Sennheiser PXC 550 Review: Surprisingly Solid Bluetooth Headphones
Sennheiser PXC550 Review: Amazingly Solid Bluetooth Headphones The Sennheiser PXC550 headphones are an excellent example of the results that can be made when a marquee audio company puts their spin on wireless headphones. These headphones are distinguished by their excellent sound quality and solid build.
We like this
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Refreshingly unique design
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Incredible sound quality
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Modern, adaptive noise canceling
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It's a mix bag.
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It takes a slow charging time
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Limited, finicky controls
PXC550 Bluetooth headphones are great from an audiophile manufacturer. They offer great sound quality, solid features and great sound quality.
- Design Quality and Build Quality
- Comfort
- Sound Quality
- Noise canceling
- Battery life
- Software and Setup
- Prices
- Concurrence
- Final Verdict
- Specifications
The Sennheiser PXC 550 was purchased by us so that our expert reviewer could fully test it and evaluate it. Continue reading to see our complete product review.
Sennheiser PXC 550 over-ear Bluetooth headphones are a great option. Bose and Sony are the most popular options, but it's not surprising that they offer superior sound quality. Sennheiser headphones are known for their pro-level sound quality and musician-friendly design. With the PXC 550, you might just have the best of both worlds—a premium set of Bluetooth headphones that will travel well, stay comfortable, and deliver impeccable sound quality. To find out how the PXC550 compares to other Bluetooth headphones, we spent nearly a week testing them.
Related Reading: Bose SoundSport Wireless Headphones Review: Solid
Quality Design and Construction: Active and sporty, with an original design
Most headphones use circular earcups. For example, the Microsoft Surface Headphones look perfectly round. The Sony WH-1000 Series headphones are more oval and tilted. PXC 550 look more like a long oval with the tops flattened. It looks funny when pulling them out of the box—perhaps because we've been primed to look for rounder, more symmetrical shapes. This shape is actually quite logical, as it mirrors the shape and function of an ear. It also looks great, which adds to the comfort. These earcups measure just four inches in height and have a very slim profile.
These headphones are unique and, if you're willing to overlook the sloping bottoms on each earcup these headphones will be a hit in the style department.
Rest of the design can be expected. The majority of the design is made with leather, including a band and cups that have soft rubberized outsides. A few subtle silver accents are included, as well as one rectangular on either side of the ears that house the Sennheiser logo. The noise cancelling microphone grille is also housed in a silver ring around each cup.
It is also very well built with strong, solid metal rings running through the headband, and the outer edges of the earcups. The PXC 550 headphones are unique and will make heads turn if you get past the sloping bottoms on each earcup.
Related Reading: Bose Quietcontrol 30 Review: Amazing But Flawed
Comfort: Warm and cozy, but not too tight
These headphones are comfortable, but we're not sure. The cups provide a very form-fitting experience due to their ear-like design. This will make the cups feel almost like they are a part of your ears. These might be a bit constricting for people who have wider ears.
This was not a perfect product. It was okay for office work but it became a bit hot when we went out on the streets. It is a leather-like material covering both the earcups and the headband. This material feels very nice and refreshing.
The PXC550's memory foam-like material in the earcups was also more evenly distributed than even premium models from Sony and Bose. One problem is that the leather earcups can be felt a little bit from the inside. Although it was simple to adjust to, some people might find the seam irritating.
These premium headphones weigh in at just 8 ounces. To put this in perspective, the Bose QC 35s weigh over 10 ounces and the much lighter Sony WH1000XM3s weigh over 9 ounces. This is impressive given how much technology Sennheiser put into the PXC550.
Related Reading: Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i Review: Pure Luxury
Sound Quality - Amongst the finest in this class
The Sennheiser PXC550 headphones were rated as the top in audio quality. Sennheiser has listed the frequency response as 17Hz to 23kHz. This is far beyond anything that humans could hear theoretically. You'll get the full coverage, from lows to highs. Plus you will have additional data that supports the above and below. These instruments have a 100dB sensitivity level and a harmonic distortion of less than 0.5%. This will give you plenty of power as well as great accuracy. Sennheiser makes it easy to find stats on their site. This is because premium brands often ignore sound specifications in favour of brand jargon. Sennheiser offers more options for you to choose from.
These have 100dB of sensitivity, and less than 0.5% harmonic distortion. This will give you plenty of power and accuracy.
The Bluetooth codecs used and isolation of the headphones themselves are two other key points to sound quality. Sennheiser includes the Qualcomm aptX Codec here. This codec is more efficient than the Apple-friendly AAC and less lossy SBC versions found on many budget Bluetooth headphones. Your device must compress audio to provide seamless playback. aptX, which is the most advanced version of compression available, preserves more of your source files than SBC.
Finally, the snug fit of the headphones we mentioned earlier—though uncomfortable for those with larger heads and ears—serves to give you a full, rich response, even without factoring in the active noise canceling. You get an all-featured pair with cans that combine this feature and a built in limiter to prevent you from getting piercing or jutting sound from unexpected sources. Sennheiser used a sudden airplane announcement as an example.
Noise cancellation: Amazingly high considering the price
The Sony WH-1000 series had the most effective noise cancellation in our testing, but the Microsoft Surface Headphones have nice customization options and can be beaten by the Bose QuietComfort Series. It is even more shocking that Sennheiser PXC550s stole the show. Sennheiser's noise-canceling technology is called NoiseGard by the company. We found it to have some of the best, most advanced, highest-tech alternatives. You can adjust the level of noise cancellation to be as quiet or loud as you like.
Sennheiser's noise-canceling technology is called NoiseGard by us, and it was our favorite.
It adapts in real time to your environment, which is something we've never seen with any other headphones. While most noise-canceling headphones can detect your environment and adjust, once the NC tech has been manually adjusted, it doesn't automatically adjust. Sennheiser headphones didn't need us to manually adjust the noise cancellation amount at the start. They still performed well even when unexpected noise levels were present. We believe cans such as the Sony WH-1000XM3 provide better noise cancellation when you are sitting still. However, we were able to test the PXC550 on walks around the city.
Battery life: Reliable and impressive
Battery life is one of the most difficult things you can test with headphones. To get an idea of the life expectancy of headphones' battery, it is necessary to charge them up and run them down. Sennheiser's advertising clocks the battery life of these headphones at 30 hours of continuous playback on a single charge—most likely in ideal circumstances. You might see a shorter battery life if you use a lot noise-canceling.
It was amazing to see how close we came to that total during our testing. The PXC550 was used relentlessly over a week. We played loud music and fought with subway stations. Sometimes, we even disconnected and reconnected between our phones and laptops. With heavy usage, we got approximately 28 hours of battery time. It was remarkable considering that only top-of the line Sonys can reach this level. This is even more remarkable considering the excellent battery life.
It takes three hours to fully charge the micro USB. It would be nice to see USB-C or quick charging options. Overall, the battery life of premium Bluetooth headphones is an enormous plus.
Software and Setup: Good connectivity but difficult controls
The PXC550 will work flawlessly if you just pull it out of its box and connect it to your smartphone. We experienced virtually no Bluetooth distortion or dropouts in our testing. Even better, we had excellent call quality. This is a rare feature on Bluetooth headphones such as these. The standard Bluetooth headset protocols, such as HSP, A2DP and HFP will all work. Bluetooth 4.2 also gives you a 30-foot range.
Switching between multiple devices was where we encountered some issues. Although the headphones can handle up to two devices, pairing a new device was a challenge. We had to press and hold the Bluetooth button repeatedly to enter pairing mode. This is not an issue as people don't care about ease-of-pairing, but it is important.
Other than that, there's no dedicated app available for these headphones. This is similar to what you will find with Sony or Bose. You won't be able to adjust the volume or noise floor as you would with Bose and Sony. CapTune, a Sennheiser media player designed for customization of playback can be downloaded. We found it to be quite helpful. This seems like a missed opportunity on Sennheiser's behalf, as most people look for customization in a variety of apps.
Cost: Mid-range, providing a fantastic value
As with most Sennheiser products, the price you pay for these headphones is the best. These headphones are $349 at Sennheiser and $348 for the better Sony WH. The PXC 550 was just $229 at Amazon as of the writing. This makes them a great value for the many features. The Sennheiser PXC 550 is a premium Bluetooth over-ear headphone that costs $300. It offers a great balance between sound quality and price.
Competiton: There are a few choices that have more market share
Sony WH1000XM3: High-end headphones have become synonymous with the Sony WH1000 series. They may be worth the higher price because they offer better comfort and build quality, as well as comparable sound quality and noise cancellation.
Bose QuietComfort 35 II - If brand is important to you and you don't need specific sound specifications, the Bose QC 35 II headphones are worth the investment. While they do offer comfort, the PXC 550 headphones are a superior value.
High-end Bluetooth noise cancelling headphones, the PXC 500 is a great choice. The PXC 550 was a surprise to us with its adaptive limiter, gorgeous, rich Sennheiser audio response and surprisingly effective noise-canceling technology. Although they may not be as well-known as more flashy consumer marquis brands in the marketplace, their incredible value is worth a glance.
Specifications
- Product name PXC550
- Product Brand Sennheiser
- UPC 615104270909
- Prices starting at $349.95
- Weight 7.8 oz.
- Dimensions of the product 5.9x3.1x7.9in.
- Black and silver
- Battery life: 30 hours
- Wired/Wireless Apt Wireless
- Range wireless 33 feet
- 1-year warranty
- Audio codecs SBC, AAC, aptX
- Bluetooth technology 4.2
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