Available in either beige or black, there’s little about the Isolate’s design that’s unique beyond the Belkin logo on each side. The somewhat cheap feeling of the headphones matches their low price point. They are made out of a rough plastic material, a couple of metal screws, and faux-leather cushions.
(Credit: Mark Knapp)
They do have a relatively lightweight design, coming in at 8.4 ounces. Despite their svelte nature, they still manage to produce fatigue when wearing them. I found the clamping force on my head to be extreme and easily felt through the soft cushions. After wearing the headphones for a couple of hours, the circumference of my ears became quite sore, and the top of my head developed a tender spot thanks to the thin padding that barely distances the headband from my skull.
Sliders built into the headband allow for vertical and horizontal movement of the earcups. The sliders have a good range of sizing and can fit large heads. Finding a comfortable fit is tedious, though, as the sliders are hard to adjust when the headphones are on your head. On the bright side, once you’ve found your ideal fit, accidental bumps aren’t likely to mess with your setting. The earcups fold up toward the headband for portability, though they can’t fold flat.
Internally, the headphones include 40mm drivers that produce a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz. They connect via Bluetooth 5.4 but, unfortunately, only include the basic SBC Bluetooth codec. You can connect to two sources at a time via Bluetooth multipoint.
(Credit: Mark Knapp)
Controls are minimal. There’s an ANC button on the left earcup and power, volume up, and volume down buttons on the right earcup. The ANC button on the left requires long presses to work. The power button on the right doubles as a playback control with single-, double-, and triple-presses for play/pause, next track, and previous track, respectively. These are all stiff, cheap-feeling buttons. Pressing both volume buttons at once activates a special feature: playing seaside sounds.
The Soundform Isolate comes with a USB-C charging cable and 3.5mm audio cable. There’s no carrying case or bag. The USB-C port for charging is slightly recessed and may not work with other USB-C cables you have on hand. A 3.5mm jack on the right earcup lets you plug in for wired playback when the battery is dead. Given the 60 hours of battery life, I don’t think that will be a frequent issue.
