Klef X1 Metal review: Loud volume output and easy on the pocket

Price: Rs 1,199
Rating: ****

Pros: Lightweight and stylish, audio clarity and bass, carry pouch included in price, clear microphone
Cons: No in-line volume control, overpowering bass at max volume


Klef is a new entrant in the exponentially growing headphone market in India. Their first product is a wired headphone for consumers who are on a budget. At Rs 1,199, the X1 Metal earphone comes with a good quality carry pouch for storage.

Even though it’s a budget earphone, Klef has given attention to the design and looks. It has a gunmetal colour with a matte finish on the earbuds. The wire is standard plastic with a transparent finish through which you can see the internal mesh of the wire that adds to the overall look. You get an in-line remote control that houses the microphone and a multi-function control button – the multi-function button can be used for music playback control as well as invoking your voice assistant. It would have been great if it has volume control buttons also available on the remote control in our opinion. Another good thing about the earphones is that they have a sweat proof coating, so you don’t have to worry about them getting spoilt during a work-out.

The earphones come with three size of earplugs – small, medium and large. In our usage, we had to use one size smaller earplugs for a better fit compared to what we have seen on other earphones. The in-ear design ensures that you get a tight fit and also blocks out ambient noise by up to 70% – good enough to block out sounds in an office environment, but not on a busy road. If you don’t like the in-ear type earphones and prefer the earphones that sit outside the ear-canal then these are not meant for you.




For review, we used the headphones with the Vivo Z1 Pro and a MacBook Air. The first thing that impressed us with the headphones was its loud volume output – at 60% volume, it was loud for day to day use. Sound quality is great – the headphones score high on vocal clarity. Bass output is also good as the in-ear design ensures that you hear the low frequencies. However, at maximum volume, we did feel that the bass tends to overpower the treble – as long as you stay below the 90% volume mark, you won’t have any issue.

Its in-line microphone works well for voice calls – we did not get any complain of low sound or inaudible audio during calls. At its asking price, the Klef X1 Metal scores on design as well as sound. At the time of writing, the headphones are selling for Rs 549 during the Amazon Prime Day sale which makes them excellent value for money. However, there are a lot of new brands coming in this price segment with wired earphones that offer similar feature and performance. In its MRP segment, you also have the option of the Boat Bass Heads 225, Skullcandy Smokin Buds 2 and the JBL C100SI earphones.