The most expensive luxury gift I've ever bought myself was a pair of used headphones. Released by drone maker Parrot in 2013, the Ziks cost $399 at launch. I found mine used on eBay for $160 and have used them just about every day since.
Ziks are amazing devices, headphones built for tech nerds as much as audiophiles. They feature Bluetooth and wired connectivity, adaptive noise canceling, touch controls, apps for sound-tweaking, and gorgeous design. I'm a huge fan.
When the sequel to their sequel — the Parrot Zik 3.0 — showed up in the office this week I had to give them a whirl. Here's what I found.
Weight matters
The biggest complaint I have about my Parrot Ziks is their weight. At 2.4 pounds, they drag on my neck after a few hours use. That makes them a bad option for use at my desk — if I don't want a crick by the end of the day.
The Zik 3.0's weigh just under 0.6 pounds and its a total game changer. I left mine on all day, and easily forgot they were there.
Better noise canceling means a better commute
One reason I love my Parrot Zik is its adaptive noise canceling feature. It's usually good enough to make music high quality and listenable even during rush hour on the New York City subway. But some noise still gets in.
I wore the Parrot Zik 3.0 with the noise canceling turned up to its maximum level on a packed train and it was almost perfect. I put on the latest "All Songs Considered" and heard every detail of Robin Hilton and Bob Boilen's funky playlist with no distractions.
However, like many people, adaptive noise canceling gives me a headache after too much use. At maximum, I felt the beginnings of one much faster and turned them down. The fact that you can vary the noise canceling on the new devices — and pipe in street noise — is a nice feature of the new app.
They finally got call quality right
Since the first generation, Parrot headphones have doubled as Bluetooth headsets using "bone conduction" technology — meaning they listen to vibrations in your skull to hear your voice. It was a cool novelty on the first version, but in practice didn't work that well. I'd often call someone and hear them complain I was muffled. I found myself turning off the headphones for every call.
On the new Ziks, a few friends reported I sounded clearer with the headphones on than using my phone.
Some other things I noticed
My one big concern about the Zik 3.0 was the weird stitching they've introduced to the new model. However, in real life it wasn't anywhere near as garish as it's looked in some of their ads. I'm not a huge fan of the added branding on the side though.
After a couple days with them though, I do have a new worry: the invisible touchpad on the right headphone was much harder to use. This might be a muscle memory issue — my finger's used to the super-easy-to-use pad on the first version, but struggled on the new ones. I also had music and podcasts mysteriously pause a couple times, accompanied by the beep of a finger on the pad.
You can find the Parrot Zik 3.0 for $400, and the Parrot Zik for as low as $167 (though Amazon reports only 18 left in stock as of this writing).
