The Cowin E7 Pro are decent mixed usage headphones and a slight update to the Cowin E7. This model improves the battery life and sound quality of the originals but also loses a bit of thump in their bass. They have a slightly more premium look, but it's mostly cosmetic, as their design and overall performance do not change much. They're a decent and affordable option for commuting but aren't the most durable or comfortable headphones in their price range.
The Cowin E7 Pro are decent for mixed usage. They have about the same performance overall as the regular E7 with a slightly better sound quality and a longer battery life. They block enough ambient noise for commuting and do not leak much which makes a decent option in quieter conditions like being at the office. Unfortunately, despite having slightly softer pads than the original, they're not the most comfortable for all listeners. They should be stable for a light jog but won't be the ideal option for working out or the gym. Unfortunately, although their sound quality is improved it is still a bit poorly balanced which will not be ideal for critical listening but should be fine for more casual listeners.
Average for neutral listening. They have a slightly forward-sounding audio reproduction that doesn't have have the rumbling bass of the original E7 but they have a better treble range and put a bit more emphasis on instruments and vocals. Unfortunately, their sub-par soundstage won't be ideal for most neutral listeners but overall they should sound a bit more detailed and brighter than the regular E7 which sounded slightly dark and muffled.
Average for commuting. They block enough noise for moderately loud environments. They don't leak much and have a decent control scheme. However, they're a bit bulky and are not the most portable headphones to carry around on your person. Unfortunately, their noise-canceling stutters when ear cup seal is broken which may be a deal breaker for some when commuting if you have to walk or move around a lot.
Average for sports. They're wireless and have a tight fit on some listeners, which prevents them from easily falling off your head. However, they're a bit bulky for running and working out. They're also not as comfortable. They're a bit more breathable than most over-ears, but will still make you sweat more than usual during intense exercises. Also if you use the noise cancellation when working out the headphones will often stutter as the noise canceling features tries to adjust to the seal the ear cups creates around your ears. This could be a deal breaker for some especially if you need a lot of isolation like when you're at the gym.
Average for office use. The Cowin E7 Pro do not leak much, so you won't distract your colleagues at moderate-to-high volumes. They also block a decent amount of ambient noise but may not be able to cancel out the chatter of a particularly lively office. Unfortunately, they're not the most comfortable headphones to wear for really long and extended listening sessions.
Sub-par for gaming. The Cowin E7 Pro have too much latency, they're not compatible with consoles via Bluetooth and cannot be customized to the extent of other gaming headphones. They also have a mediocre-at-best integrated microphone.
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.
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 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, 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.
The Cowin E7 Pro are decent mixed usage headphones thanks to their good wireless range, above-average battery life, and decent noise canceling. However, like the original Cowin E7, they're not the most comfortable headphones and their sound is a bit lackluster. They're also not built as well as some of the other budget headphones we've reviewed. See our recommendations for the best noise cancelling headphones under $100, the best over-ear headphones under $100, and the best closed-back headphones.
The Cowin E7 Pro are a slightly better headset overall than the Cowin E7 Wireless. The E7 Pro have a more balanced sound profile that favors instruments and vocals, compared to the E7's more bass-heavy sound. This makes the Pro variant a bit more suitable for critical listeners. The E7 Pro also last a bit longer on a single charge than the regular E7, but take considerably longer to charge, too. On the other hand, the regular E7 delivers better value for the price, since they perform almost as well in all other categories when compared to the Pro, but are slightly more affordable. The more bass-heavy profile also makes them a better pick for bass-lovers that want a noise cancelling wireless headset on a budget.
If sound quality is the most important thing for you when choosing headphones, then the Cowin E7 Pro are a better option than the Cowin SE7 model. They won’t sound as boomy and cluttered, and won’t lack detail in the treble range. However, they might sound too sharp for some. They also have twice the SE7’s battery life. On the other hand, the SE7 are better-built and more comfortable headphones. This new design feels more high-end, doesn’t have a glossy finish that is fingerprint prone, and doesn’t feel flimsy.
The Cowin E8 Wireless are better noise cancelling headphones than the Cowin E7 Pro. The E8 have a better noise cancelling performance and are a bit more comfortable than the E7 Pro. They also have easier to use controls and a bit more bass, which some may prefer. On the other hand, the E7 Pro have a more detail-oriented sound quality that pushes instruments and vocals to the front of the mix but can sound a bit sharp. They also have a longer battery life than the E8 and they support NFC, so they're a bit easier to pair with your phone.
The TREBLAB Z2 Wireless are slightly better headphones than the Cowin E7 Pro Wireless. The TREBLAB are more comfortable, and feel better-built. They also have a much more accurate sound profile that doesn't sound as boomy and muddy. On the other hand, the Cowin have a much better ANC feature, and they also last a lot longer off a single charge.
The Sony WF-1000XM3 Wireless are noticeably better headphones than the Cowin E7 Pro Wireless. The Sony are better-built, more comfortable, have better noise isolation performance, and they have a better audio quality. The Sony also have a touch-sensitive control scheme, while the Cowin has physical buttons, which won't malfunction in freezing conditions like the Sony. The only things that the Cowin do that the Sony can't is provide audio while charging, and their latency is better.
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