The first thing you have to do is unpack the headphones and you will immediately notice that the protective cover is quite large. I don't think this is a drawback, it is nice and deep, so that the headphones easily fit in, including accessories such as the charger. Yes, it takes up quite a bit of space in your backpack, but at least you know for sure that your high-end headphones are well protected. In addition to the headphones, the box also contains an adapter for, for example, an airplane, a USB charging cable and an audio cable with a 1-button control that works on most smartphones.
My first impression was immediately good. The material of the headphones feels very solid. Smooth silver plastic with rubber finish on the outside of the earbuds themselves. All this finished with chrome frames gives the headphones a luxurious look. It's a pity that only the silver color (so far) is available because I would be more of a fan of black. Storage is no problem, the headphones can be made quite flat because you fold them, as it were, so that they fit easily in the protective cover. The ear cushions are equipped with a kind of memory foam. They fit really nicely over my ears and the headphones are still very comfortable even after wearing them for a long time.
The headphones use Bluetooth 4.2 and that's fine. However, what will bother the real audio fanatics is that there is no aptX compatibility. This improved audio codec provides significantly better sound quality. If you listen to music via Spotify, etc., you will not notice a difference, but the music lovers who play the best possible audio files will still drop out, which is a shame.
The operation is quite self-explanatory, all buttons are located around the edge of both earplugs. The buttons feel solid and give you good feedback through the “click”. On the left the control buttons such as volume, and on the right the on/off button and noise canceling control. Hold the volume up button and you get the next song, volume down and you get the previous one. The on/off button is more like a slider, slide and hold so you can pair the headphones with your phone. It is then wise to download the AKG app for more ease of use. For example, the app gives options to set the smart ambient function and this can again be operated with the button on the right earbud. The ambient aware function ensures that more outside noise is let through and this works surprisingly well. If you like to listen to music at a louder volume, you will notice that the function is less effective. But since we have to take good care of our ears, I don't recommend this. The Talk Thru function allows you to drop the volume completely so that you can follow / have conversations, this works fine. The only thing I don't understand is that your music isn't paused. If you use this function, it may be that when you go back to your music you are already at the next song. The app also gives access to an equalizer so that you can make your music genre sound even better. The battery lasts about 20 hours with bluetooth and noise canceling on. The headphones are easy to charge with a micro-USB input, this should have been USB-C in my opinion, but not a big loss.
The sound is nicely full and sharp and will sound many times better than the headphones you replace with this AKG. Do the headphones give the best sound possible? The short answer is no. The lack of aptX compatibility is already a letdown, but compared to other headphones in this price segment, this is certainly not the best. The sound is slightly flatter and less lively than I've heard from competing providers. The AKG N700NC is definitely worth its price. Comfortable, good sound quality and easy operation and aesthetically it looks great in my opinion.
When do you buy these headphones or another one in this segment? Depends on what you think is important. If you like the look, buy. You then have great headphones with excellent noise canceling and good sound quality. If you are an audiophile and you don't expect more than the best in terms of sound, then I would still do some research, and you may still come up with this one, but it could definitely be better.
