Creative Aurvana X-Fi

Who's It For

Audiophiles

These headphones don’t have particularly good audio quality.

Portable User

The headphones are big and require a battery for their best performance. That being said, they do come with a short cord and the noise cancellation will allow Portable Users to approximate the in-ear experience without the hassle of sticking something into your gross ears. Most Portable Users would prefer in-ears, which are just more ideal for listening on the go.

Airplane Traveler

Great active noise cancellation and good battery life (and even if you lose the batteries, you can still listen to your music) are great for airplane travelers. The only sticking point is they can be a bit uncomfortable for long wear sessions. Make sure you give these a test run of a few hours before you decide to keep them.

Home / Office Use

Although the active noise cancellation is probably not best put to use in the home theater environment, the X-Fis would do well here. They have a long cord and an interesting frequency response for movies with action scenes.

Conclusion

The Creative Aurvana X-Fi headphones are a mixed bag of interesting and lame. We liked the ability to choose to apply different playback augmentation tools, and we’re sure mainstream consumers will as well. The audio quality was pretty average, although the X-Fis have captured the title of ‘Active Noise Cancellation Champ,’ if only for now. We liked the multiple cords, which allowed both portability and cross-room cable connectivity. We didn’t think the headphones were particularly comfortable, however. We especially liked the ability to be able to listen to music even when the batteries were dead or removed. This reason right here will probably steal away a few potential Bose buyers.

Do we think the Aurvana X-Fi headphones are a good alternative to the Bose QuietComfort series? Yes. This doesn’t mean, however, that they’re a particularly good deal. Active cancellation is a buzzword at the moment, so the feature comes with a trendy tax. The feature also allows the headphones to dabble a bit in the realm of portable headphones and home theater headphones. The active cancellation lets you take these out on the town while offering isolation that rivals mid-range in-ear headphones. The inclusion of the extension cord also allows you to connect to a home theater setup. If you want versatility and the latest trend, then consider the X-Fis. If you’re looking for either portability or a home theater solution, there are better, more dedicated options out there for about half the price.