Logitech Metro Fi 200 - Too Expensive for What it does

Logitech’s offering from Ultimate Ears, the Metro Fi 170 had a solid punch in the way it sounded, but then the price tag was too hefty for a good pair of earphones. This time we have the Metro Fi 200, which is priced a lot higher than Metro Fi 170, but they probably might sound better and offer more value for money.

Form Factor
These earphones lack the glossy finish which the Metro Fi 170 had, rather these are pretty plain to look at. The cable of this pair is very well built. I tried to tie it together to see whether it will be easy to untangle later and it was so even after tying a tight knot. The Metro Fi 200 comes bundled with a sleek plastic case for carrying it around and two additional pairs of ear buds. Just like the Metro Fi 170, even these can be used as handsfree with a microphone attached on the right cable. There’s a button further down for answering calls and pausing music.

Well designed, but a chrome finish would look better

While the case is quite portable and convenient to carry, it still looks and feels very fragile. I think a pouch might do better in protecting it from different conditions.

Performance
Let’s quickly move to how the Metro Fi 200 sounds. Firstly, thanks to the additional ear buds that they’ve provided, there are three choices for medium, small and big ear canals. For me, the large size suited me best and was comfortable to wear for very long durations.

The case could have been better

I played music from different genres and found out that people who are fond of shrill trebles, clear mids and deep bass might quite like the Metro Fi 200. The treble sounded a little too sharp and ear piercing and after probably 5 minutes of some hard rock music might strain you out for some time. While the mids sound decent when on their own, a track that has more of highs and lows will make the mids sound quite weak. The bass sounds a little tricky on this set of earphones because they sound clear if the buds fit properly in your ears. However, there’s quite a difference noted if the bass is accompanied with any other tones. Also, if the ear buds are not fit right, the bass seems to sound all over the place.

If you turn the volume all the way up, a slight boost in bass can be noticed and all the instruments tend to blend, making it hard to distinguish between them. In fact, sound starts to distort right after turning the volume over 80 percent or so. To sum up the audio quality of the Metro Fi 200, these earphones give a very wholesome music experience, with a small issue of high-pitched trebles and at times even the bass might go haywire.

One thing that I noticed is that when you immediately try the Metro Fi 200, the trebles will be really prominent. However, after an hour or so, you’ll get used to it.

The earphones can isolate noise, but only to a certain extent. If the noise in the surrounding is that of everyday traffic, you’ll easily pass them by without much disturbance. But if you’re in the midst of a noisy event like a marriage celebration, it won’t sound loud enough.

Verdict
It looks like Logitech has got the pricing a little wrong with these earphones. They are priced at Rs. 4,400 (MRP) which is about Rs. 1,000 higher than the Metro Fi 170. While it performs decently, it doesn’t really justify the high price tag that it comes with. If you have a good budget, you can also look at Denon’s AH-C452 which will come at a price of approximately Rs. 4,500. Another good option can also be Sennheiser’s CX-400 II which comes for Rs. 3,500.

Good but expensive