Philips Fidelio M1 review

The mid-range Fidelio M1 has been designed with commuters in mind. By balancing great sound quality with effective sound isolation, these on-ear headphones should keep your music loud but other travellers happy.

Built from a combination of aluminium and leather, the Fidelio M1s are incredibly well made and showed no signs of weakness or fraying throughout our testing. They’re lightweight yet stay firmly in place on your head thanks to a sturdy headband that’s height adjustable. We could use them on a treadmill without them slipping free, although the leather finish quickly gets clammy.

The cable, complete with its in-line remote, is removable, so you can swap it for a longer one if the bundled one metre wire isn’t long enough. The remote is a one button affair, letting you play and pause with one press, move forward with a double tap or backwards with three taps, and we had no problems using it on iOS and Android devices.

In everyday use, the M1s were refreshingly effective at preventing sound leakage, even at high volumes. This makes them ideal for use on public transport. The leather cups create a comfortable seal around your ears, keeping sound out as well as keeping your audio in.

More importantly, sound quality is also excellent. There’s an impressive amount of bass, but only when tracks call for it. Acoustic songs are handled with care and none of the detail is lost. There’s ample volume, with the entire frequency range staying clean right up to high volumes.

With the M1’s excellent build quality, great comfort and sleek styling, there’s very little not to like about them. If you prefer over-ear headphones to in-ear, there aren’t many alternatives we would recommend that sound better for less.