Phiaton PS 300 Primal

Pros: Extra battery, decent sound, cheaper compared to its competitor, great accessories

Cons: Noise canceling works, but I wonder if it could be a little better, questions of the quality of product especially the foam for the ear, the sturdiness and the quality

Summary: I was really interested in the Bose Quiet comfort 3, but living in Korea I was not going to be paying 700 dollars for it especially when it loses it functionality with the death of its battery. I have grown to trust and like Bose products for my listening tastes.

I was really reluctant to buy any other ear phones except Bose, but I just could not bet past the price and battery flaw. I was a the airport last week and I stopped in the duty free. I saw these and was immediately taken. The sound was decent. Not Bose rich, but decent. I looked at the box and was wondering where these had come from. I have never heard of them. I had heard of Phiaton a Korean brand, but was not sure of the quality. The price was 294,000 which is about 260 dollars.

Then I took the battery out of the test model and played it. IT WORKED. Then I read the box. An 18 hour battery and 1 extra one. WHOA! I snatched it up! No cnet review I just brought them. got a 5 percent discount. WHOA! paid 260,000 won, which is like 220 dollars. I was shocked! I sat down with it and opened it up.

There were so many accessories, I could not believe this this purchase. I tried them on again and found the little mute button on the cord. This was too good to be true. I went to Cnet at the airport and saw the review. I was really glad at what I heard. I live in Korea and A/S (after service) is really good so I did not hesitate to purchase them.

After a week of use. What I loved and did not.

I found that the buttons for the base and the noise cancel is a little hard to get to and feel. Took some getting used to, especially the noise canceling one. The noise canceling actually cancels not just turn the volume up, it cancels. This is really useful for me since I live in a city and it is loud on he buses. The left ear when I pushed on them made a little sound like pushing on a bubble, but nothing noticeable. I was doing my own little review so I was looking for everything. I can not really compare it to other noise canceling devices, but I do say it works pretty well and really muffles the sound if not cancels them. Not 100% but for a first time user good.

Again the quality of the material. Like I said the case is great, but everything feels a little plastic. I know what you might say it is plastic, but I mean it feel like a toy and not like a piece of stereo equipment. It feels a little weak and I am afraid that the constant remove and place into the case might cause it to break easily, but that is what time will reveal. I will do a follow up if there are any problems.

Otherwise I know Cnet says it is 50 dollars cheaper than the Bose, but I think it is more like 100 dollars. If you count in the fact you get a extra battery (50 dollars for a Bose) and the battery life is really good. 18 hours, I have not maxed them out yet to do a proper time check, but with the usb charger for the battery. It should not be a problem. They are marketed to be a Bose competitor or knock off, depending how you look at it, but with the improvements ( mute, button, works without battery) ,and accessories (extra battery, adapters and usb/home adapter) as of right now it is worth the loss in some of the sound quality (compared to Bose sound), If you are not comparing the sound to Bose you are not losing anything, but rather making a really sound investment.

In today's economy, I say you are getting your bang for your buck and like the cnet review says if you listen to certain kinds of music genres, you will not be disappointed. I really really like these and I would recommended them.

Updated on May 17, 2009

I forgot to mention, but I did not give it a 5 because I was comparing the sound quality to Bose, as a standard for me and what I was looking to buy. I also took off the .5 star because of the plastic feel.

If I do not compare it to Bose then it gets a 4.5.

Updated on May 29, 2009

It has been about 3 weeks since I have had these. Things have been going really well. One important note it. When your battery goes out it does not automatically switch the music on without you having to turn off the Noise Canceling functioning to get the music playing again. No problem, but I was shocked when after 8 days of using the battery the music just stopped. I realized it was the battery was dead so I moved the switch to turn off the Noise Canceling mode and I was rocking again, then I put in my (included) spare battery :-).

I ride the subway and bus a lot. I would say at least 3.5 hours of my day is traveling so I can say that I got the full 18 hours if not more from the battery.

Updated on Dec 7, 2009

It has been about 10 months since I used these head phones and at first I was recomending them to everyone. Now I must honestly say I have to not recomended them.

In the first six month when I took them off they broke about the hindge. I got them fixed since I live in Korea, but then the inside covers for the earpads started coming off. Then just the other day I acidently drooped them and they broke in the same spot, about the the hindge. The plastic just snaps. I am going to take them back again and see if they are doing anthing to fix this.

Do not buy these. Save your money. I am now looking for some new NC headphones. It seems that my choices are slim, espically since I want ones that I can use even if the battery is out or I do not turn on the NC functionality.

Updated on Jan 6, 2010

It is not January 6, 2010. I should be getting my 300NC's back any day now. It has taken them about 2 weeks. I would say it is because of the holidays, but Korea does not celebrate the "Holidays" like the US so why 2 weeks? I am not sure.

The CS rep asked me about the reviews on this site. I told them about the first reviewer who seems to be having the same problem I do with the plastic.
The company had not heard about this problem. If anyone has these headphones and are having problems with the plastic just snaping, please submit a review or complaint. I think the company needs to hear that this is a problem so they can improve this product.

It is a good set of headphones, but that goodness is lost when you have to send them in for 2 weeks at a time to get repaired, every 4 months or so.

Updated on Jan 7, 2010

they replaced it with an all leather pad with holes where the cloth was. Takes away from the aesthetics and makes the headphones look cheap. I will see how it feels.

I am not too concerned with the looks anymore. I just do not want these things to break again. I am already looking for a new pair because I am sure they will eventually tell me that they can not repair it for free anymore and when that happens ... I will update.

Updated on Jan 28, 2010

It has been a few weeks since I got the PS300NC back form Phiaton. I must say after using them for a few weeks, since the repair, they do feel different. The leather earpad, that I did not really like at first was pretty comfortable. I have gotten used to the all leather look.

The company reached out to me and applogized for the inconvience. They said in a letter that came accompanied with a pair of thier higher-end in ear earphones that the lot I purchased had "a problem during the plastice injection process".

Hopefully, this will be the last update about these headphones. If the pair I have, really had a problem with the plastic injection process and this is not a common issue with these headphones, pick them up and give them a try.

I have been looking for other headphones to replace these, but it is hard to find a pair that compares to what these do, the value of what you get and how it sounds for the price.

I will be doing a review on the Phiaton PS210 soon.