- David and David here
talking about the best on-ear headphones of 2021,
about a six-month follow-up from our previous video
and some things have definitely changed.
- Yeah.
Some really good options in the on-ear category
this time around.
We have now spent over $8,000 on headphones.
So we think you can trust our reviews
because we don't get them for free.
- Yeah, we listened to eight tracks,.
Also tested for comfort, durability, portability.
Let's just dive into the review.
Timestamps are in the descriptions
if you just want to skip right to the results.
- And if you enjoy, please subscribe, please join.
Let's get to it.
- AKG Y45BT.
So if this is the cutest headphones in 2021,
we'd have a winner.
- Aw.
- All right, so we do have a pouch.
It's interesting how the padding goes all the way around.
They don't really click.
- There sticking rate in the middle of your ear,
bordering on like large earbuds
with a band.
You could hear the (David hissing)
throughout the entire time.
Well, those are the worst headphones
I've listened to in a long time.
- Not great.
- There was no high end.
There was an electronic sound throughout that was audible,
even when some of the music was playing.
The electronics of these headphones are bad.
- Don't get these.
Beats Solo Pro.
We weren't impressed with these.
- Totally unimpressed by these.
- It's more of like a pouch, even though it's case-shaped.
- I personally do like the way the Beats fold up.
And then if you go like this, they turn on.
I think that's pretty smart.
Yeah, they're good.
I think they're they're as comfortable
as on-ear headphones can get.
Very durable, I think.
- Good clarity, clear sound.
My biggest knock on these
was the sort of a lack of 3D space.
The other thing that I want to point out
about these headphones is the noise canceling
is pretty good.
- For on-ear probably the best, sounded very good.
Everything was kind of in your face a little bit too much.
There wasn't a lot of space.
- Beats Solo3 wireless.
These are my headphones.
- There's the amount of cat hair in this box.
- My cats are long haired.
(cat meowing)
- No, it is a bad kitty!
(cat hissing)
- It's more like a pouch than it is a case.
Kind of hard to actually fit back into the pouch.
- Nice and light and comfortable.
- If you wear with them for hours and hours on end,
you start to feel it after a while.
- Also, these are your headphones,
so they're a little bit worn in.
And when I put them on my head, I was like,
these are nice and soft.
- There's a little bit less 3D space, bass heavy.
- [Blonde David] They sound good.
There's nothing really inspiring.
- House of Marley Positive Vibration 2.
I'm not sure how that's gonna hold up over time,
like it has to click in.
- I think they look nice.
- I don't like the way they feel at all.
- They put Marley inside of the ear cup,
which just seems unnecessary.
- The cable on the side it's just, it looks stupid.
- You collapse it and it's got these like giant issues.
- If you're looking for noise-canceling headphones,
run in the opposite direction
because if two people are talking about the weather
while you're listening to these headphones.
- This is like a severe thunderstorm watch.
(cow mooing)
- You're gonna pick up a lot of their conversation.
Right off the bat with the Daft Punk song,
the bass was so heavy-handed.
It was tough to listen to.
- Base-heavy, lack of high-end,
The guitar sounded very thin.
- JBL Tune 660NCs with that new headphones smell.
Not stylish, but not ugly.
- [Blonde David] Very wrinkly.
- It might start to crack over time.
It feels like something I've felt before.
I don't want to say trash bag,
but if you put tissue paper up to your ears,
this is what it would feel like.
There's not enough padding on the top.
- I thought they were balanced,
but they lack a depth, lacked definition.
- The spaciousness, though, and the range wasn't that great.
- [Blonde David] Very balanced.
- [David] They're okay.
- [Blonde David] Yeah, very good.
- Don't spend a lot of money on them.
Marshall Major IV.
- David, that's Major Four.
- Major Four.
- Do these headphones go to 11?
- [Man] The numbers all go to 11.
- What's going on with these?
What's this?
We're playing horseshoes with our headphones?
Is that gonna be big enough, the square there?
These definitely aren't as tight as the Beat headphones.
And I think if you were wearing them
for an extended period of time, you'll notice that
and they'll be more comfortable.
Bass felt a bit much in a lot of the tracks.
Vocals weren't super crisp.
- A lot of bass, a lot of treble.
Everything was very sort of painfully loud
in the treble for me.
And when I hit play,
there was a little noise before the songs started to play.
- Interesting.
Let's get to the results.
Your number three on your headphones.
- Number three, I had a tie, sorry.
- Okay.
- Skullcandy Riff Wireless.
Far box over there.
- Far box over here.
- Yes, thank you very much.
Riff Wireless, $50 headphones.
Excellent, excellent value.
These are not the best sounding headphones,
but they sound very good.
Great value pair.
The tie for me are the Beats Solo3 Wireless.
These are David's headphones.
- It's like a Jenga game over here with all these boxes.
- I like these headphones a lot.
I think they sound pretty good, but for 200 bucks,
I think that it's hard to say
that they're four times better than these.
- Yeah, for my number three,
it was the Sony on-ears from the last round.
- Right, and we're gonna be talking about those again
in a minute.
- Oh, that's your number two, isn't it?
- Nope, my number two are the Beats Solo Pro.
These are the best-built of the on-ear headphones,
but I don't think they sound the best.
I do think that the Sony sound better,
but these are very good headphones.
I just think for $300 in the on-ear category they're-
- These are the most expensive ones we've tested.
- Yeah, it's hard to find more expensive on-ear headphones.
What was your number two?
- My number two was the Solo3 Wireless.
- All right.
- I mean, they're my headphones.
They've were my number one last time.
So, being very objective here.
- And it was a blind test.
- It was a blind test.
- So how would he have known?
- Yes.
- There was no way, no way.
- No way I could have told from the way.
- From the way that they feel for the last six months.
But my number one was the Sonys,
again, which we don't have to show you
because we spent $8,000 on headphones
and I didn't want to have to reorder
and repay for all the same ones that we tested.
But for me, they were the best sounding.
- In terms of definition,
I thought that they were pretty excellent.
- Pretty good value, too, in terms of the price.
- Yeah, I thought that they sounded better than the Beats.
David didn't think that they sounded as good as the Beats,
but for $130, they'd be my choice in the on-ear category.
- Yeah, my number one was the Solo Pro.
When we tested these last time, they didn't sound
nearly as good as they did this time.
- That's true, and why was that?
- It was the firmware update.
- Firmware updates, yeah.
Apple got on it and they fixed
the sound issues with these headphones.
They sound really good.
- Yeah, one thing I'm concerned about these
just a little bit is the comfort.
I thought the Solo3 Wireless were more comfortable,
but I've also sort of worn these in.
- That was my impression, too.
- So I don't know if that's the difference.
If you wear these for an extended period of time,
maybe they'll start to feel a bit better,
but it just was a little bit too pinchy
- Yeah, stiffer, pinchier.
Actually, David, would you be willing to wear
people's headphones maybe for a year?
- Yeah, send me your headphones.
I'll wear them for a year and send them back to you.
- [Blonde David] Break in headphones.
- So let's talk about the worst.
Your number three.
- My number three worst, I've got a tie again.
We got the House of Marley Positive Vibration 2.
All right, I think that these had a terrible mid range,
super heavy bass, sounds thin, but very, very uncomfortable.
I think that that was my number one problem.
- Just to give you a visual.
They're not in the box right now.
It's just-
- [Blonde David] Stupid.
Also stupid, this looks okay,
but I mean, you got the exposed wires,
you got this thing and I mean, I don't understand.
Hello everyone.
♪ Hungry hippos ♪
♪ The eating race ♪
- I win!
- Yeah, I didn't think these were very comfortable either.
I will point out the price is just $60,
but I think I'd much prefer the Skull Candys
in terms of a budget option.
- Yeah, my other number three though,
you asked, so what's your number three?
I can have two because it's my video.
Marshall Major IV.
- Marshall Major IV, there it is.
- Oh, Major I V.
Look at that, the box even fell apart.
- You can see we tested them.
We took them all out of the boxes.
- I think it's the Major Four, not the Major I V.
- These go to 11.
- YOu'll need an IV if you have to listen to these
for too long, 'cause bleh.
So my number three was the house of Marley.
My number two was the Marshall,
so we're kind of on the same page
in terms of which ones were not the best.
- Yeah, the Marshalls they have the, what did Colin call it?
It's tolex.
- Yeah.
- Tolex.
- If you like tolex, if you know what tolex is
like Colin did, you might like this headband.
I felt like these were very, very comfortable.
- They were very comfortable.
- I mean, probably the most comfortable
along with your Beats that had been broken in.
- I think these are more comfortable.
- Yeah, I mean, they're just super soft, super comfortable.
And so when I listened to them, yuck.
Total base.
- I said vocals not crisp, base overwhelming at times.
And I think at times is more often than not.
- Yeah, I totally agree.
Number one, worst, what was yours?
- My number one worst was the AKG Y54s.
- Right.
Also the Y45s.
- Y45s, yeah.
I mean, the cutesy design.
I mean, they're definitely the cutest headphones,
but in terms of just sound and comfort and experience.
- They're terrible.
- They're not great.
- Yeah, they're my number one as well.
I mean, I was just writing bad.
Relatively loud audible electronic noise throughout.
That is a deal breaker for me.
The electronics in these headphones are screwed up.
You should not buy them, period.
- Wow, are these bad.
You can hear the (David hissing)
throughout the entire time.
- They sounded kind of like earbuds
in the sense that it's in the center of your ear,
where the noise is coming from,
and then the inside of your ear is just,
it's kind of exposed, you're not getting any sound that way.
- Yeah, they're cutesy little headphones,
but they put a lot of pressure as well
on the cartilage of your ear, sort of the inner cartilage,
which for me became very uncomfortable within
30 seconds of listening to them.
I would avoid these headphones at all costs.
- Yeah, we also just want to mention real quick,
we tested out the JBLs.
These were kind of like the middle of the pack for me.
Not the worst three, not the best three.
$80, you could clearly do worse,
but I, again, would go with the Skull Candy
as a budget option over these.
- Yeah, me too.
But same deal.
Good, not great.
So.
- So I mean, I'm saying if you've got
the budget to go for it and you want a pair
of on-ear headphones, I would go with the Solo Pros.
- And I would go with the Sony's
and saved my $170.
- That's a fair choice.
- Fair choice.
- Best on-ear headphones, that's what they are.
Thanks for watching.
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And leave a comment down below
with any other on-ear headphones you'd like us to review
and we will get to them.
- Bye bye.