Expert's Rating
Pros
- Active noise cancellation
- Very comfortable
- Good touch controls
Cons
- Feel a little flimsy
- Sound quality could be better
- Look a little cheap
Our Verdict
These headphones are a good buy for the money, but a few dollars more will get you a whole lot more performance from some of Samsung’s competitors.
Whether you like the look of Samsung’s Level On Wireless headphones depends on your aesthetic. These lightweight, foldable, on-ear headphones come in bright colors (white, blue, red, and “black sapphire”) and are clearly designed to appeal more to the trendy Beats by Dre crowd than super-serious audiophiles.
They feature a lightweight (8.4 ounces) plastic frame with a foam-padded headband and large on-ear ear cups. The frame, which is hinged to let the ear cups fold inward for portability, feels a tad flimsy. This isn’t a terrible thing, however; the frame’s flimsiness means the Level On’s are extremely comfortable, even if you happen to have a big head. In my tests I quickly forgot I was even wearing headphones. Their matte metallic finish that will look awesome to some people, but cheap to others.
The right ear cup houses touch controls that are relatively intuitive and not too sensitive: Double-tap to play, pause, or answer a call; swipe right or left to skip or go back a track; and swipe up or down to adjust the volume. Underneath the right ear cup there’s a power switch, active noise cancelation switch, a micro USB charging port, and an audio-in port for when you need a wired connection.
The Level On Wireless headphones come with a micro USB cord and an audio cable, but the audio cable does not have an in-line remote. This will be an issue if you’re using the audio cable to bypass battery – the touch controls do not work if the battery is dead.
Battery life is pretty good, even with active noise cancelation turned on. I managed about 11 hours with ANC on; Samsung says you’ll get 23 hours of music playback with ANC turned off.
Sound on the Level On Wireless headphones is nicely balanced, though not quite as clearly layered as the sound on Sennheiser’s Urbanite XL Wireless headphones. Bass is clean and very present, but I wouldn’t describe these headphones as bass-heavy. Mid-range tones are detailed and highs are a little muted—which I prefer over highs that are too peppy.
Active noise cancelation does a good job of blocking out voices and ambient noise. Without ANC turned on, the ear cups do an acceptable job of keeping sound from seeping into your tunes thanks to their fairly large size for on-ear (not over-ear) cups.
I hate to sound like a cliché, but Samsung’s Level On Wireless headphones are like wearing a cloud on your head—they’re some of the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever worn. Add in active noise cancelation and decent touch controls, and these headphones are a good value.