Reviewed by Louise Totton
If there’s one thing that gets my goat, it’s poor quality sound. We have a soundbar on the TV because the built-in TV speakers don’t point in the right direction, the Alexas that we use to actually listen to music on have proper speakers attached, and I hate listening to anything on tinny phone or tablet speakers! I do have headphones for listening to my phone when I’m trying not to disturb other people, but I find them slightly constricting because they are all wired ones – I haven’t yet found any wireless ones that do the job as well as wired ones in terms of sound quality and comfort. That’s partly because I do love my wired headphones, and partly because if I do replace them with wireless, I’d want decent ones and I refuse to part with over £100 for headphones! Having a home with two daughters means that life is invariably ‘loud’, and I was particularly looking for headphones with noise-cancelling functionality, as well as a decent battery life and a comfortable fit. Having all of these features pushes the price up, and I haven’t managed to find any within my budget. Until now!
The Groov-e Elite headphones promise everything that I had been looking for in a set of headphones and more! As well as the noise cancellation feature and an 8-10 hour battery life, they also fold in a really clever way that makes their generous padding and size really rather compact and the fit neatly in to the included hard-shell case. The ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) can be switched on and off, depending on whether you want to isolate yourself and get lost in the music, or whether you still need to have an awareness of the world around you, and all for just £64.99.
The headphones came packaged in a nice box – they look like a premium, quality product and would make a great gift. Within the box is the hard, shell case, the headphones themselves, a charging cable and a sound cable, so you can use them as standard, wired headphones as well as wirelessly. The charging cable is a standard USB/MicroUSB one, so most people will have other cables in the house that can do the job already.
There are three small buttons on the side of the left earpad, which power the device, adjust the volume, skip tracks and operate the mobile call answering function. There is also a large button on the side of the headphones that switches the ANC on and off, and also contains an LED indicator. When they arrived, there was no charge in them so the first thing I did was plug them in to charge. At the point, the LED indicator shows solid red to indicate charging – when they are fully charged (2-3 hours), this indicator light switches to blue.
Pairing the headphones to your phone or tablet’s Bluetooth is really easy, you don’t even need to enter pairing mode. When they are powered on, it automatically goes into pairing mode, indicated by flashing blue and red lights. The headphones are then discoverable on your device and will pair at the tap of a button. The whole process took around five minutes and then we were ready to start listening.
I have a premium music subscription, so am able to listen to music in high-definition, and I wasn’t disappointed with how the Groov-e Elite headphones made the music sound. It was perfectly clear and the sound was very rich – it sounded as it should and how it does out of the far more expensive soundbar. The ANC switches off at the touch of a button, which is perfectly placed on the left earpad and is easy to switch on and off. The ANC works incredibly well, and I was able to sit in the lounge and listen peacefully to my music whilst there were two very excited kids enjoying their Nintendo very loudly! The LEDs light green to indicate that ANC is switched on.
The buttons at the side are much smaller, and it is taking me a while to get used to their placement and which is which. They adjust the volume and skip tracks, and for the time being, I am removing the headphones to check that I am pressing the right button. I’m sure soon enough it will become second nature though.
I was incredibly impressed with both the comfort of the headphones and the quality of the sound that they provide. At all sound levels, they sound fantastic and even at the top sound level (103dB), there is very little discernible distortion. I’m aware that I’m not a true audiophile, but as a layman who likes things to sound good, these sound very good! The padding is fantastic and makes these very comfortable to wear. They are also super light and fitted both mine, my partner’s and the kids’ heads comfortably as they are so adjustable. None of us experienced them slipping or moving and they were really comfy for all of us.
They fold fantastically into the zippable case, which also has storage space for both of the cables as well as a small MP3 player, if you still use one of these! This makes them ideal for travel, as the case provides great protection for the headphones and because of the ANC, I think they would be fantastic for commuting, if you don’t want to be disturbed by your fellow travellers.
I honestly can’t fault these – they look great, sound great, feel comfortable and are super easy to use. I’m not sure what else you could ask from them, and they’re a little more than half the price of some of the others I was looking at, so I’m delighted!
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £64.99
For more information or to buy visit www.groov-e.co.uk.
