Cost: £44.99
Goji is a fairly new entrant into the market, having previously focused on accessories until 2012. A partnership with UK grime artist Tinchy Stryder led to the development of an audio division and these Goji Collection wireless Bluetooth headphones are the newest edition to the line.
At just £45.99, they’re already in the sweet spot for budget headphones. Creeping up to £100 demands a different level of expectation, so we were understandably reserved when reviewing these cans. Opening up the box, it felt like we’d seen these headphones somewhere before. If you cast your eyes back to the October issue of What Mobile magazine where we reviewed the STK Intense headphones, they’re practically identical.
They’ve got that same metal outer body and and faux leather earpads, though the colour scheme has been altered to a silver and white mix. There’s also a jet black version available. Even the buttons and connectivity remains unchanged, with volume, AUX, USB and Bluetooth controls all fixed into the left can. The only conclusion we can make from this is that both companies are not actually manufacturing the headphones themselves. Rather, they’re acting as a distributor and slapping their branding on an OEM pair of cans.
Moving onto sound quality and it’s once again a case of severe deja vu. They have the same frequency response rating as the STK Intense headphones at 20-20,000KHz and the same 40mm Neodymium drivers, with a sound that is eerily similar. There’s plenty of volume, with these things going much louder than comparative cans with a 32 ohm impedance rating. At max level it became piercingly painful, with even moderate volumes being pretty damn loud.
The overall soundscape was clear with a great sense of stereo field, while they felt just a touch less bright when compared to the STK Intense. Personally, we prefer this as the latter was bordering on harsh with some material. Clarity was about the same as the STK, with good separation that allowed instruments to breathe through in the mix. Muddiness was minimal, with only a slight bit experienced in the lower midrange.
Of course, the big deal with the Goji Collection headphones is the fact they’re Bluetooth, so we had to put that through its paces as well. Connecting them to my HTC 10 (the office media player of choice) was very easy, with no issues in the pairing process. Simply hit the Bluetooth button until it flashes, then scan for new devices. Using them wireless, sound quality was about the same as wired though perhaps a little thinner. The 14 hour rating was perhaps a little optimistic as ours fell slightly short, achieving around 12 hours of use. Still a very solid result.
So if these are the same as the STK Intense, which one is better? Well, considering that the STK cans retail for £69.99 we can hardly recommend them over these. The Goji Collection cans offer practically the same good sound at £25 less. It’s a no-brainer.
Verdict
Almost identical to the more expensive STK Intense in every way, the Goji Collection Wireless Bluetooth Headphones offer everything for £25 less than the former.
