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Im going to start off this video by saying that the Harman Kardon Fly ANC have great build quality and they sound great as well… but unfortunately these headphones have a lot of squandered potential and ultimately these are just a re-skinned version of the JBL Live650BTNC’s which came out a few months ago. But now im just starting to wonder what on earth is Harman thinking cause these headphones and the JBL Club 950NC’s which I reviewed a few weeks ago are going to have a real hard time competing in today’s super competitive headphones market. And for those who may not know… JBL is a sub brand of Harman and Harman is owned by Samsung.
So first off there’s price, these headphones retail for $250. Thats a $50 price bump from the JBL Live650BTNC’s on which these headphones are based off of which retail for $200. And for $50 more you’re bassicly just getting some build quality and included accessory improvements. Nonetheless I do feel these headphones are over priced. So if you’re looking for some mid tier or entry level headphones I’ll leave some better options down below.
Now one of the biggest differences between these headphones and the cheaper JBL’s is that the Fly ANC’s come included with a hardshell carrying case where as the JBL’s only come included with a pouch. And this carrying case is very similar to the case that comes included with the Sony 1000XM3’s. And I’ll defeneitly give props where props are do… there are plenty of other $250 or $300 headphones out there that don’t come included with a hardshell case.
Now when it comes to the headphones themselves… build quality wise these headphones are great. They feel very sturdy in the hand and they have zero cracking or squeaking when you flex them. But what really make these headphones stand out is that almost every surface that you touch is covered in leatherette. The outer portion of these ear cups are covered in leatherette and the entire headband is covered in leatherette. And since this leatherette actually feels very nice… when you hold these headphones they just feel very premium. But when it comes to fit… unfortunately these headphones are not my favorite. First off these headphones have a lot of clamping force making them not big approved. And ive even tried stretching this headband out a few times but they just retain all of their clamping force. But lets say that you have a smaller head… I still wouldn’t recommend these headphones cause their ear pads are very cramped. Now these ear pads have a lot of depth to them but they are significantly less roomy than the Sony XB900N or the Surface Headphones 2. So as result these ear pads both rest on my earlobes and push down on my cartilage. Now I like to think that I have average sized ears… so definitely if you have larger ears or ears that stick out a lot you’ll want to stay away from these.
But now lets talk about tech specs… personally I was rather dumbfounded when I realized that these headphones charge via a Micro USB port instead of a USB C port which is basically the standard these days. And for some people it might even be a deal break especially is you’re an android user. And when it comes to battery life… these headphones are trialing behind a little bit, they have an advertised battery life of 20 hours with their ANC turned on which will get the job done but we like to see more of a 25 hours battery life… but you can always extended the battery life on these headphones to 30 hours by using them with their ANC turned off.
Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, these headphones are using bluetooth 4.2. But more importantly they can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so you can easily hot swap from one device to another. But when it comes to watching movies or video on your phone… these headphones have zero latency on both iPhone and android devices when watching apps like Netflix, Disney Plus, or HBO Max… but they do have a slight latency to them when watching YouTube videos.
But now lets talk about listening to music with these headphones… I actually really like how these headphones sound. They kind of sound like the Bose NC 700’s but with punchier resonating bass. These headphones put an emphasis on vocals and the bass on these headphones is purely the resonating kind. Meaning that you’re going to hear your bass but its not going to actually rattle your head all the much like the bass on Sony headphones do. Now even though the bass on these headphones doesn’t physically rattle your head… it still resonates very deep and clean. Now yeah you could always go into these headphones app and adjust their EQ… but no matter how much you raise their bass they’re still not going to physically rattle your head. So for that reason these headphones are better for people who like a neutral or vocals focused EQ. But nonetheless the instrument separation and sound stage on these headphones is rather impressive as well.
Now when it comes to listening to music these headphones are using physical buttons. And over all I don’t really have any complaints here. They’re easy to find, easy to tell apart, and they have great tactile feed back. But these headphones do have a touchpad on the left ear cup which simply serves as a dedicated voice assistant button that you can press and hold to talk to your assistant or you can tap to quickly get a read out of your notifications. But this touch pad don’t actually recognize any gestures like most other headphones out there that have a touch pad.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones… for mid tier ANC headphones its pretty decent. Now first off yes the ANC does change how your music sounds very slightly. The bass doesn’t resonate as deep and they don’t sound as open. But the difference is very minute. But nonetheless I do prefer to listen to music with these headphones with their ANC turned on off. But when it comes to the cabin pressure on these headphones… they don’t have all that much cabin pressure which is really good. And like said, for mid tier ANC headphones these headphones block out an appropriate amount of noise. But so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into and ANC test
So like you may have just seen, these headphones block out a good amount of noise for Mid tier ANC headphones. These headphones do a slightly better job of blocking out both road noise and chatter than the Sony WH-CH710N… but just as you’d expect, the Sony 1000XM3’s block out way more noise. But regardless I still maintain that the ANC on these headphones is decent cause it doesn’t really change how your music sounds, they have very little cabin pressure, and they also do a really good job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors.
Now even though the active noise cancellation on these headphones is respectable… unfortuanltey these headphones don’t have an ambient mode. Now the $200 JBL Live650BTNC on which these headphones are based on also don’t have an ambient mode… but usually once we hit the $250 price point an ambient mode on headphones is a rather standard feature. So personally I feel that these headphones not having an ambient mode is a pretty big deal.
But finally here’s the microphone test. Overall the microphone on these headphones isn’t the worst… but it is usable. I do sound a little far away but I do sound decent enough for a quick phone call. Now I also have this AC unit turned on cause I want to show off what kind of a job these headphones do isolating my voice. They do an okay job of blocking out that AC unit cause if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear that AC unit. But if we switch over to the Fly ANC they block out some of it.
But with all that being said, even though I like the build quality on these headphones, I like how they sound, and I also feel that they have decent active noise cancellation… for me it very hard to recommend these headphones for a few reasons. First off these headphones are pretty uncomfortable cause they have a lot of clamping force and their ear pads are pretty cramped. These headphones are also using micro USB for charging instead of USB C which is pretty much the standard these days. But then there’s also the matter that these headphones don’t have an ambient mode… which is also a pretty standard feature for headphones in this price range these days. So unfortunately these headphones are DOA and I really feel that Harman has got to step it up if they want to compete in today’s headphones market.