At CES 2025, Belkin began shipping its new SoundForm Isolate headphones. They’re the first wireless headphones with active noise cancellation that Belkin has developed, and they come in at just $60 – making them incredibly affordable over-ear headphones.
Hardware impressions
Despite the low price tag, Belkin built the SoundForm Isolates fairly well. They don’t feel cheap. Obviously, they’re made out of plastic, but so are any pair of over-ear headphones that aren’t AirPods Max. The ear cushions feel nice, and I don’t feel like I’d break the headphones.
The SoundForm Isolates also fold inwards, allowing you to easily toss them into a backpack or whatnot. You can also rotate the earcups to your liking, helping you achieve a more comfortable fit.
In the box, you get a USB-C charging cable as well as a 3.5mm aux cable, though there isn’t an included case. That’s understandable for the price tag, but worth mentioning. The included aux cable is a huge plus though, giving users a ton of connectivity options, other than just bluetooth.
Software features
On the left ear-cup, theres a button that’ll toggle between three modes: hear-through on, noise cancelling off, and noise cancelling on. The names could be a little bit better, but essentially, think of these as transparency mode, off mode, and noise cancelling mode.
Despite being three distinct modes, they’re actually not too different from one another. Noise cancellation certainly does reduce some background noise (especially when walking outside), but over-ear headphones also offer a lot of passive noise cancellation from simply covering your ears. The noise cancellation does its job, but don’t expect to have your mind blown. It doesn’t do a particularly good job with voices for example, but they’re also only $60.
Hear-through mode also does what it says on the tin, and helps pass through some external audio while you’re wearing the headphones. Nothing exceptional, but it does what it says fairly well.
However, there is one unique feature that these offer: isolate mode. By pressing both volume up and volume down together (on the right ear-cup), you can enter isolate mode, which plays ocean sounds while you wear the headphones. I’m not sure that this personally helps me focus, but I could certainly see some people being a fan of it. Some people find it easier to fall asleep while listening to ocean noises, so there’s definitely a purpose there.
Audio
Belkin’s SoundForm Isolates sound fine. I didn’t expect much for $60, and they certainly didn’t fail to deliver in any area. I’m no audio nerd, so I won’t get super in depth here, but don’t go into it with the expectation of having amazing audio. They do offer a fair bit of bass, which some people are into.
They can also get fairly loud, though not to the point of potentially causing hearing loss. You can also go down to the lowest volume notch and they’ll still be audible, which you can’t say about every pair of headphones, so that’s a plus.
Also, the microphones are pretty good for a quick phone call.
9to5Mac’s Take
While these headphones offer nothing spectacular, they’re definitely not bad. I’d say they make a lot of sense to purchase if you want to give them to a younger kid who you wouldn’t want to trust with something too pricey. They’re definitely a good pair of wireless headphones, and it’s impressive that Belkin was able to deliver such a product at only $60. While not for everyone, the SoundForm Isolates are certainly adequate for those on a tight budget and want over-ear wireless headphones.
You can purchase Belkin SoundForm Isolate on Amazon for $59.99if you’re interested. They come in two colors: black and sand, and offer 60 hours of battery life.
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