Kitsound Manhattan Wireless Headphone Review: From UK to NY

Kitsound Manhattan Wireless Headphone Review: From UK to NY

INTRODUCTION:

Kitsound is a company from the United Kingdom, so you may wonder why it named its latest Bluetooth headphone to Manhattan, one of the boroughs of New York. The reason behind, they want to pay homage to this great musical city, one of the richest city in the world in terms of music history and a birth place to many music genres.

So what is Kitsound Manhattan? It is a wireless headphone that operates via Bluetooth to stream audio from your mobile phones, tablets, PC or Mac.


UNBOXING:

Unboxing Video

Retail package

The box is one of the biggest I have seen so far, upon opening you will see a cartoon with a similar texture to that of an egg tray. It provides good support and cushion to the Kitsound Manhattan. Aside from the unit, the retail package includes the USB cable for charging, the micro USB to 3.5mm audio cable if you want a wired connection and the user manual.


DESIGN:

The KS Manhattan has a minimalistic design, but it still looks nice and stylish. The color accent is standard for all parts of the headphone except for the metallic hinges. These hinges are attached to each ear cup which can be adjusted to comfortably fit to any human head. They can also be folded making the headphone more compact and more portable for easy storage during travel.

The headband has a little padding, but nonetheless it is still soft. On the other hand, the ear cups are heavily cushioned that adds comfort when wearing the headphone. Overall, the design looks fashionable and the build quality is above average.


CONTROLS/INDICATORS/PORTS:

The left ear cup houses the microphone pin hole, the multi-function button, a red LED indicator, the blue light indicator, micro USB port and the on/off switch.


USAGE and PERFORMANCE:

To start using the Manhattan, switch the power button from OFF to the Bluetooth symbol. The blue and red indicators will flash alternately which means that it is ready for pairing. On your device, activate the Bluetooth and search for "Manhattan DT" and select it to start the pairing. Usually it does not ask for pass code, but if it does, just use "0000". During my review, it usually takes less than a minute to have a successful pairing and it becomes lesser once you connect to the same device again.

The sound output is fairly good with the right amount of bass, great treble and decent amount of audio depth. You can also use it for phone calls, to answer press the multi-function button inwards and if in any case you want to reject the call, press and hold the same button for at least 2 seconds. The microphone quality is great too, the other end can hear me loud and clear.

I also paired it with my computer and there was no problem encountered whatsoever. I used it to listen to music, while watching videos and even for Skype calls.

I also test the wired solution by plugging the micro USB end of the cable to port on the left ear cup and the 3.5mm jack on my device. It works fine and to my surprise, the audio quality is a little better than the wireless connection.

It has a 18 hours of rated music play time and 30 hours of talk time. I was not able to gauge the exact hours of usage, but it lasted for a week of use in just a single charge with at least two hours of use everyday. Meanwhile, it needs 2 hours and half to fully charge through the USB port of my computer.


CONCLUSION:

The Kitsound Manhattan is aimed for consumers that loves to have great wireless headphones on a budget. It has a stylish design, above average build quality and most importantly, it definitely delivers in terms of audio quality.


The Kitsound Manhattan is exclusively distributed by Xoti Corporation and available through their dealers/resellers for Php2,990 with one-year warranty.