iFrogz Aurora Wireless headphones review
iFrogz Aurora Wireless headphones
£34.99Pros
- Lightweight
- Good battery life
- Wireless/Wired options
- Easy controls
- Comfortable pads
Cons
- Not enough clamping for me
iFrogz is now familiar to us here at GadgetyNews. Their Impulse Duo earphones were impressive. So, now we have the Aurora headphones.
The Impulse Duo earphones were a very pleasant surprise. They punched well above their weight in both audio quality and comfort. Furthermore, they looked good doing it, too.
So, when the box containing the new Aurora Wireless headphones landed on my desk, I could not wait.
Has iFrogz done it again, or is the Impulse Duo just too hard an act to follow?
iFrogz Aurora Wireless design
The Aurora Wireless is another good-looking design. It’s clean, minimalist and set its stall out to do what is promised with little fuss.
That’s not to say that there aren’t neat touches though.
The headband has a diamond-patterned relief and, on the white set we have here, the silver logo and grey ear-pads work well with the white.
On the right ear-cup is where you’ll find touch controls. Here you can skip tracks forwards and backwards, increase and decrease volume and take calls.
Pressing the centre also pairs with your smart device over Bluetooth.
Check out our review of the iFrogz Impulse Duo earphones
Staying on the right-side, on the bottom edge is the microUSB for charging and a microphone.
Over on the left ear-cup is a 3.5mm jack for wired listening should the batteries run out of juice. Always a handy touch, that.
The headband is adjustable for larger craniums. However, there is no articulation at the cups. These are moulded as-is.
The construction is mostly plastic with faux leather covering the padded area of the headband and ear-cups.
The Aurora is therefore quite lightweight.
iFrogz Aurora Wireless performance
I was looking forward to putting the 30mm drivers and noise reduction technology to the test.
After the surprising audio quality of the Aurora’s ear-bud stablemates, I was expecting good things.
Unfortunately, owing to the headband/ear-cup design, I was getting hardly any clamping force on my head.
I will admit to not having the widest skull out there, and I am no stranger to the “why the long face?” remarks. However, I do own many, and love many, headphones.
[amazon_link asins=’B071CTCPQP’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’gadgnews-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=”]The lack of a snug fit obviously means I miss out on any passive noise isolation.
I will say that the AeroFoam ear pads do seem comfortable though.
Also, as the Aurora aren’t lovingly hugging my noggin, they do have a tendency to want to escape. I will admit, that some of this may be due to my glossy flowing locks.
Audio quality
Wearing the headphones as normal I was losing bass. Also, isolation was hardly there either.
Resting my hands upon the earcups in a ‘Wired for Sound‘ stylee remedied much of the Aurora’s maladies for me.
I realise that this is not perfect but not everyone has the same shaped head as I. My buddy Gareth, of Tech Addicts fame, also has a pair. Now, I am not saying that he has a big head or anything but, he might not have the same issues as I.
After carefully twisting the earcups past each other a few times, this gave a slightly more-snug fit. Still, not optimal for listening to on a busy tube train. However, increasing the volume does help.
Audio quality is decent, to be fair. I was better able to test in the quiet of home and enjoy the clarity and definition I was now expecting from iFrogz.
Metal, in the form of Anthrax, Testament, Iron Maiden, etc came through full and powerful.
‘Ship to Wreak’ by Florence + The Machine was equally potent. The slide-guitar opening of ‘4:50AM (Go Fishing)’ by Roger Waters was full of expression.
iFrogz Aurora Wireless review conclusion
Another great value set of earpleasers from iFrogz. These were only marred by the lack of a more snug fit. Perhaps deeper ear-pads or a slighly narrower headband could have remedied this.
Saying that, this might also only be an issue for a small proportion of wearers. I am sure that iFrogz will have used standard measurements. Perhaps a previous reviewer had a larger head and stretched the band a tad. I am willing to give iFrogz the benefit of the doubt here.
The headphones are light and comfortable to wear and audio is decent. Yes, the plastics can feel a little on the cheap side, but then look at the price.
iFrogz Aurora Wireless price and availability
The iFrogz Aurora Wireless headphones are available now from Zagg.com for £34.99.
