Credit: Saitek Audio

(First Look) - Saitek, a company that started out as a heavily gaming centric manufacturer with an abundance of peripherals, has launched a new division with a focus in audio products including headphones and speaker units. What’s more? Saitek’s headphones and speakers look nothing like the traditional audio products you find on retail shelves. We focus our attention on Saitek’s A-350 wireless headphones today that boast a variety of devices in terms of compatibility and come with a lustrous finish.

Although you can find a decent number of wireless headphones in the market, they are still a novelty as many of the retail units either come with a hefty price tag or have limited functionality. The concept behind these wonders is fairly simple as you might imagine. Specifically to Saitek’s A-350, you connect the standard 3.5mm audio jack into portable media players and start receiving signal instantly. These devices include MP3, CD, DVD, MPEG4 players and Sony PSP portable gaming console. They also work on Windows and Macintosh platforms.

Although the company didn’t reveal too many details, the overall design of the A-350 is based on a soft-molded over-ear style with lightweight neodymium drivers and ultra lightweight lithium-ion rechargeable battery with lifespan of six hours. According to Saitek, the wireless solution provides up to 10m of range.

The MSRP of the Saitek Audio A-350 wireless headphones is $99.00.

Initial Thoughts: Depending on your liking, you either like the look of these headphones or dislike it, but we prefer their stylistic appeal. The overall compatibility with a variety of devices and the wireless concept are admirable, but six hours of battery life for $99.00 appears to be on the low side. The 10m of range is also acceptable, since you will most likely have a device somewhere near you to control the necessary functions, but the unjustifiable correlation between the price tag and battery life is far too much to ignore. Don’t get us wrong, if the quality is there, $99.00 could very well be worth it, but are you willing to recharge the headphones every six hours?