Smart Phones

Today’s smartphones are loaded with sensors. Soon, your headphones will be too.

These wireless, noise-canceling headphones from Parrot (yes, the same people who brought you the quad-copter you control with your iPhone) are packed with multiple sensors: capacitive surfaces, different types of microphones and an NFC chip.

The design is smart, too — they’re crafted from high-quality materials that provide a comfortable fit, they’re well-suited for travel, and they exhibit a quality of sound that’s competitive with other higher-end noise-canceling models.

Parrot’s Zik headphones aren’t cheap ($400, available in July), but they are positively futuristic, and all the technology crammed into these cans make them far more interesting than your average pair of wireless over-the-ear headphones.

The feature that makes the biggest immediate impression is the touch-sensitive panel covering the entire outer surface of the right earcup. You can control the headphones using touch gestures: swipe a finger up and down to adjust the volume, or swipe from side-to-side to go back and forth between songs. A tap pauses the music, another starts it back up again. A tap is also used to answer an incoming call or to hang up.

There’s an accelerometer — slide the headphones off, and your music stops automatically. Lift them back onto your ears, and the music starts up again. This works about 95 percent of the time. In my tests, the music sometimes didn’t pause when I slid the headphones around my neck, though it always started up again when I put them back on.

An NFC chip in the left cup eases Bluetooth pairing. Tap an NFC-capable smartphone against the earcup (I used a Galaxy Nexus) and you’ll get an on-screen prompt to pair the devices.

Two big microphones, one on the outside of each earcup, are used for noise-canceling. There are three other smaller mics on the undersides of the cups for talking on the phone, but they also aid in noise-canceling when you’re on a call. Finally, there’s a bone-conducting mic sewn into one of the earpads. It lines up with your jaw, detecting vibrations so the headphones can interpret what’s your voice and what’s not, further aiding the noise-canceling.

Yes, there’s lots of cool stuff on the outside. But these are headphones. So what’s inside?

The guts are actually fairly standard: a pair of 40-millimeter Neodymium drivers rated at 32 ohms. They’re plenty loud and punchy, but the Zik’s aren’t as lively or vibrant as many of the audiophile headphones I’ve tried — even pairs that cost hundreds less, like the B&W P5s ($300), or my trusty ATH-M50s ($140). Granted, the Ziks are wireless, noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones, so they can’t be expected to deliver the goods as crisply and cleanly as their tethered brethren. But bass grew muddy at higher volumes, and the noise-canceling feature generated a tad too much hiss for my taste.

Also, there’s quite a bit of digital signal processing going on, and every track I listened to took on a slightly amped-up, glassy sheen. Audiophiles seeking total sonic transparency and a natural presentation won’t find it here. Granted, clear, natural sound is usually the first thing you trade away when you venture into wireless noise-canceling territory. In that regard, the Ziks don’t force you to sacrifice too much fidelity in return for their comfort and whacky features, and all but the most snooty listeners will be happy with the sound.

The DSP chip does some cool tricks, though. Using a companion smartphone app (iOS and Android), you can adjust the stereo separation and the amount of reverb in the signal. Choose from the standard presets like “Concert hall” and “Small club,” or move the sliders around on the screen for custom settings.

Phone calls are nothing special. Despite all the mics and wireless mojo in the Ziks, I didn’t notice any substantial boost in quality over my standard hands-free headset (Etymotic hf3). I didn’t notice any difference at all, actually, and neither did the people on the other end of the line.

The Starck-designed metal body is on the heavy side (12.4 ounces), but the Parrots perch comfortably. The over-the-ear design is snug, and the fit is pleasant enough that I was able to wear them for over seven hours on my first full day of testing. Active noise-canceling requires a battery, and the Ziks have a replaceable 800mAh cell that recharges over microUSB. I ran down the battery only twice during the week I used them. The battery lasts about eight hours between charges if you talk on the phone a lot, and over twenty hours if all you’re doing is listening to music. When the battery dies, you can connect the included cable and keep listening, though you won’t get any of the fancy touch or NC features.

The $400 price is a bit steep. But Parrot is directly competing against the high-end noise-canceling models from Bose, AKG, Audio-Technica and the like, and the Ziks are in the same ballpark price-wise. Compared to these other ultra-luxe headphones, the Parrots are decidedly superior: better audio, better fit, better build, and all the cool tech.

And as a bonus, you can use the gestures trick to dazzle the jaded flight attendants in first class. Think of all the phone numbers these’ll win you. Solid nerd gold, baby.

WIRED Responsive and intuitive touch controls feel like the future. Soft leather, sturdy metal and satiny finish make a high-quality headphone. Smartphone apps (iOS and Android) provide additional sonic tweaks.

TIRED Songs with heavy bass are muddy. Too much DSP for audiophile snobs. Noise-canceling generates some hiss. Phone calls sound so-so.