Move over Deadmau5 – Philips’ latest headphones put on their own light show

What fresh personal audio madness is this? Has King Midas teamed up with Raiden from Mortal Kombat to design a set of headphones?

No, no – these are made by Philips. And let’s be clear: that lightning you see in the picture above is just a bit of good old artistic licence. In reality, these headphones merely glow electric blue when in use – there’s no danger of electrocution if you’re listening to them whilst strolling through a puddle.

Good to hear. They’re still gold, though…

Well, some people like gold things. Donald Trump. Auric Goldfinger. King Midas, you already mentioned. Saddam Hussein was a huge fan, by all accounts.

Anyway, the colour isn’t the most interesting thing about the Philips HX10 (in-ear) and HX50 (on-ear) headphones, is it? The real draw are those blue LED lights, which are controlled by your music. When the drivers are working their hardest, those light will come on, meaning you can stroll down your local high street like some kind of mobile, music-loving Blackpool illuminations.

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Please tell me you can turn them off.

Of course. Those lights last for a few hours per charge, so you may well want to conserve that power for later – a switch toggles them on and off.

I think I might just be too old for these…

You might be – or maybe you’re right, and Philips should stop at putting lights in tellies? In any case, the company says the HX50 on-ear cans offer “deep bass and powerful sound”, while the in-ear HX10 are a more affordable, more portable compromise with neodymium drivers and a Bass Reflex Port that helps deliver a bigger, beefier low-end sound.

Both pairs of headphones are available now at Argos, with the HX10 priced at £29.99 and the HX50 at £49.99. So lighten up already.