While I am currently using them, let me introduce you to the Korp Krypton headphones from G-Lab!
They arrive in a small, somewhat old-fashioned box that does not look like much: lots of gray and white that do not highlight the product, itself presented with a photo in dark shades. A border, ranging from yellow to orange, and the three main features in orange letters struggle to raise the atmosphere a little.
On the front, English only; you have to turn the box over to find information in French, written in small. The main characteristics of the headphones are therefore:
- Microphone in each ear cup
- Low latency gaming mode
- Ultra-fast response microphones
- Easy pairing
- Sensitivity: 104 +/- 3dB
- Ultra light weight: 48g
- Type-C charging connector
Inside, a plastic gangue holds the case in place, which serves as both storage and charging space. A mini USB cable of about 25 cm accompanies it, which you can therefore plug into any adapter, socket or computer. I didn't need to go through this before using the headphones the first time. Opening the box, I had the excellent surprise of seeing LEDs light up and scroll up and down. Finally some madness! I later discovered that in addition to being classy, these lights serve as battery level indicators, with a level that can therefore be different for each ear. Practice !
The earphones are very light and only a few centimeters long, with a stem that sits along the earlobe (namely I don't wear earrings but that might be bothersome for some people), without however, rub on the cheek. Three different soft plastic tips fit over the headphones, in three sizes. The mediums are installed by default, I quickly switched to the small ones which are more pleasant for my ears. Installing this so-called end cap is a bit laborious, but at the same time it's not something you'll change often once you find the right size. The headphones hold up surprisingly well, even in the context of a sporting activity. If, like me, you plan to use them from your desk, to play games or listen to music, no worries, you won't have to crawl under the desk to retrieve an earphone every two minutes, even if you have sometimes tend to rage a little!
I did my tests exclusively on a mobile phone, an iPhone 8. The first pairing went wrong. For some reason, only one of the two headphones was detected, so I had my music in mono on the right ear. Following the very succinct information in the mini documentation, armed with a magnifying glass to successfully read, I followed their advice, i.e. separate the headphones, then put them back in the box before starting from scratch. Oddly, the second pairing went well although I don't believe I did anything different. Finally, it's a detail because now my phone and the headphones have been presented, and they chat automatically as soon as they cross paths, as long as they stay about ten meters from each other.
On the sound side, I don't have a good ear, but it seems quite honest to me, with a good transcription of the sound spectrum. Of course, the speakers are modest in size, 12mm, with an impedance of 32 Ω (+/- 15%), so don't hope for the moon. Moreover, the documentation does not even give an indication of the output power. There is also no application that could allow you to change settings. But the objective of this product is elsewhere: roaming. And the device ticks most of the battery life boxes: up to 5 hours of listening time, a 90-minute charging time in the case, which is capable of offering two recharges (for a total of one fifteen hours). Note that the case will take about 2 hours to recover from a full charge. Some competitors do a little better on this point (you can go up to 25 hours with some) but it seems to me suitable for most "normal" uses.
There are no buttons on the headphones, everything is done by touch, on the upper part, depending on the situation: listening to music or a call in progress. One key will pause or restart the music, while two keys will deactivate or reactivate the sound. It is also possible to directly call a voice assistant (Siri or Google Now), and even to activate a game mode which lowers the latency to a maximum of 35 ms. Plan a post-it to memorize the different commands at the beginning if you have the memory of a goldfish (like me), I admit that I prefer good big obvious buttons, but it is clear that it would not have necessarily not been possible given the surface available here.
To conclude, for a budget of around €50, the Korp Krypton headphones from THE G-LAB offer excellent value for money. In my humble opinion, its two big major strengths come from the excellent fit in the ear, combined with a featherweight, and its really low latency, particularly suitable for video games. You can just as easily use them on your phone to listen to music during your morning jog as to play on your Windows computer (but my PC currently refuses Bluetooth so I couldn't test). If you need a product of this style, I recommend them without hesitation:
THE G-LAB - Korp Krypton Headphones - €49,99
