Between smartphones, music streaming services and home audio advances, everyone needs a pair of headphones these days. Budget headphones can often perform just as well as much more expensive models. Small, Sheffield-based design outfit Pure Mayhem has launched its first prooduct, the Pure Flexi headphones, and they’re surprisingly good. But are they worth your money? Find out by reading our Pure Mayhem Pure Flexi headphones review. (See also: The 26 best headphones of 2014.)
Pure Mayhem Pure Flexi Headphones: Price, Quality and Design
The Pure Mayhem Pure Flexi headphones are far from the greatest build quality; they’re simple and plastic-y, but with a price tag of £25 (from morecomputers.com) it’s only to be expected. The design is a simple black plastic headband, with a yellow pleather cushion at the top and earpads made from the same material, incorporating the Pure Mayhem monogram on the outsides. The design and colour scheme are instantly reminiscent of the classic Sennheiser HD414 headphones, but there are definitely worse models one could ape. They’re not overly garish in the manner of some Skullcandy or Beats by Dre offerings, and they’re more than stylish enough to wear in public. Comfort-wise, they fit fairly well, with protracted use offering no annoyances. You won’t feel as if they’re not there by any manner of means, but they equally won’t clamp down hard enough after a few hours to make you feel like you’re in Total Recall either. One of the key features of this pair of headphones is the infinitely adjustable nature of the earcups. Rather than the ratchet system traditionally implied by most over-ear headphones, the Pure Flexi’s method is a sliding motion that can be used to put the cups in any position, including detaching them altogether should the mood take you. However, convenient though this may be, the lack of defined settings will drive anyone with OCD tendencies to the point of distraction.
Pure Mayhem Pure Flexi Headphones: Audio Quality and Specs
They’re also not fantastic at cutting out ambient noise. There’s no active noise-cancelling technology, and the seal over your ear isn’t good enough to block out what’s going on around you. Additionally, this means that listening at any kind of high volume is going to cause audio leaking, so these might not be the best bet for taking on the tube. Audio quality was reasonably impressive considering the price – it wasn’t noticeably tinny, and the tonal balance was pretty good. The only thing we spotted was a slight tendency towards distortion on the low end, but it’s so slight as to be barely worth mentioning. The treble and midranges are all bright, clear and punchy enough, and the Pure Mayhem cans fared as well with classical as they did with guitar and vocal-led rock tracks. They don’t have the depth of the Sennheiser HD 429s, which also have sharper treble. However, aside from that, there isn’t nearly as much of a drop in quality from the more expensive brand as you’d expect. The Flexis also rivaled the cheap-looking, bass-heavy Skullcandy UpRocks both in terms of design and audio capabilities. Bearing in mind that this is the first effort of a tiny design collective, it’s a respectable achievement. The headphones have a 1.2m long cord that’s a good size for mobile devices and personal stereos, providing a comfortable length without excess trailing cables, although users wanting to plug them into a computer or Hi-Fi system may struggle. They come equipped with a standard 3.5mm jack, as well as a one-button remote and microphone for handsfree calling. In terms of tech specs, the Pure Flexi headphones boast a frequency response of 15Hz~20KHz and a sensitivity of 113dB+3dB, with 40mm drivers and an impedance of 32 ohms.
