Hasta La Ideas

Not to scale

We’ve already had a look or two at Incase’s brand new line of headphones, including last week’s interview with Chief Design Officer Joe Tan and VP of Design Markus Diebel in anticipation of this week’s official retail launch. They’re available for presale on the Incase website as of today, and Incase Audio was kind enough to provide a full lineup of headphones for an in-depth review to mark the release.

That full lineup includes:
– “Capsule” earbuds ($49.95)
– “Pivot” headphones ($59.95)
– “Reflex” headphones ($79.95)
– “Sonic” headphones ($199.95)

L to R: “Capsule,” “Sonic,” “Reflex” and “Pivot”

LOOK

There’s no denying that Incase has designed a good-looking bunch of products with their audio debut. The forms are simple to the point of looking like foam prototypes (in the best way possible): the “Pivot” and “Reflex” are reduced to two circles, while the ‘phones of the “Sonic” are slightly oblong and more ear-shaped. The ultra-minimal aesthetic belies details such as hidden adjustment features (more on this below) and excellent material selection.

Each of the three over-the-ear models features waxy-smooth cans, coated with Incase’s “signature soft-touch” finish, while coated canvas or microsuede covers the rest of the hardware. It’s also worth noting that the finish is resistant to scuffing—these may not age with a steampunk patina, but that (obviously) isn’t what Incase is going for.

The mostly grayscale palette echoes the pared-down design philosophy, though each colorway has just a touch of day-glo detailing, tucked away in the fabric speaker covers. It’s the equivalent of wearing neon underwear under (as Jay-Z would say) all black everything, and I can’t say that it makes any sort of difference to me.

The one noteworthy problem is that it can be hard to see the “R” and “L” labels on the headband. This is less of an issue with the “Sonic” and the “Reflex,” which have a single cord running from the left phone (is this convention?), but is definitely a problem with the “Capsule,” where an minuscule letter is molded into the stem of each bud. A raised bump on one of the two buds (along with the letter) would go a long way here: once a user knows that bump means “right,” he or she can simply figure out which one is which by touch. (I’ve color-coded the rubber tips on my other set of earbuds, a solution that would also work for the “Capsule.”)

My colleague says the “Pivot” is a perfect fit!

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