Parrot Zik design by Starck Wireless Headphones

Never really invested in headphones before but when I tried this one a couple of weeks ago, I immediately went ahead and bought one for myself. It’s the first time I heard of Parrot Zik which is designed by Starck but I didn’t need to know that to be convinced.

I’m not really familiar with the Parrot brand of headphones and this is the first time I saw and used anything from that line. I only happen to help out a friend update the firmware of this Parrot Zik that I asked where he got it and then recommended the local distributor.

The headphone will retail for about Php21,000USD 358INR 30,337EUR 341CNY 2,606 so it’s not really within the budget of the casual user (luckily, we got a nice discount from the disti).

The Zik looks simple with its matte black finish but the solid aluminum frame is what makes it actually stand out. The metal frame makes it look heavy but once you wear it over your head, you wont’ really notice the heft.

The headband has enough flex provided by the metal frame wrapped by soft foam and leather. Inside the metal tube is where they tucked in the wires to connect both left and right pads as well as power to the speakers.

The pads are very soft and comfortable, the size just enough to cover your ears and not it on top of it. The frame arches around the cup to allow them to swivel at an angle (around 130 degrees) for better position and comfort when worn around the neck or over the head.

Parrot claims the Zik is “the world’s most advanced wireless headphones” and we put it to the test. The headphone connect to any Bluetooth device and the right cup contains the touch controls (ala-trackpad on a Macbook) — control volume by swiping up or down, move forward or back by swiping horizontally and pick a phone call with a single tap. The microphone is already built-in to the cup as well.

The Parrot Zik is specifically engineered for crystal-clear conversation. Equipped with two directional microphones(1) and a jaw bone sensor(2), Zik captures the vibration of the jaw bone and merges it with the sound of your voice for reliable calls.

One if the smartest gesture controls is the ability of the headphone to detect movement/position so it will automatically pause the music playback when you remove the headphones from your ears and then automatically resume once you put it back.

The Zik uses active noise cancellation to isolate ambient noise. Parrot claims up to 98% of noise cancellation but based on our experience with it, it’s pretty much drowns out everything else.

The Parrot Zik is specifically engineered for crystal-clear conversation. Equipped with two directional microphones(1) and a jaw bone sensor(2), Zik captures the vibration of the jaw bone and merges it with the sound of your voice for reliable calls.

I’m not rally good with audio but I have to admit the Zik is pretty sick! Awesome sound quality, deep bass and crystal clear audio even with phone conversations.

You can download the app from the iTunes Store and Google Play Store (Parrot Audio Suite) to add more controls into the headphone (like the equalizer). The app also shows battery level of the headphone.

It’s also the first headphones we’ve tried that comes with NFC so all you need to do is tap it with the left cup to pair effortlessly. While the primary connection to a player is via Bluetooth, the Zik also has a 3.5mm audio jack so you can still listen to music or make calls even if the battery is drained.

I know, the Php21,000USD 358INR 30,337EUR 341CNY 2,606 price tag is a bit over the top but this set of cans, with all its bell and whistles with it, certainly makes up for all that. And yes, we liked it so much we bought one for ourselves.