Bang & Olufsen unveiled the Beoplay HX, a pair of premium over-ear headphones with Active Noise Cancelation (ANC) and a long-lasting battery. With ANC on, they can last 35 hours on a single charge (with a Bluetooth connection). Turning ANC off stretches playtime to 40 hours. The HX are designed to be worn for extended periods. The headband has a relief comfort zone in the center. The earcups feature soft lambskin draped over memory foam. This is not the lightest pair of headphones, however, tipping the scales at 285g.
Anyway, the Beoplay HX features
custom-made 40 mm drivers with neodymium magnets. There are four microphones
that can pick up your voice for clean audio during phone calls. And, of course,
there’s active noise cancellation. You can adjust the ANC level from the Bang
& Olufsen app on your phone or using the hardware control on the headphones
themselves. The right earcup has touch controls for controlling the volume and
music playback, you can also answer/end calls.
The HX features Bluetooth 5.1 and
multi-point connection (meaning it can be simultaneously connected to, say,
your phone and your computer). The first pairing is easy as the headphones
support Google’s Fast Pair, Microsoft’s Swift Pair as well as Apple’s solution.
The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay HX are
fairly pricey at US$ 590/€ 500. For comparison, Sony’s WH-1000XM are US$ 350/€ 380
(actually, you can find them for US$ 280 in the US). Even the Apple AirPods Max
are cheaper at US$ 550, though the European price is north of € 600. Of course, the
Sonys last only 30 hours (with ANC), the AirPods manage only 20 hours. If
you’re interested and have the money to spend, check out the Beoplay HX on the
official B&O site.
