Srhythm NC15 ANC Headphones
£33.99
Pros
- Sound Brilliant
- Comfortable
- Affordable
- ANC Feature
- Foldable
Cons
- Awkward On-Ear Control
- Transmission Interferance
Its Srhythm day at My Helpful Hints HQ, and today I’ll be writing about the Srhythm NC15 ANC Headphones. This is the fourth model from Srhythm that I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing for, they’re a fantastic audio brand and my firm favourite go to audio brand.
Today it’s the turn of the NC15, I’ve previously reviewed the NC25, NC35, and NC75 ANC (Active Noise Cancelling) headphone models, and I’ve always been extremely impressed.
Active Noise Cancelling, also known as Noise Cancellation, or Active Noise Reduction (ANR), technology is a method for reducing unwanted background sound. It works with the addition of a second soundwave specifically designed to cancel the first.
ANC technology records a low frequency noise (50-1000 Hz) in the environment that the ear can hear via the microphone placed within the earpiece. It then sends sound waves, opposite of the detected noise, and amplitudes this to eliminate the unwanted noise.
Human voices aren’t completely reduced, but unwanted machinery, background type sounds are reduced, enough to be provide a calmer listening experience. I’m autistic, so a decent pair of ANC headphones are essential. They help reduce the unwanted, competing for my attention, send me over the edge background noises that cause me immense distress.
The Srhythm NC15 ANC Headphones feature a Bluetooth V5.0 connection, and come in three fun, colourful colours too.
So, are they any good? Time to test them out!
Packaging and Contents.
The Srhythm NC15 ANC Headphones come packaged in a white cardboard box which features product images and print on the front and specifications printed on the reverse. The box measures 16.5cm x 13.5cm x 8.5cm and weighs 410G.
Inside the box you’ll find the following: 1x Pair of Headphones, 1x Storage Bag, 1x Micro USB Cable, 1x AUX Cable, 1x Plane Jack Plug, and 1x 6.5mm/3.5mm Audio Jack Plug.
Srhythm NC15 ANC Headphones.
The Srhythm NC15 ANC Headphones are constructed from a mixture of plastic PU leather, and Silicone, they feature a foldable band design, with some rotation to each ear cup. The model I have are blue and red, other colour options include red, and black. They look very playful, and certainly striking, the blue is a beautiful shade too.
They measure from ear-cup to ear-cup (Measuring from the bottom of the ear-cup and across the top of the headband to the bottom of the other ear-cup) 52.0cm but can extend upto 60.0cm and weigh 230G.
The headband has some comfort foam to it and is coated in a silicone material. This provides some friction on your head whilst in use.
Ear Cups.
Each ear cup is also heavily padded with memory foam. This makes them both comfortable and helps with noise cancellation too. They’re not oversized and will over the top of most people’s ears. Each ear cup measures 11.0cm x 8.0cm with the centre section hole measuring 6.0cm x 4.0cm.
The headphones also fold away, this helps with transportation. They can fold in either direction and measure 17.5cm x 13.0cm x 8.0cm when folded.
There’re no distinctive markings on the ear cups to know which way to wear the NC15 headphones. But the left ear cup features the on-ear user controls. You can control audio and handsfree phone calls, such as:
- Power On/Off
- Pause/Play
- Volume/Track Selection
- Answer/End Calls
- Summon Siri/Google Assistant
- Turn On/Off ANC
More on how these function work later in the review. But from wearing these NC 15 headphones for a few days, I can tell you the buttons are ridiculously hard to detect with touch. Although there is some tactile feel to them, they’re positioned in an awkward position which renders them both useless and a pain in the arse.
There’s an AUX port which can be used in conjunction with the supplied 3.5mm AUX/3.5mm AUX cable, this allows you to use these headphones like a standard pair of wired pair of headphones, perfect for when the battery has depleted.
Charging.
To charge the Srhythm NC15 ANC Headphones you need to use the supplied Micro USB cable (which measures 1M in length) and power it up using any 5V/12V DC power source. It takes around 2 hours to fully charge the in-built 400mAh lithium-polymer battery and on a single charge you’ll be able to use the NC15 headphones for upto 16 hours. This usage time is all dependent on volume settings and whether the ANC function has been used. If you use the ANC function the battery will last around 12 hours.
A red light will display when the headphones are in a charging state, this light extinguishes upon a successful charge cycle.
Pairing.
The best way to enjoy these Srhythm NC15 ANC Headphones is via the Bluetooth V5.0 connection. This is where things get a little tricky for a first-time use. The On/Off switch does not power on the headphones, this switch activate/deactivates the ANC function only. Yes, I made this mistake too!
To power them on, you need to press and hold the play/pause button. You’ll be greeted with the standard “power on” voice over lady. Head over to your device and perform a Bluetooth search, you’ll see the option named NC15, connect, pair, give it all the permission and you’re then away.
The advertised Bluetooth range is 10M, but as usual Srhythm under-sell this, you get around 20M signal before any kind of transmission loss. This includes different floor levels and walls!
You only need to do this pairing feature once, every time you power on the NC15 headphones, they magically pair to your device.
ANC and User Controls.
I promised you I’d be saying more about the on-ear user control earlier, and here it is, in its own dedicated section and everything. To activate the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) you need to flick a switch, simple, but effective. A green light will show to indicate ANC has been activated. This ANC works incredibly well, in fact I was overally impressed, it managed to drown out the sound caused by an Ultrasonic machine, which I still can’t believe!
You can use this feature without audio too, you feel some air pressure in your ears, this is perfectly normal and is common on many models.
The on-ear controls are available to control the following controls:
- Pause/Play: pauses and plays audio, will answer a call, double pressing will reject that phone call from the HMRC press 1 or we’ll send round the rozzers scam call that’s going around.
- Plus (+) Button: will increase volume, but strangely goes back a track.
- Minus (-): will decrease volume and skip a track.
I can’t get along with controls that do things like decrease volume but also skip forward a track, it makes so much more logical sense to have the same button control volume increase and skip a track.
Sound Quality.
The Srhythm NC15 ANC Headphones sound fantastic, and I wouldn’t expect anything different from Srhythm. They’re audio geniuses, amazing when you consider they cost so little in comparison to other premium branded audio brands.
Bass is nice and punchy, vocals are clear, what more do you want?
But, when you pause a track you can hear some radio interference, this was noticeable no matter where I located my myself, my device, the sun, moon, my cat, it was present. It sounds like a MOT testing station dot matrix printer.
But when you play audio it stops, strange!
Noise isolation is average with some leakage, noise cancelling, even without ANC is superb, and when you step up your cancellation game with the ANC feature, your cancellation experience is superb chef kiss
Other Thoughts.
The built-in microphone is clear and works well, but if you use the 3.5mm AUX cable option, you’re not able to use this feature as the cable doesn’t feature an in-line microphone.
Srhythm have also stopped supplying a printed user guide with new orders. This is to reduce their environmental impact, but they’re not leaving you hanging, there’s an online version. You can pop over to the Srhythm website, which has had a recent upgrade, and locate the user guide for the NC15 and other models too. Or, if you can’t be bothered, I’ll link it here, it’s a standard PDF file.
I quite like this feature; means you’ll always be able to find the manual after the first use.
Another thing to mention is the twin device pairing feature. You’re able to pair the Srhythm NC15 ANC Headphones to two devices. So, depending on what device you use, you can select between two paired devices.
Technical Specifications.
- Brand: Srhythm
- Model: ANC Bluetooth Headphones
- Model Code: NC15
- EAN: N/A
- ASIN: B087CPFVW1
- Battery: Li-Polymer
- Battery Capacity: 400mAh
- Input: 5V – 12V
- Battery Life: 16 Hours
- Charge Time: 1-2 Hours
- Bluetooth: CSR V5.0
- Technology: A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, HFP, CVC
- Speaker Unit: Dual 40mm Driver
- Magnet: Neodymium
- Sensitivity: 105 ± 3dB
- Impedance: 32 Ω ± 10%
- Waterproof Rating: IPX4
- Compliance: CE, FCC, RoHS
Conclusion.
Obviously, I love the Srhythm NC15 ANC Headphones. Despite a few issues, they still sound brilliant, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a similar priced audio brand that offers the same level of features of Srhythm.
The NC15 aren’t the perfect pair of headphones, they need some improvements, such as, a better on-ear user control area, and that awful interference when audio is paused, but thankfully it’s only a temporary annoyance.
Would I recommend the NC15 headphones? Yes!
These headphones, along with all their audio range is available with an 18-month warranty too, Srhythm are also very approachable and will respond quickly to customer requests, even when I contacted them anonymously the other week without them knowing ?
If you want the Srhythm NC15 ANC Headphones for yourself, they’re available for purchase only on Amazon. The RRP for this product is £45.99.
Product sample provided by Srhythm in exchange for a detailed, unbiased review.
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