fastrack

Price: ₹7,995

This around-the-ear headphone isolates noise with tight-fitting earmuffs and provides ANC as an add-on

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Fastrack had its beginnings as Titan’s urban youth brand, initially establishing itself in watches and sunglasses. Since then, the brand has expanded into various other accessory segments. Reflex Tunes wireless audio devices include TWS earbuds, neckbands, and over-the-head headphones. The F02 is an over-the-head, around-the-ear headphone that offers an affordable solution to high-quality audio.

The Reflex Tunes F02 retails at a price that is within the reach of most people looking at an over-the-head headphone, and at this price, it is feature-packed, offering Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and quick pairing. The device has a typical design, that looks uninspiring, yet provides a comfortable fit with large and well-cushioned earmuffs that efficiently cuts off most of the background noise even without ANC. The adjustable headband also offers soft and thick cushioning. The plastic used in the band and ear cups does not provide much confidence and appears flimsy. Hence, we would advise you to be cautious while bending it. However, we can vouch for its longevity in normal use. The headphones have a foldable design. The ear cups flex a little, helping you fix it properly over the ears. The device is IPX4 certified and hence splashproof. At 260 g, the F02 is quite lightweight. The headphones are available in black and grey colours.

The F02 has all the controls and ports on the right side including a multifunction button for power, pairing, play/pause, and call answer/hang up, a volume up/next track button, a volume down/previous track button, an ANC button, status LEDs for power/pairing and ANC, USB Type-C charging port and a 3.5mm AUX jack. To use the device in wired mode, you only need to plug in the AUX jack irrespective of whether the headphones are powered on or not. Similarly, ANC works even in offline mode. Just flip the ANC switch and it gets active, cutting off most background noise even when the audio signals are off. The Reflex Tunes F02 uses five microphones for audio pickup and ANC. The device houses a 580 mAh battery, and Fastrack claims up to 15 hours of battery life with ANC and up to 20 hours without it. Though our music listening was erratic on this device, thanks to the number of headphones and speakers on review, our estimate was close to what is claimed. The battery takes three hours to fully charge.

The Fastrack Reflex Tunes F02 uses a 40 mm driver that reproduces audio with good separation. Though the bass is enhanced, the headphone offers competent treble also, unlike the bass-boost devices flooding the market. The mid frequencies are a bit suppressed, and vocals felt somewhat less refined to our liking. However, considering that this is not a premium device at the top end of the market, Fastrack has done a great job with these headphones. ANC is not overwhelming, and you might not feel much difference when you are listening to music because it cuts off only the most disturbing noise such as the hum of air conditioners and ceiling fans. That being said, these are the only disturbances you feel after the tight-fitting earmuffs cut off most outside noises. Call quality was excellent, both in listening and being listened to. The headphone supports voice assistants including Google Assistant and Siri.

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★★★★

WE’RE IMPRESSED Value for money, Comfortable fit, Excellent passive noise isolation

WE’D IMPROVE Build quality

THE LAST WORD The Fastrack Reflex Tunes F02 offers excellent value for money with balanced output, active and passive noise cancellation, and superior call quality in a low-to-mid priced headphone. We would certainly recommend the F02 to anyone looking for affordable over-the-head headphones with ANC.