VMK25 noise cancelling headphones promo video

Hybrid drivers, sound tuned by Jasse's ears and physical buttons.
No app, no touch gestures, nothing to explain.

Earbuds for people who actually listen to music

Name: NL25 ANC earbuds
Brand: VALCO
SKU: NL25-B-G
Price: 169.00 EUR
Availability: InStock

What matters most in the NL25 is the sound. Hybrid drivers, tuning done by Jasse Kesti's ears, and actual physical buttons. The app, the account and the 47 touch gestures were left out, because they don't improve the music. The price is 169 euros, and below you'll find our reasoning plus the reviewers' opinions. The rest you decide yourself, preferably by listening.

NL25 customer reviews

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NL25 customer reviews

Properly greenwashed
Free shipping
14-day return policy
2-year full warranty
Headphone repair service
Finnish company
Real customer service
Secure payment

Earbuds without the circus

The earbud market is full of devices designed for everything except listening to music. They come with an app, an account, an AI assistant and 47 touch gestures, and the sound is tuned to impress in a shop for three seconds.

The NL25 was built the other way round. First the sound: a 10 mm dynamic driver for the bass, a separate armature driver for the treble and tuning done by Jasse Kesti's ears. Then everything else: physical buttons that work with gloves on, a charging case smaller than a tin of mints and IPX4 protection built for the Finnish year.

There's no app, because none is needed. io-tech called the soundscape the absolute top of the earbud market, and errori.net summed it up: No gimmicks, just pure sound for those who actually listen to music with intent.

Honesty obliges us to state the limits too: the noise cancelling is moderate and the battery lasts 4.5 hours at a time. If you need aeroplane silence, buy over-ear headphones. If you need music in pocket size, keep reading.

P.S. Travel a lot? Long flights go better with the big cups: headphones for travel.

Why these and not the same ones everyone else has?

Sound tuned by ear, not by Excel

Every manufacturer claims their buds sound the best. We say the same, but we have the reasoning: a 10 mm dynamic driver handles the bass and a separate armature driver the high frequencies. Two drivers per ear, because one can't bend to both properly.

Then the tuning. Jasse "Jazmanaut" Kesti tuned the sound by ear, not by algorithm. It doesn't inflate the bass or sharpen the treble for a quick first impression. It plays music the way it was laid down on the record.

Don't believe us, believe the reviewers. io-tech called the soundscape airy, extremely neutral and the absolute top of the earbud market. Tekniikan Maailma put it simply: "Straight out of the box, the sound is really excellent." errori.net gave 8.5/10 with the words "No gimmicks, just pure sound for those who actually listen to music with intent". And Austria's sempre-audio.at summed up its verdict as "Sehr gut", which in German is practically a hymn of praise.

Buttons that actually click

Touch controls are a fine invention if you enjoy games of chance. A tap pauses the track, except when it changes the volume, except when it calls your mother. The NL25 has physical buttons. You press, you feel the click, and exactly what you asked for happens.

The buttons also work with gloves on. At a bus stop in January, that's a difference you only appreciate after you've tried tapping a touch surface with a mitten once.

No app. That's a feature.

The NL25 doesn't demand an app, an account or your email address. You take the buds out of the case, they connect, music plays. That's the entire setup.

Jasse already tuned the sound, so there was no work left for an equaliser. If you want to tweak everything yourself, the NL25 isn't for you. There's no firmware drama, because there's no app to deliver it. A Qualcomm chipset, aptX Adaptive and Bluetooth multipoint handle the technology in the background. Your job is the listening.

Where can I buy these?

Built to last. We'll fix it even after that.

Headphone repair customer reviews

4.9

With electronics, it usually goes the same way: the warranty runs out, the device breaks, and your options are the bin or a new one. We repair your headphones even after the warranty's gone. Even if you sat on them drunk, the dog chewed the headband, or your kid decided to find out if they can fly off the balcony.

Check out our repair service

The rest of the reasoning, because someone always asks

Smaller than a tin of mints, handles slush

The charging case is 55 millimetres across, smaller than a tin of mints. It disappears into a jeans pocket and doesn't remind you of its existence until you need it. It charges wirelessly on a Qi pad or over USB-C, whichever happens to be closer.

The buds themselves are IPX4 splash-proof. They handle sweat, rain and slush, which covers all eight darkest months of the Finnish year.

The honesty department: what the NL25 doesn't do

The noise cancelling is moderate. It cleans up background hum, but the heavy lifting is done by the snug fit, which seals like an earplug. We could claim the ANC matches big over-ear headphones. We'd get caught on the first flight.

The battery lasts about 4.5 hours with ANC on, and the case tops you up to about 17 hours of total use. Not the longest on the market, there, we said that too.

If you want aeroplane silence and a week of battery, buy over-ear headphones. From us, even. We have those. The NL25 is for the moments when the big cups don't fit in your bag but the music is non-negotiable.

Shipping is entirely on us!

Nobody likes it when one more mysterious fee appears on top of the price at checkout. That is why we pay the shipping and deliver every product free of charge, anywhere in the world.

In certain developing countries, such as the United States, Norway and the United Kingdom, the local despot may collect taxes, duties or other realm-maintenance fees on your parcel. Sadly there is nothing we can do about those.

In the civilised world, however, the price is exactly what you see on our site. No surprises at checkout and no delivery fee on top of your headphones.

JUST LET ME BUY ALREADY!

They are also fully greenwashed!

Valco wants to look like one of the good guys and sell a lot of headphones. Since everyone else is doing this nowadays, we decided to launch an environmental campaign of our own. Of course it is greenwashing when a company plants trees. No point dancing around it. Let us be honest.

Explore the greenwashing

NL25 ANC earbuds

€169.00

487 Total reviews

To product page →

In stock, ships the same or next business day

Jussi Timonen's design and Jasse Kesti's tuning make the NL25 the kind of earbuds that get your ears humming with joy. They fit just about any ear like a finger in a nostril, and they drop studio-grade sound right into the middle of your everyday life. The latest tech makes sure the NL25 doesn't go stale the moment you unbox it, and with future updates they might even get better over time. Unlike us.

Technical specifications

Wireless earbuds with ANC
Bluetooth: 5.4, all the bells and whistles
Chipset: Qualcomm QCC30XX, active noise cancellation, transparency mode
Supported audio codecs: SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX Adaptive
Drivers: 10 mm hybrid design that pairs the punch of a dynamic driver in the bass with the speed and airiness of a balanced armature up top. Sound quality that's frankly insane!
Case diameter: 55 mm
Case thickness: about an inch
Weight: earbuds approx. 5 g each, case with buds approx. 50 g
Battery: 35 mAh per bud, case 300 mAh
Case supports wireless charging
Listening time on one charge: over 6 h without ANC, around 4.5 h with ANC
Total runtime with the case: up to 17 hours on a single charge
BT range: UP TO 20 metres (but at least over 10)
Hands-free mics with voice enhancement
Protection: IPX4, splash-resistant

Product options

Free shipping
14-day return policy
2-year full warranty
Repairable even after the warranty period

ANC + transparency mode

ANC quiets the background noise when you need to focus. Transparency mode lets the outside world back in when you need it. Flip the switch depending on whether you want to hear your colleagues' gossip or not.

ANC + transparency mode

ANC quiets the background noise when you need to focus. Transparency mode lets the outside world back in when you need it. Flip the switch depending on whether you want to hear your colleagues' gossip or not.

Excellent sound quality

A dynamic driver handles the bass and a balanced armature handles the detail. Together they make the sound so good you'll start noticing things in your music you've never heard before. Bloody good sound quality, as Jasse put it.

Multipoint connection

Phone and laptop connected at the same time. A call comes in on the phone, music keeps playing from the laptop. No need to re-pair every time you switch devices.

Wireless charging case

A case inspired by a snus tin charges the earbuds four times over. Supports wireless charging, so just toss it on a Qi pad and forget about it. Fits in your pocket without making it look like you're carrying a tumour.

Physical buttons

Touch controls are an invention that sounds great on paper and works terribly in practice. The NL25 has actual buttons you can press with gloves on, in the rain, and without accidentally skipping a track every time you scratch your cheek.

Plenty of tip sizes

Comes with a range of silicone and memory foam tips in various sizes. Ears are like arseholes: they all have a hole, but no two are quite the same. That's why the box has enough options that the right size is in there somewhere. If it isn't, nobody else has it either.

Two-year warranty

Two years of full warranty. If something breaks during normal use, we repair or replace. No 100-page warranty booklet, no exceptions hidden in the fine print. If there's a problem, we deal with it. This is how a warranty should work, and this is how ours works.

Hands-free calls

Are you the Indian call-centre worker of your own life? With these earbuds you can talk for a week straight before your ears start filing complaints. Which is roughly the length of one Indian call-centre shift. Those guys work seriously hard. The built-in microphone does its best to pick your voice out of the surrounding noise.

Try at home for 14 days

Fourteen days to test them in the real world. On your commute, on a plane, in an open-plan office, at the gym, or in the most unbearably noisy place of all, home. If they don't work for you, send them back. Full refund, no questions, no hard feelings. We will warn you honestly though: very few ever come back, and when they do, the most likely reason is a sudden need for cash (read: beer).

No shipping fees

Free shipping everywhere we ship. We ship everywhere except Russia (and Belarus). The price you see on the product page is the price you pay. No shipping surcharge, no handling fee, none of that classic checkout-page surprise. Orders go out fast and you get a tracking code when the parcel moves. Radical, we know. Though in the name of honesty: if you live in a developing country outside the EU like Norway, the UK, or the United States of America, you'll probably end up paying import duties. You voted for it.

What the media's saying about our noise cancelling headphones

F.A.Z. Kaufkompass

"We tested 48 on-ear headphones. For most people, the best one in our view is the Valco VMK15. It sounds excellent, is uncomplicated to use and sits comfortably on the ears even after hours of listening." Test winner

"On calls, the Valco VMK25.2 impresses with excellent speech intelligibility on both ends. (…) That leaves plenty of energy for a fresh, open reproduction of the mids and highs, which shine with very good resolution."

Thomas Johannsen

Mobiili.fi

"In the two-hundred-euro price range, the Valco VMK25.2 headphones are definitely an option worth considering."

Markus Lehtiniitty

io-tech.fi

"With ANC off, the VMK25.2 delivers the best sound quality Valco has offered so far, at least to my taste."

Oskari Manninen

errori.net

"With a 199-euro price tag these are damn fine cans, offering exceptional value for money in the form of massive battery life and insane comfort." Score 8.5/10

Jaakko Nygård

Headphonecheck

"Valco is certainly not a bargain-basement price, but it offers a complete package that includes a secure Bluetooth connection, excellent battery life, top-tier ANC functions, and a warm, well-tuned hi-fi sound."

Jan Bruhnke

Beyond Pixels

"The music quality is second to none, and audiophiles in particular can go for these without batting an eye." Score 9.4/10

Stefan

Basic Tutorials

"With the Valco VMK25.2, the Finns deliver an all-round convincing new edition. The overall package is pleasantly well-rounded and absolutely coherent." Score 88/100

Philipp Briel

Kopfbox.de

"Anyone buying in new or who skipped the predecessor gets one of the most sonically balanced ANC Bluetooth headphones in its price class with the VMK25.2." Score 9.1/10

Markus

Kuulokenurkka.com

"The Valco VMK20 headphones impress above all with their sound quality. I haven't heard better noise cancelling headphones so far."

"The VMK25 isn't the most feature-packed noise cancelling headphone on the market. But for anyone who values ease of use, durability, and good sound quality, it's a perfect choice."

Roderick

Load video: Jasse Kesti esittelee aktiivista vastamelua

What the hell is noise cancelling?

In the video below, our audio technician Jasse "Jazmanaut" Kesti breaks it down in plain terms: what noise cancelling actually is.

Note! The video tests the VMK25 headphones, which have slightly weaker noise cancelling than the newest VMK25.2 model.

Don't take our word for it, take our customers'

We could tell you how good we are, but that'd be a little suspicious. So instead, we'll let our customers do the talking. In our latest large-scale customer survey, the average score was 9.2/10, which is plenty good for a company that openly admits it wants to build a Death Star. Reviews are genuine. Photos are the customers' own, and unfortunately, it shows.

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The questions people ask anyway

How good is the NL25's noise cancelling, really?

Moderate. That's the honest answer. The snug fit seals like an earplug and does a large share of the work, and the noise cancelling handles the rest of the background hum. You won't get aeroplane silence, that's what over-ear headphones are for. There's a transparency mode for when you want to hear the announcements.

How long does the battery last?

About 4.5 hours with ANC on. With the case, total use adds up to about 17 hours. Not the longest on the market, but the case is so small it goes everywhere with you. It charges wirelessly or over USB-C.

Do they handle sweat and rain?

They do. IPX4 splash protection covers sweat, rain and slush, in other words basic Finnish life. Still, don't take them swimming.

Why is there no app?

Because Jasse already tuned the sound by ear, so there was no work left for an equaliser. If you want to tweak everything yourself, the NL25 isn't for you. No app, no account, no firmware drama. The buttons are on the buds, and they work.

Do they work for calls?

They do, and indoors they work well. In strong wind the microphones are, honestly speaking, only fair. Bluetooth multipoint keeps two devices connected, so you can listen on your laptop and answer your phone without re-pairing. You take the call with a physical button, gloves on if needed.

...and one more thing

Valco Oy isn't some faceless website. We've got our company registration number and the owners' names and faces right there on our site for everyone to see. We're real people who enjoy the small pleasures in life.

The money you give us goes honestly toward beer, child support payments, big gold watches, and sports cars. Whatever's left over, we put toward the Death Star.

Unlike our competitors, such as [Big Asian Conglomerate], [World's Biggest American Corporation], and [Big German Microphone Factory Owned by a Swiss Holding Company], Valco's founders are actually reachable and could even go grab a beer with you.

Try that with [Megacorporation].

At Valco Oy, we're proud to be real people with real faces who genuinely care about our customers. Join the club and feel the difference!

Alright, you talked us into it