Buy Philips SHD8900/00 Rechargeable Digital Wireless Hi-Fi HeadphonesPhilips SHD8900/00 Rechargeable Digital Wireless Hi-Fi Headphones Product Description:
- Brand: PHILIPS
- Condition: Brand New
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
By R.E. Viewer
I have been using these headphones for a month now, and am generally very happy with them. There are not many quality wireless headphones around and having read lots of negative things about other brands I plumped for these on the back of the one review that was here on Amazon.StyleThese headphones look stylish and the dock looks sleek and quality. Blue LED when in use and flashing green when charging, at two different flashing rates depending on level of charge. These lights look cool, but quickly become annoying if used in a bedroom at night as they are quite bright. If you turn off the headphones and do not put them back in the dock, then the dock light flashes blue, which can be irritating in a dark bedroom!ReceptionThese work well throughout my house (average size two floors) and only start to break up a little at the opposite end of the house downstairs with the receiver upstairs. Otherwise zero loss of signal or interference.SoundAs you would expect from a good set of headphones. Nice clarity, volume and overall sound.Build/ValuePretty good build quality to them; however for the money (I paid one hundred and twenty two pounds from Amazon) they could be better. Slight rattle to the batteries if you shake them when wearing them and slightly hollow plastic feel to them. They are not noise cancelling or insulating so if you turn them up stupidly loud others will be able to hear!ChargingThe standard batteries last well and with the stylish charging dock they are always ready to go. One point though, when new I tried using my own AAA NiMH Eneloop cells and it would not work, play nor charge. I suspect you may have to use the supplied cells only, although I am not sure.I would recommend these headphones if you are looking for a nice set of wireless headphones for any purpose. I listen to music via an amp/pc and they handle it very well. I watch TV, and play games via PS3 and they work well for them all.Not quite perfect but solid 4 stars.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful.
By Edward
I purchased two sets of Philips SHD8900 headphones to replace a pair of aging 900 Hz AKG K 305 UHF cordless headphones that I've used for around 8 years. Due to poor sound proofing in my home unit I use cordless headphones for watching TV at night so I don't disturb my neighbours and I also have a second set connected to my computer to listen to music, play computer games and listen to audio books. My review will compare the Philips SHD8900 to my 900 Hz AKG K 305 UHF cordless headphones which when I bought them around 8 years ago were considered excellent cordless headphones and were quite expensive so it is a valid comparison.The first thing I noticed about the Philips SHD8900 is that they are comfortable and fit snugly and that the foam ear pads completely cover the ears blocking out external noise while the self-adjusting headband and curve of the Philips SHD8900 keeps the headphones firmly fixed on your head. I do however have a reservation about the long term durability of the ear pads. They are secured to the headphones with a black cloth material that fits behind the speakers and holds the foam ear cushions in place. The smooth black cloth is stitched to another woven cloth material covering the foam ear pads and if the stitching ever gives way or the cloth tears and replacement foam ear pads are not available the headphones could become pretty much unusable. It would have made more sense to design the ear pads with durability in mind and have them clip on as is the case with my AKGs which have the ear pads secured to a detachable plate that clips on to the speakers.One area where the Philips SHD8900s are greatly superior to the AKG is using the headphones while lying on a bed or couch with your head on a pillow or headrest. My AKG headphones have a rotary wheel to adjust the volume and another to tune in the signal and both of these are easily knocked or moved when they rub against anything such as a pillow or headrest. With the SHD8900s no switch is needed for tuning in the signal because it is automatic and volume is altered by firmly pressing a switch marked `plus' or `minus' with the volume changing by one increment each time the switch is pressed so there is next to no chance of the volume being accidentally altered when using the headphones with your head resting against a pillow or headrest.While the Philips headphones are great for using while lying down adjusting the volume on them can also be frustrating while wearing the headphones as the volume switch which is located on the left speaker is hard to find because it doesn't stand out as you feel for it while wearing the headphones. Hopefully as I get used to the headphones I'll be able to locate the switch more easily from memory while wearing them but given that you can barely feel the switch against the body of the headphone I suspect that changing the volume quickly will always be a little cumbersome.As far as the claimed 30 metre listening range for the SHD8900 I've only tested mine to around half that distance and the sound remained stable and clear and what was particularly impressive was that the sound was unaffected by going into another room and outside my house. On going outside into my backyard and upstairs in my home unit the clarity and volume of the sound remained unchanged despite the signal from the base station having to travel through a concrete floor and double brick walls.Another thing that has impressed me about the Philips SHD8900 is that the 2.4 GHz frequency compared to the lower 900 Hz frequency of my old AKGs means the SHD8900 headphones are noticeably less susceptible to interference. I've noticed absolutely no interference coming through on the Philips headphones despite using them under conditions that does cause interference on my AKGs. It appears that the higher 2.4 GHz frequency makes interference far less likely and I've yet to experience any interference at all on the SHD8900.As far as the all important quality of the sound goes the sound on the Philips SHD8900 is as you'd expect excellent but sound is also excellent on my old AKGs. Comparing the specifications of the AKGs and the Philips headphones the AKG actually have slightly better specifications and sound is quite similar on both headphones despite the AKG being around 8 years old which is a testament to their quality. It also suggests to me that there is a limit to the sound quality achievable with cordless headphones and that the main advantage of the new higher frequency cordless headphones are things like less chance of interference and greater stability rather than significantly superior sound.The SHD8900 are particularly good for listening to music and you can hear each musical instrument playing perhaps with a tiny bit more clarity than with my AKGs but any difference is tiny. If anything my AKGs have a tiny bit more bass and the SHD8900 a little clearer high tones and while listening to music I sometimes prefer the slightly greater bass of the AKG while at other times I prefer the nicely balanced treble and bass and perhaps slightly better clarity of the SHD8900. It needs to be remembered here that I am comparing sound on an old set of headphones that have had a lot of use with a brand-new model. A fairer comparison would be comparing sound on the Philips SHD8900 against sound on the equivalent current model cordless headphones from companies like AKG, Sennheiser, Amphony etc and my guess is that it would be pretty similar on all of them.On YouTube there is a video in which the Philips SHD8900 headphones are tested against other cordless headphones with 70% of people saying they preferred the sound on the Philips SHD8900 but the headphones against which the Philips SHD8900 were compared were not mentioned so such a test has to be treated with skepticism. Don't believe the advertising by Philips suggesting that sound on the Philips SHD8900 is some sort of quantum improvement in quality for cordless headphones because it isn't although it is very good particularly when listening to music or playing computer games.Is the sound CD quality, as claimed by Philips in its advertising for the SHD8900? I'm not an expert when it comes to sound quality but yes to me it does sound like CD quality. The way the ear pads cover your ears and the speakers sit away from your ears creates an enclosed space between your ear and the speaker and music on the SHD8900 sounds rich, detailed and balanced and almost like being at a concert or disco.As far as using the Philips SHD8900 while watching TV which is what I mainly intend using them for they are also very good for this purpose with TV sounding clear and rich. Anyone with a hearing problem would definitely find the Philips SHD8900 great for listening to TV. When using the headphones for listening to TV, human voices on the TV sound clear and this is also the case when I listen to audio books with the author reading the book. I've also noticed no problem with synchronisation of sound and picture when using the SHD8900 while watching TV.A significant negative for the Philips SHD8900 in my opinion is that each headphone is tuned only to the specific base station it came with. If you purchase an additional set like I did you cannot use either headphone with either base station. This means that if something goes wrong with a headset or its base station the entire unit becomes useless. Philips may have done this to eliminate the possibility of two headsets and two base stations cross interfering but other headphone manufacturers make their headphones and base stations interchangeable without any problems and the way that Philips has designed the SHD8900s with headphones and base stations non-interchangeable is a significant disadvantage in my opinion.So are the Philips SHD8900 cordless headphones worth the £195.95 being asked at the Philips UK online store or the £160 typically being asked in retail stores? In my opinion no they aren't. I suspect that because they are 2.4GHz, very stylish looking, a new model and the top of the line of Philip's cordless headphones Philips has set the price very high in the hope that people will buy them for the stylish appearance and believe the slick advertising but at the price being asked in retail shops I don't believe they are good value for money. I bought two sets of the SHD8900 for less than the price of one at the Philips online store and at the price I paid ($155 AUD each on eBay with free delivery) they were probably worth it (subject to them proving to be durable). However while they are good cordless headphones they are not good enough in my opinion to justify the price being asked for them in retail shops.Pros:Comfortable and snug fitting. Excellent for listening to music with nicely balanced treble and bass and rich detailed sound. Great for computer games and good for listening to TV particularly for people that have impaired hearing or people that want to watch TV without disturbing others. Being able to use them lying down without accidentally changing settings such as the volume. Sound largely unaffected by walls etc within the specified transmission range. Not subject to interference because of the 2.4 GHz frequency.Cons:Overly expensive price in retail shops making them poor value for money if you pay full retail price for them. Questionable long term durability of the ear cushions secured by stitched cloth. Volume adjustment can be cumbersome because the switch is hard to locate by feel while wearing the headphones. Headphone specifically tuned to the base station it came with making headphones and base stations on multiple sets non-interchangeable. The flashing blue light on the base station may irritate some people (I'm one of them) and the shiny gloss black plastic on the back of the ear pieces and base station show up fingerprints and smudges easily.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
By Ian lawson
As the previous reviews are really good I will make my input very short. Just a few remarks:Style:Very eye-catching set despite the plastic feeling. Fingerprints (!), why don't they use another type of finish to avoid this. Personally I'm not disturbed by the led-lights.Sound:Near concert experience listening to CD's and when connected to the TV set. But what exactly is the problem with creating headphones without a horrible leakage of sound ?Value:This is one of the reasons that made me rate it 3 stars, too expensive compared to other brands with nearly the same specs.Charging:As R.E.V states, normal AAA batteries will not do. Once again Philips set there own standards( any followers ? ), these short-sleeve batteries are very hard to come by.Overall performance is ok and I would/could recommend them if the price drops under 90£. I give the item 3 stars because of price - batteries - noise cancelling not ok.Overpriced product, many european retailers don't even sell these headphones.
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