If you are looking for a decent pair of headphones that’s suitable for both indoor and outdoor at an affordable price then you know that you are in for a tough decision. There are loads of options on the market already that users can go for and the iFrogz Carbide on-ear headphones is another addition to that. Let’s take a look at the review to see whether this headphone manages to stand out and whether it gives enough reason for someone to buy it instead of the other alternatives available on the market today.
Design and Build Quality
Probably the most important thing about headphones these days is their design. Headphones have moved beyond function that provides good quality audio on the move to actually becoming style statements. This is one of the reasons why the headphones from Beats are so well received by the public. They look really good and you know how much they cost and they have a certain cool quotient about them. Everything else comes secondary. While audiophiles may never get them, the general public loves them and at the end of the day, the sales numbers do speak for themselves. The iFrogz Carbide is no slouch when it comes to looks either. It has a design that sort of resembles the Beats series but not quite. The headphones are primarily made of plastic but have loads of leather all around as well. The plastic isn’t of a cheap quality though and has been given a premium finish that sort of mimics metal.
The easiest way to describe the design is “Urban”. It has a very urban sort of appeal in the way it looks and the colours used. The headset is primarily black in colour with a silver accent on the headband. The earcups themselves come in different colours such as Black, Blue, Yellow, Purple, Grey, Green and Red (Which is the one we are reviewing). Surprisingly, the Yellow variant is actually more of a Golden one which replaces the Black components with white. My personal favorites would be the Blue or Yellow/Gold variants. But its good to see that there are enough options to cater to almost every customer. There is a Carbide branding on the headband at the top as well as the logo on both the earcups.
The headphones do not fold flat nor do they fold inwards. They do have a removable audio cable which is a good thing as it becomes easier to replace the cable if it does get broken. The cable is of quite good quality as well and is tangle free. It has a cloth like outer finish that also feels good to hold and doesn’t get cut easily. There are controls on the cable as well which we shall talk about in detail later on.
Comfort and Portability
The earcups have a really plushy leather cushion that goes on your ears. The problem that I’ve had with most on-ear headphones is that after a while they start hurting your ears due to the pressure applied on them directly. This is why I personally prefer over-ear headphones. But I was pleasantly surprised in the case of the Carbide. The earcups were really soft and it feels really good to wear the headphones. The fit is perfect and the headband isn’t too tight on your temple. It fits tight enough that it doesn’t fall off either and that’s a good thing if you plan on wearing your headphones in bed or when working out for example.
The downside to the leather is that they make you sweat as opposed to other porous fabric so it wouldn’t be the best idea to use them when working out hard. The headphones don’t fold flat nor do they fold inwards which makes it a bit difficult to carry around and you have to be careful when taking it as there isn’t any carry case that comes along with it. Luckily, the headphones itself aren’t that huge but nonetheless, a folding solution would’ve helped mitigate the problem to a large extent. The cable itself is removable so it makes it a bit easier to carry and there is a magnetic clip for the cable that makes easier to hold it together.
Controls
There is an in-line remote control that houses three buttons as well as a microphone. The remote section actually has a single button that has 3 different points of input for different functions. It can control volume up/down and play/pause. Pressing and holding the volume up/down button will allow you to seek through tracks. Double tapping the play/pause button will take you to the next track and triple tapping will take your to the previous track. Unfortunately the unit we had didn’t have a working remote so we couldn’t test compatibility with Android and iOS devices separately but the company does say that it should work with all iOS devices and some Android devices although they haven’t been specific to say which ones.
Audio Quality and Performance
The audio quality is quite good on the Carbide especially for a headphone at this price range. The cans are closed and as a result there is no leakage of sound unless you creak the volume to the max in which case, some audio does escape out. There is good level of isolation from your surroundings as well thanks to the fluffy earcups. The dynamic range is pretty good and the volume is more than sufficient as well. The headphones do tend to be a bit bass heavy so you will have to adjust your equalizer to compensate for that. But by default, it seems that these headphones are more geared towards genres such as hip hop. If that is your primary music consumption then these will keep you happy no doubt. Connecting an amplifier does improve the quality and volume to a certain extent but don’t expect miracles. This is far from an audiophile’s headset but it does what it promises to do really well.
Conclusion
Overall, the Carbide is a really good headset. The comfort levels are outstanding and it has a very modern and urban design. Its audio quality is good too and the product will especially appeal to youngsters. If you are looking for a decent pair of headphones that you can listen to all day be it indoors or outdoors then the Carbide should definitely keep you happy. The iFrogz Carbide on-ear headphones retail for a price of Rs 3,499 in India.