Treblab’s Z7 Pro takes its inspiration from Sony, but its price from Walmart
MSRP $160.00
“Travel-friendly noise-canceling cans for way lower than the massive brands.”
Pros
- Excellent sound quality
- Comfortable fit
- Good ANC and ambient modes
- Good battery life
Cons
- No app support
- Call quality could possibly be higher
Sony’s WH-1000XM3 and XM4 were our top selections for wireless headphones for over three years. And even now that Sony has the superb WH-1000XM5, we still find ourselves recommending the XM3 and XM4 just because they’re still great, and yet cheaper than Sony’s latest flagship. But is it possible to spend even less, and still get an XM3/XM4 experience? You could never have heard of Treblab, but one have a look at its Z7 Pro noise-canceling headphones needs to be enough to persuade you that it has made it its mission to reply that query with a powerful “yes.”
But at just $160 — lower than half the worth of the WH-1000XM4 — is the Z7 Pro’s resemblance to Sony’s top cans only skin-deep? As you may expect, not every thing is roses, but these headphones gave us plenty to take into consideration.
What’s within the box
Ted Kritsonis / Digital Trends
It is sweet that the Z7 Pro include a protective hard shell case, including a mesh pouch inside to store the included 3.5mm audio cable and USB-C charging cable. Our review unit didn’t have a printed user manual inside, though it is simple to search out on Treblab’s website as a downloadable PDF.
Design
If imitation is the sincerest type of flattery, Treblab is trying very hard to flatter Sony. From the form of the earcups, the folding design of the headscarf, and even the cool slate/charcoal tone and artificial leather on the ear cups and headband — all of it screams WH-1000. The materials felt nice, and I discovered wearing these headphones for long stretches never really bothered me.
The cups have an oval shape that doesn’t press or clamp hard, a nod also to the headscarf’s flexibility and lack of stiffness when opening them up. Using lightweight construct materials helps to make that occur, and these are certainly one of the lighter pairs I recall testing. While I wore them for long stretches, any leather, be it real or synthetic, will feel a little bit too warm after a few hours, so I got the most effective results when removing them during breaks in between.
Ted Kritsonis / Digital Trends
Owing to the included hard shell case, the headphones also fold as much as fit inside, scoring some points for portability and protection all of sudden. Not every pair of cans gets a tough case out of the box, so it’s nice to see Treblab take that seriously.
Despite their IPX4 rating, I might caution you on considering the Z7 Pro for a each day workout routine. The ear cups don’t really breathe, and any buildup of salty perspiration could pose an issue. Possibly not straight away, but it surely eventually could. After I used them for a sweaty workout, I just didn’t like how wet they got. Mind you, it’s not a lot the body I used to be concerned about, it was sweat seeping into the interior components.
Setup and controls
The Z7 Pro have limited physical buttons and ports. On the best, you get the ability button, flanked by the Bluetooth and energetic noise cancellation (ANC) buttons. Further away is the three.5mm jack, together with an LED indicating connection status. Blue means pairing mode, and green means good to go. The left side has a USB-C port to charge.
All of the touch controls lie on the leathery surface of the best ear cup, again echoing Sony’s design. It’s well price your while to review the user manual to totally grasp what the buttons and touch panel can do because it’ll initially appear and feel like a dizzying array of selections. A part of the initial learning curve is to acknowledge when to tap or swipe. For example, swiping up or down controls volume, identical to swiping forward or backward controls skipping or repeating a track.
Ted Kritsonis / Digital Trends
Single taps do nothing. It’s all in regards to the double-tap, which plays/pauses, or answers an incoming call. Doing it again during a call ends it. Careful controlling volume during a call though, since it might also inadvertently end the decision, which happened to me. The sensitivity, while decent, is such that you could learn the subtleties as you go along. Tap and hold will trigger your phone’s voice assistant, and it’s also possible to do it to reject an incoming call.
Despite the fact that it took time to learn all of the touch and physical controls, they ended up being quite effective after some time.
The buttons are easier to administer, though muscle memory will take a little bit time to set in because all three buttons feel the identical while you initially reach for them. Press the ANC button once to toggle Ambient Sound mode. Double-click it to enable ANC. I discovered this layout confusing, considering that “ANC” is emblazoned on the button. Shouldn’t it’s the reverse, where pressing it once gives you noise cancellation? Thing is, when Ambient Sound is on, pressing ANC once turns each it and ANC off. I get that Treblab aimed to maintain things easy here, but it surely took me some time to recollect how the sequences went. Despite the time to learn all of the touch and physical controls, they ended up being quite effective after some time.
One among the good controls is Awareness mode, which lowers volume well enough to listen to something within the background. All it takes is to cup your hand over the best cup. Really good for listening to an announcement or briefly talking to someone, like at a point-of-sale, as an example. Wear sensors enable the Z7 Pro to routinely play/pause when removing or putting on the headphones. Each of those are yet again cloned directly from Sony’s cans, the largest difference being that with out a companion app, you may’t turn the Z7 Pro’s wear sensors off.
Sound quality
Ted Kritsonis / Digital Trends
That notably missing app also negates any strategy to tweak each sound output and onboard controls. In lieu of that, the Z7 Pro should stand out sonically. There are 40mm drivers and support for aptX HD off the bat, with AAC and SBC rounding out Bluetooth codec support.
The outcomes are impressive. In the event you like good bass yet wish to hear balance from the mids and highs, the Z7 Pro may surprise you with their vibrancy. They pack a punchy sound that booms on the low end, while warming up on the high end, and consistently maintains that for a fairly wide selection of musical tastes. I attempted multiple genres, often mixing them up randomly, to gauge any radical differences. From hip hop to rock, old-fashioned funk, and house, I got here away liking listening to long playlists while wearing these headphones.
I still would’ve liked an app though. That’s also where the gap grows between these and the Sony’s I keep mentioning. You have got full app support for those, including an EQ to tailor the sound. The Z7 Pro don’t play with the identical verve or depth the Sony’s should begin with, but they’re still impressive for the worth.
Listening with the three.5mm cable plugged in doesn’t disable ANC and Ambient, which may be very cool, but you lose out on the touch controls on the best cup. For any adjustments, you’ve gotten to go to the device playing your content.
One other thing that I discovered really appealing was how smooth multipoint was.
The wireless sound jogged my memory of another over-ears I’ve previously tested, including the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 on the cheaper side, and the Jabra Elite 85h. The Jabra’s offer higher overall balance, despite not having aptX support, and customarily higher phone call quality, however the Z7 Pro really do sound punchier when ANC is on. The Soundcore Life Q30 sound great for his or her $80 price, and go further with a wonderful app to tweak sound further. It’s just that the Z7 Pro have much better controls and still sound very competitive.
One other thing that I discovered really appealing was how easily Bluetooth multipoint worked. I connected to my computer and phone at one point, after which two different phones at one other. The Z7 Pro switched to the source I played content from with relative ease. It was easy to take heed to music on one phone, after which take a call on one other. Granted, some manual intervention could also be needed, but for probably the most part, it worked higher than I assumed it will.
ANC performance is par for the course for a mid-range pair of cans, which is to say they’ll do a superb job blocking out low-frequency sounds while struggling more with higher-frequency ones. I can’t really complain about that since it’s very much what I expected, and the outcomes were ok to take heed to tunes in a wide range of settings.
I just can’t really say the identical about phone calls, where quality is more mediocre than the rest. It’s interesting to me that the Soundcore Q30, at half the worth, outperform the Z7 Pro in that arena. It’s not that talking to people sounds terrible for either side, it’s just that some background noise can seep in during a conversation. You’re superb in quiet places, but not if noise is an element around you.
Battery life
Ted Kritsonis / Digital Trends
Treblab rates battery life at as much as 45 hours with ANC off, and 30 hours with it on. You’ll only hit those marks in case you leave volume on the default level the entire time, which I find not possible. In my very own testing, I hit about 25 hours with ANC on at around 60% volume. Not bad in any respect for a pair of cans on this range, and just like Sony’s promise of 30 hours with ANC on for the WH-1000XM4.
It’s harder to measure or quantify an actual number when taking variables into consideration, like consistently switching between ANC/Ambient and turning them off. Either way, you have to be good for not less than a number of days or more before you could charge. Excellent news is that plugging in for 20 minutes fast charges the Z7 Pro enough to play for as much as five hours.
Those numbers form of punctuate what the Z7 Pro are ultimately about. Surprising in good ways, to make certain, and solid performers, even in the event that they stand no probability of winning any awards for the way they appear. There’s a pleasant mixture of sound quality, comfort, portability, noise cancellation, and battery life. Hard to argue once they check a few of crucial boxes.
You could possibly argue certainly one of those can also be price. At $160, they could not provide you with a full Sony experience, but in case you don’t have Sony money to throw at a set of wireless headphones, they definitely provide you with a wonderful alternative.
Editors’ Recommendations
