If you are a music fan or player, the Fender brand must be familiar to you all, because it is famous for producing musical equipment, especially electric guitars. Recently, Fender has introduced a number of new audio products in the form of speakers and wireless headphones.
We were given the opportunity to test one of these products, namely the Fender MIX, a premium class headphone that comes with a unique feature where all parts of this headphone are modular and can be easily removed and reattached.
Specifications And Design
Fender MIX
Type Closed-back earphones
40mm Graphene drivers
Microphones 2 microphones
Battery 52 Hours ANC/100 hours without ANC
USB-C charging port
Wireless charging None
CODEC AAC, SBC, LHDC
Operating systems supported All
Virtual assistant support Auracast Assistant
Five-way physical button control pad
Waterproofing No
Selling price RM 1399
Starting with the design of these headphones, at first glance, the Fender MIX comes with a headphone design that is not that unique. It looks like many other earphones on the market, but there are several aspects to these headphones that make them very different from other audio offerings in this segment.
First is the 5-way button that functions as a power button, Bluetooth connection button, audio volume control button and skip button all in one. There is another button on the side that functions as an Active Noise Cancelling and Ambient Sound mode selection button, which allows you to hear the audio being played and the sounds of your surroundings at the same time.
The uniqueness of the Fender MIX headphones comes through its modular feature, where the parts of these headphones can be easily removed, and allows users to combine different color patterns on these headphones.
The parts that can be removed include the earcups and the headband. Starting with the earcups, they attach to the headphones using strong magnets.
When removed, users can not only change the earcups, but also place the headphone battery on the right side, while on the left side there is a USB adapter that provides Auracast support which allows these headphones to connect to smart devices or computers automatically via WiFi connection, and allows high-quality audio in lossless or lossless formats to be played easily.
In terms of internal specifications, the Fender MIX headphones come with two audio drivers made of graphene material with a size of 40mm, which Fender promises good and balanced audio processing quality.
As for the battery, Fender says that these headphones can be used for 100 hours continuously without ANC or Ambient Sound mode installed, while with ANC mode activated, they can be used for about 50 hours continuously. A 15-minute charge allows these headphones to be used for 14 hours without ANC and for 8 hours with the ANC feature activated.
This battery can also be replaced if necessary in the future by simply removing the right earcup and accessing the battery cover inside.
User Experience
The modular capabilities of the Fender MIX look quite good, but how is the audio quality of these headphones when they are used? Starting with the comfort of use, these headphones come with a thick enough earcup to ensure that the hard plastic parts are not felt from the sides or top of the head when worn.
However, the noise cancellation in my opinion is not as good as the offerings from other audio brands such as Sony or Bose who have been in this industry for a long time.
Even with the ANC function activated, I can still hear some background noise around me sometimes, especially when the sound is coming from a position very close to me. In terms of audio quality, in my opinion, these headphones are more suitable for listening to songs in the rock or ballad genres, and any other genre that requires high bass notes.
In my opinion, pop songs may not be very suitable for listening to these headphones, because songs in these genres often emphasize treble notes, and these headphones come with a focus on stronger bass notes.
On many other headphones and earphones, this audio quality can be modified using the equalizer function contained in the headphone app. The only issue with these Fender MIX headphones is that they do not have a downloadable app at the moment. This means that the default audio quality that is played cannot be modified, and this is a shortcoming that I think is quite noticeable on these headphones.
And this is not only because users cannot modify the audio quality that is played, it also means that these headphones cannot receive new driver software updates to improve audio quality or other additional features in the future.
We have read reports that Fender will introduce their own audio app in the future, but it is not known when it will be introduced. When it is launched, I hope that it will go some way to improving these issues.
Moving on to another interesting feature of these headphones, which is their modularity. Parts such as the ear cups, audio drivers and headband can be removed and replaced if needed. The battery component is stored on the left side of the headphones and can be replaced if needed, while the adapter
The ability to quickly and easily open and change the earcups is something that is surprising why other audio brands such as Bose, B&W, Sony and others have not come up with this concept yet.
Depending on how often you will use your headphones, the ability to change the earcups at least is a very good advantage. And the advantage to Fender is that the MIX headphones also come with the ability to easily change the headphone battery as well.
The only headphones that I know of that come with a modular design like this are the Apple AirPods Max, where all the parts of these headphones can also be easily removed, but have a much more premium price tag.
As the world is currently trying to reduce the rate of electronic waste, the modularity of a device is now seen as very important. If only one part is damaged, such as the earcups or the side of the audio driver, this feature allows users to replace the damaged part quickly and easily without having to throw away the existing accessory and buy a new one.
In terms of headphone life, Fender says that the MIX headphones come with a battery life of 100 hours on a full charge without using the ANC function, and up to 52 hours with the ANC function enabled. This is one of the headphones that comes with the longest battery life I have ever used, and I can say that throughout this headphone test, I did not have to charge these headphones even once.
What's In The Box?
This is what is offered when you buy a pair of Fender MIX headphones.
1x Fender MIX headphones
1x headphone storage case
1x USB Type-A to Type-C charging cable
1x two-pin aviation plug adapter
1x 3.5mm audio cable
Cover
The Fender MIX headphones are one of my favorite electronic accessories this year. The audio segment, especially headphones, should have come up with this modular concept a few years ago.
The combination of modular design, solid audio quality, long battery life and premium extras like active noise cancellation and transparency mode make these headphones worth the asking price of RM1399.
The only major drawback of these headphones is the lack of a mobile app that can be used to easily and quickly change various headphone settings. Fender is said to offer the app in the future, but it is currently unknown when it will arrive.
Pros:
Solid build quality and modular functionality
Decent audio quality depending on the genre
Premium audio features like ANC and transparency mode
Easy-to-use control buttons
Long battery life
Cons:
No app to change headphone settings
Poor passive noise cancellation
