On Nov. 18, the Korea Consumer Agency provides comparative information on the sound quality, external noise cancellation performance, and currency quality of 10 major brand wireless headphone products in the Fair Trade Commission's press room at the Government Sejong Office. The photo shows a Consumer Agency employee examining the products. /Courtesy of Yonhap News

The Korea Consumer Agency announced on the 18th that some of the 10 wireless headphone products distributed in the market exceeded the maximum volume safety standards.

As a result of testing and evaluating the quality and safety of the 10 wireless headphone products, it was found that the iriver (IBH-NC500) product exceeded the maximum volume safety limit of 100 dB(A) (weighted decibels). In response, the agency recommended that the business improve the quality, and the business has stated that it plans to improve the maximum volume to below the standard.

In the evaluation of sound reproduction performance that delivers sound without distortion, eight products were found to be excellent: ▲ Marshall (MONITOR II A.N.C.) ▲ Bose (QC Ultra) ▲ Britz (BT6000 ANC) ▲ Sony (WH-1000XM5) ▲ Apple (AirPods Max) ▲ Sennheiser (MOMENTUM 4 Wireless) ▲ Philips (TAH7508) ▲ JBL (TOUR ONE M2). The QCY (H4) product was rated as fair, while the iriver product showed relatively high distortion and was assessed as average.

In terms of external noise reduction (noise-canceling) performance, there were differences among products, reducing noise in a range from a minimum of 4 dB to a maximum of 21 dB. The five products from ▲ Bose ▲ Britz ▲ Sony ▲ Apple ▲ JBL were relatively superior, reducing more than 18 dB of noise.

All products complied with legal labeling requirements such as safety items and certification numbers. A representative from the consumer agency noted, "Consumers should carefully compare external noise reduction performance and quality based on their primary usage of wireless headphones before making a product selection."