Here at Ausdroid we have a bit of good natured teasing going on. One of us owns a pair of Parrot Zik headphones, and one of us wishes they did. Why you ask? The reason is that in many reviews of high-end bluetooth headphones the Parrot Zik comes out on top. They sound amazing with an extremely accurate sound that has pure deep base along with seemingly perfect high end as well. They have a touch panel on the exterior of the cans, which allow you to play, pause or skip songs and increase or decrease the volume. In my eyes they are/were the perfect headphone for me. Not any more.
This week Parrot announced the Zik 2.0 headphones and I have a new set of headphones in my sights. Improving on the original Parrot Zik was no mean feat but Parrot seem to have done it. Parrot have again collaborated with designer Philippe Starck using a less is more theory to create the Zik 2.0 headphones.
The Zik 2.0 are 17% lighter than it’s predecessor, combining a thicker padded headband and new ear cushions promise to be more comfortable to wear. Parrot have also added three different listening modes to allow for extended listening when required, Flight, Eco and Regular modes. The “Smart Touch Panel” is once again included to take control of your music and your phone calls. Did I mention that the Zik 2.0 also comes in a variety of bright colours as well as the classic black and white?
On top of the new hardware will be an updated Android app, free on the Play Store (although at time of publication it wasn’t published yet). The updated Android app brings a much needed new design to the app and still includes a 5-band equaliser, DSP algorithms for that concert effect. A new addition is Smart Audio Tuning which gives the app the ability to recognise song tags and choose the appropriate preset for the equaliser and DSP for you. It can choose from pre-programmed and user-defined presets.
To top it all off the headphones include an ability to modify the amount of noise cancelling effect they provide depending on your environment. For those rare phone calls HD voice is also included for a crystal clear conversation.
Parrot expect these to arrive in Australia in the next couple of months and we would expect the price to be similar to their predecessor , which entered the market at $499 – but as the originals were worth every cent, we have high hopes for the follow-up. We hope to obtain a pair or 2, for review as soon as they arrive in Australia.
I know of one editor who will be tempted to sell a spare kidney to buy them. Are you tempted too?
In terms of looks, the beige brown looks great.
Parrot should have had a green colour in the lineup, though.