Page 2 – Physical Look – Hardware
With the packaging and extra accessories out of the way, I finally can take a closer look at the headset itself. When it comes to design, this is leagues ahead of the other Bluetooth headset I reviewed, the Adesso Xtream H2. Gone is the tacky plastic, and in its place is metal and fabric, with less plastic parts overall. The P614 BT feels quite solid in my hands, despite being a relatively light headset. Colors are as you see, with black and silver covering majority of the headset. While it is a rather conservative approach, the ARCTIC P614 BT still shows a few signs of flashiness. On the outside of the earcups, there is a circular shiny area with ARCTIC's logo printed on both ears. This is to ensure everyone else knows the company who manufactured these headphones. As you can see, the frame is composed of metal, which is wrapped by fabric at the top. Inside the headband is a similar material as the carrying pouch, with mesh and foam on the outside. The earmuffs are held by a metal frame, and swivel practically 180 degrees. Silver colored wires extend from the headband to the earcups, presumably where the audio connection is made between each side of the ears. If you are wondering which side is for which ear, you can find this on the inside of the metal part closest to each cup. A small L and R are printed on their respective sides. I do not blame you if you cannot see them; for the first few weeks of usage, I never really knew if I put them on correctly until finding the letters after a while of usage.
Again, the design is reserved, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Build quality is solid on ARCTIC's part, as metal and fabric are not as prone to creating unintentional creaking in comparison to plastic. In fact, I can easily throw these headsets into my backpack without worrying about damaging the headset. During my testing, I never considered the P614 BT to feel cheap, mainly due to the superior material choices. As I have said, this headset feels light, but weighs in at a surprising 185g. The metal and fabric probably play a big factor as to why this is heavier than the Adesso Xtream H2. The weight, however, does not affect the overall comfort of wearing the headset too much, but more on this later. ARCTIC should be really proud with the design and build quality of the headset itself.
Taking a look at the earcups, you can see ARCTIC has chosen the leather route. This is the same leather material and is soft and plushy. The foam is susceptible to give, which is obvious. The grid pattern of many circles is quite unique compared to other headphones we have seen, and they introduce some positive and negative side effects. On the good side, they do not stick to your ear, and provide some ventilation when you listen for a long time. As leather often gets quite warm after an extended period of use, this prevents the earcups from getting too hot. On the bad side, this area easily catches lint and other small debris, as they get caught in each of these holes. The holes are recessed just enough, so you cannot easily swipe or blow the debris away. Underneath the earcups are neodymium drivers, with a frequency response of 20 to 20000 Hz, impedance of 32 Ohms, and sensitivity of 105dB. As I have said before, these earcups are held on with two metal arms, allowing the muffs to swivel in a range of 180 degrees. While you probably will not be wearing the headset flipped around, it does mean the headset is flexible enough to accommodate all shapes of heads by conforming the direction of the cups.
When it comes to using the headset, all of the control functions are located on the left earcup. As you can see from the picture above, there are an assortment of buttons and holes. From left to right, we have Next, Previous, a microphone opening, micro USB input, status LED, and a volume dial. The first two buttons are pretty self-explanatory in terms of their function. The microphone is rated at a sensitivity of around -42dB. The micro USB input is covered by a rubber flap, but this flap does not sit well in its place, and I often find it flinging around, which can get annoying from some users. The status LED blinks for several various reasons, including when it is disconnected, when it is powered on, for battery indication, and for charging purposes. Of course, all of these have their own special behavior of flashing lights, so you can understand what the headset is trying to tell you. Speaking of which, inside is a 850mAh Lithium-polymer battery, rated at 30 hours of playback time. The last user button, the volume dial, will probably be the most used thing on your headset. Twisting it forward or backward will increase or decrease the volume. However, pushing the dial in reveals several more functions. During general music functionality, this is your Play/Pause button. When someone calls, you can use it to pick up and hang up the calls. In addition, holding down the button will start your dialer. Your experience will vary depending on the phone you have, since it may launch different applications. For example, my HTC One X+ launches its own voice assistant, which allows me to say things like "Call Jonathan Kwan". Thankfully, together with the headset and my phone, these functions work very well.
When it comes to actually wearing the device, I cannot say the P614 BT is very comfortable at all. There are a lot of things going for the headset, including the plushy headband and earcups. The flexibility of the earcups also make the headset shape to your head and your ears. However, the biggest problem is the pressure created from the headset. These are on-ear headphones, thus the force is not applied around your ear, but directly on your ear, hence the name. I know I have a big head, but other friends who have tested this device with varying head sizes have commented in a similar fashion. Secondly, after about half an hour of listening, your ears will get tired. Especially in my case with my glasses, the headset pushes directly where the end of the glasses' arm tucks behind my ear. Once again, your mileage will vary, as Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Kwan had no issues, since his glasses sat on his head in a different way. As for myself, this was very frustrating, and I often found myself having to take off my glasses to continue using the headset. I can understand ARCTIC wants to keep the on-ear headset securely on your head, but I find it unreasonable.
As a total package, the physical implementation of the ARCTIC P614 BT seems to be great. I might have stated this too many times, but I really like the design and the build of the headset. What needs work is to improve the overall comfort of the headphones. All in all, I am satisfied by what we have in front of us. How does this all translate into actual audio performance? Let us read on to find out.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis, Usage
4. Conclusion
