There are some devices that you hold in your hands and immediately power on and use, and there are a few devices which you grab, and spend a few minutes admiring their design, look and feel before doing anything else with them.
The Parrot Zik is one of those few. They’re one of the best looking headphones we’ve come across. Couple that with premium build and outstanding features, and you’ve got yourself one hell of a headphone set.
Look and Feel:
The review unit we received was white with Rose Gold metal bits. It also comes in Yellow Gold, Black Gold and Classic Silver options. The Black Gold and Classic Silver are our favorites. We find that white headphones get smudged and become dirty quite quickly.
The headset is somewhat heavy, weighing 325 g. In comparison, Beats wireless headphones weigh 210 g. But the build and feel of the Parrot is much more premium and you’ll feel like the weight is a part of its high-end classification.
The headset has a sturdy build with stitched leather coated top arch and super comfortable leather cushions that would grace your ears. The arch and speakers are connected with a beautifully designed metal bar. The back side of the speakers is smooth plastic to allow the wireless transference to take place.
Features:
Here’s a list of the Zik’s main and most notable features:
1. Bluetooth headset
2. Noise reduction technology
3. Touch sensitive pad on the back of the right speaker
4. Mobile phone friendly (can handle calls, built-in mic)
5. Head Detection
6. NFC enabled
7. iOS, Android and Windows Mobile companion app
The list is impressive and each one of the above listed features works like a charm. The three features that impressed us the most are the Active Noise Cancellation technology, the Touch Sensitive panel and the Head Detection. We’ll also add the mobile app in the mix as well.
Sound & Comfort:
The Parrot Zik are tuned by the famous musician, Lou Reed. A number of factors contribute to making listening to music on the Parrot Zik a superb experience. The noise cancellation, the comfortable leather cushion resting on your ears and the deep and well-rounded acoustic capabilities the headset flaunts. The equalizer, (in preset or custom mode) and a Concert Hall mode help you find that optimal bass, treble, high/low frequency balance, depending on what you’re listening to and what your ears are most comfortable with.
The speakers aren’t the loudest we’ve come across, but we found that the sound level is quite adequate for the ear, especially when noise reduction is turned on.
While the headset rests comfortably on the ears, we felt it was a little bit weighty on our heads. The short bridge between the head arch and speakers and the relatively heavy weight made us feel like it’s constantly yet slightly sliding to the front or back, pressing on and pulling our hair in the process. You’ll find yourself adjusting it quite frequently due to this.
Additionally, over time, you’ll start to feel that weight and you’ll feel like you need to remove them to have a little break. While this experience may vary from person to person depending on head size and hair length, we would be happier if it provided a great experience regardless of such variables.
Active Noise Cancellation:
Two microphones located inside the headset capture the surrounding noise. Two additional microphones, one in each earpiece, analyse the residual noise (low frequencies) that could disrupt listening.
The outside noise is then cancelled out by opposing sound waves (anti-noise) in order to create a quieter environment.
This works like a charm. Of course, it doesn’t completely mute the outside noise (especially when extra loud noises are present), but it does a great job in greatly reducing them. We found it worked best with monotone sounds like AC humming or plane noise (yes, we’ve tested it on a flight!).
Touch Sensitive Panel:
Swiping up or down works as a volume rocker. Swipe forward or backward to skip or go back to previous track. Tap to pause/play. #brilliant #enuffsaid
Head Detection:
You’re sitting in the office, working on that detailed presentation while enjoying Daft Punk’s awesome tunes on the Parrot Zik. Your boss is trying to get your attention but you can’t hear her, thanks to the superb sound quality and active noise cancellation.
Starting to get somewhat irritated by your zoned-out attitude, she starts frantically waving her arms to get your attention from across the room, you finally see her…
What do you do? You don’t panic and click all over the place to pause the music so you can hear her. You know you’ve got your Zik on, just remove it from your head and it pauses automatically. She asks you how far off are you with the presentation, you tell her she’ll have it in an hour, you put the headset back on again, Daft Punk automatically starts playing again. The End.
Mobile App:
The Parrot Zik has a companion app on iOS (iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad versions available), Android and Windows Mobile. The app gives you extended features and controls like Equalizer, Noise Cancellation on/off toggle, battery indicator, among other handy bells and whistles.
Pairing is easy to do, and the app is quite intuitive and easy to navigate.
The only downside we found in this is that if you’re using the headset on your laptop or PC and want to change the equalizer’s settings or switch off noise cancellation; you’ll need to disconnect it from the PC, connect it to the phone, launch the app and do whatever you needed to do, disconnect from the phone and reconnect it with the PC. A desktop app can go a long way here.
Verdict:
Paying AED 1,600 ($430) for a headset isn’t easy. But when you go through the feature set of the Parrot Zik, you’ll feel much better about it. And when you hold it in your hands and feel its premium build and that leather finish, you’ll feel even more convinced. Add superb noise cancellation and sound quality to the mix, and you’ve got yourself a no brainer.
The Parrot Zik isn’t perfect though. The excess weight is a bit of a drag, and we found that the battery could use a few more hours on it. The lack of adequate desktop support is also a bit of a letdown for those who fancy using it at the office or for video/voice conferencing.
