Bang & Olufsen Launches $499 Beoplay HX Noise-Canceling Headphones Offering 35 Hours of Battery Life

[EugenesSoggySalami]

Will definitely look into those, thanks. I know the AirPods Max are also fabric, but I'm not buying those purely on principle (I laughed at the price for 5 minutes straight - in Sweden they're 6695 SEK, i.e. 720 USD. That's longer than I laughed at the $1000 monitor stand)

Apple products can be extremely expensive, the PX7 headphones are like 400 euros. The only downside of those headphones is (especially on iOS) is that their app will lose connection to the headphones constantly, you need to unpair and repair the headphones to be able to see them on the app again. And few buttons are located in weird spot on the headphone which makes you accidentally push them when you put your headphones on or off. But in my experience they sound better than Bose QC35's.

PX7 Wireless Headphones - Over Ear | Bowers & Wilkins

No matter where you are, Bowers & Wilkins' powerful drivers and adaptive noise cancelling wireless headphones put you in the centre of your music experience.

www.bowerswilkins.com

 

[Herrpod]

If you can turn them off when not using them, they'll already be light years better than the AirPods Max.

 

[1258186]

Very nice. I’ve always like B&O kit.

 

[votdfak]

My H7s still running strong, user replaceable battery and cups are pluses in my book. Premium materials, good sound, my big ears struggle a little bit to fit in circle design, but it's manageable.

 

[CJ Dorschel]

The H8 are on ear and the H9 over ear

Ah! I assumed the H8 were over ear as the cover my ears. Thanks!

 

[George Dawes]

In my experience bno's hardware is fairly impressive but overpriced and their software is utter garbage

 

[AustinIllini]

If you can turn them off when not using them, they'll already be light years better than the AirPods Max.

Apple needs to do something with the AirPods Max firmware to fix this. I like the AirPods Max but they just don't hold charge well because they can't tell when they're supposed to be on or not

 

[mymacrumorsname]

I bought my B&Os 3 years ago. While they sounds very good bluetooth stopped working after 6 months of use. But I still use them. Great price value for me.

 

[Wolf Of Infinite Loop]

No bra case, no deal. Haha, just kidding. If they are like the other premium Bang & Olufsen cans, they will destroy the APM. And yes, I've owned both the high end B&O and APM. The APM are pretty solid, however with the atrocity of a case, and the weight I would say they are worth closer to $350-400 tops.

 

[jlc1978]

The UK price of the headphones is £449, it's not exactly what I would call a rip-off.

Once you take out the VAT the price in US dollars is about $520; which is about average for what US purchasers pay once sales tax is added.

 

[Asthmatic Kitty]

Pretty interested in these. I was tempted by the AirPods Max but the weight and clamping force put me off even trying them. I'm mainly interested in sound quality and comfort for over-ear headphones, so don't mind if the ANC/transparency mode isn't quite at the same level. Let's see what the reviews say!

 

[brentsg]

Pretty interested in these. I was tempted by the AirPods Max but the weight and clamping force put me off even trying them. I'm mainly interested in sound quality and comfort for over-ear headphones, so don't mind if the ANC/transparency mode isn't quite at the same level. Let's see what the reviews say!

I wanted to keep my AirPods Max but the weight and clamping force were an issue, as was the bulk for my use case. I ended up with H95's and as others mentioned the sound quality, battery life, and comfort are better but the ANC and transparency is not. I also miss the Spatial Audio feature for video content.

 

[Asthmatic Kitty]

really positive review! shame he didn't compare them to the H95, but sounded like the improvement over the H9 3rd gen was huge. i'm pretty psyched for these now. (give the guy a break for his hair btw, we've not been able to go to the hairdressers for like 3 months here in the uk 😭 a couple of weeks and it'll be glorious haircuts for everyone, though 😌)

 

[ignatius345]

I am seeing On-ear headphones????. Thanks, hard pass. I can’t stand those, over-ear or in-ear are the only way for me to not have pain after a few minutes of using earphones.

For me it depends on the cushions. If they sit comfortably it’s not so bad on my ears.

 

[ignatius345]

Just got rid of my AirPod Maxes because they were clenching my jaw too much, to the point of pain! Was fannying around the internet looking for something to replace them, because they were the best headphones I've heard in a long time (price and ANC aside).

I really do hope these are the ones, they specifically mentioned 'lightweight' in their Amazon listing... I wonder why that's so important all of a sudden

Here's me hoping for something decent... let's see!

Weight is my only beef with the Max. They start to really feel uncomfortable to me after a few hours.

 

[zombierunner]

I realised that beyond a certain price point, they all sound the same because of the limits of human hearing. Of-course there are exceptions but for most people, they will not be able to tell the difference between a good 200-300 headphone and a 400-600 headphone.

 

[CJ Dorschel]

Love B&O design sense. They always make stuff that looks fantastic...with pricing to match! These headphones are priced so low for B&O.

Loved their CD changers. So cool.

View attachment 1749093

This brings back memories! Wow

 

[thomas040]

good job by b&o keeping the weight down

I'm wondering if apple will go with Titanium for the headband frame to ease the load in the next version?

 

[GarethR]

The 9000 was pre-HARMAN acquisition. Now it's just a brand stuffed into BMW vehicles and rebranded JBL with slightly better sound then it's sister Harman Kardon. And guess who owns HARMAN? Samsung!

Treasure this system you have.

Speaking of acquisitions. Samsung completed the HARMAN acquisition in 2016 (for $8B) probably in reaction to Apple buying Beats in 2014 ($4B). Why did Tim Cook throw billions at beats instead of HARMAN who owns these brands: B&O, Becker, BSS, Crown, Harmon Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon, Mark Levinson, Martin, Revel, Soundcraft and Studer.............

All so we could get Apple Music? Or was it Dr. Dre?

Bang & Olufsen aren’t owned by Harman. They’re resolutely independent.

You’re mistaking them licensing the brand for their automobile products (although Harman did actually buy the automotive division originally). Bowers & Wilkins also operate a similar arrangement with Harman.

Bang & Olufsen still design and manufacturer all their own products apart from TVs which are reskinned LG OLEDs these days. Ludicrous pricing though for what essentially amounts to a branded boot screen and a new case/stand.

 

[Cashmonee]

I went ahead and put in an order. I used the H9 3rd Gen for several hours today. They were plenty comfortable, even with the round pads. You get used to it and the pads do not pinch the ears. The HX has enough upgraded features (case, transparency with music on, adjustable ANC, 3 year warranty, better mic) to warrant paying the extra $150 over the current price of the H9 in my opinion.

 

[kithytom]

Design wise, it’s a small tweak from my H7 lol

 

[MarckyG]

Saw somewhere on the first page: "They look awfully generic" ... So my two cents:
B&O brought us their first headphone with that similar design almost 10 years ago (might have been in development over 10 years in the past now)... they are design icons. And I'm so happy they sticked with it. It was copied by most Asian brands and all the cheap China stuff up to the good quality brands looked similar at some point. So maybe that's why they look "generic" to some. I must say I'm happy to see the circular pads and design being preserved, as well as the hinge design. I was afraid they would leave that design with the newer H95 or even the (in my opinion "generic" looking) H8i... I like designs simple, that's why I like most of Apples products instead of the flippy screen folding hinge double display cool gadget competitor things...
But to speak of my experience: I ALWAYS preferred the B&O sound to anything I heard from the competitors... they are a perfect mix of tasteful design, great to good enough audio, and yes they are expensive but they kinda are luxury items that actually do use good materials, real leather, are from a "smaller" European brand and do have a history with sound (comparing them to Apple).
I hope and think a lot of people will be happy with these!

 

[turbineseaplane]

I have loved B&O stuff since the 80s.

I think their designs are awesome

 

[CJ Dorschel]

Bang & Olufsen aren’t owned by Harman. They’re resolutely independent.

You’re mistaking them licensing the brand for their automobile products (although Harman did actually buy the automotive division originally). Bowers & Wilkins also operate a similar arrangement with Harman.

Bang & Olufsen still design and manufacturer all their own products apart from TVs which are reskinned LG OLEDs these days. Ludicrous pricing though for what essentially amounts to a branded boot screen and a new case/stand.

One of my Audi RS5’s has a Bang & Olufsen system and my RS7 has a special edition system only in Europe.

 

[incoherent_1]

Just an FYI: the case design that Bang & Olufsen is providing works better for travel protection than the AirPods Max case, but is less convenient for home use. Do you really want to zip/unzip a large case like this at home every time you want to grab the headphones or give them some protection when you put them down? That's what the AirPods Max case design does better. It wasn't really intended to be a travel case. It's more about fast access and convenience while also providing better protection than just leaving them out.

I see your point, but for many people buying noise cancelling over-ear cans, travel is the primary purpose (or was, at least, in the beforetimes); to us, these headphones are synonymous with transoceanic travel, and an essential piece of travel kit. That’s why the Apple case was so insulting — because it’s so completely inadequate for our use case. I’d much rather deal with an extra zipper in the way at home that end up with scratched or permanently damaged headphones while traveling.