What do these headphone offer, other than an usual appearance?
As a technology journalist, one tends to spends more time than the average person trying to make sense of marketing speak. The Strix 2.0 stereo headset is a case in point.
Much is made of the 'thunderous' 60mm neodymium drivers, the travel-friendly design and the cross-platform functionality, but how much of this actually worth mentioning, and how much is little more than hyperbole?
Well, to start with, neodymium is a soft metallic element, frequently used to make magnets - many of which, of course, are destined to be used in speakers and headphones. The key advantage of using this particular material for your magnets is that it’s lighter than alternatives like iron-ferrite but it's still strong. That's fortunate, because the Strix 2.0 earpieces are huge. Indeed, this is one of the first things you notice about them, along with their odd hexagonal shape and the transparent panels that adorn each of them.
Are they thunderous, though? In a word, no. What they are, however, is good. Bass, mid-range and treble tones are well balanced, without any individual range dominating, and the overall sound quality is warm. As a personal preference, I do prefer a slightly cleaner sound, but even so, I found the Strix 2.0 perfectly pleasant for listening to music and more than adequate for gaming.
I wasn't exactly blown away by the audio, though, having heard similar quality in headsets costing half the price. And the 'travel-friendly' design is laughable, because the earpieces simply rotate and don't do anything more useful like folding in.
As for the cross-platform compatibility, this is mainly thanks to the fact that Strix 2.0 uses a standard 3.5mm audio plug. Bearing this in mind, you could argue that the kind of cheap 'one day and they're broken' earphones you see in pound shops are also cross-compatible.
But the Strix does a little more than that, to be fair: in the box, you'll find a couple of adaptors. One of these gives you separate plugs for audio and mic, which is useful for PCs; the other one makes the combined mic/audio cable of the Strix compatible with older mobile phones. In the case of my Samsung Galaxy S5, I just plugged in the cable without an adapter, and the microphone built into the in-line control module worked perfectly. And if you want a more traditional boom-style mic, then you’ll be happy to know you get one of those too, and it's detachable.
This versatility makes the Strix 2.0 far more appealing and goes some way to justifying its price. But none of these things would be my main reason for recommending this headset. No, if anything, what really stands out is the physical comfort. This, of course, is dependent on the size of your head and the fleshy bits that hang off its sides, but my earlobes were entirely enclosed by the earpieces. That meant no uncomfortable pressing against either the tops or bottoms of my ears, which a problem that many cheaper headsets suffer from.
This build quality is encouraging, and it makes up for the Strix 2.0's shortcomings. True, the 1,5m braided cable is a little shorter than I'd like, and for this price, it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect it to be detachable. But, in spite of its problems, this is a good headset, albeit one that could do with being slightly cheaper. Anthony Enticknap
Versatile, with striking looks and decent sound.