Hasta La Gadget!

When I think of X-Factor, I think of the mutant heroes in the Marvel Universe, not the Simon Cowell’s American Idol knock-off. Sure, Havok can’t belt out any tunes, but he can disintegrate your with his plasma blasts. That being said, these new Sony headphones look good, tech-wise, if you can get past the X-Factor branding.

The Sony X Headphones are aimed at the audio enthusiast market. Despite the X-Factor tie-in, their design is striking and eye catching, and I’ve heard that they are very comfortable to wear for long hours. Naturally, after some time, you’ll probably get the sweaty-ear syndrome, but that can’t be avoided with full-size headphones.

They have 50mm drivers that will deliver a powerful bass directly to your ears. They offer a very wide frequency response range froms 3 to 29,000 Hz and the sensitivity is 106 dB/mW. They also offer an in-line microphone and remote control for use with iOS devices.

The headphones fold up pretty neatly for traveling, though if you are looking for active noise-cancellation, you’ll need to look elsewhere. The Sony X headphones will be available starting September 27th for $300 (USD).

[via Sony]

Sony has partnered with Simon Cowell, the producer of the X Factor, to create these Sony X Headphones aimed at the “enthusiast” market. Of course, the X-factor part of it is pure marketing, but the qualities of the headphones are nonetheless real.

First of all, the design is pretty striking and eye-catchy (although this is open to interpretation obviously). Secondly, they look very sturdy and comfortable. Sony says that it is using 50mm diaphragms to deliver powerful bass, and that the earphone design has been created to offer “true isolation” according to the company. Most people may be tempted to trust “over the ear” designs for that, but truth be told, those designs don’t look as good.

Finally, Sony says that the X Headphones do not apply pressure to the ears – on the contrary, Sony calls them “pressure relieving”. That’s quite a claim, given that pressure is usually problematic for people who use headphones for hours at a time. Note that there is no active noise cancellation here. Once folded, the headphones are pretty much as small as they could be (comes with a nice case).

We haven’t tried them, but they seem pretty attractive. Is that worth $300? What’s your take?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sony RX1 leaked, Sony Xperia Tablet S teardown,