Creative SXFI Air Bluetooth headphones review: Gimmicks or greatness?

Artistic'south SXFI Air Bluetooth headset is an interesting product. Costing simply shy of $165, the SXFI Air has all the makings of a very solid Bluetooth headset. It's comfy, sounds great, and is versatile — with compatibility for a wide range of products, consummate with a microphone and an Android-compatible action button.

The virtually interesting attribute of this headset is its accompanying mobile app, which is probably also what inflates its price point. Using the app, the SXFI Air allows you to upload scans of your ears and head, fine-tuning its audio profile to better suit your cranial shape. How well does information technology work in practise? We went ears-on to discover out.

Headphones with head scanning

Artistic SXFI Air headphones

$164

Bottom line: While the Creative SXFI Air nails all the fundamentals of a smashing headset, the headline sound "innovation" feels like a step backward, rather than forward.

Pros:

Comfortable, lite-weight design
Feature-rich and versatile
Bang-up wireless touch controls
Bang-up sound

Cons:

A bit pricey
Not certain the cranial scanning makes much difference
App wants your e-mail accost and information, for reasons
Delight stop putting LEDs on headphones

What y'all'll love about the Creative SXFI Air

The Artistic SXFI Air headset is supremely comfy, with airy cloth cushions that remain welcome after several hours of use. They grip your head well, without feeling tight or taut, and are generously cushioned beyond the top. They're too very light, a feature often reserved for wired headsets, due to the inclusion of batteries. The SXFI Air should testify themselves to be quite durable too, sporting an inner steel frame that is highly adaptable to fit whatsoever head shape.

Creative SXFI Air	Spec
Speakers	50mm Neodymium
Features	"Super X-Fi" holographic surround processing, Bluetooth wirelessness, on-ear impact gestures, LED lights, MicroSD support
Compatibility	Bluetooth with iOS, Android, Windows PC. USB with PS4, Windows PC, and Nintendo Switch.
Weight	50g
Toll	$164

The SXFI Air has a broad array of compatible products and a slap-up characteristic set. You tin get completely device-complimentary with the SXFI Air, using a MicroSD card slot to effectively turn the headset into a dedicated digital audio player. Bluetooth continued devices can leverage whatsoever app or service for audio, of class, including Spotify and beyond. The app allows yous to fine-tune the audio contour with a handy touch-optimized equalizer, which then pushes the data to your headset wirelessly subsequently a few seconds.

Every bit a wireless headset, they're also rather solid. Gestures on the plastic surfaces on the left loving cup allow yous to easily control audio, answer calls, and change the volume, and it works surprisingly well. The headset also has a tiny mic boom that can be removed if y'all don't want it effectually, just information technology'due south subtle enough to be left in even when using the headset in public I'd say.

On audio quality, the Creative SXFI is very impressive. Thick, creamy bass, crystalline highs, and rich treble create a truly balanced experience that makes this headset a solid option for both media and gaming. At least, that is, while not using the SXFI'south headline sound characteristic.

What you'll dislike about the Creative SXFI Air

Creative says that surroundings sound headsets are lying to us, and in a sense, that is true. You cannot truly recreate a 5.1 or 7.ane surround sound experience with a headset when the audio profile is designed for physical speakers located around a room. Dolby Atmos for headphones and other emerging technologies seek to help improve the situation for headphones, with mixed success.

Creative reckons it has found a solution with what it calls "Super X-Fi," which scans your cranium using an app in order to create an sound contour that, information technology hopes, creates a sound feel more than suited to y'all. The problem is, it just makes everything sound worse.

I used the app to browse my caput, which in of itself has some privacy concerns, uploaded to Creative's servers somewhere in another country, no doubt. Y'all tin can "permanently" delete your account via the app to wipe the data, all the same, if you're non a fan of a audio company having photos of you lot. Although even then, information technology's hard to know for certain if this app secures this kind of data properly.

Note: Creative got in affect to say our privacy concerns were "not valid," and that they don't store any photographs on their servers. In an age of data theft, it might be worth letting users know upfront how their data is existence (or isn't being) used.

Regardless of privacy concerns, the environment audio "Super Ten-Fi" experience merely doesn't live up to expectations. It introduced an incredibly "tinny" quality into the sound mix, that completely betrayed the keen stereo audio the headset has by default. What's worse, I'g not sure it fifty-fifty created a 3D environs feel that felt a stride upward higher up regular stereo tuning, especially versus Windows Sonic or Dolby Atmos on a Windows PC.

The Creative SXFI Air headset is supremely comfortable

As such, it'south difficult to recall of the Super 10-Fi "holographic sound" has annihilation more a pure gimmick. Even if the surround sounded more realistic (which it doesn't), yous sacrifice audio clarity to go there. Information technology's but not a worthwhile trade-off.

Terminal point, this headset has dumb LED circles on the earcups. They waste battery, provide no visual feedback to the user, and draw unnecessary attention (which could be seen every bit a plus depending on your personality). Artistic'southward advertising says the LEDs are customizable, merely I couldn't find any setting in the app or manual that immune you to exercise so.

Note: Creative got in bear on to say that the LEDs are controlled past a dissever app, chosen SXFI Air. Creative says that the app has to exist separate since it's part of a developer platform, but Razer, and diverse other companies manage to integrate these features into a single tool, so I'chiliad non sure if that's a valid reason.

Should y'all buy the Creative SXFI Air?

The Creative SXFI Air is a great stereo headset with a broad assortment of features, including solid mobile phone integration, MicroSD for onboard MP3 playback, and intuitive gesture controls. The stereo sound is impressive across the unabridged spectrum, offering a rich experience worthy of its toll point. Artistic goes a piffling overboard on the gimmicks, though.

Pointless LEDs are flanked by an as pointless cranial scanning characteristic, which supposedly creates a environment sound profile suited to your head shape. Problematically, information technology just doesn't really work in practice. Regardless, this is a loftier-quality wireless headset that is worth checking out, even if the headline characteristic isn't really every bit adept as advertised.

Great, merely less gimmicks please

Creative Super X-FI Air

A peachy Bluetooth headset with a lot of fluff.

This is a pricey Bluetooth headset that comes with personalized surround, scanning your cranium via an app. Truth be told, the audio quality is better with the "Super X-Fi" disabled. Despite that, it's a really solid headset with cracking audio, a comfortable, premium-feeling pattern, and user-friendly touch controls.

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