Cowin E7 Pro Wireless Headphones Review

The Cowin E7 Pro looks almost identical to the original E7 but with different back plates on their ear cups. This gives them a more premium appeal thanks to the brushed metal look, but everything else is pretty much the same. The ear cups are the same size and shape, the headband also hasn't changed, and even the location of the buttons are the same except that they are now more flush with the ear cups than on the previous model. They don't have the best build quality, and unfortunately, the plastic used in their build quality feels low grade and a bit cheap, but they should look good enough for most listeners.

The Cowin E7 Pro, like the original E7, are well padded and decently comfortable headphones. They still have the same issue with the headband that doesn't extend far enough to accommodate all head sizes, but on the upside, they're lightweight and the padding used for the ear cups is slightly softer than on the original model. They're not uncomfortable but because the headband doesn't extend far enough and the ear cups are slightly small and round (which doesn't always fit well over the ears), they may get a bit fatiguing to wear for long periods of time.

The button layout for the Cowin E7 Pro is the same as the regular E7. They have slightly worse feedback since the buttons are flush with the back of the ear cups and do not have as much travel as in the original. The layout is a bit more spaced out but still feels slightly cramped on the right ear cup. They provide the essential controls for volume, call/music and skipping tracks. They also have a dedicated switch to enable Bluetooth and noise canceling. Unfortunately, the cramped layout and the odd placement of the volume controls are not as intuitive and may take some time to get used to.

These headphones are decently breathable mostly because they do not always cover the ear properly. They will make you sweat more than usual if used for working out but you can listen to them for more than an hour and not be too bothered by the temperature difference since they're a bit more breathable than typical closed back designs. Unfortunately, they won't be the ideal headphones for sports. In this case, an in-ear or an open-back headphone would be better options.

Unlike the Skullcandy Hesh 3, these headphones do not fold to take less space. They're on the larger side for over-ear headphones with a slightly bulky design that's not convenient to carry on your person (see our recommendations for the best over-ear headphones). The ear cups do lay flat, but it doesn't save much space, so you will most likely need a bag to carry them around.

The Cowin E7 Pro come with a good but bulky hard case that offers a lot more protection for your headphones than the pouch included in the original E7's box. Unfortunately, it won't be the easiest case to carry around but will shield your headphones from scratches, drops, impacts and minor water damage.

The Cowin E7 Pro have the same build quality as the regular model. They look a bit more premium thanks to the brushed metal look of the backplates on the ear cups instead of the glossy finish. However, their build quality still feels a bit cheap and plasticky overall. The headband is decently well constructed with a metal frame for reinforcement. However, the plastic used for the ear cups feels low grade and a bit flimsy. They won't break from a few falls, but the ear cups and hinges do not feel as durable as the more recent Cowin SE7.

These headphones are above-average stable. They have a relatively tight fit on some heads which means they won't move a lot during casual listening sessions and even a mild jog. However, they are not sports headphones, due to their bulk and size they still sway a lot during strenuous activities so they won't be the ideal headphones for running or working out. On the upside they're wireless, so they won't get yanked off your head because the cable got hooked on something.

• Cowin E-7 Pro Headphones
• Carrying case
• Audio cable
• USB cable
• Manual

The E7 Pro have very good frequency response consistency. In the bass range, the maximum deviation across our five human subjects is less than 2dB, which great. They also have a very consistent delivery in the treble range, and the response doesn't change much across multiple re-seats and positions.

The bass of the Cowin E7 Pro is above-average. LFE (low-frequency extension) is at 37Hz, which is very good, but low-bass, responsible for the thump and rumble common to bass-heavy music is lacking by about 6dB. Mid-bass, responsible for the body of bass guitars and the punch of kick drums is hyped by about 2dB, but high-bass, responsible for warmth, is over our neutral target by less than 1dB. Overall, these headphones lack a bit of thump, but otherwise, have a punchy, well-balanced, and warm bass.

The mid-range performance is about average. The overall response is rather uneven and not very balanced. The 5dB dip around 400Hz and the 1.5dB recess in mid-mid tend to thin out the vocals a little bit, will also create more room for the punch of the bass to come through. The 6dB overemphasis in high-bass brings excess projection and intensity to the upper harmonics of vocals and lead instruments and could make them noticeably honky.

The treble range performance of the E7 Pro is good. The response is rather uneven throughout the range, especially in mid-treble. The broad dip in low-treble reduces the detail and articulation of vocals and lead instruments, but the 3dB overemphasis in mid-treble accentuates S and T sounds and could make them a bit sharp and piercing. This will be mostly noticeable on vocals and cymbals.

The imaging performance of the E7 Pro is great. Weighted group delay is at 0.61, which is decent. Also, the GD graph shows that the group delay response crosses the audibility threshold below 80Hz, but not by much. This may result in a bit of loose and slow bass response, but it won't be very audible since the E7 Pro doesn't produce much bass below 40Hz. Additionally, the L/R drivers of our test unit were exceptionally well-matched, which is important for the accurate placement and localization of objects (voices, instruments, video game effects) in the stereo field.

The Cowin E7 Pro have a sub-par soundstage. The PRTF graph shows a decent amount of pinna activation, however, the interaction is not accurate, and there's not a 10KHz notch present either. This and their closed-back design suggest a soundstage that is perceived to be located inside the listener's head, as opposed to in-front.

The Cowin E7 Pro have a mediocre isolation (see our recommendations for the best cancelling headphones). In the bass range, where the rumble of airplane and bus engines sits, they isolate by about 12dB, which is decent. In the mid-range, important for blocking out speech, they achieved about 14dB of isolation, which is also above average. In the treble range, occupied by sharp sounds like S and Ts, they reduce outside noise by about 29dB, which is also above average.

It should be noted that the ANC system of the E7 Pro is very sensitive to movement and changes in seal, and for some people, even small head movements and changes in seal creates an audible noise and causes the sound to cut out. This may be a deal breaker for some

The leakage performance is decent. The significant portion of the leakage is between 500Hz and 2KHz, which is a relatively broad range. This results in a leakage that is fuller sounding than that of in-ears and earbuds. However, the overall level of the leakage is not very loud. With the music at 100dB SPL, the leakage at 1 foot away averages at 39dB SPL and peaks at 54dB SPL, which is just above the noise floor of most offices.

The integrated microphone of the Cowin E7 Pro is sub-par. In quiet environments, speech recorded or transmitted with this mic will sound relatively thin and noticeably muffled and lacking in detail. It may also sound a bit unnatural and difficult to understand. In noisy situations, it will struggle to fully separate speech from background noise, even in moderately loud places, like a busy street.

The integrated microphone of the E7 Pro has a sub-par performance. LFE (low-frequency extension) is at 247Hz, indicating that speech recorded/transmitted with this mic will sound relatively thin. The HFE (high-frequency extension) of 2.6KHz results in a speech that's noticeably muffled and lacking detailed. The response between the LFE and HFE points is also quite uneven, negatively affecting the intelligibility of speech.

The noise handling of the integrated microphone is mediocre. In our SpNR test, it achieved a speech-to-noise ratio of 12dB, suggesting it is best suited for quiet environments. In moderate and loud environments, it will struggle to fully separate speech from ambient noise.

The Cowin E7 Pro have a good battery life, longer than the Cowin E8, and will easily last you through an entire day, better than the standard Cowin E7. They are very slow to recharge though, even worse than the E-7. They can be used while charging, which is nice. Unfortunately, there is no power saving feature and they must be turned off manually.

There is no companion app available for the Cowin E7 Pro.

The Cowin E7 Pro are easy to pair with your device since they support NFC, which is a good thing as they can't pair with multiple devices.

While the latency is slightly worse than average for a Bluetooth headset, it is too high for watching movies and the audio will be noticeably out of sync. If you need them to watch movies, wired headphones are better. Depending on your source, it might be possible to manually delay the video to get the sound back in sync.

The Cowin E7 Pro come with a simple audio cable with no in-line mic or remote. They are universal and can be used with any device, but only for audio.

The Cowin E7 Pro, like the E7 standard, do not have a base/dock. If you want good wireless headphones with a dock, check out the SteelSeries Arctis 7 or our recommendations for the best wireless headphones.