Nocs NS700 Phaser

In case you've never heard of Nocs, it's a Swedish company, and it has a growing line of headphones, most of them in-ear models. I've reviewed the NS400 ($79.99) and the NS600 Crush ($149.99) and liked them both, but I was a little less enthused about the NS700 Phaser, the on-ear model reviewed here.

Why didn't I like it as much? Well, for starters it's got a pretty ho-hum design. It's not a bad design, but there are several other headphones out there with the same design, so it does nothing to set itself apart. To put another way, Nocs' engineers have taken a common, off-the-shelf headphone, slapped the company logo on it and presumably put a decent driver inside it and customized the sound to their liking. There's a little more to it than that, but that's the general snapshot of the situation -- or at least my impression of it.

Several other headphone models have the same design as the NS700 Phaser.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

As I said, the design's not bad. While the headphones don't fold up in anyway, they're fairly compact and comfortable enough, though not supercomfortable. They have textured, soft-to-the-touch finish and an Apple-friendly integrated remote/microphone.

You'll be able to make calls with Android and other smartphones but the remote features are only guaranteed to work with iOS devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Call quality was good in my tests with an iPhone 4S.

The headphones fit snugly but aren't supercomfy.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)