Review by Nick H.
Having just said goodbye my last in-ear headset (entirely too much travelling over the holidays), I was on the lookout for a new set that would meet several needs. The first and foremost was audio quality, and then secondly they needed to be durable. I wanted something I could slip in and out of my pocket or hand held carrying case easily.
Portability was never an issue while testing this. The cable is a completely reasonable length at just over four feet, and the Perixx AX-4200 comes with a circular black case to further help with portability. The case is circular in shape (almost looking like a hockey puck at a glance), with a zippered side to keep everything together. There is also a small mesh pouch on the inside lid where extra ear tips are stored in a plastic bag.
Back to the overall unit in general and the cable in particular. It is a dark red colour and is a flat cable, which have always been very good to me in the past. They do not tangle as easily and they do not seem to break and fray the wiring within nearly as often. Top it off with a single gold plated connector (that can be plugged into a split connector for PCs to provide both microphone and audio), and an in-line microphone on the right ear cable, and you have just about everything covered from design standpoint.
The Perrix AX-4200 even comes with interchangeable rubberised tips for those who want to try it in three different sizes. They are quite easy to take off and put on – but are easy to overlook if you do not peek into the aforementioned mesh pouch. All three sizes feel somewhat large. I had no trouble with them, but I wonder if the metal housing and substantial drivers simply mandated a wider design than other in-ear buds I have used in the past. Regardless, it is worth noting if you have smaller ear canals.
If there is a drawback to the build of the Perixx AX-4200, it is that they are heavier than most in-ear headphones. I take that as a good sign that they are durable, but the lack of ear/head wraps mean that they do spend the entire time pressed into your ear. Most of that weight probably comes from a combination of the sturdy flat cable and metal casing around the actual speakers. The extra heft is really not much more than what you get from other similar headsets, and it may well be the underlying reason that it sounds so good, so it’s a forgivable issue.
The drivers in these little buds are absolutely rocking. With the sound on my laptop turned up all of the way, I was able to set these down on top of the device with the speakers pointed upward and my son could still hear them about seven feet away. I do not mean ‘hear’ as in there was some muddy audio making its way to him on the other side of the room, but he was able to sing along with the lyrics of the song that was blasting out of them. In-ear headphones tend to have lacklustre bass as well, but the Perrix AX-4200 delivered on that front reasonably well also. It’ not the best bass I have ever heard, but certainly well above average.
The Perixx AX-4200 hits all of the major things I was looking for in them. They are of sturdy build, excellent sound quality and convenient to take on the go. A handful of small concerns such as the weight or the ear size of the speakers do little to diminish what is an otherwise great in-ear headset for portable devices.
– Nick H.
US Editor
