Samsung’s Level On Pro headphones are good, but nothing spectacular.

If you make smartphones, you need to make headphones. I’m not sure why that is, exactly, but hey, the law is the law. For the vast majority of us, there’s nothing particularly engaging in the notion of buying a pair of headphones made by the same folks who built our handset, but for Samsung, it’s all about creating a cross-device ecosystem that means never having to say you’re Sony. Or Apple. Or HTC.

What that means, in the case of the Level On Pro, is a fine pair of on-ear headphones that require a user’s full commitment to the wide world of Samsung to truly unlock their full potential.

Even without that sort of brand loyalty, there’s a lot to like here — good sound, comfort, solid battery life — but those things that help set it apart from similarly priced existing Bluetooth headphones from the likes of Bose and JBL do require a little extra Samsung love.

Putting on the Level On Pro

Samsung’s certainly designed a nice looking pair of headphones here. Aesthetically, the Pro are a step up from last year’s Level On, with a design that splits the difference between the modern and classic.

Unlike offerings from companies like Sennheiser, the Level On Pro don’t borrow too heavily from headphones past, nor do they succumb to the blocky minimalism of Beats, instead combining smooth curves with some generous padding.

They’re not particularly flashy, but they’re not bad looking — a utilitarian sort of design that’s appropriate for pretty much any setting. 

The shiny plastic build doesn’t exactly scream “luxury item,” but it’s a small price to pay for a lightweight build, which, coupled with cushy padding on the ear cups and headband makes for a comfortable fit, even during long music marathons.

As with most travel headphones, the arms fold inward, collapsing the Level On Pro into a handy travel size that can be stuffed in the included travel bag and into a backpack. Though travel bag might be a bit generous for what is essentially a thin canvas bag with drawstring. Still, it does the trick, assuming you’re not too careless.

Samsung does get points for battery life here. The company rates the cans at 10 hours of music playback and 200 hours of standby time. I was able to get a few days of moderate use out of the Levels On Pro without plugging in the Micro USB cable.

Taking control

The Level On Pro only features two physical buttons — switches, really — both located on the same ear cup. One turns the headphones on and off and syncs up the Bluetooth and the other activates the active noise-cancelation. Both are similarly shaped and placed right next to each other, so I did find myself accidentally turning off the headset once or twice when I just meant to toggle the noise-cancelation.

As is the rage among the current crop of Bluetooth headphones — a la the  Parrot Zik line —the real controls are all touch-based, built directly into the ear cup. Swiping up or down adjusts the volume, while moving left or right changes the track. Tap twice to play or pause and hold down to toggle the noise cancelation. You can also use the touchpad to activate Samsung’s S Voice control app.

It’s all pretty intuitive once you get the hang of it, though, as with other touch-based headphone controls, I did accidentally trigger the wrong ones on occasion — accidentally skipping a track when I was attempting to adjust the volume. I’m willing to put the responsibility more in my own ham hands than Samsung’s interface.

A level sound

Samsung delivers a nice, even sound here, on-par with other headsets in the same approximate price range. By default, the system doesn’t lean too heavily on any one frequency, unlike other on-ear headphones that go over the deep end on the bass to overcompensate for other shortcomings.

The Level On Pro feature the company’s proprietary UHQA (Ultra High Quality Audio — an attempt, no doubt, to offer the audio branding equivalent to UHD), 24-bit digital audio. It's a fairly full playback experience the ears especially when coupled with the active noise-cancelation.

Signal to noise

The Level On Pro ultimately feel less like an attempt to upend the on-ear headphone market than another device to keep users invested in the Samsung ecosystem. There’s not a whole heck of a lot here to differentiate it from other Bluetooth headphones within the $250 price range.

That’s not to say they’re bad. Not at all, really. They sound good, boast solid battery life and are pretty comfortable. It’s just that, aside from a couple of interesting tricks targeted at users who have already bought into the Samsung ecosystem, there’s not much here that helps the headphones drown out the noise of stiff competition.