Bang & Olufsen - Beoplay HX Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-the-Ear Headphones - Black Anthracite

I have had the B&O H9 since it was released. I liked it, although I didn't use it often since I don't need headphones that often and just use either my B&O Beoplay A9 or my Atmos stereo system to play music. I also have the Beosound 1 but I never did use that since I don't use the google assistant but Amazon's. But when I use the headphones, it is an great experience. The noise cancelling was outstanding, best of all my ANC earbuds or cans, and totally removed the hums from things like the air purifiers right behind my couch or in the entryway to my bedroom. Battery life was great, and I liked the sound quality. Whether it was rock, pop, jazz, or classical, I was never unhappy with the sound of those H9's. So the HX had originally left me with the same impressions. First of all, they included an actual hard case, not just a bag, to store the headphones in. They also included the USB-A to USB-C cable for charging, as well as the 1/8" stereo cord to plug into devices if needed. Case is nice, and has a separate flip open compartment for the cables. Definitely an upgrade over the bag with the H9. The look and feel is nearly identical. Slightly different color, a few less markings on the outside of the ear pieces. The H9 had lines like compass points on the right side to help identify which was which. The HX has nothing, outside of both sides look identical other than the charger port and buttons on the bottom. Still has the big L and R on the inner surface of the ear pieces though. Charged them up fully, paired with my phone which already had the B&O app on it from my other products. I started with the bluetooth on my laptop, a 2021 HP Spectre X360. I got an immediate popup on the laptop when I started the bluetooth pairing on the HX asking if I wanted to do a quick connect. I said yes, and instantly my radio streaming was going to the headphones. Disconnected and held the button to pair again, this time to my iPhone. Connected quickly. Opened the B&O app, it found the new headset and prompted me to configure it. It allows more granular control over things like the ANC - you can adjust it to be MORE noise cancelling or LESS, not simply the three options for hearing what's around you, on, or off that the button on the side of the headphone allows for. It also allows for wear detection, so it'll pause playback if you pull the headphones off and it senses the cups got too far from the ears. Quite a bit of control over sound as well, with several quick choices and then a setting to control everything manually. I saw that there was an update to the headphones, so I let the phone push the update to the hardware. Initially said it would take about 2 minutes, then showed 1 minute left, so it kept me informed during the process so I knew when it was finished. Of course after the update, I started having connection issues with the iPhone. I tried to pair to my phone again, and it just spun and spun, refusing to connect. I got a LOT of static and pops I could clearly hear as the headphones were in my HANDS while trying to reconnect to bluetooth. Turned bluetooth off and back on for the phone, still no luck. I was at the point where I couldn't even turn the headset OFF. Nor could I get it back into pairing mode. It was powered on, and totally unresponsive for the power button. I tried to reconnect to the laptop again, since it connected to it initially after the firmware update, but even that wouldn't connect again now. So while the power light is on, there's no bluetooth signal to be had. It is supposed to auto power off but for the 33 hours it took for the battery to die, it was still on, still totally unresponsive. THIS is the downside of non-replaceable batteries. You can't just pull the batteries out to reset something. So far these aren't feeling anymore like premium headphones. I had to leave the headphones on all day and some point in the night they ran out of juice finally. At no point during that time would they respond to ANYTHING. Nothing could connect again, no response from the ANC button, zip. This is what people pay a premium for? I have never had anything like this happen with the H9's. So after waiting those 33 hours for the battery to die, I charged it again to see if they truly were bricked or if the power loss and subsequent restarting cleared anything out - and they are definitely bricked. Once they charged up, same thing, as soon as I touch the power button to turn it on, it never responds, nothing can connect to it. Since it initially worked and then their own B&O IOS app wrecked it when it wanted to update, clearly they have serious issues. Their support, after being told all this, simply sent me a link to a page to restore headphones to default by holding the power button for 8 seconds. I reiterated that holding the button for MINUTES does nothing, that I had already said that the button was totally nonresponsive, so this wasn't a useful support response. I'm finally at the point where OUTSIDE of the B&O support system I was able to get a replacement set up. I don't know if the problem was with the headphones, or if I just had them early enough to be caught in a bug in the update process before they caught and fixed it out of sight and out of mind, but we'll see. My H9's still work fine, so I'd stick with something that isn't junk out of the gate, and has proven to at least be reliable. These HX's are NOT.

Luxury or premium headphones might not be for everyone. They are an investment in quality sound and materials. I think Bang & Olufsen did a near perfect job with the HX series. Comfortable and light on head and over ears. Long battery life to last multiple sessions of music/movies/meetings. Noise cancellation that blocks out the world when you want it to go away. And an app that improves the default music and movie audio to another level of ear joy. And if you take a call/meeting in between the music. No one immediately asks if you are in a tunnel. It actually sounds as good as holding the phone and less like typical speakerphone. These Beoplay HX Headphones are VERY GOOD. Definitely consider them if you can. Little more about my time using these headphones: If you want luxury for your ears, it will require a bit more than you have spent in the past. Not only are the B&O Beoplay HX Headphones extremely good sounding. They also look and feel like the best over-ear headphones you probably ever had resting on your head. Ultra soft lambskin ear cushions and just enough tension keep the headphones in place without feeling like your head is being squeezed. Aluminum touchpad works well, but I will admit that the touchpad for my rough fingers had an issue doing the volume circle motion cleanly. Skip, pause, play are without issue. Couple other nice touches, large L and R inside the ear cushions to easily identify orientation. And a case that has a nice storage compartment for cables and a contoured interior to securely store the headphones. Missing, a double 3.5mm jack adapter for airplanes that still use it for their media systems. You do get a USB-C to USB-A cable and 3.5mm to 3.5mm to share the audio or use with a Playstation. As for how they sound...to my ears, audio is clean and clear and default audio is better than average if you just connect to a device with bluetooth, which connected effortlessly with the 3 different devices I used these with so far. Although, if you download the free Beoplay app, you can really dial in the sound quality Bang & Olufsen is best known for. Once in the app, I preferred the "Beosonic" Listening Mode (looks like volume knob icon in lower right of Listening Mode section). Once you dial in what sound mood you want. You can save and name it for use everytime you connect (seems you need to start the app each time to experience this sound mode function). The Beoplay App is great if your source is Apple or Android. However, I could not find a Windows version for PC and could only use Windows apps for equalizer duties. It still sounds great with PC, just not as special as with the Beoplay App. Noise cancellation is definitely top notch. It isolates you from your surroundings and the microphone array amazingly blocks out noise so even on a call, the party on the other end does not notice your not in a library or sound isolation booth. A major plus if you have to do Zoom meetings and you are not home alone! I also did not notice too much audio leak from the headphones to annoy those around you unless you have volume at fairly high levels. Bottom line. You are shopping for possibly the best sounding headphones. You want top notch noise cancellation. Great call/zoom voice quality. High end, Premium craftsmanship with Real leathers that are soft and should last years of use. Includes a case to store the whole package. Oh, and a 3 year warranty from a company with nearly 100 years making quality audio products. I think the search might be over.

I have gone through so many headphones and half of those were noise canceling. From wired to wireless, earbuds to cans. Bose to Beats to cheapies on amazon and everything in between. These are the best I've ever used. I'm not an audiophile but I know what I like. I listen to music from all genre and tons of podcast. The first time I pressed played on my playlist, my jaw dropped. I heard and noticed things in the song that I never noticed before. Amazing. You want base, you got it. You want clear highs, you got it. Speaking of that, on many headphones, the highs aren't clear when the volume is turned all the way up and it would hurt my ears. I don't know B&O did, but volume at max, the sound was chilling. The noise canceling was better than my bose. Wow. I never got that "bubble" (?) feeling when it was turned on. Listening to podcast, I felt I was in the room with them. The controls were easy to get use to, but you have to get use to them. I have this trouble with all my headphones. Placement of buttons was accessible and easy to press. The app is also easy, but there is nothing spectacular with it. It is good as most the app on my higher priced headphones. Another important plus, comfort. The cushions are super comfortable and I had no fatigue after hours of use. The 3 negatives I can think of is 1) price, these are very expensive. But you are getting a lot for the money. 2) the cushions are big and comfortable, but since they over lap the control buttons a bit, I can see how this would make pressing the buttons difficult for people with bigger hands. 3) Not good for use during anything physical. I asked my 18 year old to try them out, now I don't own them anymore. LOL. He begged me for them. If you are looking at any of the higher end headphones, you MUST give these a try. They are simply amazing. B&O, please make a set of earbuds for the gym.