Blue might be a company you’ve heard of, they might not. If you have you’ll know of them as the maker of some of the best recording equipment in the business.
Catering to podcasters, professional recording artists and just about anyone that wants to make music it was almost inevitable that the company would eventually branch out into making a pair of headphones.
Not content with just the one pair, Blue have in fact made three pairs (soon to be four), although we’ll only be focusing on one of them today.
The Lola are some of the most distinctive headphones we’ve ever tested, and we do mean that in a complimentary way.
With a hulking metallic frame and huge ear cups these are not what you would call subtle. Yet despite their aggressive styling they look utterly professional.
Boasting a four-hinge system that makes them not only look extremely angular, the Lola is just the kind of product you’d find proudly lying next to a high-end vinyl player.
That makes sense, Blue’s heritage is sound recording and so if they were going to enter the headphone market they needed to make a statement. In that regard they’ve absolutely succeeded.
What are they like to wear? Well the ultra-large ear cups mean you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who’s ears won’t fit inside. They’re incredibly comfy, with the hinges making the headphones feel like they’re moulding to your head.
In feedback from other members of staff we’ve been reliably informed that like so many large over-the-ear headphones they’re still a massive pain if you wear glasses or have earrings. That’s not the headphone’s fault really, it’s a problem that all headphones like this suffer from.
We also found that in incredibly long listening periods (three hours or more) they start to feel heavy on the head, hardly surprising when you consider that almost all of the frame is metal.
Despite their longevity issues, they more than make up for this on the sound front.
Huge 50mm drivers in each ear, combined with sound-isolating cups mean they produce a really, really nice sound.
Music feels wonderfully open, while the range is absolutely exceptional. The bass feels crisp and punchy and the higher notes ring out in an expansive way that belies the fact you’re wearing the drivers so close to your ear.
Classical suffers a little if we’re honest. The long and the short however is that they sound really really good, and just as good as you’d expect from a pair of headphones that look as striking as these do.
The lack of almost any smart functionality will be irritating to some, and yet feel like a breath of fresh air to others. These headphones are all about the sound, they’re not about an integrated smart app or wireless charging.
The Lola is a statement gadget, it’s a pair of headphones that says as much about you as it does about the company that built them.
If you’re buying them you’re sending a message that the purity of music is your highest concern, not being able to chat on FaceTime or using it for Google Hangouts.
Who should buy the Blue Lola?
Design and music fans. The styling won’t be to everyone’s taste, but for those that it does appeal to you’re also getting some truly great-sounding headphones as well.
Who shouldn’t buy the Blue Lola?
Subtlety is not in this pair of headphones’ vocabulary, so if you’re looking for something that keeps your passion for music private then we honestly can’t say you’re going to find that here. These are not headphones for the faint-hearted.
The Blue Lola headphones cost £199.99