Creative SXFI Air Review – Bluetooth over-ear headphones
When I find out that I will be testing products from Creative, I know I will have a happy time. We recently tested the SXFI Air headphones, a newly launched Bluetooth pair that promises a lot.
SXFI Air is a new pair of headphones that has won numerous awards at CES 2020 and has also received awards from international publications.
So headphones can’t be bad so I went on the road with high hopes. This time I was not as impressed with Creative.
The headphones from a technical point of view look like this:
– 50mm drivers
– Response frequency: 20Hz – 20kHz
– Impedance: 32 Ohms
– Bluetooth 4.2
– USB Type C
– Audio jack
– MicroSD slot
– NanoBoom detachable microphone
– Battery 10 hours
Technically speaking the headphones are like all the others, but they offer rich connectivity and you can use them anywhere.
You can connect them to your phone via Bluetooth or audio jack, but you can also connect them via USB C, including your computer. I liked that a lot.
From this point of view the handsets offer a wide range of connectivity for any device.
And when you want to use them on the phone and receive a call you can use a dedicated microphone that is attached to the 3.5mm jack. It’s a very small microphone as you can see in the pictures.
The audio quality is good but not exceptional, which is why I tell you that I am not so impressed.
The headphones are heard very well, clearly, have a not very high volume regardless of the connection and all the sounds are played correctly and pleasantly.
The bass is deep, the highs sound good without scratching your eardrum, and regardless of the musical genre they will excel. Yes, they sound great but personally I had a bit higher expectations.
Another interesting point is the comfort offered. The headsets have soft cups that sit pleasantly on the ear and will not disturb you even after a few hours. They are light, pleasant and you can wear them without problems for hours on your head.
Interestingly, you can plug a microSD card into the dedicated slot and turn the headphones into a genuine MP3 player. I didn’t do this because I don’t have a microSD card, but I mention that it can.
Creative boasts a new Super X-Fi feature that delivers a custom sound to your ear.
It’s basically a virtualization and the sound is modified to look cinematic. Everything is done from a dedicated button on the left helmet and the related application.
In the application you have to scan your ear, which is very difficult if you are alone. Personally I failed and I was beaten. I tried the function without having my ear scanned, but personally I am not a fan of this virtualization. I prefer the clean sound as it comes from the source.
This function is very good for movies, concerts or special effects.
It all depends on your preferences and what you hear. For control, the headset offers touch control on the left helmet. You can answer the calls, adjust the volume or change the song.
Autonomy is the promised one, 10 hours of listening to music. To me the 10 hours were translated into 4 days of use.
