Skip to main content

Audio-Technica ATH-CKF300 Review

Audio-Technica ATH-CKF300 Gold
Audio-Technica ATH-CKF300
MSRP $25.00
“The Audio-Technica ATH-CKF300 will have women everywhere rejoicing in the glory that is a designer ear bud with great sound.”
Pros
  • Great value
  • Warm midrange
  • Deep bass
  • Available in a number of colors
Cons
  • Tinny, flat highs
  • Hard to find

Headphone wonder brand Audio-Technica goes after the hip female crowd with its ATH-CKF300 “Bloom” canal phones. Featuring a number of available “soft” colors and a floral cardboard carrying case, these small canal phones are surprisingly big on sound. And at just $25 (street price), they are a steal too; if you can find them.

Features and design

There is no doubt about which audience Audio-Technica is trying to appeal to. Young urban women everywhere will find the ATH-CKF300’s to be the perfect companion for that long subway or train ride into the city. The ATH-CKF300’s are available in dark pink, gold, lime green, light pink, pink, purple, white and mint green. Can’t find a color to match your outfit? No problem, at just $25 a pop, you can afford to buy a couple. And if you still cannot find a matching pair, your wardrobe has bigger issues.

Audio-Technica ATH-CKF300 WhiteThe ATH-CKF300’s feature an 8.8mm dynamic driver with an 18Hz to 23KHz frequency response, which is pretty amazing for a headphone in this price range. With a sensitivity level of 101 dB/mW, the ATH-CKF300’s are easily powered by any phone or MP3 player.

Audio-Technica includes a cardboard carrying case instead of the typical bag, which is just fine for us. It is small enough to fit in a coat pocket or a purchase, and distinguishable enough to find on touch alone while rummaging through a bag. Also included in the package are three pair of silicon ear sleeves to ensure you get a snug fit.

Audio-Technica ATH-CKF300 White BackTesting and use

We noticed that right out of the box, the ATH-CKF300’s sounded great, and got even better after a few hours of use. For our tests we listened to Zero 7 and a little Thievery Corporation and Underworld. The midrange is nice and warm, just as it should be, but with vocals being a little distant behind the music. Vocals can also be a little drowned out at times, depending on how “busy” the music is that you’re listening to. Highs are relatively flat and tinny, not as bright as we would like, while bass is surprisingly deeps and tight – we didn’t experience any muddiness or bottoming out.

Cord noise (the thumping you hear when it bounces on your chest) is normal and nothing to write home about. We had to laugh at the design of the cord though; its double-wire design reminds us of the old PC headsets from the 90s.

Conclusion

The Audio-Technica ATH-CKF300 Bloom canal phones are a surprising treat. When we first saw their $25 price tag, we were ready to battle it out with a second-rate product. Fortunately, that is not the case as the ATH-CKF300’s definitely held their own. In fact, we think Audio-Technica could probably get away with charging $10 to $15 more and still sell a lot of these. Women everywhere can finally rejoice in the glory that is a designer ear bud with great sound. Burn the black cords!

Highs:

  • Great value
  • Warm midrange
  • Deep bass
  • Available in a number of colors

Lows:

  • Tinny, flat highs
  • Hard to find

Editors' Recommendations

Ian Bell
I work with the best people in the world and get paid to play with gadgets. What's not to like?
$2,199 Hed Unity Wi-Fi headphones are the first to offer lossless hi-res audio
Hed Unity hi-res Wi-Fi wireless headphones.

They won't fit a lot of budgets, but if you're an audiophile who has long wished for a set of wireless headphones that can deliver truly lossless, hi-res audio, the Hed Unity are the first product that can grant your wish. The over-ear cans use Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth and can store hi-res music within their onboard storage for access to those hi-res tracks even when you're not at home on your Wi-Fi network. The price for this ultimate level of wire-free listening? $2,199 and you can order them starting April 12 at getunity.com.

The Unity is the first set of headphones from Hed, a Swiss audio company. The company calls the Unity's Wi-Fi-based audio Full-Fidelity. "We believe that everyone should be able to listen to audiophile quality audio, whenever and wherever, simply and without compromise," said Tim Degraye, Co-Founder of HED Unity in a press release. "It’s time to demystify the process. Once you hear the difference it’s impossible to go back."

Read more
Sonos’ new Era 100 and Era 300 wireless speakers go all-in on spatial audio and Bluetooth
Sonos Era 300 and Era 100 side by side.

Sonos has officially unveiled two new wireless smart speakers -- the $249 Sonos Era 100, and the $449 Sonos Era 300. While the Era 100 is effectively a new version of the aging Sonos One, which it replaces, the Era 300 is an entirely new type of speaker for the company, with six drivers (including an up-firing tweeter) and compatibility with spatial audio formats like Dolby Atmos.

The leaks pretty much nailed it. Both speakers will be available on March 28 in 26 countries including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, and Australia, with preorders beginning March 7.

Read more
OnePlus Buds Pro 2 to support Android’s new spatial audio feature
The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 in black and green.

OnePlus has already let it be known that its next wireless earbuds, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2, are just around the corner. The new buds, as well as the OnePlus 11 smartphone, will officially launch at the OnePlus Cloud 11 event on February 7, 2023. But until now, we've been in the dark on almost all of the details. And while we still don't know key facts like pricing and battery life, OnePlus has announced that the new noise-canceling buds will be among the first to support Android 13's spatial audio feature.

OnePlus says the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 -- the successors to the OnePlus Buds Pro -- will "set a new standard for spatial audio stability and compatibility" when they launch outside China on February 7, 2023. The feature will work with audio that is spatial-ready, like Dolby Atmos Music, but OnePlus is also integrating the ability to up-mix standard two-channel stereo into a virtualized spatial presentation.

Read more