Of the current crop of Kygo headphones we’ve reviewed, the Xenon are the best-sounding pair of cans so far. Comparing them to the A11/800, in terms of audio performance alone, the Xenon are the headphones to opt for. The only downside here, is that slight hissing when noise cancellation is activated and no sound is being played, but that's an issue that occurs with many noise-cancelling headphones and mostly comes down to the sensitivity of your ears. It only occurs when nothing else is playing, so you shouldn't come across it too often. Final verdict

There’s less of a Scandi feel here than with other pairs in the lineup, but they’re no less distinctive. Power them up and the “X” on the ends of each ear cup light up.

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There’s no wear sensor technology, no Ambient mode, no touch panel; and the headphones don’t appear compatible with the Kygo Sound app, so you don’t get the (rather needless) customisation options either.

The balanced sound they deliver is really great, and the headphones clearly define vocals, mids, and bass in the soundstage. Where your typical Beats headphones prioritize the bass, the A11/800s add a similar degree of punch to a beautifully rounded soundstage. If my sweaty ears didn't make me take the Kygo's off after a bit, I probably wouldn't want to. The engaging, bright sound is really addictive.

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There’s an air of consolidation about the Xenon’s feature set. It’s less comprehensive than the Kygo A11/800, which is a welcome relief considering the inconsistent nature of those headphones. I like the simple, minimalist design. The all-white body looks cool, and the large Xs on each ear cup gives the headphones some visual interest, without going overboard with the branding. Wearing them isn't going to suddenly promote you as a huge Kygo fan, which increases the appeal to those who don't know who the DJ is. The cups are just the right size too, perfectly maintaining a sleek profile on your head, while the headphones fold down into a handy size when you're done. They can sound a little muddy, particularly at higher volumes. This is most evident in vocals, where that drop in clarity and detail really makes itself known. There is a Kygo Sound companion smartphone app that offers the ability to select from different sound profiles – but, unfortunately, it isn’t compatible with these buds right now. For the most part, everything works rather brilliantly too. The moment you open the box, everything feels intelligently designed. Lift up the lid of the box and you're presented with straightforward pairing instructions, which genuinely take seconds to work through. That level of intuitiveness continues as you use the headphones. It all just works in a way that's akin to Apple-style design at its best – simple yet effective.

In terms of what you can expect in terms of sound quality, we’d say the E7/1000 are pretty good – but there’s certainly room for improvement. They display decent power and some nice warm bass, but these earbuds aren’t so impressive in the mid-range and treble departments. Kygo talks up the waterproof rating here, with the earbuds coming with an IPX7 certification. That means they can be submerged into water up to 1m deep. Accidentally drop your E7/1000 in a puddle on a run, and they should survive. Go for a swim with them in your ears, probably not so much. This rating more signifies that they’ll survive sweat and splashes of water. Kygo’s range of headphones won’t leave you wanting when it comes to distinctive design. Yes, while the Xenon’s basic design is like any other over-ear model – a set of ear cups attached by a headband – they do stand out from the crowd when it comes to aesthetics. In a straight shootout between the two the Xenon sound less bright, but less overcooked and less prone to the harshness that crept into the A11/800’s performance. They keep the smooth, big-sounding character of the Kygo range while applying a more mature and balanced approach. Active noise cancellation is divided up according to a few different options. There's 'full' noise cancellation, an awareness mode which cancels out 50% of all ambient sounds while still allowing you to hear people's voices, plus an ambient mode, which lets everything through for when you need to be aware of your surroundings.A music producer making headphones? Well, it worked for Beats by Dre, so why not Norwegian DJ Kygo? In fact, I've only heard of Kygo due to his exploits in the world of tech, starting with headphones and speakers, and more recently a partnership with Skagen to produce a special edition Falster 3 smartwatch. The only other redeeming feature of the E7/1000 are the small indicator lights, which sit in close proximity to the microphones. Those lights will essentially tell you when the buds are successfully paired to your phone; when they’re in call mode; or, are successfully charging inside of their case.

The Kygo Life A11/800 offer everything you need from a pair of headphones in 2020. There's active noise cancellation that's enabled via a physical button or through the Kygo app (more on that in a bit), the option to listen to the headphones in a wired capacity for when battery life is at a premium, a proximity sensor so they pause the moment you take them off, voice command support, and NFC pairing for users with compatible devices. Understandably, given how well the A11/800 performed, the Xenon strips a few features from its specs. That does mean if you want fancy smarts, you’ll need to look elsewhere. Beneath that matte exterior are 6mm drivers, with Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity for pairing the E7/1000 with your Android and iPhone. We tried the buds with both, and aside from some issues with a Pixel phone, they played nice with an iPhone and a couple of other Android handsets.So, how do they sound? Featuring 10mm drivers, Kygo says that the Xcellence provide a "naturally deep and balanced sound", which can be fine-tuned via the X by Kygo app. Yes, it’s possible to find models that offer deeper bass and a more detailed mid-range elsewhere, but I found the Xenon to be a solid pair of cans. The differences between it and the A11/800 are small, but they add up to make the Xenon the best-sounding pair of headphones in the Kygo range so far. You should buy the Kygo Xenon if… Moving from music streaming to making a call, it’s a similar story. There’s the promise of stereo calls – and, if you take a lot of calls then the you’ll be pleased to learn that the E7/1000 handle the task well enough.