We’ve done a lot of headphone reviews and honestly most of those headphones haven’t been what you would call budget friendly. The Samson SR450 and SR550 are two pairs of headphones that fit tightly into the budget friendly mold and here’s what we thought of them.
Samson SR450 On-Ear Headphones
Design
The Samson SR series headphones design isn’t exactly the most sleek of designs out there but it’s also not all that bad. I rather like the Samson logo engraved on the ear cups and while the materials are lower quality, they’ve been solidly put together. The headband is comfortable but long runs with it do put some pressure on the top of the head. Overall the design is modern and the headphones are pretty much all plastic but still feel rather solid for lower grade materials.
Sound
On-ear headphones have always been an issue for me in terms of sound. They tend to leak most likely due to my larger ears so you may not experience this issue. But other than a little bit of sound leak these headphones sound really nice for being only $29.99. They’re fairly balanced in terms of EQ, no favorites played here for bass, mids or trebs, everything is flat across the board. These do kick your cellphone earbuds to the curb in the sound department though. I am not much of a fan of earbuds and the SR450’s are an upgrade over earbuds indeed. Samson even included a 1/4″ adapter so you can use the SR450’s in studio gear or older stereo amps.
Price/Value
For $29.99 these are a great value. You get upgraded sound from your cellphone earbuds, decent looking design and decent comfort on your head.
Wrap Up
Looking for a cheap pair of decent on-ear headphones, then the SR450’s are something worth looking at.
[rwp-review id=”0″]Samson SR550 Over-Ear Headphones
Design
The SR550’s are nearly identical to the SR450’s design, almost nothing separates them from each other. The only distinction comes in the form of size, the SR550’s are over-ear design and thus a bit larger so they can fit over your ears instead of on them. These still have the nifty Samson logo engraved in the side and the same padding for the ears and headband. The headband was about the same as the 450’s, tolerable but got uncomfortable after extended use.
Sound
Much better sound than the 450’s here. The over-ear design helps noise isolation much better and the sound is once again a balanced EQ with none of the frequencies favored. The big advantage here is the noise isolation. These aren’t noise cancelling headphones but they do a decent job of keeping noise out. They do a much better job than the 450’s for certain.
Price/Value
Coming in at $39.99 these are most certainly better than the 450’s and worth the extra $10.
Wrap Up
Better noise isolation than the 450’s and not a bad pair of over-ear headphones considering the price.
[rwp-review id=”1″]*We were sent review units of both headphones for the purposes of this review.
Last Updated on January 23, 2017.
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