Parrot Zik wireless Bluetooth headphones

Pros: Excellent sound, flawless bluetooth connectivity, work with a wire, intuitive touch controls, excellent build quality and attention to detail

Cons: Battery life

Summary: I am probably not like most users, but these cans are perfect for me. I have noise cancelling headphones (Bose, Audiotechnica, Jabra, sony, etc.) and found them all wanting.

The Ziks have amazing noise suppression (noticeably better than any set I have used) and have a number of benefits specifically for my use.

I recently used them on a trip from Florida to the UK and found them to offer excellent noise cancellation... putting them on, then switching on the cancellation with the Android app was shocking. I think it is better than the Bose and any other I have used. I used them on a train from Paris to Frankfurt, also stunning noise reduction... welcome to the cone of silence!

They have a very detailed and flat response by default. This is excellent for me because I use them off with a wire (no power) for recording in my home studio. When you are recording, this type of flat, studio response is ideal. If you want to enhance the audio, you can always use the provided app or any EQ or signal processing app to pump up the bass or treble to achieve the specific sound you are looking for.

The build quality is excellent. I am on my 3rd set of Bose which are cheap plastic and break easily if not carried in their case (my bad). They are heavy, and have a lot of sturdy metal in them... for me that is a plus.

The bluetooth connectivity is seamless and works perfectly even at 20 feet through walls. I have not tried longer distances.

The touch ear pad controls work exactly as you would want them to. Very responsive and with no tricks... just try it, it works as expected.

I used the NFC on my phone, but I couldn't get the paring to work. I was able to use NFC to trigger apps etc. I believe this to be an issue with my phone. No big deal though. When you turn them on they connect immediately.

The bag that they come with is cheap and I would never carry these headphones without a more substantial carrying case (like Bose). The are too big to fit in the Bose case, but I had an old Jabra case that they fit in perfectly.

As a BT headset for phone they work great. I can hear everything perfectly, but I have been told that my sound is not great. I have used them for long conference calls and other conversations without complaints about quality so I think they work fine but I won't give them a perfect score in this area. Since I bring them with me when I travel, they can be my travel headset and thus save me from bringing another device.

Yes they are pricey, but they are not that much more than the Bose, and provide a LOT more functionality and appear to be much more durable (time will tell).

This is one set of phones that meets all of my needs, for both travel and home (wired) use. The next step is to try to get them to work with my TV using a headset dongle.