KOSS PortaPro Review

When my full-size headphone was snapped in half several years ago, I was scrambling to find a new one. I got a newer similar model from a local store for around $20 - but then after several months, its cable broke and became basically a mono headphone. A friend of mine then gave me a KOSS portaPro. The portaPro is an on-ear headphone, which I have never used before - since all of my headphones were always full-size ones. So understandably, I was very skeptical about it. But since my banged-up mono broken headphone was my only other option so I started using it. It has been about 3 years now since I started using the portaPro - and I am still using it as my trusty headphone.

Awesome sound!

I still distinctly remember when I used it for the first time to listen to music (prior to that I was using it for listening to podcast), I was really blown away. The sound quality coming out from this seemingly dinky headphone is amazing. Yes, my old full-size headphones were cheap (less than $40) and obviously not BOSE or Beats or any of those fancy ones. But seriously, this portaPro was awesome in terms of sound quality. Clear and powerful bass, superb mid-range, balanced treble. I would say that the sound quality of this portaPro probably competes with the mid-range ($75-$150) full-size headphones (with no noise-cancelling).

Cheap!

Since the portaPro was a gift, I did not know how much it cost - so I looked it up online on Amazon - and it was cheap (or at least A LOT cheaper than those fancy headphones). It is only about $45 (or less) - which is only 1/4 of the price of Beats ($199), 1/7 from Bose ($299), or 1/2 of any typical Sony headphones (~$100). Then you say it's because it's an on-ear, of course it's cheap. Yes, that might be true - but, I have tried other on-ear headphones (Logitech, Sony, Panasonic, Phillips) and none of them rival the sound quality of the portaPro. Truly, I think the combination of the sound quality and the economic price hits the sweet spot for me.

Small size

The advantage of having the portaPro vs a full-size headphone is the small size. It fits easily into my laptop bag, my travel bag, or even my wife's purse. This is something I could not do with my full-size headphone - which means if I decide to carry it, I practically have to have it hanging on my neck all the time if not using it. The portaPro also folds - makes it even smaller.

Last longer than my older headphones

This portaPro probably takes a lot more abuse than my older headphones, since I carry it in more places, shoved into my bags repeatedly, taken into trips, etc. But still looks great, functions normally, and really no complains from me. It looks flimsy, but it seems to last forever.

After 3 years, I had to replace the foaming pads that cover the drivers. The old foaming are torn. I bought the foaming on Amazon and they install easily - just remove the old foaming, put new ones one - took about 3 minutes and done. No glue, no stitching, no hassle.

Now it feels like it's a new headphone again.

So if you are in the market for a headphone, I suggest you check out KOSS portaPro. I totally love mine and I am guessing you will be pleasantly surprise by it.

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