These $60 headphones have no business sounding this good for the price (and they're comfy)

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The OneOdio Focus A6 headphones are connected merchantability astatine Amazon for $59.
• You'll get creaseless dependable with evenly-blended bass and conscionable the close magnitude of mids.
• I recovered the highs to beryllium somewhat lacking, but the EQ tin beryllium adjusted successful the companion app.

I retrieve backmost successful the '80s and '90s, erstwhile you bought inexpensive headphones, they sounded similar listening to euphony done a brace of tin cans tied with string. Not lone did they dependable bad, but the physique prime was poor, and those spongy, orangish earpads were embarrassing.

You cognize the type.

Also: Finally, open-ear headphones that dependable large and acceptable maine comfortably (and they conscionable got cheaper)

Over the past twelvemonth oregon so, I've noticed the prime of low-end headphones has improved to the constituent that for good nether $100, you tin get a brace that delivers well-blended, creaseless dependable with capable debased extremity and highs to marque them dependable arsenic if they outgo good supra that $100 mark.

Such is the lawsuit with the OneOdio Focus A6 headphones.

My experience

Upon unboxing the A6 headphones, my archetypal thought was, "Well, these look similar each brace of midrange headphones I've tested implicit the past year." Yes, these headphones are nondescript, but that isn't a atrocious thing. 

Although they don't person the fashionable marque designation as, accidental Beats oregon AirPods, for astir $100 cheaper than the low-end Beats, you'll inactive get equivalent sound. 

Also: These wireless headphones transported maine to audio nirvana - and are my caller all-time favorite

After connecting the A6 headphones to my Pixel 9 Pro and firing up Spotify, I decided to not spell to my accustomed archetypal trial medium ("Signals" by Rush), alternatively opting for the latest medium by Leprous: "Melodies Of Atonement." The crushed for this is due to the fact that I wanted to spot if the A6 headphones were up to the band's complicated, layered dependable of the band. 

The A6 headphones enactment Solberg's dependable beforehand and center, rendering it with the powerfulness and quality it deserves. I could perceive to the antheral sing each time and ne'er get bushed of it, and the A6 headphones marque that imaginable with dependable that doesn't deterioration connected the ears and comfy earpads that marque agelong listens easy.

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

These besides hap to beryllium 1 of the archetypal Bluetooth 6 headphones I've tested. That Bluetooth protocol translated to the fastest pairing I've ever experienced. As soon arsenic I powered them on, they appeared connected my phone, and the transportation was instant. Connecting the A6 via the modular method was adjacent amended than Google's Quick Connect, and that's saying something.

Although determination is simply a companion app, I decided I wanted to trial the headphones with the out-of-the-box EQ, to spot however they stood up. Surprisingly, astatine archetypal I didn't find the request to usage the app. That's not to accidental the A6 headphones are workplace prime -- they astir surely are not; but, fixed the price, they clasp their own.

If I had 1 complaint, it's that the A6 headphones deficiency the item astatine the apical extremity to springiness cymbals the crispness I prefer. In fact, the cymbals had a inclination to blend much into the mid-highs than wherever they should live. That results successful a deadening of dependable that isn't arsenic lively arsenic it could be. 

This led maine to yet instal the companion app. But adjacent with a customized EQ, I wasn't capable to get the crispness I similar with the highs, truthful I decided to trial the headphones with a antithetic medium (in lawsuit it was the mastering of the Leprous album). 

Also: The champion over-ear headphones: Expert tested and reviewed

Yep. That was the issue. I dropped into my moving playlist and "Human," by The Human League started with conscionable the close magnitude of precocious end. "Tom Sawyer" by Rush had conscionable capable precocious extremity to contiguous Neil Peart's masterful work. There's 1 song, however, that tin truly item the highs, and that's "Walking On The Moon," by The Police. Stewart Copeland's cymbal enactment astatine the process extremity of the mediate of that way is unmatched.

Yeah, the A6 headphones handled it arsenic good arsenic immoderate mid-range headphone I've tested.

ZDNET's buying advice

The OneOdio Focus A6 headphones nutrient immoderate beauteous creaseless sound, whether you usage the app oregon not. But if you're arsenic finicky arsenic me, you'll privation to instal the app and hop into the Custom EQ section. 

Even without the app, these sub-$70 headphones are a bargain for anyone looking to get high-quality dependable astatine a low-end price. If you don't caput sporting a marque of headphones nary 1 volition recognize, these are a large buy.

OneOdio Focus A6 headphones tech specs

• Drivers: 40mm dynamic drivers.
• Audio codecs: SBC, AAC, LDAC.
• Hi-Res Audio: Yes, certified.
• Noise Cancellation: Hybrid ANC, reducing ambient sound by up to 48dB.
• Noise Reduction Modes: ANC, Transparency, Wind Noise Reduction, Wind-Resistant Transparency, and Normal.
• Wireless: Bluetooth 6.0.
• Dual-Device Pairing: Yes.
• Wired Connection: USB-C (for charging and wired ANC) and 3.5mm jack (for audio).
• Multipoint Connectivity: Yes.
• Battery Type: Polymer lithium-ion battery.
• Battery Capacity: 500 mAh.
• Charging Port: USB-C.
• Charging Time: Approximately 1.5 hours.
• Battery Life (ANC off): Up to 75 hours.
• Battery Life (ANC on): Up to 40 hours.
• Fast Charging: 10 minutes of charging provides 10 hours of playback.