth Noise Cancelling Stereo Headphone

Update: After using these for a while, I am adding another star to my rating (bringing it to an average 3) and have a few minor updates to what I originally said below.First off, they do have noise-canceling, but there is no way to turn it on or off. It's obvious when you put them on, then turn them on, there's a sudden reduction in the amount of ambient/background noise you can hear. You have to be playing something, though, or else they shut down. On that note, when you are using them over bluetooth, there is a loud pop whenever the device they are connected to begins or ends playing music, and when connecting and disconnecting from a device. And of course, they are backwards! These issues aside, I'm become accustomed to the slight hiss when using them over bluetooth, and it's mostly unnoticable if your music/audio is loud enough. Finally, I have used them for several phonecalls, and no one has complained that they cannot hear me, despite the microphone being on the wrong side. They are still comfortable, and hold a charge for several hours. Overall, I'm happy with them, and while they aren't the best headphones you can buy, they're quite adequate for the price.Original Review:I'm not sure whether I will go through the effort of returning this item after using it for one whole day, but I certainly would not recommend it for purchase. I don't write many reviews, but given there is so little information on these headphones available, I feel obligated to provide some warnings.It does most of what it says on the box. Although I'm not convinced it has any actual noise-cancelling technology, it does do a decent job of noise-isolation. The difference being that cancelling is an active technology where the headphones play an inverted waveform matching the ambient noise, actually cancelling out sounds. Isolation just means the headphones fit snugly and block out some of the outside noise physically. It does the latter, but I'm not sure it does the former. There's certainly no way to turn it on or off, as there is with any other headphones providing noise-cancelling.But that's not the worst of it. The R and L ears are backwards! The headphones are mostly symmetrical, so you can just wear them 'backwards' -- except then the (mostly hidden) microphone is on the BACK of the headphones, facing away from your mouth. I haven't used the microphone yet, so I can't say whether this will have a serious impact on its ability to pick up my voice, but I'd assume it would.When using the wire to connect the headphones to my PC or audio system, the sound quality is perfectly acceptable. I'm not an audiophile, so I'll leave it to someone else to decide if it's really good or not. But when using wireless (stereo bluetooth) the sound becomes 'tinny' with loud highs and lows, and a dropped mid-range. (Update: it's possible this was due to an error in my bluetooth setup, or else I've just become used to it. I don't notice it now and the sound seems acceptable.) Or that's how I'd describe it, anyhow -- at any rate, it's very noticeably worse than when wired, or other (much cheaper) wired headphones I own. There is also a very minor static hiss when using the blutetooth sound. Another point is that the volume controls do not do anything when the headphones are wired; you must control the volume on the device it's connected to.Summary:Good points:* Feels Solid* Attractive Packaging* Attractive Pricing* Can be used wired or wireless* Looks 'Cool'* Comfortable to wear (despite being on-ear, not over-ear)Bad points:* Right and Left channels are backwards!* Because R and L are reversed, the microphone points backwards if you wear it backwards.* Noise-Cancelling might actually just be Noise-Isolation* If Noise-Cancelling DOES exist (questionable!) there is no option to turn it on or off* No volume control when using wired* Poor sound quality and static when using wireless* Charger is a USB cable, you must have a USB power source to plug it into* Provided wire is very short

These headphones work well for what I expect them to do. The noise cancellation does the job. The cups that fit over your ears are very comfortable and do a good job of blocking outside noise such that the noise cancellation works even better, so I can focus on the music while I work. They work fine if you're playing music on your cellphone and you take a call with them on. No one has complained to me about the mic I'm using with these headphones during the call (it was all very seamless going back and forth between music and phone calls). OK, they're really good headphones, so why'd I give it three stars (almost two really). There are some glaring drawbacks with these headphones.1. While they use USB to recharge they have a very small female pin to recharge. You're not going to find this cable anywhere if you lose it. You're basically going to lose noise the noise cancelation feature if you loose this recharge cable, so done lose it! A micro USB connector would have been awesome here.2. The recharge cable is also quite short. You're going to be knocking over your coffee cup if you recharge and use the phones. I hate wires but every once in a while I can't avoid a recharge cycle when I need to use them.3. The battery should have been bigger. Basically I started out at ~9 hours per charge. I think the battery is leveling off at 7 hours after 3 weeks of continuous use. That means I can't get through a full day's worth of coding without having to remove the headphones towards the end of the day.4. That battery itself is non-standard. I've looked for one on the Internet, but no one carries it, so once the battery goes you'll be stuck with that dinky USB cable to use the noise cancelation. In my opinion this is really lame after having spent >$100 on these headphones.5. One of the cups fell off when I put them down on the desk. After a bit of experimenting I was able to twist the cpu back on and was good to go. I just hope these headphones don't make a habit of falling apart overtime with normal use.6. When I first bought them getting the lid to come off so I could put that lithium Ion battery in wasn't easy. I thought for sure I was going to break the plastic somewhere trying to get that lid off. Fortunately the lid came off without breaking, the battery went in without issue and the lid went back on without much effort.7. Whenever you stop playing music or leave them on while using Windows any noise the OS, or your phone for that matter, will noticeably "POP" when it's engaging the noise cancelation feature or turning it down. I assume this is by design to save battery. So be prepared for some popping sounds with these headphones.So after all of that I'd say these are really 2.5 star headphones. They perform very well where it counts but all the little gotchas I've listed here all add up fast. If you don't want to spend more on the more expensive wireless noise canceling headphones then you'll probably land on these. You'll be ok if you don't lose that USB cable and accept that you won't be able to replace the battery when it finally dies.

These sound great. The price is right, but the battery isn't lasting as I would hope. I have Sony BT50's which have lasted me over 6 years. They still work well and the battery is far superior. The Syllables only get I would estimate 4-5 hours of playback from a charge.A little about my usage, I use them every night for 2-4 hours for watching videos and music after the wife has gone to sleep. I would like to get through 4 or 5 nights without having to recharge, but these will not do it. So for this they get 4 stars from me. Other than that the sound is great. They feel slightly flimsy, but not to the point of fragile.They do have some form of noise cancellation but there is no way to turn it on or off. Others have questioned whether they do this or not but in between videos or songs you can hear white noise and notice a significant amount of exterior sound being cancelled out. Would like to be able to turn it off to maybe save some battery but no luck. Not a huge problem.

Bought these headphones 4 months ago. After approximately 3-4 weeks a screw that covers the hinge plate fell out. When I emailed the company about a replacement screw they instantly offered to replace the unit and I had a new one within days. The new unit works just as good as the original. The sound is good - not as good as $500 Sennheisers but they are a great value and work well on my daily commute. The speaker phone works fine. BluTooth is great. The noise cancelling is not as good as the Bose top of the line but it is better than a noncancelling headphone on a noisy train. At $75, nothing I have found comes close. Price considered, they're closer to 5 stars.