[Review] Samsung Level Over

The first reaction I had when I saw this product was literally “what the heck, Samsung?” and gave me a cringe. Now, I got to spend some time with a LEVEL Over and well… the results are quite surprising.

Firstly, I never expected Samsung to build a premium headphone. Secondly, I was surprised by the design of it when I saw the press release images. Then, Samsung offered me to review the LEVEL Over, to which I said okay since I did reviews of other audio products too.

What I got was a hard carrying case to carry the LEVEL Over itself and another smaller soft carrying pouch inside the larger case that carries the audio jack and also the micro USB cable.

There isn’t much to see here since what Samsung sent me was only this box alone.

Design and build quality

When I first saw the LEVEL Over, I was quite surprised by how clean it looks. I got the white one here that has brown colour to compliment the white colour. Everything is built with plastic however, and it does feel a little easy to break. The only metal part you have is the rail for size adjustment and the screw piece. The rail is also very smooth and offers a very satisfying tactile feedback for each discrete levels of size you choose.

Samsung did compensate for the build quality by putting a super large piece of faux leather for both the earcups and also another large piece for the top of the headband. All of the leather pieces are padded nicely, and the foams they use is soft and comfortable. I have ears that protrude out quite a lot and tend to scratch the insides, but the height of the foams used on the LEVEL Over can prevent this.

The earcups are very large and covers more than the entire ear. Beneath each padding there is a large L and R letters printed in white to depict the left and right sides. Yet surprisingly, they fit comfortably well with swiveling earcups. Up top there is yet another large foamed padding for the noggin.

One problem with the design though is that Samsung forgot to include rotating earcups so that the they can fit better over the neck and on the shoulders.

[nextpage title=”Ports and connectivity”]

 

As the LEVEL Over is a Bluetooth-enabled pair of headphones, there is a power lever alongside with another ANC on/off that doubles as a Bluetooth pairing button on the right side. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack, and 3 microphones around the right earcup. On the left however is a little bit more plain and only has one microphone and one micro USB jack.

On the side however things get a little more interesting. The left earcup has built-in NFC for easy pairing but the right side is completely empty.

Hold on – it only looks empty. This side is actually a touch panel where you can swipe up and down to control the volume, and swipe sideways to go to the next or previous track. The volume here is independent from the paired device, meaning you can have the device cranked up to the max volume have the LEVEL Over set to the lowest volume – which I do recommend, since I want everything to be controlled from the touch panel without having to take my phone out.

The included audio jack is very springy and has all the 3 in-line buttons, but keep in mind that these buttons are not compatible with Apple’s devices, though the center button works for my Nexus 4.

[nextpage title=”Performance”]There are two methods to test the LEVEL Over. Firstly, I can test it by connecting with the included 3.5mm audio jack, or test it over Bluetooth. I chose the latter as Samsung intends to have this product to be a premium wireless headphone, but I did found out that the audio jack is also important as you can still use the LEVEL Over when the battery is depleted completely, though you obviously won’t have active noise cancellation.

Let’s talk about the active noise cancellation first, or ANC, for short. With a push of a button you’ll get an audio feedback not telling you that ANC is switched on, but you’ll able to hear the difference when you turn it on and off. ANC here works very well, and I can even hear my own heartbeat for that matter.

Then comes song tests. You know how I test songs – my usual list of songs composing electronic songs, classicals, some oldies and vocals. Here are the results.

Adventure Time – Rogue (Monster 010 – Conquest) [FLAC]

• Lows : Tight and punchy
• Mids : Hidden mid-frequency sound is heard clearly
• Highs : Bells can be heard distinctively

Girls Just Want To Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper (Bioshock Infinite Soundtrack) [320kbps MP3]

• Lows : Bass strings is heard plucking on the left side of my head
• Mids : Vocal is distinct
• Highs : Highs are distinctive

Orpheus Of The Underworld – Adya (Adya Classic 2) [215 kbps MP3]

• Lows : Reverberating bass at the beginning very subtle
• Mids : Overwhelmed by bass
• Highs : Very muffled

An Accent Beyond – Aperture Science Psychoacoustics Laboratory (Portal 2: Songs to Test By) [320kbps MP3]

• Lows : Strong punches of bass
• Mids : Mids are distinct
• Highs : Chimes are okay

Rosen aus dem Suden, op. 388 – Orchestra Of The Viennese Volksoper (Great Strauss Waltz, Polkas & Marches) [320kbps MP3]

• Lows : Bass is fine
• Mids : All instruments are heard even during the finale
• Highs : Cymbal sounds good

Salome – The Johann Strauss Orchestra & Andre Rieu (Andre Rieu In Wonderland) [320kbps MP3]

• Lows : Each note played by the tuba, a subtle bass is heard
• Mids : Enjoyably clear and crisp
• Highs : Very great flute sound reproduction, the sudden trombone is not painful

The Entertainer – Scott Joplin (The Entertainer – The Very Best of Scott Joplin) [320kbps MP3]

• Lows : Brass can be heard is on my right side, each instrument of the brass can be heard
• Mids : Excellent piano sound, heard that is in front of me
• Highs : Woodwind can be heard is on my left side, the sharp flute does not feel like it’s attacking

Skyliner – The BBC Big Band (The Age Of Swing, Volume 1) [FLAC]

• Lows : Sublet bass string plucks are heard
• Mids : During the saxophone solo, all the other subtle background instruments are heard
• Highs : Trumpets sound excellent, as if they’re performing in a stage in front of you

The Ballad Of Mr Steak – Kishi Bashi (Lighght) [FLAC]

• Lows : Drum hits are very punchy
• Mids : Vocals and subtle background sound are heard clearly
• Highs : Cymbals sound  distinctively well on the left side of the ear

In The Mood – The BBC Big Band (The Age Of Swing, Volume 1) [FLAC]

• Lows : Each note of the bass is heard clearly
• Mids : Doesn’t overlap with other sound
• Highs : Clarinet, trumpet and saxophone are very pleasantly heard

I have worn this pair of headphones for hours and I enjoyed it so much that I forgot I was wearing headphones after some time. It is comfortable, produces great sound, and the ANC worked so well that I didn’t know there was someone coming into my room for a few times.

Overall, I really like the sound produced from the LEVEL Over a lot. Soundstage is decent enough to give a perception of an orchestra.

[nextpage title=”Battery”]Charging is quick enough – plug the micro USB cable and it will charge completely in about 3 hours. I do however wish that they have some sort of indication to constantly monitor the battery left on the headphones themselves rather than having to pair it to an Android smartphone with the Samsung LEVEL app installed. I personally paired this LEVEL Over to my laptop quite a lot too.

When it comes to battery life, this headphone can last for more than 10 hours of constant music listening over Bluetooth with ANC switched on. I am very impressed with the battery life, through you cannot see how much battery is left without the Samsung LEVEL app and have the headphones paired to your Android smartphone – which brings me to the next section.

[nextpage title=”Software”]

The LEVEL Over app comes in a total of two different flavours. There is one for phones and another for tablets, and both of these versions vary depending on what device you install them in. If you install them on a Samsung device, you get extra features called Volume Monitor and adaptive equalizer, and if you install them on a non-Samsung device, you don’t have it. These features are… well in my experience, not really useful.

I actually found that this move by Samsung is excellent! Only if Samsung did the same move for their Gear devices. Removing not-so-useful features if you are not using a Samsung device? That’s a very, very good tradeoff.

[nextpage title=”Wrap up”]I’ve said a lot of good things about the Samsung LEVEL Over. How does it really fare against other headphones? I’ve tried high-end headphones by Beats, Monster, and Logitech. I found that this is one of the most feature-packed wireless headphone of all. Touch panel, NFC, superb battery life, ANC, comfy cushions, and decent sound quality.

All of these comes with a hefty price of RM1,399. I can see how Samsung is trying to push this to the premium headphones market, but Samsung one flaw with its portability – that is rotating earcups. Other than that, Samsung created a very solid product in this particular category.

I rate the Samsung LEVEL Over a solid 8/10, with the lack of rotating earcups and price bringing the score down.

Now – back to enjoying music!

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