Introduction

Even though the omnipresence of wireless headphones could lead you to conclude that the market no longer has room for wired models, you’d be wrong. Wired headphones, such as the Creative SFXI Trio, still very much have an audience. Anyone who can’t be bothered with such nuisances as battery charging and the potential loss of one of the headphones is likely to pick up a wired pair of in-ears. Let’s not forget about mobile gamers either, or at least those among them looking for zero-lag mobile gameplay, which makes wired headphones a must.

The Creative SXFI Trio in-ear headphones are equipped with a USB-C cable and as such connect directly to Android phones and the Nintendo Switch. Creative didn’t leave you hanging even if you’d prefer to connect them to your desktop PC, laptop, or PlayStation as a simple USB-C to USB Type-A adapter is included. The SXFI Trio in-ear headphones have two distinctive features: As their name implies, they’re equipped with three speaker drivers per earpiece and include SXFI Wire, essentially a more compact version of the excellent SXFI Amp (read our review here), a $150 mobile DAC and headphone amplifier that also includes a powerful DSP with the Super X-Fi headphone holography technology. Coming in at $140/€130, the Creative SXFI Trio in-ear headphones are by no means cheap, so let’s find out if they have what it takes to justify the price, and present themselves as a viable option in a world where wireless headphones absolutely dominate.

Specifications

• Triple driver design (10-mm bio-cellulose dynamic driver + dual balanced armature drivers)
• 8–30,000 Hz frequency response (specified by the manufacturer)
• Up to 24-bit/96 kHz PCM audio support
• In-ear design
• In-line SXFI Wire DAC/headphone amplifier with volume, media, and SXFI buttons
• In-line MEMS microphone
• Five additional pairs of ear tips
• 1.2 m Kevlar braided cable with a USB-C plug
• USB-C to USB Type-A adapter, clothes clip, and silicone carrying pouch supplied
• Weight: 29.4 g