KossKPH7 wireless

EDIT: now one year later I’ve had to drop a star for the rocker switch becoming problematic. I was afraid that given enough time from pressing and holding it in was going to cause some issues; you have to hold it dead center of its position generally by taking them off to hold it evenly to turn on or off.I’d been using them almost daily and the more I had, the trickier it’s become to do. Dedicated buttons are a far better option unless a rocker switch is firm; sinking in was bound to cause issues over time.That said, I still enjoy using them when I do, but having to hold the switch in off my head and still try to hear the pair turn off can be a chore.The original review below is posted.Original review:I’ve never been an early adopter of technology usually—I let others test run it first, read the reviews, and see what are legitimate gripes and what’s just wishful thinking.But I’ve been a fan of Koss for about 30 years now since buying a studio series can set for college (suck it millennials, Gen X made it street long before your Beats) and for $30, I decided to give these a try, since I like their fold-flat design like many of their others.So let’s walk through these bit by bit.DESIGN:Typical design, thin arch, nicely hidden expander that widens on both sides. No padding underneath, but the narrow shape is wipeable matte-finish plastic and comfortable for long stretches to wear. The cans are perfectly round, pocked with divots for aesthetics so they look a little stylish out on the street.The inside cushions have sponge padding with a thin flexible plastic covering that won’t cramp your ears, but have give if you have larger taxi doors like I do. I would expect however that given enough time and sweat the plastic would tear and slowly chip away, but at least the sponge would still be there to make them comfortable—maybe more so as they’d be a lot more breathable (but would catch particles infinitely easier than the wipeable plastic it is now). The band is flexible to allow extending out to lift off your ears and put around your neck. The plastic top bends enough to do this in moderation—though don’t go abusing these with room-crossing tosses unless the surface is a bed or a pillow—their light design should be matched by an equally-matched surface, and if you’re quickly shoving these in a bag, take the extra second to collapse them to prevent unannounced stress from inside materials that could shift and damage an extended pair.The inside speakers are covered in a thin breathable cloth that keeps the speakers away from your skin. Another reviewer pointed out how the cord running between the speakers is visible; it is, but it’s tucked in a canal so thin and tight so as to keep the cord in place and utterly out of the way. I didn’t even notice it for the first day of use until I read their complaint about it. It’s not a problem—it’s an asset. Rather than having the speakers talk to one another wirelessly (one would handle all the traffic from source to speaker to partner) and causing a potential delay—to say nothing of quicker battery drain), the wire allows perfect synchronization and a battery that’s pretty shocking—but more on that in a minute.As mentioned before, the cans themselves swivel 90 degrees to lay flat inside a messenger or travel bag/purse. Simple.They feel great too on my 8 7/8 head (large/XL in a baseball cap size), and I’ve had them on my head for up to five to six hours at a stretch without any stress. They can and will cause your skin to sweat though in warmer environments, so mowing the lawn with these on a 94 degree day is going to get them pretty damp between the folds of the cushion cover, so wipe with a damp cloth when you’re done to prevent bacteria and skin flake buildup. They’re also going to make your neck a little damp resting on exposed skin for lengths of time when off, so just be prepared—it isn’t breathable material after all.SOUNDOkay, so this is where the meat and potatoes of a headset comes in, right?Before I get heavy on details, let me just say this: it’s very middle of the road, solid sound.What that means is that this offers mid-range crisp audio. Dialogue spoken has sharp “S” enunciation. There’s no muddying from that. Bass and treble levels are decent—they’re present, they’re audible, but if you’re looking for sick, rich sound to get lost in, it’s a little hard—nay impossible—to find that in a budget pair at this price point.I tested this with some action shows, a Spotify lo-fi playlist, and some songs I know that have both heavy bass beats and treble strings—classical piano and violin is always a good method for the latter.What this means is that you’re getting it all, but the brunt of the sound comes from that middle ground, with the bass and treble present, but not overwhelming. They compliment, but don’t hit you like a premium sound system—side dishes to your main course of middle audio. If you want that three course audio meal, you’ll have to go to higher price points (though at $50, Koss’s BT190i earbuds have sound that absolutely slaps—that’s slang for killer—for such a tiny affordable package). These are fantastic for better-than-average sound at this price. Not “amazing”, but better than good for a descriptor.Synchronization with picture is indecipherable—there’s no delay whatsoever with what’s onscreen and what you’re hearing. I own a popular portable Bluetooth speaker set from Ultimate Ears that liked to hide the fact they were TERRIBLE for video use (they were at least a half second behind in sync with the picture)—the KPH7’s are just spot-on.The volume isn’t actually insane—it’s not going to blow your eardrums out even at the highest volume, but it could be annoying, so let’s say they won’t deafen you, but they could drown out environmental noise. They also adjust to incredibly low levels—however it won’t go down to a whisper on my iPhone—it beeps when it’s down to the 5% mark telling me that’s as low as it goes before going mute, which in theory is fine—if you’re listening to music that low, you should probably be using earbuds if you need audio that soft to hear.These are not noise-cancelling, as they are over-ear. You need earbuds to truly block your canal from receiving outside noise, but these do have more than enough volume to “drown out” the racket around you.CONTROLSThis is an all-in-one package. Every feature—from volume control, track selection, answering and Bluetooth connection—is all done with the little rocker wheel on the right (boo, there’s left-handed people in the world KOSS! Just kidding—we’re the minority so it’s fine). It’s ergonomically designed to hide inside the round shape BEHIND the back (which also keeps the technical part from front view so you can look stylin’) , so when you go to mess with it, you comfortably—or more importantly—naturally tilt your hand around it to manipulate the control. It’s springy in three directions—up and down that snaps back to the center, but pressing it DOWN to power on and off—a long hold when powering up to connect to a new Bluetooth device will give a double beep to announce the connection is ready to link. A long hold on the up and down will forward or reverse tracks on a playlist. A short press inward pauses and plays, and also answers and hangs up calls. It’s a nice feature that doesn’t result in accidental button presses because it’s all in different directions on one wheel. No need to mash on the wheel, so you heavy handed individuals should take care—it’s got a small imprint so once it’s pressed in it won’t result in pushing it too far to break it.BATTERYSo this is the crowning jewel of this headphone set—the battery life. One word: WOW. Koss claims it’s Lithium-ion battery will run 18 hours on one charge. Well, I haven’t made it to 18 hours of use yet, but straight out of the box, I have:Watched 6 hour long episodes of a series,3 hours of Spotify off my phone and smart TV,5 hours of console video gaming,2 hours off-and-on videos and games on my phone, and they STILL haven’t run out of juice.So they’re not lying about the run time—it REALLY DOES last long. I’ll have to post an update on the recharge time as I’ve yet to get to needing it.OTHER FEATURESThe mic built in isn’t top shelf—I called someone in my house from a quiet room and they reported it sounded a little scratchy, but they could still understand and hear every word I said in a three minute convo. It’s handy, but not something you should be buying these for anyways—but it’s nice to know if you’re watching something you can answer a call and not worry about them losing what you’re saying without a delay from single-connect unit-to-unit Bluetooth pairs.WARRANTYUnfortunately, this pair only has a one year warranty, unlike most Koss headsets at slightly higher prices that offer lifetime, but at the same time you won’t be devastated if the dog chews these up or you stepped on these top-down for the price you paid. You can always buy another pair and not feel like you needed a small loan to do it.FINAL THOUGHTSThe Koss BPH7 is a budget Bluetooth headset that has a little bit of style, classic symmetrical shape to it’s look, better than decent sound for it’s price range, and should be considered a pair to use around the house or for those that don’t want to fork over hundreds for a shiny plastic hot colored shell, a flashy trendy name and very little reliability in the long term.Comfortable for hours, virtually unnoticeable when wearing, and a battery that will last train and foot commuters likely all week on a single charge, you can’t go wrong with this pair for the price.Though Koss, if you’re reading this, maybe think about getting a pair in white too—these would look fantastic with your white with bright blue text on them like the BTi90.

Did I expect top-notch materials? No. Did I expect audiophile sound? No. But Koss is a promise ... and delivers. They are super lightweight, sound better on the third day, excellent connection and comfortable to wear. Only aspect I’d wish improved: more bass. Meet my future travel companions…

Just so people understand where I'm coming from, I have to admit that I’m from Milwaukee (the home of Koss) and I’m a huge Koss fan. I got my first pair of Koss headphones, the Porta Pros, in 1986 and I’ve been a fan ever since. I have probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 pairs of Koss headphones in my home right now along with many other pairs of mid-range to high-end headphones. I own pairs of Koss’s budget earbuds up to their top of the line ESP950 Electrostatics and many pairs in between and I’m impressed by all of them. I was immediately interested in this new version of the KPH7’s when I saw the post on Instagram so I headed to the Koss store on Amazon and bought a pair. I was intrigued by the weight of the headphones, the 18 hour battery life, and the use of Bluetooth 5.0. The package arrived this afternoon, I unboxed the headphones, and tossed them on the charger for an hour. My excitement, however, was short lived because after I connected the headphones to my phone and placed them on my head I discovered a fatal flaw with the design that will make these headphones very unsatisfying for many people.With many headphones, including these KPH7’s, a good seal between the headphone and the listener’s head is essential for full range audio to be heard. If that seal is broken even a little bit the lower-mids down to the bass frequencies can be almost totally lost and the headphones will sound tinny, and that’s the case with the KPH7’s when I wear them. So why not just adjust the headband and tilt the ear cups so you get a better seal? Because the cups don’t tilt (well maybe about 1/16”) and the cushions are too thin to create a full seal. Unlike some Koss headphones I own, I didn’t need to extend the headband as far as it would go to align the ear cups with my ears, which was nice. But because the ear cups barely tilt and due to the curve of the headband itself, the top of the cups don’t seal. It was easy to find the missing sound by simply pressing a little bit on the tops of the cups to seal them to my head, and honestly they sounded really good. For an ultra-light, thirty dollar, 18 hour battery, Bluetooth 5.0 headphone the highs are good as are the mids, and the bass is deep without being boomy and messing up the mids and highs. I found the overall sound to be very pleasing and well balanced. Unfortunately, I can’t be pressing the cups against my head for hours while I listen. Based on the geometry of the headband, if you have a small head or a wide head you may have better luck with these than I’m having. But the fact that the KPH7’s don’t provide adequate articulation tells me that a lot of people will not be able to comfortably enjoy this headphone’s full sound potential. Even eyeglass wearers could experience the bottom falling out of the sound if the temples of their glasses break the seals.At this point I can’t speak to the real-world battery life or durability of the KPH7’s, and my comments on the sound quality were after only about 10 minutes of listening. The build quality is good, and the controls are easy to learn and to use. The headphones do come with a USB charging cable (just a cable) but it’s only about 4 inches long. I’m just really disappointed because these could have been very useful for me. I’ll probably see if someone I know can fit into these or doesn’t care about the sound issues. God only knows I’ve given away plenty of PortaPros and KPH30i’s over the years.Sorry Koss. I’m still a fan, but I don’t know how this product gets out of the design/testing phase. This is the first pair of headphones I’ve ever owned that wouldn’t seal properly for me so I don’t think it’s the shape of my melon. I’m just down the road in O.C. if you want an engineer/headphone enthusiast who’d love to do some product testing. And hey! When are those awesome looking headphones you’ve been showcasing on your billboard for the past year-and-a-half (Koss A/550) coming out? I don’t even know the details and I want them!Update: I did some additional experimenting and found I was able to improve the sound a bit by wearing them kind of half on my ear half on the jaw area of my cheek. However, this was not as comfortable as wearing them fully over my ears, and even with the half on ear/cheek the sound was still not reaching its full potential. I also fully charged the headphones and used them at work for a solid 10 hours and the battery was still going strong.

the Koss KPH7 Wireless Bluetooth On-Ear Headphones are a fantastic option for anyone seeking a portable and reliable audio solution. With their wireless connectivity, comfortable design, impressive sound quality, and long battery life, they offer a well-rounded package that won't disappoint. Whether you're a music lover, a frequent traveler, or someone looking for an affordable pair of on-ear headphones, the KPH7 is definitely worth considering. I highly recommend them for their outstanding performance, comfort, and value for the price.

Like many Koss headphones, these sound better than they should. Also like other Koss headphones (I’m looking at you, PortaPros), they are not the most comfortable.The headband is cheap plastic and feels flimsy. The ear pads are not as soft as you’d like, they are deeper than some and my earlobes do not hit the drive foam as happens with many over ear headphones I try. I think you could hack the headband pretty easily - either reenforce it or band/shape it. The biggest drawback is that the ear cups do not pivot up or down. You have to adjust the angle against your head by making the headband longer or shorter. I think you could make these more comfortable than they are out of the box.I have not had any issues pairing these - they see to be of the newer generation of Bluetooth headphones that mostly just work. Not fruit-company level of just working, but good.