Benjamin Levicek A few weeks ago, the Danish company Bang & Olufsen introduced BeoPlay HX headphones. In addition to the first-class design, according to the manufacturer, it boasts excellent noise suppression, balanced sound and exceptionally long durability. On paper, the product looks more than tempting, but how are the headphones in practice?
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Basic specifications
Before we jump into the evaluation itself, I would like to devote a few paragraphs to the specifications. As I already outlined above, they look really attractive, but considering the price tag of CZK 12, it would be a sin to say that it should not be taken for granted. Anyway, we will provide you at the end of the article 3 CZK discount, so you get to the prize 9 990 $, which is guaranteed to be the lowest price on the market. Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay HX are Bluetooth headphones that have the Bluetooth 5.1 standard, which ensures a stable connection even in noisy environments. If you are interested in the codecs used, you can look forward to SBC, AAC and aptX Adaptive. The last mentioned one is great thanks to the ability to transmit audio losslessly, but owners of Apple products and most Android phones do not enjoy it much, which is caused by incompatibility. But audiophiles can at least be comforted by the fact that you can connect the product via a cable with a 3,5 mm jack.
Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay HX in sand color:
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40 mm drivers with a frequency range of 20 Hz to 22 kHz, a sensitivity of 95 dB and an impedance of 24 Ohms take care of the sound presentation. There are 8 microphones on the body of the headphones, 4 are intended for active noise suppression, the other for voice processing during phone calls. We'll get to the work the microphones do, but I can already tell you that Bang & Olufsen has done a great job. Both the battery life and the charging speed are amazing. The battery with a capacity of 1200 mAh is able to power the headphones for up to 35 hours with ANC on, and up to 40 hours when you have the function turned off. Thanks to the USB-C connector, you can charge the product in less than 3 hours, which is definitely a respectable number.
Unpacking is an experience, you will be in seventh heaven from the structural processing
As usual with Bang & Olufsen products, you can count on top-quality workmanship in all aspects. The headphones will arrive in a large box where you will first see the product housed in a semi-hard carrying case. I have to praise the case. Although it is relatively bulky, on the other hand it protects the product from damage. There are also several manuals in the box, in addition to the device itself, in the headphone case you will also find a flip box in which the charging USB-C/USB-A cable and connecting 3,5mm jack cable were hidden. Both are 125 cm long, but honestly it would be nice if they were a bit longer.
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But the construction more than impressed me. The headphones as such are made of a combination of aluminum and plastic, specifically on the surface of the earcups and frame you will find aluminum, the rest is covered by plastic. The ear pads will not put any pressure on you, as they are fitted with pleasant memory foam. The bridge of the head is then padded, comfortable lambskin will rest on your head. From my experience, even after five hours of listening, I did not notice bruises or a headache, this is also underlined by the low weight of 285 grams, thanks to which the product practically does not press on the head or interfere. Control elements are visible on the ear cups themselves, where the right earpiece contains a power button, on the left you will find buttons for controlling ANC and starting the voice assistant. This time too, Bang & Olufsen managed to impress with its BeoPlay HX design, you won't be ashamed of the product either at home or on long trips.
The initial pairing, control, but also the application does not seem completely happy
If you want to turn on the BeoPlay HX headphones, just press the button on the right earcup, you will need to hold it for pairing. I found them in the phone settings immediately after switching to pairing mode, but it was worse with the connection to the Bang & Olufsen application. Both during the first connection and during regular use, it happened to me quite often that it was simply unable to find and connect to them.
Now you might be wondering why you need an app to control such a product? There are several reasons. On the one hand, you can read the exact state of the battery from it, there is also a simple adjustment of the sound using the equalizer, or perhaps the option of turning on or off the detection of whether you have headphones on your head, when the playback is paused after removing it from your head and starts again after putting it on. I used the deployment detection on my headphones a lot, and even though it doesn't work 100%, I recommend you to activate it.
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You can also update the firmware of the headphones through the application. To tell you the truth, I did not expect it to be such a complex process presented by Bang & Olufsen. More than once the app has crashed, interrupted the download, or not connected to the product at all. In the end, the update was successful, but in the back of my mind I hope that Bang & Olufsen will release an update for their mobile program in addition to the firmware. At least the one for iOS needs it like salt.
Download the Bang & Olufsen app here
We will briefly focus on control. To skip a song forward, swipe right on the right earpiece, and swipe left to skip backward. These gestures work extremely reliably. But it's worse with the volume control, where amplification and attenuation is done by turning the right earpiece clockwise or counter-clockwise. Personally, I was able to get used to this gesture relatively quickly, but even then it often happened to me that it did not work completely reliably. On the left earpiece there are the already mentioned two buttons ensuring the activation of the voice assistant, respectively switching on the throughput mode, active noise suppression or deactivating both modes. They perform their function as they should, which is not surprising.
Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay HX in Anthracite:
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The sound performance will immerse you in all circumstances
After putting the headphones on my ears for the first time, I had quite high expectations, and now I can state with a clear conscience that they were met, maybe even exceeded. That the sound is really balanced and clean, that the highs are beautifully transparent and clear, that the mids represent the function of balancing and emphasize the melodic line, and that the bass can rumble, but in no way appear more than it should, is a matter of course in this price range . However, whether you play classical music, jazz, pop music or any other genre of music, you will record almost all the instruments that are in the composition. In addition, you can clearly distinguish their color, so you can tell if a given musician has a slightly sharper guitar, a tone that didn't quite work for a certain singer, or how soft or sharp your favorite rock guitarist strums his solo.
It is a great experience to listen to surround recordings with headphones, whether it is movies shot in Dolby Atmos or recordings by Pink Floyd, where four-way microphones are used. I can assure you that you will be drawn into the action, and you will be literally surrounded by sound. If I had to characterize the sound performance of the headphones a little more briefly, I would tell you that they can get the most out of Spotify, and a lot out of lossless tracks when the cable is connected. Sure, your money isn't going to get you a reference product that you'll use in a professional studio, but the BeoPlay HX come close to that rating, especially thanks to their fidelity.
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Active noise cancellation, throughput mode and call quality
However, for consumer headphones, sound performance isn't always the be-all and end-all of why customers buy them. The manufacturer knows this very well, and therefore implemented ANC and throughput mode in them. In terms of noise cancellation, it is at a fairly good level, although not as great as, for example, the AirPods Max. But whether you're sitting in a cafe or traveling, it can cut you off from your surroundings quite well.
If you are going to invest in headphones, I recommend that you disable noise cancellation in a quiet environment. Although this is nothing terrible, when I turn on ANC, from my subjective feeling, the headphones sound a little over-bassed and not as faithful as during normal listening. Of course, you won't notice this difference in noisy public transport, but it might bother you when listening to something good in the evening. As for the throughput mode, the headphones do a really decent job here. Sure, the sound delivered to your ears is a bit electronic, but it's nothing terrible. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the calls, I could hear the other party perfectly, the other person had no problems with my voice, even in a noisy environment.
Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay HX in brown:
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Final evaluation
To tell you the truth, there is almost nothing to complain about with the BeoPlay HX. It's not exactly a cheap piece, but for your money you get a first-class design, faithful and balanced sound, and great features in addition. Of course, the application, which you have to install for full functionality, is not twice as successful, but we still have hope that the developers of Bang & Olufsen will solve this problem in the near future.
Whether you should buy a product or not depends on many factors. If you tend to listen to music in public transport and during sports, you don't focus too much on the sound and you're more interested in having something play for you, you won't use the potential of the headphones. But if you are a moderately demanding listener, and you like to be surrounded by sound, you often set aside time for evening listening and occasionally play lossless audio via cable, the headphones will overwhelm you with their durability, sound, and actually all the functions. You definitely can't go wrong with BeoPlay HX, the question is whether it's worth the investment.
CZK 3 discount for our readers
Thanks to the cooperation with the company Mobil Emergency, we managed to secure a discount of CZK 3 for our readers, which can be used for Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay HX headphones. This means that if you use the discount, you will go from the original price of CZK 000 to CZK 12. To use the discount, just copy the discount code jabHX, which you use in the basket. In addition, the transport is of course also free. This offer is limited, so don't hesitate to make a purchase to get your hands on it.
You can buy Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay HX for CZK 9 here
“you can look forward to SBC, AAC and aptX Adaptive. It is the last mentioned that is great thanks to the ability to transmit audio losslessly". Unfortunately, there is no bluetooth codec yet that can transmit music losslessly. Please fix it.