I recently had the opportunity to test the U Fly Quiet A7 Active Noise Reduction headset. A student purchased this and kindly asked me to test it before he formally starts his training next month.
Admittedly, this is not typically the type of headset I would consider. It is suspiciously cheap at $269 (USD) and makes some bold claims, but I was willing to give it a try and share my honest opinion.
Weight and Comfort
The headset is presented in a high quality bag and upon taking it out I must say that I was impressed with the extremely light weight of the headset. According to the manufacturer, it only weighs 250g and is one of the lightest, if not the lightest headset available. I am not sure if that is true, but it is certainly the lightest I've tried.
My initial thoughts were that there must be a build-quality sacrifice in order to make it so light, but I inspected it closely and thought it was very well made. The ear cushions were high quality, on-par with those of more expensive headsets and the plastic looked sturdy and well finished. However, such light weight comes at a cost. There is no way to adjust the size of the headset. This didn't prove to be a problem in flight for me, though it may for some. I found it to be comfortable throughout the flight. It did feel light and sometimes I felt like it might fall off.
Power Supply
The Active Noise Reduction is powered by 2xAA batteries. UFQ claims that this will provide 48 hours of power and states that this is significantly longer than the 25 hours achieved by David Clark. I did not test the headset for long enough to verify this claim.
Noise Reduction
Active Noise Reduction can be turned on with a small switch on the headset cup. I found that the headset didn't seem to work at all, or was extremely quiet in the OFF position, though the noise cancellation was significant when it was switched on. Though I could not find any information on how much noise is actually cancelled out, all of the low frequency engine sounds were removed and it was better than expected. However, when I first put on the headset there was a lot of background noise. It sounded like wind passing through the headset making a swishing sound. I found this incredibly annoying and I almost taxied back to the hangar to change headsets, but then it suddenly faded away and I didn't notice it again.
Reliability
Only having the headset for one flight meant that I can't say whether it is reliable. It is certainly cheap though the build quality did not seem sub-standard. I would expect that it would prove reliable though may not be up to the rigours of daily flying instructor use.
Summary
I was pleasantly surprised by this headset. I had some reservations due the price and the poor presentation on the website, though the product was better than expected.
It seemed to be a mid-range headset at entry level prices. I don't think it would be suitable for me as I fly up to five hours per day and switch between aircraft and I don't think it would be tough enough, though I am sure it is more than adequate for a student or newly qualified pilot.
Note : The headset also came with a free Bluetooth car dongle!
QuizAero Rating: 4/5
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