How times have changed. When I was a kid, a pair of Star Wars headphones might have gotten you beat up. These days, they’re pretty cool.
Of course, it helps that the imagery on these SMS Audio Star Wars Headphones ($200) is a touch subtle. After all, if you can identify the symbol of the rebel alliance or the empire, you can’t really hold Star Wars against someone, can you? The stormtrooper head is a bit obvious, granted, but Boba Fett’s emblem is as obscure as hell—even Wookipedia can’t tell you what it means.
Anyway, the headphones themselves are on-ear, with a cable that has a mic and a pause/play button. The sound quality is pretty balanced; bass is smooth but not overpowering, the treble isn’t tinny. The cups form a pretty decent seal, so outside sounds are mostly blocked and the people around you won’t be annoyed by your Captain Beefheart on repeat.
In terms of wearing them, these headphones are fairly comfortable, helped along by padding on the band. Comfort wears out around hour five, though.
These headphones are very portable too. They fold neatly, and they come with a small (and branded) Star Wars case. And a cleaning cloth. The boys and girls at SMS threw in some Star Wars stickers too.
They’re also snazzy. Mainly glossy plastic, the rebel pair is orange on grey, the stormtrooper pair is white on black, the Boba Fett pair is grey and red on green, and the empire pair is black on black.
Final note: John Williams and his orchestra pipe through these babies pretty smoothly. Just a thought.
