When I last looked at a product from NOX it was their gamer oriented Specialist set of headphones which I liked really well. However, most of the time I have been preferring earbuds. Well NOX sent me a set of their new Scout earbuds to check out. Are they as good as the Specialist? Let’s find out.
The Scout headset is of the type that fits in your ears with adjustable silicon cushions. While some might not like this style I really like how they feel in my ears plus with the different cushion sizes they tend to stay put in your ears when you are using them. NOX also includes a unique feature in the earbud design. The flap near the cushions help you safely pull these out of your ears. On the right earbud is the microphone and where the left and right headphone cable meat is the button for answering calls or pausing music on phones like my Droid 2 and the iPhone or any phone that takes a 3.5 mm headphone cable.
The cable is also unique. In an effort to help combat tangled headphone cables, NOX used an interesting cable design for the rest of the headset. Below the button, the cable is flat and wide rather than just a continuation of the left and right headphone cables. This design does actually work fairly well to avoid tables. The tangles still happen occasionally, but the cable design makes it much easier to untangle.
When listening to some podcasts I was more than happy with the quality of the audio. It wasn’t as good as the Altec Lansing earbuds I’ve reviewed before, but it was more than sufficient for my uses. The bass response is also pretty good for a set of earbuds with the Scouts providing a bit more thump than the iFrogz headset I bought recently.
The best thing about these is that you can easily transition from music to phone call . To answer my Droid 2 while I was listening to music all I had to do was press the button on the headphone cable and I was on the phone. I also discovered that the headset will also enable you to record audio as well on the Droid 2 with programs like FourTracks Pro and Hertz using the inline microphone. I was able to get much better audio quality on recordings using the headset microphone.
For gamers, the Scout headset will also work with Xbox 360, PS3 and PC with the Negotiator adapter. You can use the headset to listen to in-game action as well as using the microphone and the Negotiator’s mixing features to get both chat and game audio at the same time.
Lastly, one thing I really like about better quality headphones like these is they also provide a case. I wish more companies would do this as it helps you carry more than one set of buds in the same pocket and keeps them from getting tangled. It also makes it easier to fish out the headset amongst the other contents of my bag.
The NOX Audio Scout headset is available for pre-order at $79.99 on Amazon.com and comes in Black, Blue or Red colors.
What I liked: In ear style design that helps to keep the earbuds where they belong. I like the inline microphone and the answer button.
What I didn’t care for: While audio did sound good, it was a tiny bit on the tinny side. I almost didn’t notice it though so it’s a pretty decent headset.
