Fashion brand Ted Baker has announced a range of audio products, with a line-up that includes the £179.99 Rockall headphones, the £59.99 Dover in-ear headphones and the £199.99 Fastnet Bluetooth speaker.
The sharper among you may have already noticed that Ted Baker’s new gadgets are all named after areas of the shipping forecast, for that bit of drizzly British flavour.
Ted Baker Rockall headphones
The Ted Baker Rockall headphones lead the new line-up. They cost £179.99, on-par with the Beats Solo HD and Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear, but unlike those pairs they are full-size over-ear headphones.
As with many of the branded headphones we see today, they have a clear fashion-conscious design – would you expect anything less from Ted Baker?
Rather unusually, the Ted Baker Rockall earcups are topped with shiny brushed steel. In headphones, aluminium is generally preferred among metals for its low weight, although steel is tougher.
The headband and earpads are topped with high-grade protein leather – it’s synthetic but is a pretty convincing impersonation.
You can get the Ted Baker Rockall headphones in three colours. Tan/silver and black/silver offer a pretty standard headphone look, while for the more adventurous there’s a white/gold option.
As is common among headphones of this size, the Ted Baker Rockall use 40mm dynamic drivers. However, we were told Ted Baker spent a good while tuning the units.
A quick demo showed that while they have a slight bass skew and a soundstage typical of a closed-back headphone, bass control is far better than in some style headphones. This marks them out a potential audio hit among style-driven portable headphones.
As a closed back pair, the Ted Baker Rockall are eminently portable. They also fold up and use a removable cable, for extra portability points. You’ll be able to buy the Ted Baker Rockall headphones from John Lewis and Ted Baker stores in June.
Ted Baker Fastnet and Dover
The other parts of the three-strong Ted Baker audio team are taken by the Ted Baker Fastnet Bluetooth speaker and the Ted Baker Dover in-ear headphones.
Chunky and design-led, the Ted Baker Fastnet uses a flip-over cover to protect the speaker grille when not in use and features chunky, old fashioned buttons on its side to separate it from its largely youth-oriented Bluetooth speaker rivals.
Its speaker setup is also very traditional. It has a single full-range driver, rather than backing up a normal driver with a passive radiator or two – which has become the standard arrangement for higher-end, smaller-size Bluetooth speakers.
Last in line is the Ted Baker Dover, a pair of IEM-style in-ear headphones with metallic earpiece shells. They cost £59.99.
Ted Baker’s new audio line with be available initially from John Lewis and Ted Baker stores, with the first units going on sale in June. Check out some more photos of the products below.
The chunky buttons of the Ted Baker Fastnet in all their glory
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.