When you think about wireless headphones what comes to mind? Today it’s easy to picture premium products with excellent battery life and great audio. This wasn’t always the case.
It was not that long ago that the idea of wireless audio brought to mind crackly audio, poor connections, and a generally average experience. Bitrates were poor, sound was generally flat and hollow, and even delivered in mono.
Thanks to True Wireless Stereo (TWS) and the advances of codecs, it’s now commonplace to have a robust audio experience on a wireless connection. And it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
EOZ is a relatively newer manufacturer who walks a fine line, balancing affordability with excellent hardware. It first launched the EOC Arc ANC Headphones through Kickstarter, finding success with more than $160,000 in backing.
We’ve had a pair of these wireless headphones in the office for a few weeks now, putting them through the paces. Here are our thoughts on the EOZ Arc wireless headphones.
Design
The first thing we noticed about about these headphones is that they look much more expensive than they are at just $110. Constructed from aluminum, stainless steel, and “vegan leather”, they’re solid and sophisticated looking, with a very modern design.
The EOZ Arc are very soft to wear and feel quite comfortable against the head. They’re over-the-ear so that means you’ll get a nice seal with your head. We found them to be enjoyable to wear for short bursts and even on the occasional multi-hour listening. The padding did seem to “smoosh” over long bouts of listening but it bounces back to its original shape fairly quick.
There are three buttons on the left ear (power, volume up, volume down) which serve multiple purposes. Double-tapping them can skip tracks, for instance. Additionally, you can use them to take calls or activate your digital assistant. Also present here is a USB Type-C charging port.
The right ear cup has a 3.5mm headphone jack in the even you want to plug in directly for a wired experience. Here you’ll also locate the active noise cancelling (ANC) toggle.
Performance
The EOZ Arc pair over Bluetooth 5.0 and provide support for the SBC, AAC, and aptX codecs. This means you’ll get a more consistent connection, easier pairing, and longer range for listening away from your audio source. The codecs allow you to better enjoy your music, getting a more accurate sound.
Battery life is rated at up to 24 hours but we found that to be an ambitious claim. Even factoring in that these numbers are usually based on 50% volume level, we ended up short of that the first few times we’ve used them.
Fortunately, we live in a world where charging our products is not a hassle or burden. And when you think about charging headphones once a three or four days just to be safe, it’s not bothersome. Our guess, though, is that you’ll get maybe 18 hours of audio. Charging, for its part, takes maybe two hours maximum to fully replenish.
Switching over to the wired connection is a fine way to extend the battery life or fill in when the headphones may have died. Doing that, however, removes all of the functions like ANC and volume. Everything is then controlled by the music source.
The Arc headphones have 40mm drivers which results in a rich, deep bass. It’s not overly present though; the soundstage is fairly wide, representing the highs and mids quite well.
Most of what you hear in music is often captured in the middle and that is strong here. That said, the bass punches through when called for while the cymbals and high-hats accent and punctuate.
We might have liked it if the headphones folded into themselves or became just a little more compact. Fortunately, they do come with a carrying case to keep them protected. Just something to keep in mind if you plan to pack them in a suitcase or backpack.
Standout Features
- Premium design made from stainless steel and aluminum
- ANC to fully immerse yourself in music
- Lightweight earpads made from vegan/protein leather and high density, adaptive memory foam
- Bluetooth 5.0 with dual-microphone for clear calls
- Multiple codec support
Bottom Line
We were pretty impressed with the EOZ Arc headphones. Audio quality was better than expected at this price and the build quality was a welcome surprise. Battery life claims aren’t that accurate, but we don’t mind having to charge them once or twice a week.
Where to Buy the EOZ Arc
As of the time of publishing this review, the EOZ Arc can be purchased for about $109.
