Grado GW100 Wireless Headphones Review

Grado didn’t change their retro-looking formula for these headphones, as the Grado GW100 are fairly similar to the SR series. They have a nice looking grilled open-back design with fairly large cups. They look a bit more high-end thanks to their more premium headband, like the Grado SR325e/SR325. However, they don’t have a brushed silver metallic finish. These are simply all-black headphones that don’t stand out other than the fact that they look retro.

The Grado GW100 are comfortable for on-ears, similar to the Grado SR125e/SR325. They're very lightweight and are not very tight on the head. However, the on-ear fit isn't for everyone, and the material used to cover the ear cups is soft but doesn’t feel as good as faux leather would. On the upside, they have a better-padded headband design than most of the SR series.

The Grado GW100 have a decent control scheme. The available controls are fairly limited, but they're responsive and easy to use. You get a call/music control button, and volume controls. There aren't many buttons, but they're easy to use, very clicky, and tactile feedback is good. However, you also get a very loud and scratchy voice prompt, and there’s no way to reduce its volume. You also get audio feedback for min/max volume, track skipping, and play/pause.

The Grado GW100 have decent breathability thanks to their on-ear design but are less breathable than previous Grado models. They have more airflow than over-ears since they don’t completely cover the ears and don’t trap as much heat. The ear padding is also made of a very porous material that helps with airflow. They won’t be ideal for working out, as you could experience more sweating than usual, but shouldn’t be a problem during casual listening sessions.

They're somewhat portable since they're a bit less bulky than over-ears, but unfortunately, they don't fold into a more compact format. On the upside, the cups swivel so the headphones lay flat and it makes it easier to slide them in a bag and makes it more comfortable to wear around your neck.

Unfortunately, they don't come with a pouch or case.

The Grado GW100 have a better build quality than most Grado SR headphones. Their cups feel denser and made with better quality plastic, which makes them more robust. Unfortunately, they still have similar plastic joints that feel cheaply made. There are also cables coming out of the cups that go into the headband, and you should be careful not to get them hooked on something. On the upside, they're fairly lightweight and have few moving parts.

These headphones aren't very stable on the head and shouldn’t be used for physical activity. They're very lightweight and have decent clamping force but will slip off your ears. This shouldn’t be an issue for casual listening sessions. They do score higher than the SR series, as they don’t have a cable that can get caught or hooked on something and snag the headphones off your head, but they won't be ideal for jogging or working out.

• Grado GW100 headphones
• Charging cable
• 1/8" TRS audio cable
• Manuals

The frequency response consistency is good. They show excellent bass delivery across multiple users and re-seats, which is most likely due to their open-back design. They also have a very consistent treble delivery, below 10kHz, which is probably due to their on-ear design. Overall, they'll provide the same bass and treble response across multiple users and re-seats, regardless of the shape and size of your head.

The bass is good. The LFE (low-frequency extension) is at about 20Hz, which is great. Unlike most Grado headphones, low-bass, which is responsible for the thump and rumble common to bass-heavy music and sound effects, isn’t lacking and is overemphasized by a bit more than 1dB compared to our target. Mid-bass, responsible for body and punch of bass guitars and kick drums, is within 2dB of our neutral target, while high-bass is overemphasized by about 5dB and will sound a bit muddy and cluttered.

The mid-range is good. The overall response is fairly flat and even. However, mid-mid and most of the high-mid ranges are recessed by about 5dB, pushing the vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix by favoring lower and higher frequencies.

The treble performance is average. The response is rather uneven across the whole range and mostly under our target curve, which will make vocals, leads, and cymbals lack a bit of detail and brightness. On the other hand, the peak around 9KHz could make the S and Ts sound a bit sharp on already bright tracks.

The Grado GW100 have great imaging. Their weighted group delay is 0.31, which is very good. The graph also shows that the group delay is almost entirely under our audibility threshold. This ensures a tight bass and a transparent treble reproduction. Also, the L/R drivers of our test unit were well-matched in amplitude, frequency, and phase response, which is important for the accurate placement and localization of objects (voices, instruments, video game effects) in the stereo image.

The Grado GW100's soundstage is mediocre. Due to their on-ear design, they don't interact with the pinna and don't activate its resonances, which is why the PRTF response is mostly a flat line. This results in a soundstage that is perceived as small and located inside the listener's head. However, the open-back design will help in creating a more open-sounding and spacious soundstage, compared to closed-back headphones.

By design, the Grado GW100's isolation performance is poor since they are open-backs. They don’t isolate any lower and mid frequencies, letting in all the engine rumbles and ambient chatter surrounding you. The isolation in the treble range, which is about 6.5dB, is negligible.

Like most open-back headphones, the Grado GW100 have poor leakage performance but are a bit less leaky than other Grados. The whole mid and treble ranges are fairly leaky, which is a broad range. They do leak less than other Grado models, but the leakage is still quite loud. With the music at 100dB SPL, the leakage at 1 foot away averages at 58dB SPL and peaks at 74dB SPL, which is way above the average noise floor of an office. If you don't really care about leakage and are getting an open headset so you can monitor your environment while listening to music then you might want to check out the Bose SoundWear Companion Speaker.

The Grado GW100 have a mediocre integrated microphone. In quiet environments, speech recorded with this mic will sound slightly thin, noticeably muffled, and lacking in detail, but it will still be relatively easy to understand. In noisy situations, however, they'll struggle to separate speech from background noise even in moderately loud environments, like a busy street. Also, Grado advertised an in-line remote and microphone, but our unit didn't have anything on the included cable.

The Grado GW100's recording quality microphone is mediocre. The LFE (low-frequency extension) of 265Hz suggests that speech recorded with this mic will sound relatively thin. The HFE (high-frequency extension) of 3.4kHz indicates a speech that sounds noticeably muffled and lacking in detail. However, it'll still be decently understandable in quiet environments, since speech understandability mostly depends on the 500Hz-4KHz range.

The integrated microphone is mediocre at noise handling. In our SpNR test, they achieved a speech-to-noise ratio of about 11dB, indicating that this microphone is best suited for quiet environments and will struggle to separate speech from ambient noise even in moderately loud environments.

The Grado GW100 have decent 15.5-hour battery life and fully charges in just under 2 hours. This should easily last you a full day, even if you’re an extreme music listener. Unfortunately, they don’t have any power-saving features to extend the battery life, but on the upside, if they're dying and you’re near a power source, you can still use them while charging. They also offer passive playback with the included 1/8” TRS cable, even if the battery is dead.

Unfortunately, the Grado GW100 don't have a companion app for additional customization options to enhance your listening experience.

These are fairly straightforward Bluetooth headphones. They support Bluetooth version 4.2, but unfortunately can’t be connected to two devices simultaneously, which would have been convenient. They also don’t have NFC support, but on the upside, they can use the aptX codec, and even if it isn’t listed in the specs sheet, we were able to use aptX-Low Latency with our dongle.

Like most Bluetooth headphones, they have too much latency to be suitable for watching videos or gaming. However, if you have the appropriate Bluetooth device/source you can use the aptX Low Latency codec, which gives you minimal latency, or you can use the headphones wired to get rid of the latency issues completely.

You can use the Grado GW100 passively with the included 1/8” TRS audio cable, which will get rid of the latency issues. You can also use them with the audio cable even if the battery is dead, which is convenient.

The Grado GW100 don't have a base/dock. If you want a versatile headset with a base that you can also use wired, check out the SteelSeries Arctis 7 Wireless 2017.