During John Lewis' Christmas in July event Pocket-lint had the chance to finally check out the new Monster Adidas Originals over-ear headphones that the company hopes will grow into as large a brand for it as Beats once was.

Our quick take

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There are certainly similar design cues in both ranges. The Adidas Originals cans are definitely a fashion statement, like Beats became during its Monster manufactured days and has exploited since splitting. And with the Adidas Trefoil logo that seems synonymous (to us at least) with 80s and 90s iconography and clothing, they might even better suit those with a more retro outlook to style.

The two pairs at the John Lewis event were in the yellow and green of Brazil - there is a football festival happening in the country right now, you might have heard - and the original blue and white headset most prominently featured in Monster's press details at time of release.

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John Lewis also stocks pairs in all-black, white and black, white and red (England, anyone?), and white, blue and red which will no doubt go down well in France.

They are solidly built, which you'd expect for the £219 cover price, and offer a very comfortable fit with the soft ear cushions doubling as passive noise isolation cups to prevent ambience from spoiling your marathon Abba sessions.

The biggest swerve from rivalling Beats comes in the audio tuning. Rather than rely on heavy bass, Monster has tuned the Adidas Originals headphones to present more rounded "live performance" style effect. Booming and echo-friendly.

We didn't get to give them a proper sonic workout though, that will come when we review a pair in the coming weeks. We're looking forward to it though, as the design aesthetics are certainly appealing.

Watch this space.

The Adidas Originals by Monster over-ear headphones are available from John Lewis now.