Philips Fidelio L3

What should good headphones have? This is a question that comes up more and more in an increasingly connected and wireless age. And what's the deal?

Of course, they must offer quality sound, fit nicely in the ears, must dampen external sounds well or even have a system of active elimination of external noises, they must not be (too) heavy but at the same time have a battery that lasts a decent amount of time, operation must be simple and intuitive, and what else could be found. There are quite a few models on the market that meet many of the above conditions, but there are very few that meet all of them. And the Philips Fidelio L3 is definitely one of those. The headphones have been talked about in audiophile circles for some time, since it was already clear from the announcement that there will be no compromises and that it will be a kind of ultimate wireless portable model that can compete with studio headphones. And when the case came on the market, we decided to test it.

The package itself, in which you get the Philips Fidelio L3 headphones, makes it clear that it is a quality product. They are placed in a bag made of breathable material, so that sweat and moisture do not accumulate on the headphones, and everything is safely stored in a reinforced leather case, which can be placed in a backpack or suitcase without fear of damage, and in the case, all the necessary cables - charging and connecting - are also stored in a special pocket. Connecting? Yes, the headphones can be connected to the sound source via Bluetooth 5.1 or with the included classic cable with a 3.5 mm connector. And why did we write that Philips made no compromises with the Fidelio L3 headphones? Let's go in order.

The headphones have built-in 40 mm sound units with a frequency range of 7-40,000 Hz, which support high-resolution sound (Hi-Res Audio) and are calibrated to ensure really high-quality sound. The low tones are very distinct, but in the right proportion to the mids and highs, so that even speech sounds extremely distinct. The audio units are surrounded by soft memory foam cushions that fit nicely into the ears and dampen external sounds or noise very well, but so that they do not "slip" through, the headphones are equipped with hybrid active noise cancellation (ANC). It's a flexible way of noise cancellation that eliminates unwanted sounds with the help of an external and internal microphone in each earbud, allowing you to fully focus on the music, and using the Philips Headphones app for Android and iOS, the level of noise cancellation can also be adjusted to your own needs. We tested the system by listening to music in a room where other members of the household were watching TV. Despite the fact that everything was quite loud, nothing could be heard in the headphones, except of course the music. Eliminating external noises is not always the most expedient, because sometimes we have to hear them. Let's say on the road or in a room where we don't want to disturb anyone by listening to music, but at the same time we can hear if someone is calling us. For this purpose, the headphones offer the Awareness mode, which allows us to hear the noises from the surroundings again on request.

We wrote that noise cancellation takes place with the help of two microphones in each earpiece. However, this is not the only function they perform. They are also intended for telephone or video conference conversations, and through the supported Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa, it is possible to quickly prepare, for example, a music playlist.

With headphones, there is always a cross with control. Firstly, because they are relatively small devices that don't have a lot of space for buttons or anything like that anyway, and secondly because these buttons, even if they are there, are not visible during use and therefore need to be tapped. Which is again not very practical. In the case of the Fidelio L3 headphones, the issue is resolved in such a way that the right outer surface performs the function of a trackpad, through which it is possible to adjust the volume, move between tracks, answer phone calls and the like. The use is extremely intuitive and logical - by sliding up and down we adjust the volume, and left and right we walk between recordings. But there is another very lucky solution - if we cover the tile with the whole palm, the headphones are silenced, so that we can, for example, hear the interlocutor without having to lift the handset from our ears. And one more thing – if we remove the headphones from our ears, playback automatically stops. A good way to save battery…

The headphones therefore offer high-quality sound, extremely good elimination of external noise, are easy to operate, and connecting, whether wired or wireless, is simple... What about comfort? The specs state that the headphones offer up to 38 hours of playback without using the noise canceling system and 32 hours with it on a single battery charge. A fairly powerful battery has been installed in the Fidelio L3, which usually means that it is also larger and, above all, heavier. And how does it sound on headphones? Their total weight is 360 grams, which is not a lot considering what they offer, and in addition, the parts that touch the skin or hair are of good quality, so that even prolonged use does not cause problems. 32 hours of playback is more than a solid capacity, so we can sometimes forget to connect them to the charger for a day or two. However, if it still happens that the "juice" runs out, a quick 15-minute charge ensures up to 6 hours of autonomy.

What about the price? Philips Fidelio L3 headphones cost €349.99. ▪

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