Parrot updates the Zik wireless headphones and reveals the Zik 2.0, a collaboration with French designer Philippe Starck featuring improvements on both design and battery life fronts.
The headphones connect to mobile devices and PCs via either Bluetooth 3.0 or NFC, and retain some features from the previous version-- namely noise canceling capability (which Parrot says is improved via multiple built-in microphones), touch-sensitive earcups for swipe-based music control and head detection to stop the music whenever the user removes the headphones.
Audio performance comes through a 40mm neodymium driver and a built-in DAC handling 24-bit-192kHz audio. As for the battery Parrot promises 6 hours of use in regular wireless mode and up to 18 hours in wired flight mode.
A companion iOS/Android app allows audiophiles to tweak just about everything in the way the headphones sound, including equaliser, output frequencies and sound stage. It includes a number of presets, and users can create their own.
The Zik 2.0 headphones are available from November 2014.
