Featured Review: Logitech UE 6000 Headphones

Friday, January 2, 2015

Featured Review: Logitech UE 6000 Headphones

Logitech makes a slew of different audio products, including their Ultimate Ears line of headphones. Logitech bought Ultimate Ears in 2008 in a shift for the company as they moved into mobile devices. The Logitech UE 6000 headphones are one of the over-ear headphones from the company that offers slick design, active noise cancellation, and a sound that is tuned to compete with Beats at half the price. Let’s see what the Logitech UE 6000s offer and why you should consider these over something much more expensive.

Design

The Logitech UE 6000 headphones are all plastic. They are big, but they are not heavy. The size comes from the batteries that the noise cancelling feature needs. We’ll take a closer look at that functionality later. The ear cups are quite comfortable and made of soft black leather. The outside of the cups is a glossy plastic that collects fingerprints easily. The headband is matte plastic. The headphones fold up for easy storage and fit snugly in the carrying pouch that Logitech includes. The hinges and extensions are sturdy and feel like they will last a long time. The leather inside the headband is soft and comfortable as well.

The left cup has the jack for the removable auxiliary cable, and the left cup opens to give you access to the battery compartment. The UE 6000s take two AAA batteries. The right cup has the power button to turn the noise cancelling on and off. The AUX cable is a standard 3.5mm size and has a built in microphone for taking phone calls. This works just fine on several Android devices I tried. The in-line controls will also let you adjust the volume, skip tracks, and play and pause music. To skip forward you have to double-click the center button. To skip backwards you click the button three times.

Logitech includes a carrying pouch and audio splitter that will let you plug in another headset and share your music, or share whatever you happen to be listening to. This splitter is really cool and can make for some neat moments sharing some good tunes. It would also come in handy when you’re travelling and watching a movie on your laptop or tablet. You can easily share the sound as well as the video. The carrying pouch has a small pocket inside for the splitter and cable, and the headphones fold up and fit inside nicely. They are not as convenient as ear buds for travelling, but this pouch does make it easy to carry your headphones with you.

Sound Quality

The moment of truth for any set of headphones is the first time you put them on and press play on your favorite track. How do the UE 6000s sound? They are tuned make modern pop and hip-hop sound good. They are not as bass-heavy as Beats, but that’s the same feel these leave you with. The bass isn’t booming but it is prominent. These aren’t just bass headphones for people who like thump, however. The bass is tight and highs are boosted so that they aren’t drowned out. The treble and high-end are there; they don’t get lost. Vocals aren’t lost either. Across several genres like house and EDM, classic rock, and hip-hop, these headphones do fairly well. The mid-range does get lost a bit, though. These certainly aren’t neutral headphones. Like I mentioned before, they sound tuned to modern pop, hip-hop, and R&B. Other genres like rock and metal are fine, although guitars can sometimes take a back seat to the bass and drums. These are not the headphones you want if you listen to jazz or classical music.

The noise cancelling works, although it adds some extra noise itself. With the active noise cancelling turned on outside sounds are cut to very low levels, but a background hiss is introduced that is pretty distracting. This hiss is most noticeable when you’re skipping between tracks or there is a lull in the music. The cups do a decent job of blocking out noise by themselves. We would recommend leaving the active noise cancelling turned off and just letting the leather cups block out unwanted sound.

The leather on the cups and headband is soft and cushy enough to wear for long listening sessions. The cups fit snugly around your ears without pressing on them. I was pleased with the comfort level of the UE 6000s.

Wrap-up

The Logitech UE 6000 offers a decent sound, active noise cancelling, and they are pretty comfortable. These aren’t the best all-around headphones I’ve ever used, but they do offer a good option at a very decent price point. They aren’t designed for audiophiles that want to pick out every nuance of a classical arrangement. These are fun headphones that provide a better listening experience than Beats. They will appeal to the consumer that likes Beats and wants something that actually sounds good. You can pick up a pair on Amazon for $119.