Design and features:These headphones work with or without the noise canceling feature being turned on, and you can use the noise-canceling feature without listening to music. They can be used wirelessly with Bluetooth devices or can be cord connected. When cord connected they have medium sensitivity when the noise cancelation feature is turned on so they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and all but the lowest powered portable audio devices. When the noise cancelation feature is turned off they have medium high sensitivity; they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and even lower powered portable audio devices. The Surface has touch sensitive Bluetooth music player and call connect/disconnect controls on both earcups, a volume control ring on right earcup that operates in Bluetooth mode and when headphones are powered and cord connected, and a noise canceling control ring on the left earcup that can be used to adjust the noise canceling/ambient sound monitoring levels. Additional features include an auto pause feature that pauses audio playback from Bluetooth sources when the headphones are removed from head, support for Microsoft Cortana and other digital voice assistants when Bluetooth paired to mobile devices and Windows 10 computers that have the appropriate apps installed, and earcups that swivel for ease of carrying and storage. The free Surface Audio app download for Apple or Android mobile devices can be used to change the sound of the headphones, switch between various noise canceling and ambient sound monitoring levels, show the battery level, disable the touch controls, and update the headphone's firmware. This model comes with a detachable 47-inch long audio cable with built-in mic for smartphone, mobile device and computer use, a USB charging cable, and a carrying case.
Sound quality: In Bluetooth noise cancelling mode we found the Surface Headphone 2 delivers Excellent active noise reduction and overall sound quality that falls in the Very Good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks. The overall sound can be summarized as generally smooth, but bass-heavy and a bit grainy. With the Surface Audio app EQ set to "Flat" (the as received state of the headphone) the Bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes deep, but is somewhat prominent and boomy. Midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is even but slightly grainy and smoothed over, and the bass somewhat crowds the midrange. Treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is even and extended. The sound has a good sense of liveliness and is somewhat open--sound-wise it almost seems like you don't have anything plugging up your ears. The model does a good job of recovering room ambience (the sense of the acoustic space in which the audio program that's being listened to was recorded). This model provides Excellent noise reduction that is fairly even across most of the frequency range with low frequencies reduced the most. When the noise cancelling feature is engaged a slight hiss can be heard in very quiet environments when there is no audio program material to mask it. The noise cancellation adjustment ranges from a maximum noise cancellation setting to somewhat amplifying ambient sound.
Comfort: We found that these headphones produce a sense of moderate pressure around the ears. As typical of over-ear models the ear pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use. Users with larger heads might find that the headband does not have enough adjustment range to allow the earcups rest properly over the ears and/or that the headband presses uncomfortably on the top of the head. Users with larger ears might find that the over-the-ear fit of the ear pads feel cramped, or that the ear pads sit on, rather than around their ears; in that case the less-than-ideal fit around the ears might interfere with the earpad seal and reduce the noise reduction capabilities of the headphone. Users with smaller heads may find they can't get a good earpad seal and that the bass becomes a bit subdued, and that when they lean far forward the headphones feel unstable and shift forward, but not to the point of falling off. Incidental contact with the tap controls on either earcup can cause unintentional playing, pausing, or track skipping. incidental contact with the volume ring on the right earcup or the noise cancelling ring on the left earcup can respectively cause unintentional volume or noise cancelling/sound monitoring level changes. When wearing this model while walking the muffled vibrations from each foot step can be heard slightly through the headphones regardless of whether the power is off or on, or whether or not the headphones are in noise cancelling or ambient mode. When the audio cord is used the sound of it rubbing on clothing may be faintly heard through the earphones.
