This is a review of iDeaUSA AtomicX S204 foldable BT wireless headphones. http://www.ideausa.com/atomic_x, available on Amazon.
Every week I'm being approached to write different reviews. Often it's by companies I never heard of, most likely re-branded generic products with just a different printed name. I turn down a lot of such requests, but decided to take a chance on iDeaUSA (the name?!?) because I got intrigued looking at the picture of their wireless headphones. It didn't look like any other headphones I've tested before, and that peeked my interested. Let me tell you, I wasn't disappointed a bit!!! Let's me tell you why.
We all know, pictures could be very deceiving, especially on the cover of the packaging box. Regardless of that, the packaging of this AtomicX headphone pair was high quality. Besides a very detailed description, list of accessories, and a tech spec, the box itself was high quality, sturdy built carton with a magnetic flip cover - all together a nice presentation. And once opened, you will find a headphone case with everything inside of it.
Unboxing.
Starting with a case - this is a pure quality EVA hard shell zippered case, nice slim design. When you open the case, you see headphones folded on one side and meshed pocket on the other side with usb and audio cables. Being wireless headphone, it needs usb to micro-usb cable for charging, and also for a dual mode of operation (wireless or wired) - an audio 3.5mm cable. Both cables were of a good quality, especially audio cable which has thicker more durable shielding, in comparison to junk thin cables I found with other headphones.
Accessories.
Obviously, the first thing you notice about the design is that it folds by collapsing inside of the headband. Once folded, the footprint is significantly reduced and you can fit it inside of a slick headphone case. I actually found a lot of things about this headphone to be of a high quality. First of all, headband has a perfect bend radius with a comfortable clamping force. In addition, it is padded all the way around with a nice soft pleather and extra foam padding inside of the headband where it rests on top of your head. Headphones are very light weight with an even distribution of the weight.
The headband height adjustment is precise, and all the hinges are sturdy with a high quality material. The bending part of headband actually has a real aluminum metal surface that looks very premium. Earcups have 360 degree of tilt to adjust comfortably around your ears to fit the shape of your head, and they have a marshmallow-soft earpads. The earpad opening was comfortable for my medium size ears, but for those with large ears it could be right at the threshold. But I think it will still be ok due to a soft cushioning that just going to press on top of your ears.
All the controls are located in the right earcup and very easy to access. At the bottom of earcup you have micro-usb charging port (enabling 14hrs of continuous play!!!), 3.5mm audio port for wired connection, and Mic pinhole port for wireless phone talk. The controls are on the back of the earcup where it's very easy to reach them, including a multifunction Play/Pause/Call button, power led (bi-color blue and red), and volume up/down. The buttons had a solid click action and nothing was rattling or creaking - solid build all around.
Design.
Pair up with my Note 4 was flawless, headphones were recognized right away and connected to my phone and media audio without a problem. Either talking on the phone while wearing these or listening to the music was high quality and I was actually able to use it within 50ft of distance away from my phone (in open space, of course).
According to the spec, this model supports Bluetooth 4.0 and apt-X codec - VERY important in order to maintain high quality fidelity of the sound. Furthermore, it supports all popular BT profiles such as A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, and HFP. Also, very conveniently it could pair up with 2 devices so you can switch, for example, between wireless listening on your tablet and picking up a call on your phone.
Phone pair-up.
Ergonomics, functionality, and comfort of the design is important, but without a good sound quality this package is not going to be complete. Even with support of apt-X, you can still mess up a sound by using sub-par drivers and poor D/A converter.
To my pleasant surprise, iDeaUSA team got it RIGHT!!! This AtomicX S204 model headphones have a very nicely balanced sound with a decent sub-bass extension, great mid-bass punch, warm detailed mids, and crispy non-fatigue extended treble. I really didn't expect them to sound that good. Especially I was very surprised about their soundstage - an average depth and way above average width - a nicely spacious expanded sound.
Overall, it was nice to see a company that introduced a product with an original design that doesn't try to look like another "Beats" pair of headphones. The lightweight comfortable fitment, quality build and slick aluminum design accents, 14hrs battery life, both wired and wireless performance, a premium quality case, and a rather good sound quality makes these headphones a great value under $60. These actually get my high recommendation!
Every week I'm being approached to write different reviews. Often it's by companies I never heard of, most likely re-branded generic products with just a different printed name. I turn down a lot of such requests, but decided to take a chance on iDeaUSA (the name?!?) because I got intrigued looking at the picture of their wireless headphones. It didn't look like any other headphones I've tested before, and that peeked my interested. Let me tell you, I wasn't disappointed a bit!!! Let's me tell you why.
We all know, pictures could be very deceiving, especially on the cover of the packaging box. Regardless of that, the packaging of this AtomicX headphone pair was high quality. Besides a very detailed description, list of accessories, and a tech spec, the box itself was high quality, sturdy built carton with a magnetic flip cover - all together a nice presentation. And once opened, you will find a headphone case with everything inside of it.
Unboxing.
Starting with a case - this is a pure quality EVA hard shell zippered case, nice slim design. When you open the case, you see headphones folded on one side and meshed pocket on the other side with usb and audio cables. Being wireless headphone, it needs usb to micro-usb cable for charging, and also for a dual mode of operation (wireless or wired) - an audio 3.5mm cable. Both cables were of a good quality, especially audio cable which has thicker more durable shielding, in comparison to junk thin cables I found with other headphones.
Accessories.
Obviously, the first thing you notice about the design is that it folds by collapsing inside of the headband. Once folded, the footprint is significantly reduced and you can fit it inside of a slick headphone case. I actually found a lot of things about this headphone to be of a high quality. First of all, headband has a perfect bend radius with a comfortable clamping force. In addition, it is padded all the way around with a nice soft pleather and extra foam padding inside of the headband where it rests on top of your head. Headphones are very light weight with an even distribution of the weight.
The headband height adjustment is precise, and all the hinges are sturdy with a high quality material. The bending part of headband actually has a real aluminum metal surface that looks very premium. Earcups have 360 degree of tilt to adjust comfortably around your ears to fit the shape of your head, and they have a marshmallow-soft earpads. The earpad opening was comfortable for my medium size ears, but for those with large ears it could be right at the threshold. But I think it will still be ok due to a soft cushioning that just going to press on top of your ears.
All the controls are located in the right earcup and very easy to access. At the bottom of earcup you have micro-usb charging port (enabling 14hrs of continuous play!!!), 3.5mm audio port for wired connection, and Mic pinhole port for wireless phone talk. The controls are on the back of the earcup where it's very easy to reach them, including a multifunction Play/Pause/Call button, power led (bi-color blue and red), and volume up/down. The buttons had a solid click action and nothing was rattling or creaking - solid build all around.
Design.
Pair up with my Note 4 was flawless, headphones were recognized right away and connected to my phone and media audio without a problem. Either talking on the phone while wearing these or listening to the music was high quality and I was actually able to use it within 50ft of distance away from my phone (in open space, of course).
According to the spec, this model supports Bluetooth 4.0 and apt-X codec - VERY important in order to maintain high quality fidelity of the sound. Furthermore, it supports all popular BT profiles such as A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, and HFP. Also, very conveniently it could pair up with 2 devices so you can switch, for example, between wireless listening on your tablet and picking up a call on your phone.
Phone pair-up.
Ergonomics, functionality, and comfort of the design is important, but without a good sound quality this package is not going to be complete. Even with support of apt-X, you can still mess up a sound by using sub-par drivers and poor D/A converter.
To my pleasant surprise, iDeaUSA team got it RIGHT!!! This AtomicX S204 model headphones have a very nicely balanced sound with a decent sub-bass extension, great mid-bass punch, warm detailed mids, and crispy non-fatigue extended treble. I really didn't expect them to sound that good. Especially I was very surprised about their soundstage - an average depth and way above average width - a nicely spacious expanded sound.
Overall, it was nice to see a company that introduced a product with an original design that doesn't try to look like another "Beats" pair of headphones. The lightweight comfortable fitment, quality build and slick aluminum design accents, 14hrs battery life, both wired and wireless performance, a premium quality case, and a rather good sound quality makes these headphones a great value under $60. These actually get my high recommendation!
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