At Rs 8,999, the Infinix Quiet X is one of the most affordable noise cancellation headphones available for purchase in India. But should you buy them? Find out in this review.
It has been a year since the Hong-Kong based tech firm Infinix made its debut in India. Though the company has mostly introduced smartphone offerings in the country to date, with the likes of its ‘Zero’ and ‘Hot’ series, it has also dabbed into a small segment of accessories for the Indian market. One of the products in this segment is the Infinix Quiet X headphone, an over-the-ear wireless (and wired, if you prefer that or when the battery runs out) headset with active noise cancellation. Now based on the general assumption, one might expect these “noise cancellation” headphones to have a price tag with a 5-digit figure on it.
That is when you will realize that probably the best part about the Quiet X is not the features that it offers but the price at which it offers them. At the time of writing, the headphones are up for grabs on Flipkart at a price of Rs 8,999. Now, this does sound like a sweet deal, considering the lack of alternatives in the market. But is it? Let us find out in this review.
Design and Built
First things first, Inifnix has not gone for a very “stand out of the crowd” type of design for the Quiet X. The headphones actually look like “headphones”, the types with conventional round ear cups and a connector crossing over your head. There is also no attempt at trying out different colour schemes for the headsets, with the options being limited to a single colour, either Black or light Silver. So yes, for the looks, the Quiet X pretty much sticks to the basics.
That being said, the headphones actually look pretty cool once you wear them. Part of the reason is their snug fit, with no dangling or empty space between your head and the headphones. The headband arches elegantly on to two giant ‘round’ ear cups that cover your ears perfectly and if you are a fan of round and curvy designs, the Quiet X might appeal to you even more. While the headphones are comfortable to wear, you will start to experience certain uneasiness induced by heat, after wearing these for long durations. This is because both the headband and the ear cups are covered by a thick lining of the said memory sponge and hence the headphones offer quite a close-fitting, a bit too much to be comfortable for long. Then again, it might be necessary for the noise-cancelling effect and hence a necessary compromise.
There is an Infinix logo on the outside of both the ear cups while their insides display large ‘L’ and ‘R’ signs respectively. Even the action keys are distributed evenly and practically, with the left ear cup having the Power and ANC buttons alongside the aux input and the right cup featuring the Play/ Pause button, volume rockers and a USB port for charging.
What impressed me a lot and quite frankly, was kind of a surprise with the Quiet X is the build quality of the headsets. At a pocket-friendly price like this, one might expect a little compromise on this front. The Quiet X, however, seems to be an exception to this. As for what makes this possible, the company mentions the use of memory sponge around the earcups as the reason for the comfort, which also covers the head-band. The durability, on the other hand, is taken care of by an aluminium alloy as the base.
Features
The wireless connectivity on the Quiet X is made possible by a Bluetooth 4.2 support. In addition to this, Infinix has enabled a wired approach to this as well, with a high-quality audio cable inside the box. This also helps extensive music lovers like me who are on a music streak all day long and are bound to run out of battery sooner or later. The audio cable then enables the use of Quiet X as any other wired headphones.
A big plus of the wireless connection is that the Quiet X will allow you to skip using your phone altogether while connected through the Bluetooth. The action keys with multiple functionality come in to the rescue here, enabling you to switch songs, take/ end calls in addition to the basic play and pause operations.
But of course, the highlight on these is the noise cancellation that the headsets offer, which works quite well and is able to eliminate surrounding noises up to an impressive level. Though one should not expect the proficiency of the likes of Bose QC35 II, considering the huge price difference between the two.
Performance
While the Quiet X is pretty good in terms of comfort and the quality, the sound quality delivered by it is equally exceptional. The headphones do justice to notes, whether high or low, as well as the audio quality. Distinct sounds from both sides of the headphones can be heard as per the music, maintaining the audio equilibrium of any song. Vocal heavy songs are also good to listen to, taking Last Breath by Future as an example, though it could have been better and sharper. Also, the bass offered by the headphones is a bitter-sweet experience. While it is good and ample, the experience is limited to very bass heavy songs, an example of which would be Vince Staples’ Opps. Being a bass fan, I found it missing from several tracks in which I expected that headbanging feeling, surprisingly including several of Skrillex tracks. This might be blamed on the excessive spilling of the vocals on to the base as well as the limited frequency at which the base seems to operate.
The battery backup of the Quiet X is exceptional too, with the headphones easily delivering close to 4 hours at a loss of 20 percent charge, and this with the Active Noise Cancellation turned on.
One easily noticeable area of improvement for the Quiet X is the calling functionality. The in-built mike does not really filter out the ambient noise and half the time you will be struggling to make the person on the line understand what you are saying, definitely not the ideal way a call should go.
Verdict
Infinix Quiet X is a great product overall with very few shortcomings. In addition, the features offered (yes we refer to the noise cancellation here) are not very readily available at this price, let alone with this quality. Yes, there are a lot of wireless earphones that you can buy for this price, but hardly any full-fledged headphones. What’s more, the wireless connectivity is good, lasts long and is even backed by a wired alternative. So if you are looking for a pair of headphones with a good quality noise cancellation in a limited budget, this is one of your very few options.