Nokia Essential Wireless Headphones
Decent wireless headphones with strong battery life
After 20 hours of testing, we had barely made a dent in the battery status
£79.99 FROM Nokia, nokia.com FEATURES Bluetooth 5.0, 40-hour battery life, 40mm driver, foldable headband, 3.5mm jack, on-device controls; 197g
Nokia may not be the first name you think of when looking for a new pair of headphones… But the company’s latest Essential Wireless Headphones are a good place to start if you need something on the budget end of the spectrum. While not as ‘essential’ as the name implies, they nevertheless have some attractive features.
In most uses, the sound quality is good for the price. It is not audiophile quality, but we were often left forgetting we were using a pair of £80 headphones. The biggest benefactors are electronic music genres like house and dance, where the Essential’s bass booster really excels. In heavier genres like metal and punk, though, that same bass boost is overzealous, muddying the music’s layers into a goopy mess. Use it judiciously to get the most out of it. Call quality was not great, with recipients telling us we sounded distant and unclear.
The second point of note is the battery life. Nokia promises 40 hours of wireless juice, and that might even be on the conservative side. After 20 hours of testing over the course of a week, we had barely made a dent in the battery status, perhaps knocking off 15%. If you prefer, you can also plug them in using the 3.5mm jack.
That phenomenal battery life makes them great for travel, as does their lightweight frame. The Essentials weigh 197g thanks to their mostly plastic construction, which makes them easy to put in a bag without weighing you down. Speaking of which, the Essentials fold up to reduce their size – sort of. While you can fold one arm in, the second will not fully fold, leaving it hanging awkwardly at an angle.
This is where some of the problems start to creep in. While the plastic frame makes the headphones light and easy to carry, it does not feel particularly sturdy. The earcups wobble with the slightest pressure. We never worried they were falling apart, but there is no question that they feel cheap.