Zik Headphones

Using the Zik headphones from Parrot,

the same company that brought us those

remote-controlled quadcopters that

you've probably seen before.

Now these are wireless, noise-cancelling headphones.

And just looking at them, you can tell

they're quite handsome and they're quite attractive

and they're probably several hundred dollars.

But the magic doesn't end there.

The secret is that these headphones

are packed with sensors.

The entire surface of the right ear cup is touch-sensitive.

So to change the volume, you just touch it,

run your finger up.

To go down in volume, you just run your finger down.

To go between tracks, you either swipe forwards

towards the front of your head,

or backwards towards the back of your head.

To pause the music, you just tap.

You can also tap an ear cup to answer

an incoming phone call.

And when you're talking on the phone,

the five noise-cancelling microphones

on the outside start picking up your voice.

Also, on the inside on the right ear cup,

there is a small bone-conducting headphone

that will pick up the vibrations

of your jawbone to make it easier

for the person you're talking to to hear what you're saying.

Inside the left ear cup, there is an NFC chip.

So if you have an NFC-compatible smartphone,

like this Galaxy Nexus, you just tap

the phone to the ear cup, you'll get

a little alert on your phone's screen

showing you that there's a device recognized.

You just tap on that little alert on your phone,

and then your headphones and your phone

are paired, and you're ready to start talking

on the phone, and you're ready

to start listening to the music

that's coming out of your phone.

Now my favorite feature is the head sensor.

When you've got them on your head,

and you're listening to music,

and somebody comes up to you and wants

to interrupt your good time by talking to you,

you just slide them around your neck.

The headphones will recognize the fact

that they're not on your head anymore,

and the music will stop.

It's really cool.

To start it back up, you just put 'em back

on your head, and the music starts up.

It takes about a second, but it works like

a charm every time.

So, they're wireless Bluetooth noise-cancelling headphones.

How do they sound?

Not fantastic.

They sound pretty good.

And I wore them for about three or four days

and tested them extensively, and they sounded pretty good

to my ears, but you can still kind of hear some

of the digital artifacts from the noise cancelling.

And, if you're a bit of a stickler for audio quality,

that'll probably be enough of a pain point

for you to stay away.

But, if you like the design and you like having

all this really cool technology,

which does make the headphones a lot easier to use

and a lot easier to walk around with and control,

then you should definitely check them out.

I recommend them.

(casual clapping instrumental music)