In recent times, headphones have become an accessory in urban fashion and many brands have joined in onย this trend creating specific headphones that cater to younger audiences particularly music lovers (not necessarilyย audiophiles) and gamers. There isn’t real definition on what’s cool and hip in this market so the landscape for creativity is expansive and an excellent playground for artists. Axent Wear co-founder Wenqing Yan conceptualized the initial sketches for the Axent Wear Cat Ear headphones which after many revisions has reached what we have now today for review.
The Axent Wear Cat Ear Headphones with Speakerss is an Indiegogo project started by Wenqing Yan and Vanessa Hu. Their aim was to create a stylish yet functional pair of headphones that marries both form and function, if your concept of that is a headphone that have cat ears that is. If you’re a fan of Japanese culture or an otaku, chances are these designs would fly with you and that’s exactly what Vanessa and Wenqing were aiming for – to create unique headphones. That’s the concept behind Axent Wear.
While I particularly caught on the Axent Wear campaign right after they closed it, they were still not shipping and it was only last December that I’ve caught them for sale over at Singapore but couldn’t get my hands on them due to delayed shipping. Fast-forward a few months and I finally gotten my hands on these headphones and I’ll be reviewinag them like everything else here in Back2Gaming due to the lack of any solid reviews for this pair of cans. Read on as we take an in-depth look at Axent Wear Cat Ear Headphone with Speakerss!
Features and Specifications
- Premium headphones for private listening
- External cat ear speakers for sharing music
- Independently controlled LED accent lights
- Detachable boom mic for gaming
- Enjoy your music privatelyโor turn on the cat ear speakers to share with friends
- LED accent lights on cat ear speakers and earcups make a statement anywhere
- Speakers and lights are controlled independently
- Over-the-ear cushioning for noise reduction and a secure fit
- USB rechargeableโup to 5 hours of playing time per charge
- Detachable gaming boom mic
- Inline volume control plus forward & back buttons
Listen privately or share your music with your friends.
Slip the cushioned earcups over your ears and they conform the unique shape of your head, blocking out background noise and letting you enjoy all the rich, vibrant sound you expect from premium headphones. But thatโs just the beginning. With the flip of a switch, your headphones go from private sound studio to a party-rocking sound system everyone around you can enjoy as your music pumps through the external cat ear speakers.
Gamers, meet your new favorite headset.
When itโs time to make the switch from music to gaming, Cat Ear Headphones have you covered. Simply plug in the detachable boom mic and youโve got the coolest looking headset around. Game on!
Headphone Audio
- 20Hz-20KHz frequency response
- 32 Ohm impedance
- 40mm drivers
Cat Ear Speaker Audio
- 200Hz-18KHz frequency response
- 4 Ohm impedance
- 32mm drivers
Whatโs In the Box
- Cat Ear Headphones
- Detachable gaming mic
- 4โ detachable headphone cable (3.5mm)
- USB recharging cable
- Protective carry case
Official siteย | IndieGogoย | BrookStone
Packaging
The Axent Wear Cat Ear headphones comes packaged in a colored box with the front of the packaging showing an image of the product with your color choices. Axent Wear ships 4 colors as of this posting which are Blue, Green, Purple and Red which we have for this review. Inside the cardboard we have a protective case that has all the package inclusions.
[section label=”Product Gallery – Closer Look”]
Opening up the hard carry case, we see theย Axent Wear Cat Ear Headphones tucked neatly in pre-formed spaces. Cables are tucked neatly into their own spaces with a holder strap to hold them in place.

Included in the package for theย Axent Wear Cat Ear Headphones is an instructional booklet and cables: a microUSB cable for charging and a 3.5mm jack with inline controller. A detachable mic is also included.

Bringing out theย Axent Wear Cat Ear Headphones, we can see its full details: the headphones is made of black ABS plastic with a semi-gloss finish and while the plastic may turn-off a few people but once you hold it in your hand, there’s significant heft to the headphones giving it a real premium feel.
From the sides, we can see the large colored rings that adorn the earcups. They are colored to compliment their respective LEDs for maximum visibility even in daylight. The cups are dome-smooth and don’t have much in terms of detailing from this view.

The headband design is similar to most DJ-style headset and the Axent Wear Cat Ear headphones rotate 90* to face inwards. The cups then swivel from their hinges around 315* this allows the Axent Wear headphones to collapse like so…

The earphones collapse into a compact form so you can pack it in your bag for easy storage.

The left earcup of theย Axent Wear Cat Ear Headphones houses the ports for the microphone and 3.5mm audio cable. On the other cup we have the control buttons for the speaker and toggle buttons for the speaker and lights. Note that these are non-powered headphones and the microUSB port is for charging the batteries that drive the LED lights, not the speakers. Also worth noting is that when you disable the speakers and turn them on, they will revert to a minimal volume level so you need to bump them again when going speaker mode. Another thing is that the speakers do not disable the headphones. Both speakers and headphones work at the same time when enabled. The speakers will disable themselves after a set period of inactivity.

A LED inidicator blinks when the device is charging and glows steady when full.

Theย Axent Wear Cat Ear Headphones and Speaker uses leatherette earcups and provide really good cushioning. They’re not as warm as the velvet ones I mostly use and despite their size, have really firm sealing which gives the Axent Wear cans some really good isolation.

Axent Wear lines the headband with full cushioning and is also wrapped in the same leatherette as the earcups. The Brookstone logo is emblazoned in the headband which is the manufacturer of these headphones. The headband is firm but provide decent amounts of comfort.

The cat ears are quite sizable and their height provide good visibility even for those with puffy hair. The head band alone does a good job keeping hair in place so the cat ear speakers do get noticeable. They’re meshed in the front to serve as the actual holes for the sound to pass through when using the speakers. The speaker-looking things are just for style and they are the ones that light up when LED is enabled.

Lights on! As evident in this image, the red variant isn’t so red but I knew that already before purchasing this product. I’ve seen the purple, blue and green variants and they appear correctly as advertised but the red one, I just don’t know why Axent Wear decided to edit their image showing them in real red instead of the orange glow they really have and just marketed them as orange.

User Experience & Conclusion

Let’s get this out first, theย Axent Wear Cat Ear Headphones with Speaker cost $159. Depending on where you buy, that price may vary but as of this writing and my purchases from these region, $159/Php7500/SGD229 is the price so we will go by that. At that price range, theย Axent Wear Cat Ear Headphones sits on a delicate spot but we’ll discuss that later in detail. It doesn’t have any direct competition as far as we know but in terms of style and offering, its closest rivals are the Razer Kraken Neon and the SteelSeries Siberia Elite and V2 Frost Blue/Heat Orange. We use an LG G3 for mobile audio and a Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 5 RX for testing. The headphones are burned-in for 100 hours before we determine our findings.
Axent Wear doesn’t particularly market these headphones as audiophile grade nor do they make any mention on specialized sound character so that means they’re really banking on giving a decent experience while retaining the style they’re going for. Let’s get one of those out of the way first – looks. Theย Axent Wear Cat Ear Headphones is certainly a niche product and will mostly attract those in the gaming and otaku crowd. The neko inclinations of some folks will easy sway many to just go for the looks of this headphones, easily brushing off the price tag just for the sheer fact that its a cat-ear headband. The fact that its a headphone and it lights up just adds a certain swag factor to it, unique to itself, that for many of its backers offsets the potential sound quality limitations of theย Axent Wear Cat Ear Headphones. That said, the initial goal of this crowdfunding campaign is $250,000 but has managed to source $3,428,896 from nearly 21,000 backers which speaks for the appeal of this product.
The Axent Wear Cat Ear headphones are visibly plastic and feel that way. The cat ears themselves aren’t a solid piece and are assemblies that connect to the main headband which depending on your copy may tend to have visible seamlines which may or may not be alright with you. The plastic is sharply molded but lacks any detailing with only the cat ears themselves having any sort of texture for the holes for the speaker to pass through. Going over to the cushions and leatherette, they’re decent and are really comfortable. They don’t heat up as much as I expect them to and the spacing between the cups and ear is decent because of the large cups despite the 40mm choice of drivers. The light feature is really dependent on your preference and is more of a value-adding feature than anything else. The light is bright enough to be seen in normal room lighting but won’t shine through daylight. The colored plastic though are highly-reflective and are visible when reflecting daylight. The battery lasts around 5 hours for the speakers and LED which is a decent amount but if you’re rocking one for a con or event, better bring a power bank.
Now going on to sound quality: theย Axent Wear Cat Ear Headphones are easy to drive so they play nicely with your phone. Mids are particularly the strongest point of the Axent Wear sound character with clear rendering and decent range. The Axent Wear headphones have a slight A curve to it with the highs and lows a bit held back but nothing that destroys the overall quality of the source. There’s good amount of bass, tight and controlled, that will satisfy just about anyone but if you’re particularly looking for a more powerful bass experience, this isn’t for you. The Axent Wear doesn’t particularly have any kick to it and bass is limited to what can be described as similar to sub-$50 headphones. Highs aren’t particularly distinct either, bordering on ok and decent rather than impressive. Still, the overall sound quality is primarily decent. Nothing special but holds up enough for extended listening sessions.
The speaker sound quality is a bit more unimpressive but given they’re small size, they’re actually surprisingly clean and hiss-free. The external speakers lack a bass presence and highs are limited but mids and vocal are clear enough for a jam session with friends outdoors. The speakers don’t suck up much power and will suck the Axent Wear dry in around 5 hours, shorter if the lights are on. The microphone is ok for phone calls and gaming communication but you’ll need specialized software if you want advanced options like mute, AGC, etc.

So given all that, for $159 people are still buying these headphones and the simplest explanation for that is that they are paying for a style which has not been done before. Never has a such a fusion of multiple aspects culminated in this form factor that contrary to its apparent polarizing price range, the predominant feedback is still that it looks cool. And that cool factor to 21,000 people plus those that purchased after the crowdfunding is enough to warrant the $159 price tag.ย In my opinion, I share the same sentiments as those who funded the Axent Wear Cat Ear headphones. I got them because they look cool and I feel I can rock them during geek conventions and sorts and its headphone and speaker function will be demoted to secondary feature as opposed to being an accessory/ear muffs.
In closing, theย Axent Wear Cat Ear Headphones is an accessory more than an audio peripheral. While it does deliver all the goods you’d expect from a decent headphones, the price range alone doesn’t justify getting it to listen to music by itself. This is a premium accessory with multiple functions and people who see it and still need time to understand its worth are going to have a hard time appreciating its price more. For those that do appreciate the potential applications of theย Axent Wear Cat Ear Headphones, it is a well-made product that delivers decent audio performance.
1 Comment
wow great! because of this i’m confuse what i want to buy if this cat ear headphone or this Meizu HD50 Headphone https://www.goods.ph/original-meizu-hd50-headphones-adjustable-hifi-stereo-metal-headset-with-mic-aluminium-alloy-shell-for-music-25871.html what do you think ? which is better?