Sennheiser’s new over-ear cans are on sale in Australia, and they’re promising great audio quality – for which the brand is known – wireless freedom and a 30-hour battery life to power you through the day, night, and the next morning. As with most headphones these days, access to your voice assistant of choice is also included.
With all the latest technology, including Bluetooth 5.0 compatibility and high-quality wireless codec support, including AAC, AptX and AptX Low Latency for perfect audio synchronisation with video, the HD 350BT and HD 450BT range promise big, without a huge price tag.
These headphones aren’t exactly new, having been announced at CES earlier this year, but they offer an affordable and yet stylish alternative to Sennheiser’s premium Momentum Wireless headphones (which cost significantly more).
Rather, these are consumer, mainstream-focused headphones designed for everyone, and to take a few knocks that you mightn’t want to subject your $600 headphones to:
“Our new HD 350BT and HD 450BT headphones were made for everyone seeking to step up their everyday audio experience”,
says Jermo Köhnke, Product Manager at Sennheiser.
Both models in the range charge over USB-C (from flat in around 2 hours), and while both have a 30 hour battery life, the HD 350BT model does not include the Active Noise Cancelling of the higher-end model, which can also be used in a wired configuration.
Starting at $199.95 for the HD 350BT model, you get wireless sound that lasts all day. If you want to add noise cancellation and the ability to plug-in using a 3.5mm audio jack (to save a bit of battery life, one presumes), the HD 450BT is your huckleberry, and they retail for $299.95.
At that price point, they come in a little cheaper than the equivalent Bose or Sony headphones, and we’re looking forward to trying them out to see how they go … as someone who loves his music (and desperately wants to listen to more of it in the name of a review), I’ll let you know what they’re like in a week or so.
Sennheiser Momentum headphones are NOT ‘premium headphones’. They’re part of Sennheiser’s ongoing attempt to claw back consumers from Beats.
While the Sennheiser Momentums are priced at the mid to upper ranges of mid tier headphones, which is why people mistake them for premium headphones, they have an audio quality that barely scrapes its way up to the bottom of mid tier. They’re only just less audibly ugly than Beats.
Sennheiser’s actual premium headphones start with the HD 569 and HD 599, and go all the way up to the mortgage your home to afford, HE1 headphones and amp set.