BitFenix have been making waves since their entry into the market, known for their chassis, they now leap into the deep waters of audio with the FLO headset.
Product on review:BitFenix FLO
Manufacturer & Sponsor: BitFenix
Street Price: £49.99
BitFenix can be quickly identified by their unique and fresh styling to which has given us some outstanding chassis, such as the Prodigy and Shinobi line ups.
Making a bold move into the audio sector, Bitfenix plunge feet first, bringing their experience, fresh design and SoftTouch surface with them, and so, born is the FLO. Powered by high grade 40mm Neodymium drivers in a fully modular, lightweight shell, the FLO looks on to pound the audio arena into shape.
Overview by BirFenix
From the BitFenix Design Lab comes Flo™ – the premium PC headset made to move with you. Combining studio-engineered sound and signature BitFenix design, Flo delivers the audio you need at the PC and the styling you want on the road. Flo is optimized for stellar sound. Precision-tuned acoustic chambers equipped with 40mm Neodymium drivers ensure balanced, high definition sound whether you’re fragging the opposition, or listening to your favorite tunes on the go. Simply plug in the flexible microphone to dominate your opponents, and then detach it to rock to your own beats during your victory lap. A headset worthy of being worn on the road needs to look the part, which is why the designers at BitFenix have crafted Flo with a clean, stylish, and modern look. Multiple colors offer plenty of options for a look all your own, and signature BitFenix SofTouch™ Surface Treatment lends a premium matte look and soft feel. Flo is also engineered for maximum comfort. The self-adjusting headband contours to the shape of your head and provides optimal support. SoftFeel™ earcups provide supreme comfort during long listening sessions, and aside from providing astonishing durability, the steel frame structure gives optimal pressure for extreme comfort and maximum noise attenuation.
Specifications & Features
Materials: Steel, Plastic, SofTouch™ Surface Treatment, SoftFeel™ Earcups
Colors: Midnight Black, Arctic White, Fire Red, Cobalt Blue
Acoustic Design: Dynamic, Closed-back
Driver: 16µ, Neodymium magnet, 40mm
Sensitivity: 96db /1mW
Frequency Response: 20hz-20khz
Rated Impedance: 68 Ohm
Earpads: SoftFeel™
Headband Pressure: Approximately 5N
Cables 1m Straight Cable With Remote: 1m Straight Mobile Audio Cable, 2m Straight Cable With Headphone / Microphone Plugs
Connector: Gold-plated 3.5mm stereo mini-plug with aluminum sheath
Net Weight: 200g
Contents:
Flo Headset, Flexible Microphone, 1m Straight Cable With Remote, 1m Straight Mobile Audio cable, 2m Straight Cable With Headphone / Microphone Plugs
Colors: Midnight Black, Arctic White, Fire Red, Cobalt Blue
Acoustic Design: Dynamic, Closed-back
Driver: 16µ, Neodymium magnet, 40mm
Sensitivity: 96db /1mW
Frequency Response: 20hz-20khz
Rated Impedance: 68 Ohm
Earpads: SoftFeel™
Headband Pressure: Approximately 5N
Cables 1m Straight Cable With Remote: 1m Straight Mobile Audio Cable, 2m Straight Cable With Headphone / Microphone Plugs
Connector: Gold-plated 3.5mm stereo mini-plug with aluminum sheath
Net Weight: 200g
Contents:
Flo Headset, Flexible Microphone, 1m Straight Cable With Remote, 1m Straight Mobile Audio cable, 2m Straight Cable With Headphone / Microphone Plugs
Signature BitFenix Design
From the get go, the BitFenix Design Lab set out to make a PC headset that users would want to wear away from the PC. Coating the earcups is none other than BitFenix SofTouch™ Surface Treatment for a premium matte finish. Even the cables come with aluminum sheaths for an impressively high-quality look and feel. Available in four vibrant colors, Flo offers the clean and modern form that BitFenix is known for.
Crystal-Clear Audio
The foundation of any headset is sound quality. Flo brings this in spades with 40mm Neodymium drivers for superbly bright and balanced audio. Precision-tuned acoustic chambers with the closed-back design not only ensure a superior aural experience, but enables excellent noise attenuation for crystal-clear sound – even on-the-go.
Convenient PC Operation
Flo is tremendously easy-to-use while at the PC. The included in-line remote control with smooth sliding volume action makes it easy to adjust volume and microphone mute, and the flexible microphone allows you to attain just the right angle to ensure clear and noise-free voice communication.
Supreme Comfort
A good headset should be your own personal oasis. With earcups featuring our SoftFeel™ material, Flo provides tremendous comfort that is ideal for those long listening sessions. The self-adjusting headband gives just the right amount of support, while the steel frame structure delivers optimal pressure during use.
Made to Move
Designed with mobility in mind, Flo is meant to be taken with you. Removing the flexible microphone and using the included mobile audio cable transforms Flo from a PC headset into a premium lightweight headphone that drives stunning audio on-the-go. With Flo, PC headsets no longer need to stay with the PC.
Packaging & Accessories
Packaging front
The packaging has attractive imaging, showing a simple yet striking image of the product with a dash of colour in the background. There is also a partial window to see the product itself.
Reverse side of packaging
The rear side of the box gives an overview and detailed specifications of the product accompanied by images of package contents.
Female to headphone/mic jacks
First part of the modular cables, we have a female 3.5mm jack to two male jacks, headphone and microphone
3.5-3.5mm jacks with an in-line remote
Cable extension featuring a male to male 3.5mm jacks with an inline remote included. The inline remote has a thumb slider for microphone mute and volume control. Release models will include a 1m male to male cable for use with mobile products.
Removable microphone
The included microphone is detachable though not as flexible as some may like.
Closer Look
Front view
The ear cups are noticeably slim and we have a suspension style headband, which is good because they are effective in giving good fit and comfort as well as being lightweight.
From the side
On the side we find the BitFenix logo. The earcups and the headband joints are covered in the soft feel surface that we have found on previous BitFenix products. Some love it, some loathe it, but it looks undeniably good. The ear cups themselves are large and surrounded by soft padding coated in ‘soft feels surface’, it could be PU leather or a completely synthetic replacement.
The headband
The headband is made out of a flexible plastic that features very soft squishy cushions for comfort. This is well implemented and a very good design consideration where some products can over cushion the headband and not focusing enough on the ear pads, this can lead to wasted cost and even have a detrimental effect on comfort, no such mistake made here though.
Dual jack
A complete modular design means we find two female jack ports, one for the audio I/O and one for the microphone.
The BitFenix FLO
Performance Testing
Setup, Design & Observations
The first impression is that it is pretty lightweight at just 200g and upon wearing, it fits very well and is very comfortable even when wearing glasses for long periods of time. The ear cups should easily fully cover peoples ears and do a good job at passive noise reduction. The head clamp strength is perfect, not too tight and not too weak. The soft feel surface is a little hit and miss, overtime it may wear off and look a little tatty but that isn’t a big issue.
Modular cables have become a popular trend due to the increased benefits of being able to replace the cables over time as they may sheer and wear with use, not to mention that it makes for neat and easy storage as well as transferability between various devices such as PC and mobile, because the FLO is fully modular, it can also add to the longevity and robustness of the product. Some may argue that modular cables may ‘dirty’ an analogue signal but you could also argue that when implemented well, it should have very little negative impact. The included cables are flexible and strong with the BiFenix name printed on the jack ends, which is a nice classy touch.
Multi-Media
Throwing on various ‘go to’ tracks to test the FLO headset, I was actually startled by the accuracy of the tones reproduced. It was instantly clear that BitFenix did not jump into this market naively, but with a BOMB! Soft and creamy bass, clear, sharp mids with crystal high tones, what’s more, this headset is incredibly well balanced. If you want good quality monitor headphones, here they are! Listening to various electronic artists such as CRIM3S and Sabrepulse was a exciting and involving, Acoustic music from Clannad and Folkearth was touching and precise while Doom metal by Ahab was deep and powerful. After listening to some Metalcore by Anterior, it could be said that there is a slight preference towards the bass, but nothing beyond the control of a good equaliser.
Gaming was great fun and involving, a few matches on DOTA 2 followed by a little Assassin’s Creed IV was very enjoyable, the FLO was competent in handling exciting and tense sound to the slow pace of crowds and leisurely moving around.
Microphone
Microphone was very good in Skype, described as very natural sounding with little background noise.
Conclusion
Some may have thought that BitFenix entering the audio market would be a shot in the dark, when really they were pro snipers armed with night vision goggles that can hit the mark every time. At least the latter is what I would believe after experiencing the FLO. Something not mentioned yet is that the BitFenix FLO can be had at just £49.99 from OverClockers UK, which is sitting at the affordable end of ‘midrange’ headsets in regards to price. If this is your budget then you would be a fool to overlook the FLO, available in various colours, there should be much appeal and interest from anyone looking for good quality audio.
Downsides are minor and the only concern I can foresee is after a while of ‘general storage wear’ the FLO could visually look a little tatty as the ‘SoftTouch’ surface could wear off. Some areas of build quality may seem cheap, however, I would say that it was competent and strategic design compromises. The sound quality matches, maybe even betters, many mid-high end headsets. If your budget is in the £40-80 arena this should be number 1 on your list. The only reason I could understand that people wouldn’t choose the BitFenix FLO is for aesthetic or material preference, which in reality should be a low priority when considering audio anyway.
The BitFenix FLO gives clinical precision to audio that punches well above its price tag. Fully modular, good comfort and nice design aesthetic, Nothing less than Gold and our Amazing Value awards will do.
Pros.
+ Crystal clear ‘monitor’ grade audio
+ Very Comfortable
+ Lightweight
+ Attractive design and aesthetic
+ Completely modular
+ Quality microphone
+ Price
Cons.
– ‘SoftTouch’ surface may wear
+ Crystal clear ‘monitor’ grade audio
+ Very Comfortable
+ Lightweight
+ Attractive design and aesthetic
+ Completely modular
+ Quality microphone
+ Price
Cons.
– ‘SoftTouch’ surface may wear
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net. Thanks to BitFenix for providing today’s review sample.
