Southwing SA505 Headphones

A Relative newcomer to the UK, Southwing, impressed us last month with the stylish touch-sensitive SH505 Bluetooth headset. The Barcelona-based mobile accessories manufacturer is now turning its attention to music with its wireless stereo headphones, the SA505.

Unlike some of the early Bluetooth cans, these are quite compact, lightweight and don't stand out like the only gay in the village. The SA505s are also easy on the ear with a soft foam cushion. Meanwhile, a sturdy but flexible headband grips the back of your head.

Like the SH505 headset, the headphones go into automatic pairing mode when powered up. It was no hassle hooking up with a Sony Ericsson W850i and we were ready to rock within seconds.

All the music controls are located on the left-hand earpiece with the volume + and - keys sitting on the back and front of the rim. Play and skip buttons situated on the face. It takes time to get used to their positions but you'll soon pick it up. The controls do, however, feel a bit cheap and plastic fantastic. Like the buttons, a shaky light plastic microphone boom stutters when extended but despite a precarious build the call performance is strong and clear.

But we're in it for the music and, thankfully, the SA505s stepped up to the plate with an admirable performance. We hippidy-hopped to Gnarls Barkley (sampled at 192kbps in MP3 format) and the SA505's strength is handling bass at high volumes. The main accusation is that the audio can sound a little muddy, but it won't spoil your enjoyment.