Microsoft - Surface Headphones 2 - Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-the-Ear with Cortana - Light Gray

I have been wondering for a time as to which headphones to purchase. I own a pair of wireless earbuds, but countless reviews stated that headphones are completely different so I finally decided to buy a pair. I was never looking for heavy bass, complete nosie isolation with all the bells and whistles. The Surface Headphones 2 surprised my expectations as opposed to the popular brands of Sony, and Bose. These headphones are underrated, and will go unnoticed cuz of negative biased reviews and not enough time spent with them. Comfort, sound, design and portability are all present with this device. If more cusumers purchased and reviewed them, word will get back to Microsoft for tweaks or an all around improved version at a steady, affordable price. For another go around, provide more colors options, along with more battery life. Keep the 3.5mm jack option, physical mute button, touch controls, multi device connect, volume, and noise cancellation dials. Overall, glad I know I made the right purchase. Thanks Microsoft, and Best Buy.

These headphones are well built and the sound quality is decent. I am not an audiophile so take it with a grain of salt. I am satisfied with the battery life, does give about 16-18 hours and even the bluetooth connection felt strong. And the dial to adjust sound is really very good. I wish other headphones had that too. I, however, felt that the audio output (mic) could have been a bit better.

These headphones are excellent and have a great noise cancellation. Especially controlling them with the dials. I thought that it was also a great price, almost 40% off. Open box was a great idea.

Design & Style I’ve had the opportunity to use Microsoft’s brand new Surface Headphones 2 in the new matte black color for about 2 weeks now. My initial impressions when removing them from the included case that ships inside the retail box was “wow, these have a super clean design, and are some of the nicest headphones I’ve seen in a while.” Typically, over the ear headphones are large and bulky. Not the Surface Headpones 2. The cans are just large enough to fit over the ear, but nothing more. The head band fits snug around my skull and there is the ever so slight bend which extends the cans over the ear. They include the Microsoft logo on each side in a glossy black finish which contrasts nicely to the matte black finish on the rest of the headphones. The cups have a soft leather feel that comfortably sit over the ears which allows you to forget about them when wearing them for lengthy calls. Functionality Pairing this headset could not be simpler. Hold the power button on the right cup for about 5 seconds puts them into pairing mode. If you are pairing to another surface device, you will get a pop-up that asks if you want to connect to the new headset. Clicking “connect” is the final step. If you are pairing to a non-surface device, the pairing steps are typical. Open Bluetooth setting and put headset into pairing mode, and “connect” when they are discovered on your PC. For iOS or Android devices, you can either pair via the Bluetooth settings, or, download the Surface companion app (recommended) which will not only guide you through the pairing process with a more simpler “connect” option, but also shows you the battery life and will help keep the Bluetooth connection alive and stable to avoid annoying disconnects. When paired to multiple devices, these headphones respond to the device that you are actively using, or, that has active audio coming from it. This is great when jumping between Teams chats on the PC and audio calls on the cell phone. The functionality on these headphones are as simple as their design style. There are dials on the left and right cup. The right dial turns the volume up or down and the left dial increases or decreases the noise cancellation. The noise cancellation feature works exceptional and I found the ease of increasing or decreasing depending on my outside noise easy. When in a quiet space, I would turn this feature off completely to avoid the static sound the noise cancellation makes. There is no audible indication as to which level of noise cancellation you are on but there is a final beep when you’ve reached maximum noise cancellation, or it has been turned off. The audio quality is very good on these headphones. I found the audio to be a bit “softer” than more audiophile-centric headsets, though I found it to be pleasant with nice boomy bass levels but a more subdued treble. This helped sound to not be as “sharp” which could harm your ears. Every time you power on the headphones, a digital voice tells you which device it is actively paired to. It also detects when you remove them and puts them in a power save sleep mode that is awoken by placing them back on your head. It also will tell you the estimated battery life that is left. I found I could get about 12-13 hour of use before having to charge them. I was able to make a whole work day between video and audio calls last a solid 9 hour work day and still had plenty of juice in the evening for listening to music or playing a game The built in microphone was able to easily pickup my voice, but given it is an internal mic and I could not direct it closer to my mouth, it did end up picking up keyboard presses or other noises in the room. Overall for my work space, this was not an issue for people on the other end of the call. These headphones also have a 3.5mm audio jack for use in machines that do not have Bluetooth. I found the audio to actually be better via Bluetooth and a bit muffled on the hard-wired side. I would have assumed the opposite, but found the Bluetooth quality to be excellent and free of any distortion. Final Thoughts Overall, I absolutely LOVE the simplicity of these headphones both aesthetically and functionally. They pair excellently to other Surface devices and work very well with non-Microsoft tech as well. These are exceptional everyday headphones with above average audio. These should be on anyone’s must have list who owns other Microsoft Surface products and should be a heavy contender for those who don’t. I applaud Microsoft’s attention to detail and making a product that “just works” without any need to constantly troubleshoot a poor Bluetooth connection or constantly need to charge. Well done Microsoft! You have a raving fan on the Surface Headphones 2. “Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews.”

I personally really like those and all the features it has, and it’s also comfortable. The only think is that they build quality is not that good, the top cushion came off but I still managed to still use the headphones, I also tried to put it back in place but it didn’t do anything. but overall it’s great.

The fun starts with the packaging! While the packaging is almost over the top, the experience of opening this product is a delight! I have never seen shrink wrap done so perfectly including the seams! The box is simple, clean and welcomes you to open me! Inside is the custom carry case containing the headphones, power and headphone cords neatly attached with stretch bands to a handy instructional card which is useful! It’s nice to have short concise instructions available when you forget how do I do this? The headphones themselves are sleek, light, and look expensive. The headphones further have the expensive feel all the way down to the damped, heavy feel of the left and right turn dials. Nice touch! The headphones when turned on tell you how many hours of charge you can expect, and they pair quickly and easily to my IOS XR device. Out of the box they are in “flat” mode which sounds good, however most will want to download the Surface Audio App. Having already paired my headphones to my IOS device, I had some trouble getting the app to work the first time. The App wants to walk you through the paring process. I basically unpaired, and then used the app to re-pair. Everything worked fine at that point. On future power ups, the headphones would pair outside of the app, and when the app is opened, it will then reconnect to the headphones and continue to work as needed. It just seemed to be glitch on the first use. I like the information in the app as it will show you the level of noise cancellation, battery charge left in hours, and relative listening volume. The equalizer has 5 presets with the ability to make your own settings and save yours. The equalizer also has 5 “sliders” to adjust the sound to your preference. I of course made my own, saved it, and use it often. It seems the headphones remember the last used equalizer settings. SOUND: I would say the sound is rich and mellow. The highs are crisp and the sound is easy to listen to. It’s not “tiring” as some headphones can be. The bass is there, not too heavy and can be increased through the app. Volume is most adequate and can go well above what is comfortable for me. I detected no distortion at high levels. While listening, you can easily adjust the noise cancellation to create that “perfect escape chamber” void of outside noise and distractions creating your perfect listening environment. However if someone needs to intrude and want to talk to you, just turn that left dial and let their voice come into your space. It all works well! COMFORT: The headphones are light and very comfortable. When worn for a period of time you actually forget they are there. Tap an ear piece to pause, tap again to resume. I really like the feature when you remove the headphones and lay them down, the music automatically pauses! Pick them up and put them on, the music restarts. Sweet! CALL QUALITY: People I have talked to using the Surface Headphones say they can hear me very well! Call quality is excellent for me using the headphones. SUMMARY: I used the included headphone cable listening to music off my PC. The Blue Tooth is disconnected and the sound is via the cable. Sound is as good or better using the cable and this is a nice feature when using older non Blue Tooth devices! Charging is quick and easy with the include USB-C cable to recharge. Blue Tooth range is excellent. I can easily get 40 feet coverage, and outdoors up to 60 feet between devices before the sound starts to cut out. I would highly recommend these headphones to any friend or family member. I find them very comfortable, easy to listen too, great sound, and feature rich with the noise cancellation. As a member of the Tech Insider Network, Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews.

I really enjoy these surface 2 headphones. They have clean uncluttered style to them. Minimal buttons, and a clever side rotating bezel to adjust volume on one side and noise cancellation on the opposite side. While it does include touch sensitivity to the center section of either ear. It takes practice to get the feel and timing of the taps to be just right for reliable function. I found myself pausing music (1 tap) more than skipping music (2 taps) even when trying double tap. Maybe the app to tweak settings will include a delay adjustment in the future. The app for PC/Android/Apple works great to see the status of the earphones (battery/noise reduction level/volume) and even to save a favorite custom audio in the equalizer. It even showed the same saved equalizer setting when I switched from PC to my Android device. That's very nice! As for sound quality and audio clarity. I am very happy. While I think we all at some point want more thump in the bass dept. These give enough at around 60% volume (pretty loud for me). Yet occasionally some songs felt lacking (mp3 quality may have something to do with this). Overall audio quality for music/Cortana/Google/Calls was very good at a variety of noise cancellation and volume settings. While only doing 4+ phone calls. None of my callers complained about my audio on their end. So, that's all I guess you can hope for if you have these on and need/want to take calls. Bluetooth range was fantastic all throughout my modest sized house. No fade upstairs or down. Mansion owners may have different results. I also want to mention something else I noticed for the Microsoft team. Stated battery life is 20 hours? I have drained down headphones 3 times now and still only get to 18 hours fully charged according to the app and voice when starting the headphones. While maybe I get more time than the voice and app says. Might be worth double checking. And even if it's only 18 hours. That's still pretty good for a full day of listening pleasure. If you are the fence. I say come on over, put the headphones on and tune out the world around you. These headphones are great, and now that they are even cheaper. It's a great choice. And while my headphones were sent to me free for testing and evaluation. I would buy this brand and model based on price and quality of the unit I received. Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews.

Good day everyone! I have recently obtained my Surface Headphones 2 and here is my review for them. Before I begin my review I am including this disclaimer "Reviewers in this invitation only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest and unbiased reviews". Now that this is out of the way let us get on to the review. I am constantly on the search for a great pair of headphones. I am not one who is in search of the most expensive pair but my requirements are that they be reasonably priced and offer a value that other pairs may not provide. :::Initial Impressions::: Upon opening the box you'll find a neat little zippered case which is a storage case for your headphones and will protect them when not in use. The case is black and simple and yet refined with the Microsoft logo which is nice and clean and simple. Open up the case and you will find everything that is needed which consists of the following; Headphones, USB C cable for charging and a 3.5MM headphone cable. A neat instruction card is included. I love the aesthetics of the box that the headphones come in and the zippered headphone case. It may be overlooked by some but not by me It is a plus and I applaud Microsoft for putting in a little extra effort for their customers. :::Setup::: Pairing these headphones were a breeze I opted to use them with an Android device and I downloaded the official application "Surface Audio" and I effortlessly paired and setup my headphones in less than ten seconds. My headphones came fully charged out of the box and it will speak to you telling you that it is powered on and the battery status. It really doesn't get any easier and convenient than this. :::Pros & Cons::: Pros: - Easy pairing process - Twist controls (left & right ear cups) - Touch controls as well - Active noise cancelling - Good battery life - Super comfortable - Lightweight - Fast charging - USB C Cons: I do not have any cons but a mere suggestion for Microsoft, I hope that in the next iteration that battery life is improved. I would personally prefer a little more than 20 hours but that is just me nitpicking. :::General Thoughts::: I have always wanted a pair of Surface headphones because of how innovative they are. As far as I know there is nothing like it on the market. Microsoft has a unique feature for volume and anc control by twisting the left or right ear cup to adjust the volume to what you find to be comfortable. This is the feature that really sets it apart from the competing brands. Sound is good to me and is subjective so I won't really touch on that because what sounds good to me may not sound good to you. But the good thing is you can always tweak your sound settings through the surface audio app if you opt to download it or it can be done with whatever music application you use. The noise cancelling is good and you can change it according to your liking and do not even have to take them off to hear your surroundings or others around you. These SH2 are super comfortable and sleek and lightweight. I have been using them so much and not once have I felt any pressure on my head nor did I experience and ear fatigue. Battery life has been good I have managed to get about 3 days of battery with mixed usage between my desktop and phone. With ANC off with ANC on though I was seeing roughly what is advertised. TL;DR Overall the SH2 are a great value when compared to what is currently on the market and for $100 less than what others are asking for you get good battery life, ANC, Comfort, touch & twist controls and a sweet protective case with accessories. I have plenty of Headphones but these are now my favorite . If you are shopping for a pair of headphones then don't pass on these try them out for yourself.