Phiaton PS 300 Primal

• Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 3 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 1 stars

  Owned for ten months; poor build quality and support

  by packarddddd on July 24, 2012

  Pros: I'll be honest: For the price, these have pretty decent noise cancelling and altogether they sounded pretty good. They're also quite comfortable.

  Cons: Poorly built, they literally fell apart after ten months of very light use. They were under a one-year warranty which the manufacturer flatly refused to uphold. Do not buy these thinking that the warranty is worth anything; they do not honor it.

  Summary: When I first bought these headphones, I was reasonably happy with them. The sound quality was good for the price, and the noise cancelling, while certainly not revolutionary, was pretty ...

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  Summary: When I first bought these headphones, I was reasonably happy with them. The sound quality was good for the price, and the noise cancelling, while certainly not revolutionary, was pretty darn good as well. These seemed like a pretty solid entry into the sub-$300 high-quality headphone market.
  
  Now, before I get to this next part, let me quickly explain something. I've built my own PCs and partaken in do-it-yourself electronics for many years, and I'm well aware that expensive technical equipment is not meant to be manhandled. I treated these headphones the same way that I treat every other piece of pricey electronic equipment I own: Very, very gently. I used them very minimally and was always quite careful with them when I had them out of the case.
  
  So imagine my surprise when one day, as I went to put these on, they more or less exploded in my hands. As I picked them up, a small metal disk about a quarter inch in length fell out of them and onto my desk. Apparently that tiny piece of metal was all that was holding these things together, because the second it fell out, the left earphone immediately became disconnected from the central head piece, rendering these a completely unusable mess.
  
  Now, that's just plain wrong. When I pay $300 for something I expect it to be built to last, not just fall apart one day after ten months of extremely gentle use. Seriously, they were sitting in their case on my desk for 95% of that time period, and sitting gently on my head for the other 5%. I pity anyone who thinks they would be able to use these as travel headphones. I would bet money that they'd snap in half like a twig after three weeks.
  
  The sad thing is, that's not even the worst part of this story. The worst part was what happened when I contacted Phiaton's customer support and sent these in to get repaired. They were still under warranty (the warranty lasts for one year from the date of purchase, and I'd only owned them for ten months) so I expected that they'd be repaired for free--since, you know, that's what RESPECTABLE companies do when a product that is still under warranty breaks for no apparent reason.
  
  But that's not what Phiaton did. After receiving the headphones, they told me that I could not get a free repair under the one-year warranty because their technicians "could not verify that the damage was caused by a manufacturing defect," and that the repair was going to cost me a total of $50 after shipping.
  
  Oh my. I don't even know where to begin, but let's start with some basic English, shall we? The word "defect" means: A flaw or imperfection in an object. Now, I assume that the headphones were not intentionally designed to fall apart, so in my book, the fact that they DID fall apart means that they were defective, i.e. they did not do what they were designed to do. Seems like a pretty basic idea to me, but apparently something about it is lost on Phiaton's "technicians."
  
  The whole thing just seemed so ridiculous to me. As I said, I've been dealing with electronics for quite a while, so inevitably, I've had my share of customer support run-ins, RMAs, and repairs. But this is the first time I've ever had a manufacturer so flatly refuse to honor their own warranty. It's not even the fact that they wanted to charge me $50 (I'm not a cheapskate by any means). It's the fact that their warranty OBLIGATES them to repair this free of charge, and they basically just told me to pay 50 bucks or buzz off.
  
  Needless to say I told them that they could either honor their warranty, uphold their obligation as a company, and repair their defective product free of charge, or lose a customer. I informed them that I have plenty of money to spend and I'll gladly spend it on a different brand if necessity dictates it. I have yet to hear back from them, so my conclusion is that their customer support branch is hopelessly misnamed, because they clearly don't care about supporting their customers--or their brand's reputation--at all.
  
  I realize this review is quite lengthy, and I'm not sure if anyone's gotten this far, but to sum the whole thing up: Do not buy these headphones. They have good sound quality and good noise cancelling capabilities, but in terms of durability, they're built no better than $15 generic brand headphones. They WILL break, and don't expect any help from the manufacturer when that happens, because they don't even uphold the warranty that they claim to offer. How this company is still in business is a genuine mystery to me. I wouldn't trust their products--or their words--as far as I can throw them.

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• 4 stars

  I own the Phiaton PS300 for 6 months.

  by RayRay2 on October 30, 2009

  Pros: Good esthetics decent sound.

  Cons: Weak buid. Both phones are broken in the same place just above the hinges one side broke from a 30 inch drop on a wooden floor the other just taking them off with one hand. Very dissapointed, I would not recomend them.

  Summary: I was very excited to get these headphones, lots of attention was given to make them look really cool but unfortunately much less attention was given to make them strong ...

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  Summary: I was very excited to get these headphones, lots of attention was given to make them look really cool but unfortunately much less attention was given to make them strong and durrable which is a strange oversight when you consider these are made to carry when travelling especially.When they break (and they will!) you can see right away where the weak link of the hinges with the plastic band is and it is so obvious that this is not going to hold that it makes me wonder why and how Phiaton did not correct that.Crazy Glue time.

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• 8 stars

  Worth the money!

  by gdiggs1 on May 17, 2009

  Pros: Extra battery, decent sound, cheaper compared to its competitor, great accessories

  Cons: Noise canceling works, but I wonder if it could be a little better, questions of the quality of product especially the foam for the ear, the sturdiness and the quality

  Summary: I was really interested in the Bose Quiet comfort 3, but living in Korea I was not going to be paying 700 dollars for it especially when it loses it ...

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  Summary: I was really interested in the Bose Quiet comfort 3, but living in Korea I was not going to be paying 700 dollars for it especially when it loses it functionality with the death of its battery. I have grown to trust and like Bose products for my listening tastes.
  
  I was really reluctant to buy any other ear phones except Bose, but I just could not bet past the price and battery flaw. I was a the airport last week and I stopped in the duty free. I saw these and was immediately taken. The sound was decent. Not Bose rich, but decent. I looked at the box and was wondering where these had come from. I have never heard of them. I had heard of Phiaton a Korean brand, but was not sure of the quality. The price was 294,000 which is about 260 dollars.
  
  Then I took the battery out of the test model and played it. IT WORKED. Then I read the box. An 18 hour battery and 1 extra one. WHOA! I snatched it up! No cnet review I just brought them. got a 5 percent discount. WHOA! paid 260,000 won, which is like 220 dollars. I was shocked! I sat down with it and opened it up.
  
  There were so many accessories, I could not believe this this purchase. I tried them on again and found the little mute button on the cord. This was too good to be true. I went to Cnet at the airport and saw the review. I was really glad at what I heard. I live in Korea and A/S (after service) is really good so I did not hesitate to purchase them.
  
  After a week of use. What I loved and did not.
  
  I found that the buttons for the base and the noise cancel is a little hard to get to and feel. Took some getting used to, especially the noise canceling one. The noise canceling actually cancels not just turn the volume up, it cancels. This is really useful for me since I live in a city and it is loud on he buses. The left ear when I pushed on them made a little sound like pushing on a bubble, but nothing noticeable. I was doing my own little review so I was looking for everything. I can not really compare it to other noise canceling devices, but I do say it works pretty well and really muffles the sound if not cancels them. Not 100% but for a first time user good.
  
  Again the quality of the material. Like I said the case is great, but everything feels a little plastic. I know what you might say it is plastic, but I mean it feel like a toy and not like a piece of stereo equipment. It feels a little weak and I am afraid that the constant remove and place into the case might cause it to break easily, but that is what time will reveal. I will do a follow up if there are any problems.
  
  Otherwise I know Cnet says it is 50 dollars cheaper than the Bose, but I think it is more like 100 dollars. If you count in the fact you get a extra battery (50 dollars for a Bose) and the battery life is really good. 18 hours, I have not maxed them out yet to do a proper time check, but with the usb charger for the battery. It should not be a problem. They are marketed to be a Bose competitor or knock off, depending how you look at it, but with the improvements ( mute, button, works without battery) ,and accessories (extra battery, adapters and usb/home adapter) as of right now it is worth the loss in some of the sound quality (compared to Bose sound), If you are not comparing the sound to Bose you are not losing anything, but rather making a really sound investment.
  
  In today's economy, I say you are getting your bang for your buck and like the cnet review says if you listen to certain kinds of music genres, you will not be disappointed. I really really like these and I would recommended them.
  
  Updated on May 17, 2009

  I forgot to mention, but I did not give it a 5 because I was comparing the sound quality to Bose, as a standard for me and what I was looking to buy. I also took off the .5 star because of the plastic feel.
  
  If I do not compare it to Bose then it gets a 4.5.
  
  Updated on May 29, 2009

  It has been about 3 weeks since I have had these. Things have been going really well. One important note it. When your battery goes out it does not automatically switch the music on without you having to turn off the Noise Canceling functioning to get the music playing again. No problem, but I was shocked when after 8 days of using the battery the music just stopped. I realized it was the battery was dead so I moved the switch to turn off the Noise Canceling mode and I was rocking again, then I put in my (included) spare battery :-).
  
  I ride the subway and bus a lot. I would say at least 3.5 hours of my day is traveling so I can say that I got the full 18 hours if not more from the battery.
  
  Updated on Dec 7, 2009

  It has been about 10 months since I used these head phones and at first I was recomending them to everyone. Now I must honestly say I have to not recomended them.
  
  In the first six month when I took them off they broke about the hindge. I got them fixed since I live in Korea, but then the inside covers for the earpads started coming off. Then just the other day I acidently drooped them and they broke in the same spot, about the the hindge. The plastic just snaps. I am going to take them back again and see if they are doing anthing to fix this.
  
  Do not buy these. Save your money. I am now looking for some new NC headphones. It seems that my choices are slim, espically since I want ones that I can use even if the battery is out or I do not turn on the NC functionality.
  
  Updated on Jan 6, 2010

  It is not January 6, 2010. I should be getting my 300NC's back any day now. It has taken them about 2 weeks. I would say it is because of the holidays, but Korea does not celebrate the "Holidays" like the US so why 2 weeks? I am not sure.
  
  The CS rep asked me about the reviews on this site. I told them about the first reviewer who seems to be having the same problem I do with the plastic.
  The company had not heard about this problem. If anyone has these headphones and are having problems with the plastic just snaping, please submit a review or complaint. I think the company needs to hear that this is a problem so they can improve this product.
  
  It is a good set of headphones, but that goodness is lost when you have to send them in for 2 weeks at a time to get repaired, every 4 months or so.
  
  Updated on Jan 7, 2010

  they replaced it with an all leather pad with holes where the cloth was. Takes away from the aesthetics and makes the headphones look cheap. I will see how it feels.
  
  I am not too concerned with the looks anymore. I just do not want these things to break again. I am already looking for a new pair because I am sure they will eventually tell me that they can not repair it for free anymore and when that happens ... I will update.
  
  Updated on Jan 28, 2010

  It has been a few weeks since I got the PS300NC back form Phiaton. I must say after using them for a few weeks, since the repair, they do feel different. The leather earpad, that I did not really like at first was pretty comfortable. I have gotten used to the all leather look.
  
  The company reached out to me and applogized for the inconvience. They said in a letter that came accompanied with a pair of thier higher-end in ear earphones that the lot I purchased had "a problem during the plastice injection process".
  
  Hopefully, this will be the last update about these headphones. If the pair I have, really had a problem with the plastic injection process and this is not a common issue with these headphones, pick them up and give them a try.
  
  I have been looking for other headphones to replace these, but it is hard to find a pair that compares to what these do, the value of what you get and how it sounds for the price.
  
  I will be doing a review on the Phiaton PS210 soon.

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