It has been a hot minute since I reviewed a dedicated wired headset. Like a super-hot minute. But here we go.
KIWI Ears x Z Reviews Serene from developer Kiwi Ears is an interesting headset. Packed with a braided wire, sporting some good isolation, and delivering some great sound quality, the headset makes its mark in positive ways. The only blight on its review record is the driver flex, which needs to be addressed at some point because of how well the headset seals, and which may cause some sound distortion down the road. That doesn’t mean the headset is bad by any means; it just means it’s quite sensitive to driver flex.
Let’s dive right into the KIWI Ears x Z Reviews Serene.
Design
The KIWI Ears x Z Reviews Serene is a simple headset in its design. It has two 3.5mm audio inputs, unique to each ear, that the user will have to plug in. That wire comes in a braided style, which means it’s not incredibly prone to wire entanglement. While I’m not a fan of braided wires with my IEMs, it works here because the texture is flexible enough to handle any potential problems.
To put this in perspective, I have been using this headset for the better part of a month and have never had an issue with tangling wires while transporting it. That may not be the biggest design positive, but for a knuckle-head like me that is constantly on the move with podcasts, streaming, and live events, throwing a headset in a production bag and knowing it won’t be tangled is one less worry. I appreciate that design decision, as well as the wire’s ability to quickly disconnect from its ear pieces, should some idiot trip over the wire when leaving a production booth (guilty). The headset also allows for different wire types, at the user’s leisure, which can be used. I’m sure for a good chunk of audiophiles out there, that is a big positive.
As for the physical design of the headset, it’s quite comfortable, and it looks stylish. The comfort level is peak, as putting on the headset and using it long term doesn’t mean a sore top of the head or ear fatigue. Having reviewed many headsets in the past, those two items of interest are usually tripping points for me. The last thing anyone needs while listening to audio is sweaty ears or a sore noggin. The KIWI Ears x Z Reviews Serene is designed for comfort, and it avoids any issues in both areas. It’s one of the more comfortable headsets I have used in a long while.
As for the color scheme, it comes in purple, which is stylish and cool. I would have loved to see this in red or maybe even yellow (no idea why), but as it stands, the headset is cool to look at, and it is comfortable to wear. Maybe next time they could throw in swappable outside plates for good customization. Just an idea. Anyway, the stylish purple part of this headset is a huge plus because you always want to look cool when enjoying some firm beats.
The overall design of the KIWI Ears x Z Reviews Serene seems to be built on simplicity. There aren’t any buttons, no knob turning, nothing that would visually cheapen it. It’s a no-nonsense design that clearly states its main focuses – delivering sound and comfort.
Functionality
The stats on the KIWI Ears x Z Reviews Serene are quite ambitious on paper. The driver is a 72mm x 89mm Planar Magnetic tech. This ensures that bass is emphasized and delivered with excellent clarity, and the overall sound is crisp as a winter morning. It’s an impressive tech choice for closed-back headphones. And that last part is important and works well. Almost too well. The choice of using the Planar Magnetic driver design was good, as it delivers some wildly better sound in the headset. For the KIWI Ears x Z Reviews Serene headset, it was the best route to go for good functionality that delivers some gorgeous and detailed audio. And for the price point ($160), it truly isn’t bad with what you get with the driver design.
The closed-back headphone capabilities of the KIWI Ears x Z Reviews Serene can be a double-edged sword. The positive is that once you put this headset on, you will feel all the air suction out of the earpieces. This means the surrounding environment audio will be nil or close to it. I had more sealing success with this headset than I did with my most recently reviewed IEM. The cut-off from the outside audio world was nothing short of spectacular and instantaneous. It really felt like I had isolated the sound and could focus on the audio I was listening to, which is a huge deal for me when I’m in a noisy room of people during live events.
The only fault in the stars with that positive is the driver flex. Even though it’s not going to be damning overall, the driver flex is present because of how well the isolation works with the earpieces. Especially over time, the driver may deliver some bass distortion or unnecessary flex sounds, although from my extensive experience with this headset, that isn’t totally the case. It’s present but not disruptive to audio delivery in a permanent fashion. Just mainly annoying at times. Putting the headphones gently on and making sure the suction doesn’t affect the driver means that you’ll probably not run into this issue.
As for the rest of the stats here, the KIWI Ears x Z Reviews Serene features a standard 50 omhs, a good sensitivity, 102db at 1kHz, and some easy-going power that doesn’t take too much to deliver good sound.
Overall, I’m impressed by the headset’s functionality and love the simplistic design. That driver flex probably needs to be addressed at some point, but everything else about this headset screams ‘worth the money’.
On that sweet note, let’s wrap up this review.
Conclusion
The KIWI Ears x Z Reviews Serene is a solid headset that delivers remarkable sound isolation, amazing comfort, and good/clear sound delivery. While driver flex might be a concern down the road, as it stands, during the last month, the headset exceeded my expectations. It was the first wired headset that I have actively enjoyed wearing in some time.
For more information about the KIWI Ears x Z Reviews Serene, just go here.
