Review of the Phillips Cityscape downtown denims.

BallGum · May 25, 2014

With a £60 price tag, you'd expect the Phillips CityScape Downtown Denims (quite a mouthful, isn't it?) to cut corners somewhere, in vain of keeping the price low, but that isn't the case. These on-ear headphones look great, are built fairly solidly, and have a pleasing sound.

Starting off with the looks, Phillips has gone with a surprisingly effective simple design, with a metal band padded slightly and wrapped in denim material, holding the the two cans together. The drivers are encased in hard plastic, with the inner side resting against the ear padded with memory foam and wrapped in pleather. They have a nice amount of swivel to them, allowing them to adjust to any head shape fairly well,

There is no "hole" for the sound to travel out of and into your ear. Instead, it has thin, stretchy cotton over it. This is part of Phillips "Music Seal" technology, and while it may seem like marketing, it actually works, creating a constant seal between your ear and the headphones, no matter how you place them.

A meter long, flat cord ending in a 3.5 millimetre jack connects them to your device. As a result, the cable resists tangling. It includes a microphone and button, but sadly, it only allows you to pause and play songs when connected to your smart device.

Adjusting the headphones for your head size is one area where the build does seem to fall down on, with the mechanism feeling mushy, and not at all as nice as the rest of the product. The Phillips logo is also a minor annoyance, slightly ruining the discreet aesthetic of the design.

All in all, the Denims look great, are comfortable to wear, and feel like they're built to last a while.

Moving on to the sound quality, the headphones may not "punch out of their class", but that doesn't mean they sound bad by any means. For reference, I have previously owned a pair of Sennheiser CX475s, and had listened to various other on ear headphones. I should note that the Denims did take quite a while to "burn in", but it was completely worth it.

The Denims offer a clean sound, with detailed bass, and nicely sparkled highs. The bass does seem somewhat light compared to other headphones, but it is still punchy, unlike the CX475s, which produced what can only be described as "thumps".

This allows you to appreciate other aspects of the sound, such as the mids. They are full, clear, and detailed in their presentation.

However, they don't have as much kick to the sound as I would have liked, but the upside of this is that they aren't fatiguing to listen to, even for hours on end.

In summary the sound is balanced, clear, and quite fun to listen to, and I have no qualms recommending them to anybody who is looking for a stylish pair of headphones to take with them on the go.

The main reasons for this review were:

A.) These are on sale on Amazon from £60 down to £25.

B.) I'm relaunching my blog under a new name, with a new design.

If you enjoyed the article here is the link to the website (sorry, but I'm desperate ):

http://theballofgum.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/phillips-cityscape-downtown-denim-review.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-SHL5605FB-10-CitiScape-Headphones-Black-Denim/dp/B00CD2Z738

Here's the Amazon link( make sure to use Linus's little tag thing) :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-SHL5605FB-10-CitiScape-Headphones-Black-Denim/dp/B00CD2Z738

Anyway, that's it guys, hope you enjoyed the read, and found it informative.