Microsoft Surface Headphones

The Microsoft debut has a robust matt-grey, over-ear construction, which looks stylishly futuristic due to the absence of colour-contrasting controls. Ear cups are padded with imitation leather and the steel headband has a rubberised surface to aid grip. The headband is adjustable in length and the ear cups can be turned but not folded. In my case, the soft, breathable memory foam pads and the low weight resulted in consistent wearing comfort – not too tight and not too loose, with noticeable passive attenuation of external noise. It was only when I wore a pair of glasses that the temples pinched a bit.

For controls, Microsoft situates a combination on the right auricle. Touch functions, voice announcements and voice control are all available here.

The radio link works reliably in a range of about ten metres, depending on the environment. Bluetooth 4.2 is used here instead of the newer 5.0 specification.

A free Windows app provides access to a five-band equalizer as well as the possibility of firmware updates. In the future, I would also like to see support for the platforms Android and iOS for corresponding configurations on smartphones.

Practice

The handset is switched on and off via a small switch that also initiates pairing, although it is a bit difficult to activate. Once connected, devices are always quickly recognised.

Touch the outside of both ear cups to start and stop music playback. Double and triple clicks allow you to jump between tracks and calls can also be answered and ended by tapping. The touch functions work quite reliably but, like the competition, they are also susceptible to accidental touching.

An excellent idea is the two controls that are moved as rings around the auricles. The right wheel acts as a fluid volume control, while the left wheel controls the intensity of the integrated active noise reduction. In practice, this control option is a real gain in ease of use over the competition.

In principle, the Surface Headphones allow a coupling with several transmitters. In practice, however, this turned out to be somewhat fiddly. After pairing with Windows 10, I managed to put my iPhone into a state where the smartphone sent sound to the paired headphones, but no sound arrived – even though the computer was switched off.

Battery life: With a manufacturer’s specification of 15 hours battery life, Surface Headphones are not among the long-distance runners in their category, but offer an efficient quick charge function via USB-C (5 minutes for 1 hour, full charge in two hours). In practice, the battery life also depends on the use of Cortana speech recognition.

If you take off the headphones and put them down, an automatic pause mode is activated. If you put the handset back on, the music continues to play. This actually works well, but not always safely. For example, the circuit does not work if you wear the headphones only around your neck.

Speech control

The Surface Headphones are dedicated to the topic of speech recognition in a number of respects. First, by touching the ear cups for a longer time, the respective speech assistant can be called up in the smartphone, which works with two microphones per ear cup. This ensures that speech signals are reliably captured, and also provides good speech intelligibility when making calls.

Next, I was able to use the Google app to more or less turn the headphones into a corresponding assistant. In the test, you could enter search commands to surf the Internet or retrieve information from Wikipedia while the Google app was open.

Finally, Microsoft pays special attention to its in-house solution “Cortana”. A Windows 10 computer is connected to the Surface Headphones via Bluetooth. An additional switch on the headphones activates Cortana, which now reacts permanently to its codeword (although this draws additional power). Here, too, the aim is to control the computer’s voice. In principle, specific applications can be opened and tasks performed; in practice, however, the technology still has its limitations and although it seems like a practical function, for the majority of users, it may not be an alternative to conventional methods as the error rate is simply too high.

Noise Cancelling

For the active noise cancelling of the Surface Headphones, two additional microphones are installed in both ear cups. The degree of suppression can be adjusted in 13 steps – from maximum suppression of external noise to a slight amplification of the surroundings in order to be able to perceive them better with headphones on. Unfortunately, you don’t really know the current control level and it remains unclear at which position and to what extent noise cancelling is ever completely switched off.

Functionally, the electronics provide an effective reduction of ambient noise, especially in the low-frequency and static ranges. When travelling by train, you have a relaxing space – even without any music playback – but you do need to accept a slight background noise. As usual, the best results are achieved when sitting in a quiet environment. Language and the clattering of your own laptop keyboard are pushed far into the background. However, the results on public transport or on the street are less accurate, as irregular and even higher-frequency noises tend to break through the barrier. Conversely, a sensitivity to wind noise was less noticeable with this device than with many competitors. In summary, this is a clean performance, also because in practice you can quickly select and adjust the desired degree of noise attenuation. For fast communication with the outside world, a click on the ear cup is enough to stop the music and a quick turn of the wheel changes the volume. This is refreshingly straightforward, even if there is no automatic adaptation to the environment and no temporary deactivation of the music for the duration of the call.

Sound

The Microsoft debut surprises with a performance that is convincing across genres. The headphones deliver a balanced and detailed sound image that is both warm and powerful. The rimless 40 mm drivers reproduce the entire frequency spectrum with the corresponding dynamics and defined tonality. Room and stereo stage are also reproduced in a balanced way.

The playback starts in the real low bass, which is not overemphasised and does not get out of step too quickly. The Surface Headphones are capable of considerable levels and the general bass is powerful and pleasantly tight. However, I would speak of a slightly pretentious emphasis on the middle basses.

The entire midrange sounds equally well resolved and full of warmth so that voices and solo instruments are equally physical and detailed. This tuning gives the reproduction a rich note, independent of genre, which ensures listening pleasure. At the same time, it is also easy to recognise when production has weaknesses.

There are lots of details in the height range that also facilitate room definition. Fortunately, I could not find any hardnesses that were not already present in the production and, with a high-quality, open construction the Surface headphones’ simultaneous noise suppression offers an improved noise-to-noise ratio. Overall, on these terms, they receive a positive evaluation.

In summary, the sound result is convincing for the intended field of application. Microsoft has created a headphone for mobile use that tends towards lifestyle rather than incorruptible neutrality. Rather than a subtle, audiophile tool, you should expect a modern and sensibly tuned headphone for pop/rock and EDM, which also cuts a fine figure in other genres such as jazz and classical music.

Nevertheless, there is a real weak point: In the codec area, Microsoft currently restricts itself to the SBC standard. High-resolution Bluetooth protocols such as aptX HD, AAC or LDAC are simply missing which, in a price class of just under 400 Euros, is to be criticised.

The Surface Headphones can also be operated wired if required, for example when the battery is empty. In this mode, the headphones sound louder but have an emphasis on the high middle range. On the other hand, the USB connection is only used for charging and not for sound transmission.