Logitech UE 4000 Headphones Review
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Not that long, Logitech has introduced a new joint line of headphones and portable speakers with Ultimate Ears under the new Logitech UE brand name. Apparently the new brand boasts some extraordinary technology, research and development to back up its new line of audio gear. While Logitech joined forces with Ultimate Ears a few years ago, the brand is most known for creating some of the best custom made in-ear monitors for professional musicians. So it's safe to say that we're excited to see what this new joint venture brings forth.
The Logitech UE 4000 headphones are one of the three entry level consumer headphones that Logitech UE recently released out into the wild. The UE 4000 are an on-ear pair of compact headphones designed with public use in mind. What happens when two great names put together a product? Our full review awaits after the break!
Logitech's UE 4000 radiate with mainstream design.
Priced at the sweet spot of $100, the UE 4000 headphones have that signature Ultimate Ears design that looks trendy, clean and fully modernized. These are one of those headphones you can rock out in public and not feel embarrassed about how bad you look. Their compact form factor doesn't make you look like you've got a massive, ill-conceived bulge sticking out the sides of your head. In other words, the UE 4000 are a good looking pair that can easily compete with the popular likes of the dreaded Beats headphones. The diamond-esque geometric design that shapes these headphones is uniquely subtle.
Is Logitech's UE 4000 somewhat of a direct competitor to the Beats Solo HD headphones? We actually think that's exactly what they are. Looking at the style, build quality and sound signature - all of which we will get into a bit later, it becomes apparent that we've got headphones that clearly want to win over your wallet at a much more reasonable price tag. Without coming off as a butthurted Android fanboy that picks on iPhone users without much of a logical reason, we dislike the Beats brand for its overpriced, cheaply built, and mediocre sound quality headphones that are backed up by superb marketing tactics. Pretty much any $100 headphones will give you a better bang for you buck such as the UE 4000.
If you thought these white and black with a dash of blue flavored UE 4000 have a thing going on, then you may want to know that they're also available in two other colors including all black and magenta.
What you get with the UE 4000 is not a bad start to a headphone unboxer. Pack-ins include a 3.5mm audio splitter designed to match the overall theme of the headphones in case you want to share your audio source with another person as well as one of the nicest, soft matching zippered travel pouches we've seen so far with microfiber lining to keep your headphones protected against getting scratched. Which they will, as we will further elaborate below.
We compare the UE 4000 to the Beats Solo in terms of style and construction, albeit with one critical exception. The UE 4000 are far more durable and have superior build quality than the Solos do. Pick them up for the first time and you'll immediately notice how compact and weighted the UE 4000 feel. Even though shiny plastic is used exclusively throughout the construction, the UE 4000 don't have that plasticky, cheapness to them we often see with a lot of headphones at this level. When you put them over your head, they've also got ample amount of flexibility with tension points in the headband that allow it to flex without snapping in half. The cabling looks to be extremely durable with a nice heavy gauge that's tangle-free, and a slim L shaped 3.5mm gold-plated plug. Our only complaint would be that the glossy black plastic finish on the headband is easily scratched and scuffed.
Lightweight body, air-filled rubbery headband, fluffy memory foam on-ear cushions covered with pleather and articulating speaker cup joints; can it get any better than this? The UE 4000 are one of the few that we consider to be a tolerable pair of on-ear headphones to wear for extended periods of time until the inevitable occurs. Clamping force is set to a minimal just so that those munchkin cushions compress down and seal your ear like a terminal jetway.
The UE 4000 create a good seal that helps to reduce background noise considerably with their puffy ear cushions that's next to active noise-cancelling. Sound leakage is also at a very minimal dosage at normal volume so you don't need to worry about others hearing what you're listening to.
You will find a plasticky 3-button remote and mic tied to the blue, tangle-free detachable cable. It may seem like a basic remote with cheapo buttons attached to it, yet remarkably it works extremely well and has great feedback when pressed. With it you can control music playback, volume and calls. What's also impressive is the mic performance. Audio sounds just as good as it sounds when talking thru Apple's own EarPods with Remote and Mic.
Only thing missing is the ability to fold these up, but given the fact that the UE 4000 are already pretty compact as it is, the collapsibility isn't much of a drawback in our eyes.
The UE 4000 impressed us with great sound just as we anticipated. The 40mm drivers are tuned to play nice with every possible music genre you'll listen too. The UE 4000 claim to produce clear highs, warm mids and deep lows. And we couldn't agree more. But it's not to say that the mids should have a pump of clarity and forwardness to them instead of sounding warm and dark. Highs are as clear and clean as they say, and the bass is indeed deep, thumpy and brings life to every track. If you like good sounds lows, the UE 4000 will inject your dosage without sounding distorted or muffled like some of the higher priced Beats do.
For comparison sake, the UE 4000 have a much warmer, darker sound signature than the $125 AIAIAI Capital on-ear headphones and the $150 (or around $80 if you shop around) Sonic headphones which both sound more brighter, clearer and have a wider more detailed soundstage; albeit each come with their own drawbacks. It'll be more of a personal preference depending on which sort of signature you think better suits your audio taste, but know that with the superior sound isolation that the UE 4000 provide, they do lock in every bit of audio which is why they tend to sound darker. Without directly comparing these to other headphones, you'll be hard pressed to really notice these differences. Though it doesn't hurt to know beforehand especially if you have no way of comparing various headphones.
We did notice that the Ultimate Ears signature sound found in these UE 4000 gives you more depth and meatiness to the sound - especially when listening to rock music. Although it can come off as sounding slightly held back when put against more capable headphones like the Sonic.
When you think about it the UE 4000 headphones are fully featured, well designed and built, have a compact portable form factor that's comfortable to wear and isolates you with your music, and perform exactly as Logitech UE markets them to sound. Couple that with their $100 price tag, and we can't think of any better entry-level headphones to recommend than Logitech UE's UE 4000 on-ear headphones. Well, that is unless you cough up a bit of extra hard earned cash. And in that case we would be more than happy to direct your attention over to the Capital and Sonic headphones.
