What We Like

What We Don't Like

You probably have not heard of AUSDOM, but don’t let that put you off. Still a relatively new arrival into the mainstream headphone market, they are making quite a splash, in particular at the entry level price range.

Design

Seemingly only available in a color combination which AUSDOM refers to as ‘red’ but is actually more of a red and black affair, the AH2s are, nonetheless, a decent visual design for this comparatively low level price point. It’s nothing spectacular, but it does the job. (Oh, and if you’re into that sort of thing, the packaging is particularly well designed.)

The AH2s are surprisingly lightweight which means you will be able to wear them for longer periods without feeling discomfort. The ear cups themselves are extremely well padded and comfortable, and the headband feels secure without being uncomfortably tight. The ear cups fold back towards the headband for safe transportation which, too, is a nice feature to have. All in all, everything seems pretty positive thus far.

Now for a downside: it’s difficult to tell whether these are intended as on- or over-ear headphones, and they’re kind of neither. The size of the ear cup suggests that it is intended as an over-ear experience, but the hole itself is rather on the small side and so they tend to sit a little awkwardly. This, of course, will also have an impact on audio performance as fit is often half the battle in this regard.

Features

The first thing to note is that, as is typical of this price range, the AH2s feature a three button remote system for managing calls, controlling playback, and adjusting volume without having to touch your device. This is always handy and always welcome. The buttons are in a good position for easy use, and it quickly became second nature for one’s hand to be in the right place immediately after only a few tries.

The microphone quality is ample. Nothing mind-blowing, but certainly no worse (or better) than you would expect on this kind of device. A feature which we particularly like is that the AH2s are actually a hybrid wireless/wired device. They ship with a standard aux cable and allow you to attach it at any time to switch from a wireless to a wired experience. This is extremely useful, and takes a lot of the pressure off insofar as battery management (more on this later); if the headphones die, you can just plug the wire in and, within seconds, you’re right back to whatever you were listening to.

Performance

Connectivity was good in all of our tests. Pairing via Bluetooth 4.0 was as simple a process as you can expect from any such device, and we did not experience any lagging, skipping, or other errors of note throughout our playback.

Sound quality is, on the whole, good. Highs in particular were noticeably cleaner, crisper, and clearer than many competing models in this price bracket. Mids were distinct and sat well in the track. For some people, the bass response will be a little underwhelming as it isn’t especially deep or punchy. This is likely due in no small part to the slightly odd fit of the ear cups as mentioned earlier.

The killer feature in terms of the performance of the AH2s is battery life. It’s pretty insane, and very, very little else at this price point is able to even begin to compete with the 20 hours (you read it right: 20 hours!) that AUSDOM has advertised for this model. And it’s more than just idle advertising talk: we got almost exactly 20 hours of continuous playback in our tests. Add to that the fact that you can switch out to the wired experience at the drop of a hat, and you should pretty much never end up unable to use these headphones.

The Rumble:

Although taking the risk with a brand you haven’t heard of can be a little bit of a gamble, AUSDOM has done excellently to ensure that it’s a bet you’ll win. There’s precious little to fault with the AH2s.