Remember the Digital Opera S2 wireless headphones unveiled a few weeks back? We’ve got a pair, and been busy busting out the tunes over the air to them. See if they live up to expectations in our hands-on gallery and impressions.
Sure, wireless earbuds are nothing new, but more options that don’t involve Bluetooth are always welcome. The Digital Opera S2 headphones sling sounds across the room from any source with a 3.5mm audio jack, and there’s no set-up required, as they’re plug and play.
Buildwise, the Digital Opera S2 headphones are nicely put together. The dongle itself is slightly thicker than the older iPod shuffle and the headphones come with coils so there’s a bit of elasticity before the cans are tugged out of your skull, plus volume controls on either ear. Both bits charge from the same USB cable, which is helpful.
Digital Opera S2 headphones official photos
Sound quality though isn’t so hot. It’s difficult to say if it’s more the OTA streaming or the quality of the headphones themselves, but there’s a definite muted, flat quality to the sound, which becomes very noticeable on rock and heavy bass tracks. It’s not such a biggie if you’re into gentler pop music, but for £99, you’d hope for something slightly better.
How do they cope in the real world? We’ve taken them for a trip on the treadmill, and while the buds themselves will stay lodged in your lugs when walking or stretching, the weighty receiver (Which you hang around the back of your head) flaps up and down, pulling them out if you gain too much speed. That said though, they’ll work fine if all you do is weights down at the gym. The range is impressive too, with sound quality barely dropping as you walk a good 15-20 feet away (Instead it just starts cutting as you walk out of distance), so they’ll work well in an office environment too.
Chew on that while you have a browse through our Digital Opera S2 unboxing gallery, and see if sound quality’s a trade off you’re willing to make to get wireless without the need for Bluetooth.
Out Now | £99 | DIPeComm
