When it comes to noise-canceling headphones, there are a lot of brands that are learning how to push technology forward. Others look to provide an affordable, comfortable listening experience that’ll use noise-canceling to drown out all that pesky air ventilation or annoying walla. Some brands do a really good job of combining both a comfortable listen for lengthy trips, and pristine audio fidelity, such as the Sony WH-1000XM3 or the Strauss and Wagner BT501. However, your average consumer might not care about one or the other, and to that end, the Taotronics SoundSurge 55 might be the affordable headphone you need. I find that the sentiment comes with a ton of caveats that we’ll hypothesize in this review.
For now, I’ll say this: this is nowhere close to a quality sound signature, but the strength of the noise-canceling tech might be enough of a sell for you. Here’s a thought, does every consumer headphone need to have an immaculate timbre? Not every listener is an audiophile that wants to bask in the greatness of every detail, but I would argue that they should at least be safe to listen to in loud environments(and some headphones don’t even live up to that). Lets finally get into the Taotronics Soundsurge 55, and what might make them worthwhile.
What You Get
The packaging for the 55s is pretty barebones. Don’t expect anything but the bare necessities for these headphones. Fancy pins and stickers are sadly absent. What you do get is your standard protective carrying case containing the SoundSurge 55s, USB-C charging cable, 3.5mm audio cable, airline adapter, and user manual. Kudos to Taotronics for including an airline charger, it lets me know that they’re aware of the main consumer base that buys wireless noise-canceling headphones.
Look and Feel
On the outside, the 55s appear fairly polished and of well build quality. They sport a sleek, black matte plastic finish common seen in some wireless headphones. The 55s have a minimalistic aesthetic that works as an all in one piece, as opposed to looking like a bunch of separate parts put together. Now to let you in on one of the best qualities of this headphone: they feel awesome. They’re over-ear and have great earpads made from soft protein memory foam. These cups grace your ears, securing them, and with the adjustable headband in the right place, makes long trips a breeze. They’re also considerably lightweight, only coming in at around 10oz in weight. All around these are a suitable pair of cans if comfort is your main issue.
Design And Functionality
Taotronics has given the SoundSurge 55 dual 40mm drivers, which is more than sufficient especially for this price range. You’ll also find your USB charging input, as well as 3.5mm headphone jack on the right-side cup. There’s a four-button interface on this cup as well. The topmost button is a multifunctional power button that also acts as your play/pause, pick up call button. That and your volume buttons on the bottom are responsive and found no issues using them. There’s no separate Bluetooth button, pairing is automatic when turning on the 55s, and they connect without hassle.
Speaking of Bluetooth, the 55s support Bluetooth 5.0, and the high bandwidth range works smoothly. I was able to connect to my phone, leave the headphones on my desk, go into a basement with my phone, come back, and still be connected. The 55s bolster AAC, SBC, and aptX audio CODECs. I purposefully skipped talking about the noise-canceling button because that’ll be its own section altogether since there’s a lot to discuss.
Hybrid Noise Canceling
I gave the SoudSurge 55s its own section for its noise-canceling technology since there are a few notable features to go through. This isn’t your average ANC headphone, it comes will three separate “modes.” When you activate ANC by holding down the button, you’ll be thrown into one of three modes, the first being “travel mode.” Travel mode uses ANC to mask low to mid-range frequencies that are apparent in car or airplane engines. “Office mode” will reduce more sub-bass frequencies like vents to decrease distraction, and increase productivity. Finally, there’s “Ambient mode” which uses minimal masking to help bring awareness to your environment. You cycle through these modes by pressing the ANC button and holding it down to turn the function off.
Battery Life
The SoundSurge 55 offer 30 hours of battery life, with 45-minute charge time, and 5 minutes equaling 2 hours.
Soundstage
With all of these different noise-canceling settings, and all the frequency information being tampered with, the actual sound quality sufferers, and the sound field becomes more limiting. Multiple audio layers end up getting squished together, especially in the low mids, which muddies a lot of key fundamentals. Spatial imaging is somewhat intact, but again the boxy nature of the headphones locks certain elements without needed separation or expansion.
Low End
In terms of bass frequencies, there’s a lot to be desired. There’s some considerable low mid boost, but it doesn’t come with any noticeable definition and is mainly used to compensate with how weak a lot of these frequency bands are. Mainly the lows feature a more rumbly tonality that might satisfy some tracks, but there’s little clarity, and most of it remains undefined.
Mids
A lot of the low end and mid-range bleed into each other will little separation. There is an endeavor to keep some fidelity in the mids, but certain elements become muddy. For example, vocals sometimes get buried as the rumbly low mids take a stronger presence and can’t cut through properly. They try to have some expansion, but they end up coming off as weak, and hallow.
Highs
In direct contrast, the highs offer a clear presence that attempts to bring a much-needed amount of separation to this sound signature. There’s enough detail in this range to warrant praise, as female vocals start to show a bit more grace. There starts to be some semblance of air, in the upper highs that don’t necessarily sizzle but are still starkly clear.
Summary
This is a headphone specifically made for the person who could care less about sound fidelity because the SoundSurge 55 gets nearly everything else so right, and the ANC tech is genuinely impressive. It’s not an unlistenable timbre, but it leaves a lot to be desired. However, if you’re just looking for a well-built set of cans that’ll make a long trip more enjoyable, you might find joy in the 55s, especially for its $109 price point.
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