Incase Sonic Over Ear Headphones review

When you think of the name Incase you'll invariably think about aftermarket Macintosh products. From super slick iPhone and iPad cases to protective products for your MacBook Pro, SF-based Incase does one thing very well: They make great looking products that are both stylish and functional.

When we first heard that the company was jumping into the audio market with a complete line of Incase headphones and earphones we had no doubt that they'd be great looking and "hip." The question that remained was whether or not form would trump function.

The Incase Sonic Over Ear Headphones represent the company's flagship audio product and to that end they were impressive. Being Incase headphones your first impression comes in the form of the box. These people, it seems, spend as much time on packaging as they do on the product that ships therein.

Compared to other over ear headphones we've looked at, the Incase Sonic Over Ear Headphones are extremely light and comfortable. We tested our headset with several different audio sources: the HTC Radar 4G Windows phone, an iPhone 4S, the new iPad and several Windows 7 laptop and desktop machines.

Sporting 40mm drivers the headphones handled pretty much any type of music we threw at them with aplomb. Highs and mids were excellent. Of course, in our tests, the overall quality of the experience had a lot to do with the device that we were using.

For instance, with an iPhone 4S the sound was dramatically better than what we experienced with our HTC Radar 4G Windows phone. Of course, we were able to tweak the audio output to fit our needs but your ability to do this has everything to do with the device that you're using.

The Incase Sonic Over Ear Headphones ship with two 3.5-foot cables. One color is the off-white grey of the outside of the headphones while the other cable is bright orange like the inside of the earcups. Both cables sport in-line mics and three-button controls for MacBook, iPod, iPhone and iPad. Incase even included a ¼ adapter for you DJ types.

The suede cover on the inside of the earcups also added to the overall enjoyability of these headphones. Gone are the days of sweaty ears. Additionally, the earcups are fully articulating so they're pretty much guaranteed to fit all ear and head sizes and shapes.

At around $149.95, the Incase Sonic Over Ear Headphones aren't necessarily cheap. That said, for daily commuting and even flights, we found them to be just so comfortable, durable and light that they've quickly become the headphones we reach for when heading out every morning.