X by Kygo A11/800
X by Kygo is a fairly new brand imagined by Norwegian DJ Kygo himself. This pair, the A11/800, fit towards the higher end of the lineup, with a simple yet effective mono-colored look.
As far as build quality goes, these headphones aren’t up there with the likes of Bose. These are lightweight, mainly plastic cans – though that’s not a bad thing, as wearing these for a long time is no problem at all. However, they are prone to creaking, which is its downfall when it comes to quality. Cup size is not as large as others, favoring the smaller eared out there, and they are a snug fit, with padding being more of a springy sponge. They aren’t uncomfortable, but a softer foam would probably improve these cans.
The A11/800 offers auxiliary input, which is always a bonus, as well as Bluetooth 5.0. It’s charged via USB-C, with a fast charge time of two hours. A full charge will provide you with around 40 hours of listening via Bluetooth, which is awesome. However, if you have active noise-canceling on, that’ll fall to 19 hours.
On the right earcup, you have swiping touch controls that work consistently. There are also buttons for the ambient mode, power, and active noise-canceling. It’s not class-leading but works pretty effectively, with the only issue being a very quiet buzz when the headphones are on with no music playing. Ambient mode works well, enabling you to communicate without having to take the pair off.
The A11/800 has a decent soundscape. When testing songs, it seems balanced across all the genres, not favoring one in particular. The detail comes in at the high ends but lacks bass on the whole. At higher volumes, we hoped this would come to life, but not quite. Gaming isn’t too great. They do the job, but the lack of bass doesn’t favor some of the environmental sounds in games that give you that full immersion. Overall they are capable headphones – just a few tweaks and better build quality would help these against the big guns.
Looks the part; strong high end; clean sound; good subtle styling.
Driver 40mm Dynamic, Frequency Response 15 Hz-22,000 Hz, Impedance 32 ohm, Connectivity Bluetooth 5.0, 3.5mm jack, USB-C charging, Design Style Closed back, Weight 250g