If you don’t own the highest end audio gear, and haven’t spent time with it, there’s no real way to know what’s best among industry standards. If you’re trying to operate economically, it’s best to just find the cheapest option that works for you.
Many years ago I got into noise isolation and as it was coming to market, active noise canceling. Bose was the best and then they weren’t, and Sony led the industry for at least a year, and now… there are so many competitors only trying and comparing features will get you what you specifically need. A danger in navigating New York City now is all these people on foot, scooter,Citibike using earbuds, airpods, over the ear headsets with full anc on, not able to hear or attend to the world around them. Full isolation isn’t always better.
I, however, bought these to wear while watching TV. My living room faces a busy, noisy, Brooklyn street where construction, traffic, drunks, music blasting/bass thumping cars, sirens (the very least of noise issues, ironically), and, (when it’s hot) my A/C (and air filter), make noise canceling head phones the way to go.
These are great to dedicate to that purpose. My SONY’S are dialed in for certain types of music which I would have to turn off every time I want to watch TV. These do a great job of ANC with a mode indicator and the option to have it off, and pass-through mode, so you can hear the ambient noise if you need to. My TV has Dolby atmos tuning and however these are calibrated, they do a great job of giving me highs and lows across the soundtrack while the dialogue is clear.
Because I’ve had both models of my current SONY headset, I know what the premium noise canceling limits are and these really hold their own, especially relative to price point. I’m truly pleased with their performance and they connect to my Bluetooth quickly and consistently. I’m spoiled for tuning and calibrating my headphones and earbuds for specific music, so I would miss some of those features were I also using these for commuting, or regular travel, but if you haven’t gone that far down the rabbit hole, I’d wager these are a really solid, satisfying budget option.
Materials, weight, passive isolation, and premium cushion are, of course better in the XM4’s but, as you can see, side by side, a lot of thought and energy went into these, to make a good product.
The connection has been super solid, as is the battery life. Usb-c charging is as expected, but they won’t do ultra fast, fyi. Good for their purpose. Good in a pinch.
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