Half price for cheap active noise cancelling headphones. White version. 1 year warranty.
XCD Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Over-Ear Headphones $24.95 (Was $49.95) + Delivery ($0 C&C/in-Store) @ JB Hi-Fi
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I was going to ask the same thing as there are literally zero reviews of this model, XDC XCD23010, on the inter-webs or even the JB Hi-Fi website, which is a bit disconcerting. But as I needed a new cheap set for work to replace my Edifer W800BT I bought 3 years ago for $35 on OB (they still work but the ear padding lining has nearly completely pealed off) I ducked down the road to my local JB HiFi and bought a set.
I've literally just taken them out of the box and just tested them using the XCD's 3.5mm jack connection to check sound running off my Windows PC and as expected the sound is very bass orientated with below average sound. The mids are muddy and the highs are completely dulled by the bassy bias. The Edifier's had a more neutral sound and sound wise were a bit more defined but not very loud. The XCD in comparison are louder at 100 without being distorted but the bass is way too heavy and all the other frequencies are drowned in it. I'm playing Metro Boomin - Trance which is super bassy at max volume and it sounds bad but not distorted and rumbling the headphones. Video playback on YT was very ordinary too, again very bassy with the voice audio sounding like your listening with a bowl around your head, muffled and tinny, not great.
Also tested the Bluetooth connection and it was pretty easy to setup with my Pixel 6 Pro, and thought I would try tweaking the sound equalizer settings on my YT Music app and it makes a massive difference to balance the sound stage out by dropping the bass and lifting the mid and high frequencies, then turn the bass boost all the way to zero. These adjustments alone have improved the overall sound significantly to now being above average, so would definitely recommend tweaking with the equalizer settings on your music app to something you might prefer. At work I connect my headphones to my Windows laptop via a 3.5mm cable so I need to find a way to run sound through an equalizer and adjust accordingly. These are nothing compared to the Skullcandy Crusher Evo's my son owns but with some tweaking these are way better than the Sony WH-CH520 wireless headphones my daughter got for $65.
I tried ANC and to me it's non-existent but at $25 this was expected to be gimmicky. What is cool is that you get a nice voice audio to tell you its on and off, if you like that, not sure how to turn voice prompts off.
I haven't used the physical buttons too much but holding the + - buttons increases and decreases volume. Clicking the + - will go forward or back songs. You get audio voice prompts for max audio and for off and on. I cannot confirm battery life as I'm using the charge out of the box.
Biggest concern with these are the build, there were zero reviews on this model before I bought them but other XDC model Bluetooth headphone reviews were horrific, basically saying these were cheap, flimsy and they will break in weeks. This XDC23010 set is light because its basically plastic with a metal band between the cups, I don't have much faith of these surviving if they dropped on the ground while at gym, running, let alone being owned by careless kids or teenagers. While typing this up I've had them on the whole time and they are pretty comfortable with bearable clamping force on the ears, covering over my ears, and they haven't hurt or feel hot (mind you I'm in an air conditioned room in the midst of a heatwave). Also the cans are pretty chunky, as the cups are pretty thicc so if you're concerned about aesthetics these may not be for you.
In summary, with a bit of equalizer tweaking these cheap $25 Bluetooth over ear headphones can produce a slightly above average sound. Without tweaking the sound is not great, very heavy bass bias and muddy. I would never buy these for $50 but for $25 not a problem if your user case is basic. There are question marks all over the build quality and how long they will last, I'm using these just at work sitting in front of a screen all day so these are perfectly fine for what I want to do. I'm probably going to buy another pair for the gym, will be interesting to see how long they last with a bit of sweat and more vigorous movements. This whole time while typing this I've played a variety of music with the equalizer settings adjusted, from Metro Boomin, Kanye, Cold Play, Taylor Swift, Metallica, System of a Down, Goo Goo Dolls live and AC/DC live and for the price the sound has been good, not great but at $25 can't complain. Anyway hope that helps.
Wow thanks for taking one for the OzB community! I actually just picked one up too as have a $10 perk voucher to use, so with the remainder paid on a discounted Ultimate GC it's effectively $13.50.
I haven't tested it yet but I do agree with the build- I opened one in store to check colour and quality and it does feel like cheap plastic. I plan to just use it for Teams meeting for the most part at work so will be a bonus if it lasts for 12 months.
PS: There's another bluetooth version but with "electronic noise reduction" (something along those lines) that looks very similar to this ANC version- make sure you don't get confused between the two!
Cool. Windows 11 Headphones sound seems to have killed off equalizer settings so no way to adjust by default. So downloaded a free equalizer FXSound using the following link: https://www.fxsound.com/download and so far seems to work really well to tweak the sound of these cans to your preference with Windows 11. This app also improves the audio on the YT video playback too. Hope that helps, be interested to get your feedback.
@buzzliteyear: Just tested it out using the 3.5mm jack as haven't put it on charge to test out bluetooth and other features. You're right it is very bassy and that's me saying with a fairly "untrained" ear but it was the very first thing noticed! I thought sound quality is passable for what it is.
I won't be able to download the equalizer on work laptop but will try it out on my personal laptop after it charges and see if it makes a difference.
Very appealing price, but not expecting much on quality and durability? Has anyone purchased before and can comment?