Wired headphones are the best and will always be king when it comes to audio quality. But if you’re searching for wireless ones, we’ve got you covered in our Creative SXFI Theater Review.
Even if wired audio provides the best sounds, we can’t ignore the convenience of wireless audio. Since headphone jacks are also slowly disappearing, more people drop wired and go for wireless earphones.
The thing here is, Bluetooth has its own set of issues, and a huge concern is latency. Generally, you can utilise your Bluetooth headphones for movie viewing or gaming. However, you may find the experience to be pretty poor at some point.
Codecs such as aptX help, but often, these put a lot of delays to your listening experience. Because of this, Creative solves the issue with SXFI Theater headphones that feature latency-free wireless connection.
With the SXFI Theater, you’ll need a USB dongle. But despite that, you’ll get all the benefits of wired in these wireless headphones.
The Creative SXFI Theater works well with your PC, Mac, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. When you’re on the go, you can still conveniently utilise a 3.5mm cable.
Creative SXFI Theater – Packaging
Now in our Creative SXFI Theater Review, we’ll check out the box and packaging of the headphones.
The SXFI Theater headphones are packed in a tough cardboard box that shows off a cool-looking design.
Looking at the front of the box, you’ll find the name of the headphones and other details about it. When flipping the box, the rear offers you more information about the headphones. These are necessary, especially when scouting for headphones in physical shops.
Inside the box, you’ll get the Creative SXFI Theater, a wireless transmitter, and detachable gaming microphone.
You’ll also find a USB extension dock, 3.5mm AUX-in cable, and USB Type-C cable. Plus, Creative included a quick start guide and warranty leaflets.
Creative SXFI Theater Review – Design & Functionality
This part of our Creative SXFI Theater Review focuses on the design and functions of the SXFI Theater.
Creative kept things neat and organised by keeping all the controls on the headphones’ left earcup. You’ll find the power button close to the front, together with the connector that’s plugged via rubber stopper.
Aside from the power button, you’ll also find a USB-C charging port, mute button, 3.5mm jack, and the volume dial. Plus, there’s also the presence of the Super X-Fi button for toggling this feature on/off.
Padded leather is utilised for each earcup, and the headband increases the softness and comfort when the headphones are worn. Although the SXFI Theater is quite heavy at 339g, it was surprisingly comfortable to wear even during prolonged periods.
There’s a detachable metallic-build microphone arm that’s set into place on the left earcup.
Key Features of the Creative SXFI Theater
This section of our Creative SXFI Theater review is about the headset’s primary features.
Cinematic Audio
With audio holography, the SXFI Theater offers you the sound quality from movie theatres. What makes this technology unique is the company’s proprietary Super X-Fi personalisation process. Super X-Fi technology guides you through a mapping process that customises audio for your head and ears.
When you stream the newest 4K movie on iTunes or watch compressed clips on Youtube, you’ll hear cinema audio.
Detachable Gaming Mic
The SXFI Theater headphones feature a detachable gaming microphone made for clear communication. It’s one of the things that make this excellent headset for gamers looking for an immersive audio experience while gaming.
Low Latency and Wireless Audio
With the SXFI Theater, you can enjoy full cinematic audio at home without lag. It also provides convenience with its wireless connectivity. Plus, the headphones are optimised to deliver outstanding audio and video sync for low latency sound.
Compared to Bluetooth, SXFI Theater can transmit better quality audio. Also, it offers higher reliability with the SXFI TX wireless USB dongle that features an integrated Ultra DSP. This powers the Super X-Fi technology and Creative’s digital audio transmission technology.
With the provided 1.2m USB extension dock, you can extend the range of the SXFI Theater. You can enjoy smooth, uninterrupted movie playtime without the lag issues in Bluetooth headphones.
Passive Mode
Creative included a 3.5mm AUX-in cable that you can utilise for other non-USB devices. When using this cable, Super X-Fi technology won’t be available.
Softer and More Comfortable
SXFI Theater does not only deliver high-quality audio and durability for long-lasting use, but it’s also extremely comfortable. The SXFI Theater is built with high-quality soft protein leather that gives a snug fit to your ears. These provide high levels of comfort for extended use and are fully replaceable.
The headphones also have a quick-release mechanism for easy replacement of earpads.
Up to 30 Hours Playtime
A single charge of the SXFI Theater allows you to stream up to 30 hours without running out of power.
Intense Audio Performance
The SXFI Theater’s specially tuned 50nmm Neodymium drivers deliver clear, powerful, and well-balanced audio.
Specifications
This time, our Creative SXFI Theater Review will focus on the theatre headphones’ specifications.
The Creative SXFI Theater are wireless headphones that weigh 346g with the mic, and 339g without it. These headphones only come in a single colour, which is black and uses a 50mm Neodymium agent for its driver.
These headphones work via proprietary digital 2.4GHz wireless transmission, with a frequency response of 20 – 20,000Hz. Its operating range goes up to 10m.
Creative SXFI Theater is worn over the ears. For its RGB earcup rings, you can choose from a total of 16 million colours. The Creative SXFI Theater can work with the Windows & Mac operating systems, PS4, and the Nintendo Switch.
Windows
If you’re using Windows, it requires Intel Core i3 or any AMD-equivalent processor. The motherboard should be Intel, AMD or any board that’s 100% compatible. You can utilise the SXFI Theater with Windows 10, Windows 8.1/8.0, and Windows 7. There should also be 1GB RAM, 600MB free hard disk space, and a USB 2.0/3.0 port.
Mac
When using it with Mac, it should be X 10.9 or higher. You also need to have 1GB of RAM, plus the availability of a USB 2.0/3.0 port as well.
PS4 and Nintendo Switch
You can utilise the SXFI Theater headphones with the PS4 that has the firmware ver 5.0 or earlier. Plus, an available port is necessary to use the headphones.
Make sure that the Nintendo Switch OS you’re using is 5.0 or later. You must have a 3.5mm headphone port on the console, and a USB port in docking mode.
This time on our Creative SXFI Theater Review, we’ll check out the performance of these Creative headphones.
Hands-on with the Creative SXFI Theater
This is the part of our Creative SXFI Theater review, where we get more hands-on with these wireless headphones. Before anything else, let’s see how easy it is to set up the SXI Theater and SXFI Air Control App.
When it comes to other Super X-Fi products, you can use a current profile on the SXFI Theater headphones. If you don’t have one, you can make one via the SXFI app to take images of your ears and face. These are available on iOS or Android.
The app maps the images and interprets how you hear sounds, creating a customised profile for better audio-listening.
Like always, creative offers application support for both desktop and mobile. The SXFI Air Control app for iOS and Android, plus SXFI Control app for Windows and Mac, provide customisation options.
You’ll get an EQ and an option to select from a collection of presets. Or, you can create and personalise one based on your preferences.
Note that the SXFI Theater doesn’t support DTS, Dolby Atmos, or any specific standard surround sound from 3rd-parties. Yet it does well in simulating 7.1 surround sounds, and it’s also excellent for gaming.
The headphones also deliver solid and rich audio, so TV shows and movies sound a lot better. It gave us a wide soundstage, providing added depth to the sound engineering.
Of course, we tried out the headphones for music. Doing that, we received the same sound quality when trying other Super X-Fi headphones from Creative. However, we noticed improved spatial effects and playback.
With that, it has cleaner and more expanded sounds that give off studio tracks just like live music. So with its excellent performance and adequate build, we’re giving the Creative SXFI Theater 5 stars.
Creative SXFI Theater Review – Summary
Creative’s SXFI Theater is an impressive pair of headphones for any use. It delivered excellent audio for movies, music, and even gaming. The detachable mic also performed well and captured sounds clearly.
The headphones are also comfortable, so we were able to use it for long periods. Also, it’s well-built, so it’s sure to last for a long time. It’s a solid headset for all-around use.
To conclude our Creative SXFI Theater review, we were completely satisfied with this product. If you want to have the Creative SXFI Theater, you can purchase this from the company’s official website.
