South Korea’s domestic brands demonstrated superior value for money in a comprehensive quality and safety evaluation of 10 wireless headphone models currently available in the market. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) announced on December 18 that domestic brands demonstrated superior value for money in a comprehensive quality and safety evaluation of 10 wireless headphone models currently available in the market.
The evaluation covered a wide range of models across different price points and countries of origin: the Marshall Monitor II A.N.C. (UK), the Bose QC Ultra (U.S.), the Apple AirPods Max (U.S.), the Britz BT6000 ANC (Korea), the iRiver IBH-NC500 (Korea), the Sony WH-1000XM5 (Japan), the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless (Germany), the Philips TAH7508 (Netherlands), the JBL Tour One M2 (U.S.), and the QCY H4 (China).
The headphones from Marshall, Bose, Britz, Sony, Apple, Sennheiser, Philips, and JBL received high marks for sound reproduction accuracy, delivering audio without distortion.
In noise cancellation performance, five models – from Bose, Britz, Sony, Apple, and JBL – earned top ratings for reducing external noise by more than 18 decibels (dB). The Marshall, Sennheiser, and Philips headphones received “good” ratings, while those from iRiver (Korea) and QCY (China) were rated “average.”
Call quality testing in quiet environments showed superior performance from the Bose, Apple, Sennheiser, and Philips models. Under noisy conditions, the Marshall, Britz, Sennheiser, and JBL headphones demonstrated better performance.
Battery life testing revealed the JBL headphones leading with 88 hours of continuous playback, while the Apple headphones had the shortest duration at 23 hours. With noise cancellation activated, the Sennheiser headphones achieved the longest battery life at 53 hours.
All models passed safety tests for hazardous substances, including phthalate plasticizers and formaldehyde, as well as electrostatic resistance standards.
However, the iRiver headphones’ maximum volume exceeded safety standards, indicating a need for improvement.
Retail prices as of May 2024 showed a 19.9-fold difference between the lowest-priced model at 38,650 won (iRiver) and the highest at 769,000 won (Apple).
The KCA identified the models from Britz and Philips as offering the best value for money, considering both performance and price.
Detailed test results will be available on the Consumer24 website (www.consumer.go.kr) in the comparison section.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
