Daisy One Review: Comfy and Tactile Headphones

Boone AshworthGearJul 31, 2026 7:00 AMReview: Daisy OneThe company’s first headphones look very stylish and have great tactile features but underwhelm on sound quality.Photograph: Courtesy of Daisy One$399 at DaisyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyRating:6/10Open rating explainerInformationWIREDButtons! Knobs! No touch controls! Elegant. Good build quality. Comfy fit. Great battery life. Cheaper than the (flagship) competition.TIREDSound quality is fine. Just fine. Noise canceling is bad, and transparency mode is worse.I wish the Daisy One headphones sounded as nice as they look.The Daisy One is the first pair of headphones from Daisy, a California company that employs engineers formerly from the Samsung-owned audio company Harman Professional Solutions. Together with a sound system developed by Utah-based ((nxc)) systems, the Daisy One is attempting to burst its way into a very saturated premium audio market Kool-Aid-Man style, with a focus on design and tactical buttons.You’ve probably seen the ads for these headphones on Instagram. They seemed pervasive on social media, at least for a little while, vying for eyeballs as they enter an industry dominated by massive companies like Sony, Apple, and Bose. By focusing on design, Daisy wants to go head-to-head with premium headphone manufacturers that make the best headphones. The Daisies are gorgeous, comfy, and at $349, definitely cheaper than many other options. But if you’re an audiophile or stickler for sound quality, you’re probably better off saving your money for something else.Photograph: Boone AshworthDaisy OneRating: 6/10$399 at DaisyBefore the product launched, Daisy CEO Jack Mulroe said the motivation for making Daisy was a lack of differentiation in headphones. He believes the market has been stale since Beats by Dre blew up with its very colorful (now Apple-owned) headsets. That said, the first wave of Daisy headphones comes in just three colors: Silver, Pacific (blue), and Kelp (greenish brown). I’ve been demoing a pair of the Pacific blues and genuinely like wearing them. The build quality is great. An array of aluminum and TR90 polymers makes these feel top shelf.The Daisy One comes in a very nice box that Mulroe says is meant to feel like a book you’d place on a library shelf. It is nice, but I’m going to gently accuse the company of preying on the millennial need to hoard empty boxes, certain they’ll need them later. The included carrying case is a smooth, equally elegant lump that snaps closed with a magnetic latch.The headphones are slightly heavier than some of the other primo cans on the market, but the earpads’ soft cushions work really well to squish around glasses. I can keep them on for hours at a time and not feel the need to pull them off. But they’re not so lightweight that I tend to forget I’m wearing them, unlike my pair of Sony WH-1000XM4s. The earcups magnetically attach, so they pop off easily if you need to replace them.Photograph: Boone AshworthThe Daisies do have a bit of heft, but that also translates into a tactility that other, more plasticky headphones don’t convey. They also last a long time, rated at 45 hours of battery life. I never had a problem with having to recharge them. The headphones have a 3.5-mm aux port and a USB-C audio connection that supports 24-bit digital audio at 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz. After the product launched, Daisy said it signed paperwork with Sony to release LDAC support, Sony’s high-res Bluetooth codec, via an over-the-air update later this year.Daisy OneRating: 6/10$399 at DaisyThe volume dial is easily the best part of the Daisy headphones. Maybe one of the best dials on any headphones, especially in this price range. It’s a scored metal knob that rolls very smoothly. Press the side to pause or play the music with a very satisfying click. Double-click to skip a song, triple-tap to go one track back. It’s very straightforward.Long-press the active noise cancellation button