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DAN HOWLEY: Hi.
I'm Dan Howley with Yahoo Tech.
DAN BEAN: And I'm Dan Bean with Yahoo Tech.
DAN HOWLEY: And as tech reporters,
we get a lot of different products every week.
So this week, we're going to take a look at headphones.
DAN BEAN: That's right.
We're going to look at Bluetooth, over the ear
headphones, under $300.
We're two smart people wearing glasses,
so our opinions should be highly valued.
Let's take a look.
DAN HOWLEY: That was so good.
Oh, my god.
First up, we have the Sennheiser Urbanite XL Wireless.
They're for $299.
And of the group, these offer my favorite sound quality.
DAN BEAN: Yeah.
They don't have the noise cancellation feature
that a lot of the headphones on our list do.
And honestly, they're not even quite as durable.
There's fabric on the top.
The padding on the ears-- it comes out,
which is a feature, I guess, if you wanted to replace them.
What I do like, the touch based, gesture based,
button list controls on the side for play, pause, volume.
I mean, that's definitely nice.
It's different.
DAN HOWLEY: Yeah.
My fear is that the felt material for that padding,
it's not the same as something like a rubber or vinyl
that other headphones use.
And that might make you start to sweat around your ear, and--
DAN BEAN: New York City summers.
DAN HOWLEY: --could start to smell a little.
So I wouldn't really take them out and about on the town.
DAN BEAN: Valid fear.
Next up, the Bose SoundLink headphones for $249.
They're probably the most comfortable pair that we tried.
DAN HOWLEY: It's like having pillows for your ears,
but with sound.
DAN BEAN: Yeah.
Like two pillows, one for each ear.
And even though the padding slightly muffles the sound,
it's still very good sound.
And I like the intuitive button arrangement.
There's a dedicated Bluetooth button,
which is sometimes hard to figure out
how to pair the darn things.
DAN HOWLEY: I think the only caveat to these
is that the padding on them could get scratched up,
if you have a cat.
DAN BEAN: Take a scratch.
DAN HOWLEY: Just kind of, yeah.
DAN BEAN: Just take a scratch at it.
[MEOW]
DAN HOWLEY: See, it's going to get ripped apart, you know.
DAN BEAN: Good headphones.
Light.
Nice design.
DAN HOWLEY: Next up, we have Sony's first entry
into the headphone list.
These are a pair of Sony's high end,
over the ear, Bluetooth noise canceling headphones.
The name is absolutely ridiculous.
So if you want to check it out, you can see it right here.
I like these a lot.
My biggest problem, though, is with the controls.
They're just way too busy.
There's junk all over your ears.
And if you're walking down the street,
you're not really going to be able to press them
with any ease.
DAN BEAN: Yeah, I thought the design really
leaves a lot to be desired.
A little flimsy even.
But the sound, I think, is the best of any on the list.
And really, what do you want in headphones if not
for good sound.
DAN HOWLEY: My problem is that there's just
too much bass on there.
DAN BEAN: Well, isn't it all about that bass?
DAN HOWLEY: About that bass.
DAN BEAN: No treble.
These have treble as well, but they're great sounding.
Also from Sony, these wireless Bluetooth over
the ear headphones with another ridiculous name,
like the last pair.
The difference is, these are marketed as a bass boost
set of headphones.
And I'd say that's accurate.
DAN HOWLEY: Yeah.
I think they're too heavy on the bass.
And in addition to that, they have a bass boost button
that you press to really amp up the bass.
So it ends up sounding like a kid that
drives around your neighborhood in his dad's '89 Civic
with way too many subs.
And just the trunk rattling, going boom, boom, boom, boom.
DAN BEAN: It's not what you want.
DAN HOWLEY: No.
I don't like it.
Yeah.
DAN BEAN: But $149, so they do come
in at half the cost as our most expensive pair on the list.
Good value.
DAN HOWLEY: I'd say that.
DAN BEAN: I'd say good value.
DAN HOWLEY: Finally, from Motorola,
we have the Moto Pulse Bluetooth headphones.
Their best feature, they're $60.
DAN BEAN: Yeah.
They're not as comfortable as Bose's on the ear headphones.
But one thing I do like, the mobile app that
connects to Android or iOS.
It lets you see the battery life remaining on headphones.
And also, it offers a find my phone type feature,
but it's for find my headphones.
So there's a map.
It shows you the last place they were seen in case they're lost.
The sound is so so.
DAN HOWLEY: $60.
DAN BEAN: They're only $60.
VOICEOVER: For more on this review and others like it,
visit yahootech.com.