Sunday, December 22

    I may not travel that often, but what I always like to have with me is music. At home, at work, in the car, on the plane, everywhere we go we often bring along our songs as it helps pass away the time.

    Sometimes it can be a tossup between headphones or earbuds, but often I choose headphones because they are more comfortable, easier to use, and sound so much better.

    With so many to choose from and which ones may be a good buy or not, it can be a tough feat to find the best one. Luckily, there are brands that I know and trust that will always provide a good pair of headphones for any occasion.

    Previously known as iDeaUSA, the company has rebranded to iDeaPlay and with that released a lot of new and exciting products. Today, we take a look at their premium headphones that are built for serious music listeners who don’t wish to break the bank.

    Welcome to my review of the iDeaPlay V207 Wireless Headphones.

    Design

    The V207s have this cool black and red color scheme that isn’t too flashy, but also adds some flair to what is otherwise just another pair of black headphones.

    While the headphones are mainly black, the red flares are visible as lined rings around both earcups as well as throughout the headband’s crisscross stitching patterns. The speaker cables connected to the two earcups are also red, and coiled, which I like a lot.

    Made of a combination of plastic and aluminum, the V207s are a rugged set of headphones that will survive the constant use of putting them on and taking them off of your head. When they aren’t on top of your head or around your neck, iDeaPlay includes a large and hard vinyl traveling case for the headphones.

    To fit inside that traveling case, both earcups on the V207s can collapse inwards towards the headband for a friendlier travel size. Unfortunately, the earcups cannot rotate flat like other headphones, which can be a bummer for those who like to wear the headphones around their neck.

    With that said, the V207s resting around your neck is still a comfortable experience, but not as comfortable as headphones whose earcups can rotate flat. Luckily, the earcups tilt for people who listen to one earcup on the ear, one off.

    Well padded, both earcups are lined with this wonderfully soft foam padding that had a similar feel to leather. When placed on your head, the earcup’s padding is like two pillows carefully resting on either ear, relieving any pressure points or discomfort caused by the headphones.

    You can never mistakenly put the V207s on backwards as inside both earcups are large letters indicating which earcups are left and right. The white lettering is a part of the soft and non-itchy speaker grill covers. Just as soft as the padding, the speaker grill covers aren’t felt by my ears.

    Unlike a traditional headset, the V207s use a unique height adjustment mechanism. It’s common for headphones to have notches which the headphones click into for height adjustment. Here, both earcups are on a slider which moves them up and down.

    This sliding mechanism allows for very precise adjustment of the earcups. For me, this was great as sometimes headphones are either too large or too small, causing discomfort. Here, it’s always a perfect fit for most people, and the strong sliding resistance makes sure that they don’t accidentally lose their positions.

    The comfort raves don’t end quite yet. The V207s have a soft-touch and pleasant headband, one that I much prefer over my Mpow H5 headphones. Its large, red stitched arch covers the full width of my head with padding. On top of the headband is a satisfying leather-like material that looks and feels great.

    Unlike my Mpow H5 headband, which snapped in two, the V207 headband is certainly a favorite of similar headphones that I have reviewed. Combine that with the soft touch and well-padded earcups, and you have a very comfortable headset.

    Regrding I/O, everything is on the right earcup with the left one having nothing.

    iDeaPlay installed a multifunction button for hands-free calling, volume controls, a micro USB charging port, a microphone, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. They were even generous by including a dual-pronged headphone + microphone jack to single 3.5mm headphone jack.

    As generous as that may be, I find it confusing as iDeaPlay mentions right on the product box that the microphone only works in wireless mode. And sure enough, when I plug it into my computer, the microphone does not work via the cable.

    The V207s also have a sliding switch to enable the active noise cancellation that I will talk about later on.

    All-in-all, the design of the V207s is superb with soft-touch everything and a subtle, yet pleasant color scheme that I quite like. The lightweight body doesn’t sacrifice on quality with the V207s being well built and will stand the test of time with usage.

    Functionality

    Impressively, these Bluetooth-enabled headphones use an aptX Bluetooth connection which is a new method of connecting to Bluetooth devices. In short, it guarantees that the Bluetooth connection is the highest bitrate and quality that it can be. It also guarantees that the connection is stable to prevent music from stuttering or cutting in and out.

    Connecting the Bluetooth 4.1 headphones to your smartphone is done just as with any normal pair of headphones. Once connected, you will get accessibility to both the volume and multimedia control buttons. In wired mode, both buttons are inoperative.

    After two hours for a full charge, the V207s are ready to playback music continuously for 10 to 13 hours as long as you keep active noise cancellation off. In wired mode, the headphones do not need any battery power.

    While being a comfortable pair of headphones, it’s all about how they sound and how they perform. I loaded up multiple radios on the mobile Pandora application with a Plus subscription for higher bitrate audio.

    The music selected was a mixture of rock, pop, rap, and instrumental.

    What I noticed the most was that each and every song I listen to had all of the right levels. Lows, mids and highs were all really well output in my opinion. Each and every vocal was the correct level, and it sounded as if there was a live concert happening right next to me.

    With hours of music played on the V207s while at work and home, to this day I am still impressed at how well they sound and at how well it’s all balanced.

    One slight improvement that I would make is with the bass. Bass is present, but not as boomy as some people may prefer. Bass heavy songs don’t give that serious push which can diminish that sort of music.

    With that said, on songs such as Low Life by Future, the bass is still enough to give the song the meaning it is trying to portray.

    Turned up all the way to maximum volume, the V207s get loud, but not overpowering. When placed on your head, people sitting next to you can barely hear the music with it on maximum volume. No distortion is introduced either when turning up the volume.

    iDeaPlay uses active noise cancellation (ANC) on the V207s. is a technology that listens to outside sounds around you then uses the speakers to play the opposite noise of those sounds, essentially cancelling out the noises around you.

    If you’ve never experienced ANC, it’s quite impressive as you hear fans, wind, and keyboards clicking away and with a flip of a switch, the whole world around you is nearly muted.

    A lot of headphones I’ve reviewed recently have had ANC, but a lot of them have it overpowering where it can change the noise of the song. That is not the case with these V207s.

    When ANC is turned on, the music never changes how it sounds. Ever. Just the noises around you disappear, and it’s a beauty. While typing this review, I turned on ANC and could just barely hear my mechanical keyboard clacking away.

    While I was at work, people talking, walking by, and typing/clicking were muted when ANC was turned on. Even with it turned off, the V207s still do a great job at blocking out a lot of sounds thanks to those previously mentioned padded earcups.

    You may be able to take phone calls with the V207s, walk 33 feet away from your Bluetooth device, and listen to music between 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz, but you’ll keep using them due to their music reproduction and at how well they truly sound.

    Finally, battery life is superb, but ANC kills it. If you leave ANC off, you will get the previously mentioned 10 to 13 hours of non-stop playback. Turn ANC on for a while and expect to get maybe five hours of life. The 500mAh battery will need a couple of hours to get topped back off.

    My Final Thoughts

    My satisfaction with the iDeaPlay V207 headphones has been off the charts. For an uncommon brand to wow me this much for a pair of headphones amongst my plethora of other reviews including brands such as Beyerdynamic, these are a serious travel companion.

    Their design is great looking, and I love the red highlights throughout the black body. Being made of plastic and aluminum means that they will withstand normal use and always be there when needed.

    The padding and comfort levels are off the chart, and the V207s fit nearly every head with their sliding height mechanism.

    AptX Bluetooth 4.1 and fantastic sound is what you will enjoy with from these headphones. This alone was enough to have me convert my work headphones to these new ones. The ANC is the cherry on top.

    Priced at $79.99 iDeaPlay charge a premium price but make up for it with a premium product. I found no flaws with the V207s and have no reason not to recommend them at this price. You will enjoy these all day long.

    iDeaUSA Website

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    © 2018 Justin Vendette

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