There are lots of nice Bluetooth headsets available in the market. Most of them are developed on the concept of good audio quality and user comfort and they provide it successfully. But wouldn’t it be great if a headphone was smart and feature rich as well?
Parrot Zik 2.0 is Bluetooth headphone which is having all the usual functions of a Bluetooth headset along with a bunch of extra features and functionalities as well. We were trying our hands on Parrot Zik 2.0 since last few days and here is the detailed hands-on review of Parrot Zik 2.0 for all readers of Geeky Stuffs.
Parrot Zik 2.0 comes in a big retail box. The upper portion of the retail box is having transparent plastic which let you see the headphone. You will also find few of the highlighted features of the headphone printed on the transparent plastic.
Retail box of Parrot Zik 2.0 is having a mount to place the headphone and the below the mount, you will find the battery, USB cable, AUX cable, a pouch and a user manual. The whole retail box is printed with the information and features of the Parrot Zik 2.0. It would be really nice that if Parrot could provide a good quality carrying case instead of a useless pouch
You can watch our Parrot Zik 2.0 unboxing video below.
Parrot Zik 2.0 is designed by Philippe Starck who is a well known French designer and architecture. Parrot Zik 2.0 is having a minimalistic look but still comes with lots of features. Most of the controls are given on the right side. You can remove the cover of the right side pad and inside you will find a battery slot and touch-sensitive panel. The power on-off button is also provided on the right side.
A good portion of headband is having metal but still it is very comfortable and the earpads fit perfectly on ears. Though the weight of Parrot Zik 2.0 is 270g, it feels very lightweight on head and in hands. There is a 3.5mm audio port is given in which you can connect the AUX cable if you do not want to use the Bluetooth. It is having the Parrot branding on the pads and headband .
Parrot Zik 2.0 is having the touch-sensitive panel on the right side pad which let you control the music and volume by touching the panel. You can change the track by swiping your finger horizontally on the panel. By swiping up or down your finger on it, you can control the volume and you can also play or pause the music by touching the panel once.
It is a nice feature for sure but it needs practice to use it perfectly as in the beginning, I had to try multiple times to adjust the volume perfectly using the touch sensitive panel. But once you know how to use the touch panel, using it is pretty easy. Also if you are having the habit of holding the earpads while listening the music, it will cause issues as you will be touching the music controls now and then by mistake.
Another nice feature of Parrot Zik 2.0 is that it automatically pauses a song if you remove the headphones from your ears. Once you put the back, it will play the song again.
Parrot Zik 2.0 comes with lots of advanced and smart features but to use them , you need to install the Parrot Zik 2.0 apps on your device. Unfortunately, Parrot Zik 2.0 apps are available only for the iOS and Android devices. So if you are Windows Phone device, you will not be able to enjoy all the features of this nice headphone which is really a big blow for all the Windows Phone lovers.
Parrot Zik 2.0 sports the Bluetooth 3.0 and built-in NFC and supports the AD2P, AVRCP, HFP and PBAP profiles. Though it connected easily with most of phones we have tried on Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms , there were some issues of frequent disconnection or not connecting at all with few older Android devices.
This is what I loved most about the Parrot Zik 2.0. The noise control quality is really very good in this device and it also provide adaptive noise cancellation which smartly detects your environment and performs the noise cancellation based on that to provide you a great music experience.
Parrot Zik 2.0 provides a great listening experience to its user with great noise cancellation and audio output. Parrot Zik 2.0 provides the digital 32-bit audio processing to produce great quality sound. You can even change the frequency of the signal with the 5 band Pro-equalizer using the Parrot Zik 2.0 app.
One very smart feature in Parrot Zik 2.0 is the Smart Tuning. Based on the tags attached to a audio file like artist name, music genre etc, Parrot Zik 2.0 selects the best preset and equalizer settings for you to improve your musical experience. If you want to edit or create a preset then, Parrot Zik 2.0 app let you do that as well to provide you the best and customized musical experience.
There is a nice Concert Hall Effect available on Parrot Zik 2.0 which produces the sound of a real stereo system, thanks to the powerful digital sound processor it comes with. This feature provides a more natural sound and acoustics for comfort listening. You can even customize it using the Parrot Zik 2.0 app.
Though the sound quality of Parrot Zik 2.0 is very good, I still wish to have it more loudness as sometimes even at the full volume and noise cancellation I felt the need to increase the volume.
Parrot Zik 2.0 comes with a 850 mAh battery and its performance of is pretty good if not great. It’s claimed to provide 6 hours of battery life while using the normal mode with Bluetooth, Concert Hall Effect, ANC turned on. I received a bit less than 5 hours of battery life in this mode which is not bad.
But it also offers the flight mode using which you can improve the battery life by turning of the Bluetooth and extra features like Concert Hall Effect etc. to provide an overall 18 hours of listening experience. There is also an Eco mode which let you get 7 hours of battery life with Convert Hall Effect.
Parrot Zik 2.0 is no doubt the most advanced Bluetooth headphone available in the market, thanks to the lots of advanced features and a dedicated app for lots of customization. The sound quality is great, the device is having good quality material and a design to use it for hours continuously without any issues. The battery life is moderate and you can also improve it with the flight mode.
The downside are that there is no supported app for Windows Phone devices, the volume is a bit low and the devices is expensive at a price tag of $400. But if you can ignore these cons and ready to pay the amount then, Parrot Zik 2.0 is a must have Bluetooth headphone for every music lover.
Parrot Zik 2.0 is Bluetooth headphone which is having all the usual functions of a Bluetooth headset along with a bunch of extra features and functionalities as well. We were trying our hands on Parrot Zik 2.0 since last few days and here is the detailed hands-on review of Parrot Zik 2.0 for all readers of Geeky Stuffs.
Parrot Zik 2.0 : Hands-on Review, Specs and Features
Retail Box and Unboxing
Parrot Zik 2.0 comes in a big retail box. The upper portion of the retail box is having transparent plastic which let you see the headphone. You will also find few of the highlighted features of the headphone printed on the transparent plastic.
Retail box of Parrot Zik 2.0 is having a mount to place the headphone and the below the mount, you will find the battery, USB cable, AUX cable, a pouch and a user manual. The whole retail box is printed with the information and features of the Parrot Zik 2.0. It would be really nice that if Parrot could provide a good quality carrying case instead of a useless pouch
You can watch our Parrot Zik 2.0 unboxing video below.
Design
Parrot Zik 2.0 is designed by Philippe Starck who is a well known French designer and architecture. Parrot Zik 2.0 is having a minimalistic look but still comes with lots of features. Most of the controls are given on the right side. You can remove the cover of the right side pad and inside you will find a battery slot and touch-sensitive panel. The power on-off button is also provided on the right side.
A good portion of headband is having metal but still it is very comfortable and the earpads fit perfectly on ears. Though the weight of Parrot Zik 2.0 is 270g, it feels very lightweight on head and in hands. There is a 3.5mm audio port is given in which you can connect the AUX cable if you do not want to use the Bluetooth. It is having the Parrot branding on the pads and headband .
Touch Controls
Parrot Zik 2.0 is having the touch-sensitive panel on the right side pad which let you control the music and volume by touching the panel. You can change the track by swiping your finger horizontally on the panel. By swiping up or down your finger on it, you can control the volume and you can also play or pause the music by touching the panel once.
It is a nice feature for sure but it needs practice to use it perfectly as in the beginning, I had to try multiple times to adjust the volume perfectly using the touch sensitive panel. But once you know how to use the touch panel, using it is pretty easy. Also if you are having the habit of holding the earpads while listening the music, it will cause issues as you will be touching the music controls now and then by mistake.
Another nice feature of Parrot Zik 2.0 is that it automatically pauses a song if you remove the headphones from your ears. Once you put the back, it will play the song again.
Parrot Zik 2.0 App
Parrot Zik 2.0 comes with lots of advanced and smart features but to use them , you need to install the Parrot Zik 2.0 apps on your device. Unfortunately, Parrot Zik 2.0 apps are available only for the iOS and Android devices. So if you are Windows Phone device, you will not be able to enjoy all the features of this nice headphone which is really a big blow for all the Windows Phone lovers.
Connectivity
Parrot Zik 2.0 sports the Bluetooth 3.0 and built-in NFC and supports the AD2P, AVRCP, HFP and PBAP profiles. Though it connected easily with most of phones we have tried on Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms , there were some issues of frequent disconnection or not connecting at all with few older Android devices.
Adaptive Noise Cancellation
This is what I loved most about the Parrot Zik 2.0. The noise control quality is really very good in this device and it also provide adaptive noise cancellation which smartly detects your environment and performs the noise cancellation based on that to provide you a great music experience.
Sound Quality
Parrot Zik 2.0 provides a great listening experience to its user with great noise cancellation and audio output. Parrot Zik 2.0 provides the digital 32-bit audio processing to produce great quality sound. You can even change the frequency of the signal with the 5 band Pro-equalizer using the Parrot Zik 2.0 app.
One very smart feature in Parrot Zik 2.0 is the Smart Tuning. Based on the tags attached to a audio file like artist name, music genre etc, Parrot Zik 2.0 selects the best preset and equalizer settings for you to improve your musical experience. If you want to edit or create a preset then, Parrot Zik 2.0 app let you do that as well to provide you the best and customized musical experience.
There is a nice Concert Hall Effect available on Parrot Zik 2.0 which produces the sound of a real stereo system, thanks to the powerful digital sound processor it comes with. This feature provides a more natural sound and acoustics for comfort listening. You can even customize it using the Parrot Zik 2.0 app.
Though the sound quality of Parrot Zik 2.0 is very good, I still wish to have it more loudness as sometimes even at the full volume and noise cancellation I felt the need to increase the volume.
Battery Performance
Parrot Zik 2.0 comes with a 850 mAh battery and its performance of is pretty good if not great. It’s claimed to provide 6 hours of battery life while using the normal mode with Bluetooth, Concert Hall Effect, ANC turned on. I received a bit less than 5 hours of battery life in this mode which is not bad.
But it also offers the flight mode using which you can improve the battery life by turning of the Bluetooth and extra features like Concert Hall Effect etc. to provide an overall 18 hours of listening experience. There is also an Eco mode which let you get 7 hours of battery life with Convert Hall Effect.
Conclusion
Parrot Zik 2.0 is no doubt the most advanced Bluetooth headphone available in the market, thanks to the lots of advanced features and a dedicated app for lots of customization. The sound quality is great, the device is having good quality material and a design to use it for hours continuously without any issues. The battery life is moderate and you can also improve it with the flight mode.
The downside are that there is no supported app for Windows Phone devices, the volume is a bit low and the devices is expensive at a price tag of $400. But if you can ignore these cons and ready to pay the amount then, Parrot Zik 2.0 is a must have Bluetooth headphone for every music lover.