Review of the Saitek A-350 Consumer Headphones

Custom-built for use in the gym, the Saitek A350’s have been designed to use the best quality lightweight materials, including Neodymium for the in-ear speakers. The part that goes over the top of your ear is made out of a moulded material, to provide maximum comfort. The Saitek A350’s piano black, contemporary design is attractive without making you look like a Trekky, which is refreshing. Saitek’s lighter-the-better approach is great, the slim line design weighs next to nothing, it just sits on your head like a discrete headband. They have even used a rechargeable LiPol battery, one of the lightest on the market.

Where there is a will there is a way, or, in the Saitek A350’s case, where there is a 3.5mm jack, there is a way. You can use these headphones with anything that has a 3.5mm jack to plug the transmitter into for the Bluetooth to work. So, that means you can enjoy listening to your MP3, CD, DVD, MPEG4, Sony PSP, home Hi-Fi, PC or Mac, without being restricting by wires. You get stereo sound (we checked it out listening to Queen’s Radio GaGa) which provides awesome results. Dancing around to music, exercising or even doing your housework doesn’t phase the A350s with their long 10 metre range. We were disappointed to learn that they lack a volume control on the headset itself, this isn’t a problem when the music source is nearby but it is when you are listening to a home HiFi at a distance.

The Bluetooth wireless technology continues to keep up its good name. We tried out the Saitek A350s at home listening to the home HiFi and on the treadmill at the gym with an iPod Nano. In both situations we were completely satisfied with their performance, they were just as reliable as cable headphones, we wouldn’t have suspected that they were any different. The stereo sound provided an exceptional performance, with deep bass and good precision. We got a juicy six hours out of the rechargeable battery, we recharged them overnight and by the morning they were raring to go again.

The selling point of the Saitek A350s is the design. They are definitely the best looking ones we’ve seen so far. We would have given them a 5/5 score if they featured a volume control button so they’ll have to settle for a 4/5 this time. However, for using them with a portable device they are the business.