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REVIEW: Radiopaq Duo Headphones

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Product: Radiopaq Duo Headphones

Price: RRP £19.99

Radiopaq are a company who haven’t always been known for their headphones. They started off life in 2007 as a website (www.radiopaq.com) which provided web streams for radio stations from all around the world.

They’ve since grown and taken their expertise into other markets, creating a DAB Radio and MP3 Dock and now a range of high quality budget headphones in all shapes and sizes. Their latest foray into the headphone market is the Duo headphones; a pair of over-ear cans aimed at the price conscious but stylish headphone buyer.

The Duos are Radiopaq’s first attempt at over-ear headphones, and have been designed to look very stylish, especially given the price tag of £19.99. You can take your pick from a choice of 5 colour variants when buying a set of Duos: High Gloss Copper, Candy Green, Candy Purple, Metallic Silver and Soft Touch Black. We opted for Candy Purple, because the Gadget Helpline is a modern man with no shame in liking the colour purple.

Stylish

Upon receiving the Duos, we couldn’t help but notice how ‘Apple-y’ the packaging looks. The box is slim and black with little on the front or sides except the radiopaq website and a barcode, plus a card down the centre to show off the device’s main features. Inside the box you’ll find your pair of cans and nothing else – nice and simple.

Our first impressions of the Radiopaq Duos were that they look like they cost a lot more than just £19.99. They look stylish – the ear cups stand out thanks to the bright paint job and there’s some nice chrome accents running through the middle the ear cups which makes them stand out. The padded headband has a leather effect which adds to the classy look. On the whole, the Duos are a nice looking piece of kit.

“Fold flat DJ style” is how Radiopaq describe the Duos – it’s one of the main features. Thanks to a chrome hinge on each side of the arms, the ear cups swivel around easily for both flexibility and storage. Folding the cups flat is simple and makes for easy storage which is a nice touch.

Well Built

Unlike many cheap headphones, the Duos have a decent quality thick cable running from each ear cup to the gold plated 3.5mm jack connection. Too often we see headphones with a very thin and flimsy plastic cord let a product down, but Radiopaq have done well here and offered a thick and seemingly durable cable. It’s 1.5m (4ft) long which is plenty long enough if you’re connecting them to a phone or mp3 player in your coat or trouser pocket, and doesn’t leave too much annoying extra cabling to tuck away somewhere. However, if you’re planning to use the Duos with a laptop or PC then you might be limited to how much you can move around.

For a set of over-ear headphones, there’s very little weight to the Duos and even after prolonged usage we experienced no discomfort or problems with them – in fact we almost forgot they were there sometimes! The headband is easily adjustable using a pull system and the padded section at the top makes the Duos comfy to wear.

Unfortunately the ear cushions themselves aren’t quite big enough to encase your ear we found, which meant we didn’t feel truly ‘immersed’ in sound, and in some cases the cup could slide off of your ear and onto your face. Personally, I have smaller ears and found with a bit of manipulation I could tuck my ears inside the cups for a better sound. Others with slightly larger ears may struggle to achieve the same, sorry!

Sound Quality

Due to the size of the ear cups, we found there to be a lot of noise cancellation problems. Now, the Radiopaq Duos don’t in any way claim to be noise cancelling, and for the price you’d struggle to find some over-ear cans that offer such a feature, but we find that if you have a pair of headphones where the ear cups form a sort of “suction” around your ears, you’ll get better noise cancellation. It’s not a huge problem, and simply cranking up the volume by a few more blocked most background noise out.

The sound quality is impressive for a set of sub-£20 headphones. Bass is punchy thanks to the 40mm sound drivers, though not too muddy and overpowering. Midrange is okay, nothing special but nothing that stands out as being poor. Unfortunately the treble lets the overall mix down with these headphones as there’s poor definition in this range. For instance, when listening to anything with acoustic drums in, every kind of cymbal sounds weak and tinny. This is just us being picky though, and if you’re spending £20 on a set of headphones you wouldn’t be bothered by this.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a set of lightweight, stylish over-ear headphones but you’re on a tight budget, then look no further than the Radiopaq Duo headphones. For the lowly price tag of £19.99 they really excel in almost all areas. We’ve had the headphones on test for a good few weeks now and used them in many different situations including long train rides and busy commutes on public transport. They look good, they’re super light and they stay on your head, all while providing good quality audio for the price. What more could you want?

If you like the sound of the Radiopaq Duos, you can find them at The Carphone Warehouse, Asda, Argos, WHSmith, and at www.radiopaqproducts.com.

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