Bang & Olufsen launched the Beoplay HX, the latest premium pair of wireless headphones with a battery life of 40 hours!
It’s clear that the Beoplay HX wants to battle it up with the big boys (you know who we are talking about ) and packs all the feature you’d expect, from active noise cancellation (ANC), Bluetooth 5.1 and has a 35 hours batter life, and can stretch up to 40 hours with ANC disabled, at a lower price point than the AirPods Max. The HX is relatively lightweight at 285g and is made out of plastic and polished aluminium. The package comes with a nice pouch to keep the headphones safe.
Setting it up is super easy, wether on Android or iOS, the Beoplay HX connects through Google Fast Pair and Apple’s Made for iPhone (MFi) within seconds. The Beoplay HX is powered by two 40mm speaker drivers and bass ports, along with four microphones to enhance call quality with advanced beamforming technology. Beoplay HX also introduces its new Digital Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation, which the company claims cancels unwanted noise. Bluetooth is v5.1 multipoint (connect to multiple devices at the same time), and supports SBC, AAC and aptX Adaptive codecs.
The Beoplay HX is also controllable through the B&O app, which allows you to adjust the equalizer and preset settings, and preferences for different genres of music. the Beoplay HX also offers physical controls on the headset itself. The volume can be controlled by touching the circular grooves over the ear cup, and there are physical buttons for turning ANC on and off.
As we mentioned, battery life is up to 35 hours (with ANC on), which is around 15 hours more than the AirPods Max. Charging the Beoplay HX fully via USB-C takes around 2.5 hours. We’ve been using our unit for the past 2 weeks, and we can definitely say, the battery life is as advertised! It’s so refreshing to have such a robust battery life on headphones, specially if you are a traveler.
Build wise, just as you’d expect from B&O, the HX are well built, durable and premium. The smooth swiveling ear cups, the aluminum glides are very well crafted and connected with a padded headband. The removable ear cups are made out of leather. One thing to keep in mind, is that the new Beoplay HX are not collapsable, and can only lay flat. Overall, the HX are very comfortable to wear for long hours, we’ve had no problem keeping them on for 4 to 5 hours without any discomfort.
When it comes to sound quality, we were very impressed with what the Beoplay HX delivered! the headphones have impressive instrument separation coupled with very balanced mids, highs, and deep bass. The Digital Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation works very well and can auto detect the surrounding and delivery the right noise cancellation profile. Every time you change location, the HX adapts automatically. We can safely say, these are the best ANC headphones we have ever tested so far.
Speech and call clarity are also impressive, with the 4 microphones located on both sides of the ear cups, and the usage of beamforming technology, the call clarity on both side of the call are just impressive.
The Beoplay HX is a relatively affordable pair of headphones for a B&O product, and is definitely a serious threat to Apple’s AirPods Max. In conclusion, if you are looking for high end pair of headphones that deliver topnotch features and sound quality, don’t think twice, we highly recommend them!
