AKG with its Grammy award winning sound experience that ignites creative expression has impressed many in headphone world. To enhance that world rescently Samsung has their new headphones branded and optimized by AKG. The AKG Y600NCs with active noise cancellation (ANC) and an innovative rotating ear-cup for volume control.

With AKG Y600NCs you will again discover smooth, multidimensional tones and exceptional detail that’s deep in bass and rich in mid-range, allowing every layer of sound to be felt.

So as usual I have to compare the Samsung headphones which are available at the same price of £199.00 as on 27th July 2020.

Samsung AKG Y600NC Vs AKG N700NC Vs AKG N700NC M2 Specs & features comparison table

Samsung AKG Y600NC Vs Samsung AKG N700NC Vs Samsung AKG N700NC M2 Review

Design

AKG Y600NC : Round shaped over ear design.

• Headband design is substantially improved over the 700 series which was a big problem as per me.

AKG N700NC : Oval shaped over ear design

• Headband needs to be low profile like the Sony 1000XM3’s headband which looks boxy.
• High clamping force issue and the stiff padding adds to the head squeezing feeling.

AKG N700NC M2 : Oval shaped over ear design

• No improvements in headband and hence comfort compared to the 1st Gen
• Too much snug to the head like the 1st Gen, surely needs some improvements

• Here are some notable improvements on the M2’s.

  • Build quality substantially improved compared to the 1st Gen AKG N700NC’s
  • Customer complaints resolved :
    • 1st Gen headphones had complained of crack and squeak when you flex the headband
    • The ear cups rotation is super smooth, the joints glide with ease without any chafing.

Media controls

• All these headphones are using physical buttons (old styled – but still liked by many)
  • AKG Y600NC does show difference in the button layout, with innovative rotating ear-cup for volume control.
• Media controls are located on the left ear cup instead of the right ear cup!
• Buttons are small & placed close to each other, letting you to press wrong button!
• My suggestion is to simply improve on touch & feel with simple trick of making the center button taller from the other two buttons, adding distinction factor.

Sound

All 3 models uses AKG reference sound.

All have adjustable eq which is of great use to adjust the output as per your personal preference.

AKG Y600NC : Have driver impedance change to 32 Ohm, with higher band of frequency response 10Hz – 24kHz

AKG N700NC : Have 16 Ohm impedance with std freq response 20kHz – 20kHz

AKG N700NC M2 : Second generation headphones of last year’s AKG N700NC’s

Now when it comes to audio codecs these headphones top out at AAC support, and while watching movies or videos with these headphones they have zero latency across the board while using an iPhone or android phone.

The AKG N700NC M2’s does sound better than the Sony 1000XM3’s specifically cause of their sound stage.

In fact the Sound stage on the AKG M2s is noticeably wider and instrument separation is better, a perfect pair for those who likes a balanced or neutral sound signature

Active Noise Cancellation

AKG’s can’t really compete with the ANC on the Bose NC 700 or the Sony 1000XM3.

The active noise cancellation on the AKG’s performs more like what you would find on a pair of $250 mid tier ANC headphones.

For all models the Talk through mode (which is similar to Quick attention mode in Sony or Conversation mode in Bose headphones) which mutes your music on a tap of button and allows the ambient sound around you so you can quickly talk to someone.

Battery and Charging

AKG Y600NC : 

• 25 hours battery life with ANC and Bluetooth ON
• 35 hours battery life with ANC ON

AKG N700NC :

• 20 hours battery life with ANC and Bluetooth ON
• 36 hours battery life with ANC ON
• Headphones get charged via micro-USB port.
  And since AKG headphones are to Galaxy Devices like Beats are to iPhone’s, using them with Samsung galaxy you need to have 2 separate charging cables! one micro-USB and another USB C – its really a pain!!

AKG N700NC M2 :

• 23 hours battery life with ANC and Bluetooth ON
  – should be able to last you a week in between charges.
• 32 hours battery life with ANC ON
• 2nd Gen charging is changed to USB C port

Bluetooth connectivity

All the three headphones are Multi-point connectivity capable,

what it means is that you will be able to connect to two devices (say mobile and laptop) at the same time which really adds comfort of using single headphone for entertainment and work.

AKG Y600NC : Bluetooth 5.0 which means low latency, low connection drops, long range (Read more on BT5.0)

AKG N700NC : Bluetooth 4.2 + Multi-point connectivity

AKG N700NC M2 : Bluetooth 4.2 + Multi-point connectivity

Now multi point connectivity for the 700 series is good, even though they use Bluetooth 4.2, AKG is able to mange support this feature ( remember still some of the headphones in market are unable to achieve this even though they’re also using Bluetooth 4.2)

References

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