These $59 headphones are so uncomfortable they gave me a headache

Are the Belkin SoundForm Isolate headphones the best headphones available today? No. Not even slightly. But, they are cheap, so they’ve got that going for them. However, the most important aspect of headphones is the sound quality, and the SoundForm Isolate’s sound quality is just… not there.

I suppose Belkin — yes, the charger brand — might be trying to recreate Anker’s success with Soundcore, but there’s still a ways to go right now. The Soundcore Space One Pro headphones are some of the best midrange cans I’ve ever tested… the SoundForm Isolates less so.

True, the SoundForm Isolate headphones have relatively lackluster sound quality, but at just $59, you might be thinking it’s worth the audio sacrifice. I’ll discuss everything — including why that’s not the case — in this Belkin SoundForm Isolate review.

Belkin SoundForm Isolate review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A super budget pair of headphones from charger brand Belkin
• Who is it for? If you need a super budget pair of headphones
• What does it cost? $59 / £56
• What do we like? The price is very attractive
• What don’t we like? I hate criticizing such an affordable product, but they just sound horrible

Belkin SoundForm Isolate review: Specs

Belkin SoundForm Isolate headphones review: Price & availability

The Belkin SoundForm Isolate headphones are $59 from Amazon U.S. and £56 from Amazon U.K.. This price makes them one of the cheapest ANC over-ear headphones I’ve ever tested.

I’ve reviewed the EarFun Tune Pro ($69), EarFun Wave Life ($59), and EarFun Wave Pro ($79), none of which I awarded above a 3-star rating. The Wave Life — the same price as the SoundForm Isolate, $59 — had very poor sound quality, whereas the Wave Pro and the Tune Pro are more in line with the SoundForm Isolate’s caliber. So, compared to the Tune Pro and the Wave Pro, I suppose the SoundForm Isolate headphones give a little more bang for their buck.

My favorite budget headphones are the JLab JBuds Lux ANC — they are so comfy and have excellent sound. I always recommend these headphones. Trust me, they’re one of the few budget cans actually worth their salt.

Belkin SoundForm Isolate review: Design & controls

• On-cup buttons for ANC and volume
• Soft cups
• Feels very heavy on the head

Right off the bat, I’m going to say that these headphones gave me a headache. There’s nothing about them that screams uncomfortable: the cups are soft and pillowy, and there’s even a headband cushion on top. However, after two hours of listening, I had such a throbbing headache I had to make painkillers my mid-morning snack.

Still, I’m perplexed: there’s nothing inherently painful about the SoundForm Isolates. As I said, everything on paper screams comfort. So why did they pain me so? I wondered, and loosened the headband. But then, the cups just sank down and rested on my jaw.

I think it’s because the cups are quite tight: sure, they’re comfy, and extending the headband could alleviate the issue in theory. However, the cups kind of clamp onto your head. If you ever watched Doctor Who as a kid, imagine the Cybermen. That’s what I look like when I wear these headphones.

Another annoyance is the inside of the cups: the plastic case around the drivers can be felt through the thin mesh covering, adding to the discomfort. I’m actually really disappointed by this — I expected better from Belkin.

Belkin SoundForm Isolate headphones review: Features & connectivity

• Incompatible with Belkin’s SoundForm app
• Multipoint connection
• Bluetooth 5.4 provides around 780-foot range

As the SoundForm Isolate headphones aren’t compatible with Belkin’s SoundForm app, I was left with very few features. Well, none, actually, other than ANC.

As I couldn’t adjust the EQ, I was stuck with a disappointing sound with no bass and tinny mids. The only feature I did have access to was the ‘Isolate Effect’. This is basically ambient ocean sounds built-in to the headphones. Sure, it’s nice to have some relaxing ocean wave sound effects, but not when you can hear the moment of awkward silence when the track loops and starts replaying. It kind of takes you out of the immersion.

I do like that there’s multipoint connection — all I had to do to set this up was press down the volume buttons and select the headphones from my iPhone 16 Pro and MacBook Air M2 settings. This is one of the major struggles I have with non-Apple-ecosystem audio products, so I’m glad that Belkin has nipped this issue in the bud. This is something that budget audio brand EarFun has nailed too, while luxury audio brand Final (the ZE8000 MK2 earbuds) struggles with still.

Belkin SoundForm Isolate headphones review: ANC

• ANC toggled with button
• HearThru, ANC off, ANC on

When I was walking around the city, I couldn’t tell the difference between ‘ANC off’ and ‘ANC on’. As I walked, I toggled the ANC button, desperately trying to hear a difference, to no avail. Don’t get me wrong, ‘ANC off’ is still pretty good at minimizing ambient noise, but ‘ANC on’ wasn’t noticeably better.

HearThru had more of the same problem: I couldn’t actually engage in conversations with this mode on. I think these headphones are just built to shut out ambient noise, and it wasn’t necessarily the ANC that was effective at blocking out noise, but the headphones themselves.

Belkin SoundForm Isolate headphones review: Audio quality

• Sound quality is poor
• Lackluster bass and tinny mids
• Compressed sound

You can’t really expect great sound quality on a pair of $59 headphones. However, I do still expect something that sounds half-decent. Unfortunately, the SoundForm Isolate headphones do not fall into that category.

To start off, I played ‘The Chain’ by Fleetwood Mac. This track was incredibly tinny across the frequency range, with weak, almost nonexistent bass and flat, blank percussion. It sounded like the kick drum was being played from inside a plastic box.

Afterwards, I upped the ante with ‘Take The Power Back’ by Rage Against the Machine. This track has really powerful, groovy bass, so I hoped some of that would come through the SoundFrom Isolate. However, the song was incredibly lackluster, and the bass was almost nonexistent. It sounded like I’d turned the lower frequencies down on the nonexistent EQ settings.

Then I dialed down the energy with ‘Glory Box’ by Portishead. As ‘Glory Box’ is a quieter track, I hoped it would let the individual instruments shine, but everything, again, sounded messy and flat. The vocals were the only aspect of the track that sounded anything but poor. The percussion, bass, and strings were compressed, as if wrapped in cling film. Just very plasticky, much like the ‘The Chain’ disaster.

Amongst other tracks, I listened to ‘Heaven or Las Vegas’ by Cocteau Twins. ‘Heaven or Las Vegas’ was so markedly terrible that I had to write about it here. The shoegazy guitar notes in the top of the midrange were stretched and almost squealed across the soundscape. On top of that, the vocals were screechy (but they do not sound like that on my AirPods Pro 2) and I just couldn’t wait for the track to finish. I have never disliked this song before, so I was utterly shocked by how bad it sounded.

Belkin SoundForm Isolate headphones review: Call quality

• Fine call quality
• Belkin says 5 AI-enabled mics

To test the Belkin SoundForm Isolate headphones, I called my boyfriend. He’s basically a control test at this point, as he’s listened to every single pair of headphones I’ve ever tested.

The SoundForm Isolates’ 5 “AI algorithm” mics did a decent job of picking up my voice without it being overpowered by the construction trucks outside, but my voice still didn’t sound great. I’d say these headphones are good enough for casual calls in quiet(ish) environments, but aren’t good enough for professional calls. I’d recommend the JLab JBuds Lux ANC instead (the JLabs are everything the SoundForm Isolates wish they could be).

Belkin SoundForm Isolate headphones review: Battery

• 60 hours battery
• Played music for 12 hours, 60% remaining

60 hours is a pretty decent battery life for such cheap headphones, but absolutely nothing compared to the awesome 120 hours of the EarFun Tune Pro. The Tune Pro headphones are unkillable. I tested them for over a week and they were still on 80% by the time I’d given up trying to drain the battery.

For just $59, a 60 hour battery life is good, but if you’re in the market for a cheap, long-lasting set of cans that absolutely blow competition out of the water, it has to be the EarFun Tune Pro. They sound around the same as the SoundForm Isolates (aka, not good), but the battery life makes up for it.

Belkin SoundForm Isolate headphones review: Verdict

The Belkin SoundForm Isolate headphones offer an attractive price point at $59, but fall short in several crucial areas.

Although the budget headphones have multipoint connection and pillowy ear cups, they lack the most integral features of headphones. For starters, they sound very poor, and isn’t that the most important part? The bass is nonexistent and the midrange is tinny, if not stretched and squawky. And to top it all off, these headphones literally gave me a headache with how uncomfy they are.

While I wanted to like these headphones due to the incredibly low price, the SoundForm Isolate are simply not good enough at the most basic headphone tasks. As a result, I can’t recommend them.

To date, the only pair of budget headphones I’ve tested that perform incredibly well are the JLab JBuds Lux ANC — just spend an extra $20 and get those truly excellent headphones.