The lowdown

Like quite a lot of people, I don't find earphones particularly comfortable and can't seem to listen to them for more than half an hour in one go. While some of the more compact headphones do make a good alternative, they can prove hard to store if you're not listening to them and can be easily damaged if left to rattle around in a bag. Koss' Porta Pros have been around for a while - over 20 years actually - and are one of surprisingly few folding (aka portable) headphones on the market.

They have a frequency response of 15-25,000 Hz, impedance of 60 ohms and sensitivity of 101 dB SPL/1mW. They fold up and compact into a ball roughly the size of a fist and come with their own smart black bag.

What's good?

In short, sound and comfort.

I have a couple of grievances with the Porta Pros but when it all comes down to it, there are two things that they do perfectly: sound and comfort. I don't think that Koss has changed how these headphones are made in those twenty years of sales and there is an extremely good reason for that: they sound great. Treble comes through crisp and clear and the bass is incredibly rich and clear and if I had to find fault it's that it doesn't have quite as much punch as some of closed alternatives that are also far more expensive. However, much more importantly, everything comes through nice and loud. There's none of the recent tendency to shy away from loud volumes showing here and that definitely helps maintain the clarity over a variety of different audio sources.

Part of the reason that the Porta Pros have such a funky look to them is the unique 'comfort zone' feature. Basically there is a second pad above each ear piece which spreads the pressure on your ears over to the side of your head. These headphones don't weigh much anyway and this only serves to make them even more comfortably fitting without becoming loose.

What's bad?

The folding mechanism: it's about as fiddly as it is ingenious. It works by hooking the ear pieces too each other and drawing a band of metal tight around the piece so it all squeezes into a tight ball. Once you get the hang of it, it is fine and, when rolled up, you can keep the headphones in the accompanying bag which gives them a quite surprisingly sturdy edge. However, the folding design means there are two bands of metal to fumble with when putting them on your head and I tend to catch my hair in it which gets very annoying. Luckily once they are secured on your head the problem does go away.

Do you need it?

The Porta Pros have come up against one serious rival that prevents them from being the one and only choice for folding headphones: Sennheiser. The rival company's PX100s are cheaper and have largely comparable sound quality. Personally I prefer the end results of the Koss' folding mechanism if not the effect it has on some of the rest of the device's operation. The Sennheisers do not fold up quite as neatly, which is their flaw, but basically it comes down to a matter of personal preference. If you want to go for more of a retro look, backed up by some great sound then the Koss Porta Pro headphones are the ones for you. Yes, they do cost more than the Sennheiser PX100s but they still have an RRP of just £44.99 (you can actually get them for around £40 quite easily) which isn't too daunting.

Overview

Useful Links: Gadgets, www.koss.com Features: Frequency Response: 15-25,000 Hz Impedance: 60 ohms Sensitivity: 101 dB SPL/1mW Distortion: less than 0.2% Cord: Straight, Dual Entry, 4ft Includes carry pouch, 1/8" and 1/4" stereo plugs Verdict: