Cheap headphones from Lidl

[DTB]

Fed up with our second pair of Beats falling apart and the ear cups shedding material straight after warranty running out I bought a pair of Silvercrest over ear headphones from Lidl for £29. Expecting them to be just okay at best and they are superb. Easily as good as any other bluetooth headphones I’ve owned. They are also rechargeable so no batteries to mess about with and unbelievably they have very good noise cancellation which can be switched on or off. They also have a cable facility should you prefer plugging in and the slight increase in fidelity that brings. 
So if anyone is looking for a cheap but excellent pair of headphones then head to Lidl. I’m going back to buy another couple of pairs, one for wife to replace her beats and a pair to leave in the bunker. 

[Supernaut]

Beats are known to be clever marketing - no better than the £30 bluetooth headphones on Amazon. 

[jezzaboy]

Perfect timing my good man as the hoover has just ripped the headphone cable apart. 👍

[oldslapper]

1 hour ago, Supernaut said:

Beats are known to be clever marketing - no better than the £30 bluetooth headphones on Amazon. 

Beats me how they got away with it. 
 

 

Yes…I know… but I’m not going to apologise 

[itu]

Beats? Silvercrest? Should the heading be: "Cheap headphones from China"? Why is it so hard to save a bit more and buy some quality?

 

Every time I see text "cheap", it makes me wonder how many Chinese kids or slaves were involved.

[dyerseve]

2 minutes ago, itu said:

Beats? Silvercrest? Should the heading be: "Cheap headphones from China"? Why is it so hard to save a bit more and buy some quality?

 

Every time I see text "cheap", it makes me wonder how many Chinese kids or slaves were involved.

You seem to be making an assumption that anything "from China" must lacking quality... This is a very antiquated view and you are not doing yourself any favours with it...Same goes for your views regarding child labour and slaves. Chinese labour is cheaper, it doesnt mean they are using children or slaves. Any reputable Chinese manufacturer will have stringent anti child labour regs in place. 

 

[itu]

Definitely not. I thought that I should add that it is possible to get good stuff, too, but hand on your heart, @dyerseve, do you see these product brands mentioned as quality stuff?

[Waddo Soqable]

Pretty much all electrical stuff is made in China anyway tbh, both cheap and expensive 

[tauzero]

55 minutes ago, jezzaboy said:

Perfect timing my good man as the hoover has just ripped the headphone cable apart. 👍

 

Are you sure that wasn't pilot error?

 

28 minutes ago, itu said:

Beats? Silvercrest? Should the heading be: "Cheap headphones from China"? Why is it so hard to save a bit more and buy some quality?

 

Every time I see text "cheap", it makes me wonder how many Chinese kids or slaves were involved.

 

Why are you associating China only with cheap goods? iPhones aren't exactly cheap and they're made in China.

[dyerseve]

14 minutes ago, itu said:

Definitely not. I thought that I should add that it is possible to get good stuff, too, but hand on your heart, @dyerseve, do you see these product brands mentioned as quality stuff?

I have no experience of either brand so I cannot comment.

[lowdown]

Is it these ? If so, you have been stitched up. £21.99 at Amazon and free next day delivery if you use prime.

 

Joking aside, my oldest lad purchased a pair and yes, they are very good.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bluetooth-Headphones-Wireless-Playtime-Lightweight-1-Black-gold/dp/B0BG84GFH8/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?adgrpid=1188572968561503&hvadid=74286013932681&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=188&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=p&hvtargid=kwd-74285949993116%3Aloc-188&hydadcr=5084_2260904&keywords=silvercrest+headphones&qid=1676310803&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1&smid=A25WA7Q676O2LD

[Reggaebass]

I’ve had Beats Studio since they first came out and I’ve got the studio 3 now, I’ve never had any problems with any of them and that’s heavy use, they are pretty hard wearing , the solo ones can be a bit flimsy though imo

[itu]

In my previous work I was in mainland China to source reputable companies to produce high end products. There were quite a few problems to be solved, and our decision was not to move the production to China.

 

I did some research and studied their culture with the sourcing team. IP and patents are less than important, and many technical solutions were impossible to take there because of this. Logistics would have been a nightmare, and the decision not to move production was proven right after few years.

 

@tauzero iPhone may not be cheap to the end customer, but check its BOM and come back again.

[DTB]

15 minutes ago, lowdown said:

Is it these ? If so, you have been stitched up. £21.99 at Amazon and free next day delivery if you use prime.

 

Joking aside, my oldest lad purchased a pair and yes, they are very good.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bluetooth-Headphones-Wireless-Playtime-Lightweight-1-Black-gold/dp/B0BG84GFH8/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?adgrpid=1188572968561503&hvadid=74286013932681&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=188&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=p&hvtargid=kwd-74285949993116%3Aloc-188&hydadcr=5084_2260904&keywords=silvercrest+headphones&qid=1676310803&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1&smid=A25WA7Q676O2LD

No. 

[DTB]

Child labour

stitched up

if you didn’t already know beats were no better than £30 ‘phones you’re stupid

Wish I hadn’t bothered now. 
Jezzaboy, you are very welcome. 

[pfretrock]

2 hours ago, DTB said:

.... over ear headphones from Lidl for £29. ....

I thought they only did Angle Grinders and MIG Welders.

[Paul S]

1 hour ago, DTB said:

Child labour

stitched up

if you didn’t already know beats were no better than £30 ‘phones you’re stupid

Wish I hadn’t bothered now. 
Jezzaboy, you are very welcome. 

I wouldn't worry, its the internet.  That always happens.

[lowdown]

1 hour ago, DTB said:

Child labour

stitched up

if you didn’t already know beats were no better than £30 ‘phones you’re stupid

Wish I hadn’t bothered now. 
Jezzaboy, you are very welcome. 

 

If that was aimed at me - My post was in jest. Hence...'Joking aside' and  

 

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by lowdown

[stewblack]

Lidl headphones are often excellent. I endorse the OP and sidestep the rest.

[itu]

So sorry, @DTB, my bad. I do have chinese products, too, because as said, lots of electronics are made there. Like my work phone.

 

I try to find and support local. Not an easy task at all. But we are getting better, and there are already some possibilities.

 

(Last time I bought headphones, they were 2nd hand. Head. Something.)

[JJTee]

I’ve heard they make quite good balloons?

[Dan Dare]

6 hours ago, Supernaut said:

Beats are known to be clever marketing - no better than the £30 bluetooth headphones on Amazon. 

 

Yep. A fashion product and absolute sh1te. Not remotely comparable with reputable brands - Sennheiser, AKG, Beyer, Grado, Sony, etc.

[tauzero]

6 hours ago, itu said:

@tauzero iPhone may not be cheap to the end customer, but check its BOM and come back again.

 

You said "Why is it so hard to save a bit more and buy some quality?". So you're talking about the cost to the customer, not the component or assembly cost.

[itu]

5 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

You said "Why is it so hard to save a bit more and buy some quality?". So you're talking about the cost to the customer, not the component or assembly cost.

This is pretty complicated topic. Values, costs, impacts... any single number is a simplification. Some years back a multidisclipinary team used quite a lot of time to understand customers. Of course cost is always one thing.

 

I think, to be honest, that we have the possibility to think about other values, too, as western world is so rich. The less we earned, the less we would be concerned, and interested. Somehow the problems raise interest, because we have the possibility to be aware. Not too many people go into details, many know maybe only some terms, but do not really understand the big picture. No wonder: there are numerous details, and it is a minefield.

 

I certainly didn't understand it, I still try to remember at least some aspects that were found by the team. Logistics, factories, workers, lifetime of the product, spare parts, tools, serviceability, advertising, packages... many of these are related to each other in a really complicated way. Overall costs are hard to calculate, but it seems to be possible to some extent.

 

An example, and just one detail:

Apple watch is a popular unit. The first ones we studied had a silly amount of package material that was hard to put back to circulation. Tapes and glues were very sticky and were not so friendly to remove (complicated recycling). This affected logistics, too, because the small unit became bulky. Off white colour, well, I think you get my point.

[pfretrock]

10 hours ago, JJTee said:

I’ve heard they make quite good balloons?

Yes, they even copy Alien UFO's