Belkin Soundform Isolate – PCMag Middle East

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The Belkin Soundform Isolate headphones are a pair of $59.99 Bluetooth cans with active noise cancellation (ANC). At this low price, they undercut other affordable options like the $79.99 EarFun Wave Pro and the $99.99 Anker Soundcore Space One. As much as we like the price and long battery life, the Isolate headphones don’t produce exciting audio, aren’t comfortable to wear, and don’t block noise effectively. If you can stretch your budget a bit, you’re much better off spending the extra money on the Anker Soundcore Space One, our favorite affordable noise-cancelling headphones.
In the UAE, Microless UAE offers the White version for AED 180 with express delivery and hassle-free returns. You can also find it on Sharaf DG UAE, which highlights its CloudCushion comfort, hybrid ANC with ocean wave “Isolate Effect,” and multipoint switching.
In Saudi Arabia, Microless KSA lists the White version starting from around SAR 184, complete with express delivery and a one-year warranty. Noon KSA carries the Beige variant for approximately SAR 239, offering fast shipping and promotional deals
Available in either beige or black, there’s little about the Isolate’s design that’s unique beyond the Belkin logo on each side. The somewhat cheap feeling of the headphones matches their low price point. They are made out of a rough plastic material, a couple of metal screws, and faux-leather cushions.
They do have a relatively lightweight design, coming in at 8.4 ounces. Despite their svelte nature, they still manage to produce fatigue when wearing them. I found the clamping force on my head to be extreme and easily felt through the soft cushions. After wearing the headphones for a couple of hours, the circumference of my ears became quite sore, and the top of my head developed a tender spot thanks to the thin padding that barely distances the headband from my skull.
Sliders built into the headband allow for vertical and horizontal movement of the earcups. The sliders have a good range of sizing and can fit large heads. Finding a comfortable fit is tedious, though, as the sliders are hard to adjust when the headphones are on your head. On the bright side, once you’ve found your ideal fit, accidental bumps aren’t likely to mess with your setting. The earcups fold up toward the headband for portability, though they can’t fold flat.
Internally, the headphones include 40mm drivers that produce a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz. They connect via Bluetooth 5.4 but, unfortunately, only include the basic SBC Bluetooth codec. You can connect to two sources at a time via Bluetooth multipoint.
Controls are minimal. There’s an ANC button on the left earcup and power, volume up, and volume down buttons on the right earcup. The ANC button on the left requires long presses to work. The power button on the right doubles as a playback control with single-, double-, and triple-presses for play/pause, next track, and previous track, respectively. These are all stiff, cheap-feeling buttons. Pressing both volume buttons at once activates a special feature: playing seaside sounds.
The Soundform Isolate comes with a USB-C charging cable and 3.5mm audio cable. There’s no carrying case or bag. The USB-C port for charging is slightly recessed and may not work with other USB-C cables you have on hand. A 3.5mm jack on the right earcup lets you plug in for wired playback when the battery is dead. Given the 60 hours of battery life, I don’t think that will be a frequent issue.
Belkin merits some attention here because it offers noise cancellation at such a low price. But while it does indeed offer a degree of sound reduction, it’s far from impressive.
For one thing, the headphones provide minimal passive noise isolation with the cups around your ears. When you turn the ANC on, the Soundform Isolate largely reduces low-level droning sounds, like those coming from a large box fan. In a busy cafe, however, I found they did little to silence the conversations going on around me or the noise from the gurgling espresso machine. Anker’s Soundcore Space One headphones far outperform the Isolate at cancelling environmental noise.
The headphones include a pass-through mode, which was surprisingly effective at letting external sounds in. It was relatively clear in testing and didn’t sound as though it was boosting any frequencies too heavily.
The headphones struggle with heavy bass. While they successfully dig into the lower frequencies and can even reproduce most of the sub-bass notes in Kendrick Lamar’s “Loyalty,” they crack up a bit when hitting deep notes hard.
This issue presents itself immediately in The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” where the heavy bass triplets that open the track consistently cause some distortion, even at lower volumes. Fortunately, the issue subsides once the instruments and vocals stack on top. The headphones do well with the mids, which they present loud and clear, though nuance can still be lost. The vocal harmonies have interesting textures that the headphones simply can’t render. The treble is plenty bright, but the SBC codec leaves obvious compression on cymbal hits.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover” shows off the Soundform Isolate’s strengths better. While the headphones still suffer from noticeable compression in the hi-hat hits, the rest of the track sits in a sonic space that they manage well. From Callahan’s baritone vocals to the wailing electric guitar and spritely fiddle, everything is loud and clear. The use of stereo separation for more dynamic soundscapes plays out well, bouncing from ear to ear. The steadily thumping drums and mellow bass never quite push the drivers past their limits, though they come close.
In a similar fashion, the headphones prove half decent for orchestral music like John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary. While the score includes plenty of deep bass, which the headphones present clearly, the bass notes don’t really hit so hard that the speakers distort. However, this complex piece layers many instruments and vocals all at once. The SBC codec’s low bitrate loses a lot of the subtlety and detail.
The microphone for taking phone calls is nothing special. It is a little weak and leaves my voice sounding rather quiet, even when I speak loudly. My voice also sounds somewhat distant. The mic did a satisfactory job handling some background noise, though, effectively neutralizing it enough to keep my voice clear.
The Belkin Soundform Isolate headphones offer noise cancellation and excellent battery life at a low price, but lackluster audio quality, an uncomfortable fit, and weak noise reduction prevent them from competing with rivals.
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I’ve covered the technology field for a decade, beginning a freelance career in 2017 and working with numerous publications, including PCMag since 2021. I have reviewed hundreds of products with a particular emphasis on computers and the broad field of peripherals, especially audio gear. At PCMag, I contribute audio device reviews of products like headphones and speakers, in addition to reviews of Windows laptops.
As a voracious reviewer, I’m cycling through different hardware at almost every corner of my life. My desk sees new speakers, monitors, keyboards, mice, computers, and laptops come across non-stop. I stick with Windows systems, as I have since I was a child, and can’t get away from the familiarity with its organization and the many keyboard shortcuts that are now down to muscle-memory and all too essential to my workflows. On mobile, I’ve stuck with Android for its flexibility, though which phone is in my hand on any given day is a constant question. 
I keep an old pair of Monolith M570 open-back planar magnetic headphones around for focused listening and earbuds in my pocket to listen to podcasts on walks and bike rides. I keep a Logitech Wave Keys keyboard on my desk to enjoy its comfort and ergonomics as I type out thousands of words every week. Underneath my desk is a Lian Li 011 Air Mini case holding an ever-changing PC geared for testing speakers, monitors, gaming peripherals, and whatever else might come across my desk.
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