Ranking:
7/10
?
1 – Absolute Sizzling Rubbish
2 – Sorta Lukewarm Rubbish
3 – Strongly Flawed Design
4 – Some Execs, Heaps Of Cons
5 – Acceptably Imperfect
6 – Good Sufficient to Purchase On Sale
7 – Nice, However Not Finest-In-Class
8 – Improbable, with Some Footnotes
9 – Shut Up And Take My Cash
10 – Absolute Design Nirvana
Worth:
Hannah Stryker / Overview Geek
Edifier has made a reputation for itself within the aggressive shopper audio market by serving up good sound and options at nice costs. The brand new WH950NB wi-fi headphones are one other strong choice, providing noise canceling, loads of options, and comparatively satisfying audio high quality for effectively below $200.
The WH950NB are Edifier’s apparent try at an inexpensive various to main journey/workplace headphones from prime manufacturers, resembling Sony’s WH-1000XM5 and Bose’s QC45. As among the hottest and well-regarded audio gadgets you should buy, loads of firms have endeavored to duplicate their success, and few have cracked the code.
Not everybody desires to spend $350+ on a pair of cans, nonetheless, and Edifier’s newest are a tempting stand-in for these pockets siphoners. Beginning at $180, the WH950NBs aren’t good, however they’re decked out to be your go-to workhorse headphones, able to take in your wants on the workplace, on the street, and just about wherever else.
Here is What We Like
Spectacular options
Good noise canceling
Loaded EQ
Cozy and comparatively trendy
And What We Do not
Unintuitive controls
No AAC for iPhone
No auto-pause
Midrange will be cloudy
Overview Geek’s knowledgeable reviewers go hands-on with every product we evaluation. We put every bit of {hardware} by hours of testing in the true world and run them by benchmarks in our lab. We by no means settle for cost to endorse or evaluation a product and by no means combination different individuals’s evaluations. Learn extra >>
Trendy and Cozy (If Not Fairly Premium)
Hannah Stryker / Overview Geek
Dimensions: 7.5 x 6.65 x 3.23in (193 x 169 x 82mm)
Weight: 10.44oz (29g)
Connection: Wired 3.5mm and Bluetooth wi-fi connection
Bluetooth Model: 5.3
The WH950NBs arrive in an all-black field, inside which you’ll discover a compact, pill-shaped case paying homage to choices from Sony, Sennheiser, and different prime headphone manufacturers. Unzipping the case reveals the headphones inside, their swiveled ear cups folded in on hinges for a compact, travel-ready package deal.
The headphones provide some type touches, together with a metallic shimmer to the highest of the band and coper Edifier logos. That stated, whereas they do a comparatively convincing job emulating flagship earbuds, the fake leather-based alongside the outside of the ear cups feels notably fake on this case.
The identical goes for the leatherette that cloaks the comfortable pads alongside the ear cups and higher headband—however comfortable they most definitely are. At just below 300 grams, the headphones weigh a bit greater than a few of my favorites, together with each the Sony WH-1000XM4 and XM5, and so they don’t wrap your head in luxurious like these fashions. Nonetheless, the additional weight is way shy of being overbearing, and I used to be capable of put on the headphones for hours at a time with out criticism.
Equipment contained in the journey case embody a USB-C charging cable, a 3.5mm headphone twine, and even an airplane adapter in case you’re feeling nostalgic.
A Beneficiant Assortment of Options
Hannah Stryker / Overview Geek
At below $200, you’re shedding out on among the fancier options present in premium fashions. Most notable for me is the shortage of any auto-pause function whenever you take the headphones off. Sony’s WH-1000XM4s take issues even additional, providing choices like Push to Discuss, through which cupping an ear cup mechanically pauses sound and activates transparency mode till you pull your hand away.
I don’t see this being a significant omission for many, particularly since there’s loads of playback time per cost, however automated pausing and powering off are at all times appreciated.
Shoving a few of these fancier choices apart, the WH950NBs are nonetheless pleasantly outfitted for his or her value level. As is the case with most trendy headphones, the vast majority of the opposite extras are accessible within the Edifier Join app (out there for iPhone and Android), inside which I discovered extra bounty than I anticipated.
The headphones provide a number of ambient audio choices, together with two ranges of Lively Noise Canceling (ANC)—which Edifier calls Environmental Noise Canceling (ENC)—in addition to Transparency Mode and a Wind Buffer choice. There are additionally three separate sound modes, together with a Gaming Mode which lowers latency to 80ms, and a Theatre Mode for digital encompass.
In relation to sound management, there are solely two essential presets: Traditional and Dynamic. Nevertheless, the Customization Mode is refreshingly packed, together with a five-band EQ that had me brushing up on my audio engineering expertise. Not solely are you able to select which frequency every band will goal, however there’s even a Q issue management, which is designed to mean you can management simply how a lot of the encircling frequencies every band will have an effect on. Speak about customization!
Just like Puro headphones, the WH950NB will even mean you can cap audio at 85dB to guard your listening to, although I by no means crank the quantity that loud anyway.
Maybe essentially the most helpful function for the fashionable work-from-homer is the addition of multipoint connection, which is able to mean you can join the headphones to your work laptop and your cellphone on the similar time so you may bounce on these Zoom calls with no delay. Whereas it looks as if this is able to be a pure inclusion in any prime headphone choice, even Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 launched with out it.
Controls: Complicated however Workable
Hannah Stryker / Overview Geek
The most important level of rivalry I’ll take with these headphones is the management part. It’s not that I thoughts that Edifier has gone old-school with push-button controls; whereas I’ve turn out to be used to the straightforward faucets and swipes alongside the ear cup on Sony’s WH-1000X line, even Bose’s dear QC45 headphones maintain tight to the tried-and-true rubber buttons.
The problem for me is that Edifier has mixed too many keys in a single, providing a triple-key quantity bar, with a multi-use key on the heart, which makes the three constantly troublesome to separate by contact. The raised nub on the middle key feels similar to the one on the quantity up key on the prime, so I discovered myself continually fumbling across the bar to pick the correct key.
There’s just one different button, used for ambient sound management. The apparent answer can be so as to add another on the left ear cup, making for clearer separation between them. It’s nonetheless a usable system, and I received used to it over time, however it’s simply not as intuitive because it may very well be.
Good Noise Canceling and Calling
Hannah Stryker / Overview Geek
Proper from the bounce, I used to be impressed by the Edifier WH950NB’s noise-canceling expertise. With the default Excessive mode engaged, I instantly discovered myself lower off from the world round me.
The frequent clues of sonic suppression all revealed themselves rapidly: my canine’s incessant barking on the mail provider gave the impression of he was within the yard somewhat than the hallway; the keystrokes of my ceaseless typing all however vanished; and regardless of my spouse’s finest efforts, she scared the bejesus out of me when she entered my workplace to ask a couple of lunch break.
To place issues on a extra goal scale, I examined the headphones towards the highly effective Sony WH-1000XM4 utilizing my go-to airplane drone and crowd-noise simulators by studio displays. When A/B testing the 2, it was clear the Sony pair had the sting at each ends of the spectrum. In opposition to the airplane drone, it outdid the WH950NB each within the velocity of noise eliminated, and within the expanse of frequencies.
Specifically, whereas the Edifier pair eliminated a formidable quantity of low-end noise, they let by a good bit of ambient frequencies within the higher midrange. In addition they didn’t truthful fairly as effectively towards the squeaky voices of my crowd-noise demo, although they nonetheless did a good job. Nonetheless, the distinction wasn’t notably dramatic, and in each day use the headphones had been greater than as much as the job.
Maybe most spectacular, the WH950NBs add nearly no audible white noise with noise canceling engaged and music paused. That’s a giant step ahead from noise-cancelers previous. Total, whereas they couldn’t match the $350 Sony WH-1000XM4, they stood their floor effectively when put to the check.
As for name high quality, whereas I wasn’t capable of check them in high-wind circumstances, I took a number of cellphone calls with out problem on both finish, together with chatting below a toilet fan.
Edifier WH950NB Headphones Mic Pattern: Quiet Room
Edifier WH950NB Headphones Mic Pattern: Noisy Room
Stable Sound Efficiency (With a Few Quirks)
Hannah Stryker / Overview Geek
Drivers: 40mm
Frequency Response: 20Hz-40kHz
Audio Codecs: LDAC, SBC
The headline for the Edifier WH950NB’s audio efficiency is that it’s typically good for the cash. There’s some expressiveness within the dynamics, good tonal stability, and devices throughout genres are comparatively effectively drawn and tactfully positioned inside the expansive soundstage.
By default, there’s some over-extension within the higher bass that may be fairly enjoyable. It tends to lend a wealthy and chocolatey taste to a few of my favourite bass strains. Classics like Paul’s scene-stealing bass melody in “One thing within the Means” actually took heart stage with the WH950NB. Its timbre is effectively fleshed out—dusty, but candy. Whereas it typically turns into too outstanding, reducing the 100Hz tone by -2dB within the EQ tampers issues effectively, which is one thing I do for many flagship pairs. It’s a bassy world on the market.
Tremendous bassheads can ramp up the bottom frequencies by swapping from the Traditional mode to Dynamic. You’ll even be incurring some extra bloat down low, which, to my ears, isn’t definitely worth the tradeoff. Once more, the detailed EQ enables you to merely regulate the bass to style by yourself, although it might be good in the event you may use it to tweak the set presets as effectively.
At instances, the WH950NB’s sound signature obscures some presence within the midrange, particularly within the vocals. When listening on my iPhone 13 Professional, Elton’s voice on “Your Music” misplaced a few of its snap and element when in comparison with one thing extra premium like Sony’s WH-1000XM4, and I seen the same impact in podcasts like “Comedy Bang Bang.” Radiohead’s “Burn the Witch” additionally got here off somewhat smeared when every thing received going, obscuring among the dynamics in percussion and strings.
A few of this could be as a result of the headphones don’t assist the AAC codec for iPhone, opting just for the extra primary SBC.
Switching to my Samsung Galaxy S20 and interesting the LDAC Bluetooth codec appeared to enhance issues. Like tuning a microscope, devices and vocals each got here into finer focus. That might make the WH950NB a more sensible choice for Android customers, or those that plug in typically, because the headphones are Hello-Res licensed for wired and wi-fi use. Excessive decision additionally accentuates the poorer high quality of lo-fi streaming recordsdata, that means you’ll wish to think about using a high-resolution streamer like Tidal to understand this function absolutely. (LDAC can also’t be used in the event you’re participating multipoint audio.)
Conversely, the headphones have a tendency so as to add some sharpness to the treble assault of lighter devices, although it was by no means one thing that turned me off. Regardless of these quirks, there’s some good sound on your {dollars} right here, and I skilled loads of pretty moments in my catalog.
Whereas I predictably favor the luscious sound signatures within the premium cans I’ve examined, like Sony’s WH-1000XM4 and XM5—and particularly Sennheiser’s Momentum 4—my ears had been principally satiated with the Edifier WH950NB. When you think about the truth that they price as little as half the value of these different choices, the sound high quality is all of the extra satisfying.
Battery Life to Spare
Hannah Stryker / Overview Geek
Battery Play Time: 34 hours with ANC, 55 hours with out ANC
Charging: USB-C
Charging Time: 1.5 hours
Fast Cost: 10 minutes cost for 7 hours of playback
Battery lifetime of 30+ hours has turn out to be an expectation for many flagship headphones, however it’s good to see that matched in one thing extra inexpensive. The Edifier WH950NB lived as much as their claimed 34 hours in my testing, displaying over 54% within the app after over 15 hours of listening, together with a 40-minute cellphone name. You’ll get much more with ANC off.
In both case, it’s greater than most customers ought to want, even in the event you overlook to cost them. And if that does occur, you may get them juiced up rapidly with the fast cost function.
Ought to You Purchase the Edifier WH950NB Headphones?
If you happen to’re searching for an entire lot of excellent stuff with out paying the excruciating costs in the present day’s prime flagship headphones beg, Edifier’s WH950NBs are effectively value contemplating. They provide spectacular noise-canceling for the cash, a comfortable match, and strong general efficiency.
The headphones additionally serve up numerous the very best options you’ll discover in headphones that price twice as a lot, together with multipoint pairing (and even listening to safety), and the devoted Edifier Join app labored flawlessly in my testing. Whereas they don’t fairly look the premium half, their design is trendy sufficient for the cash. They’ll carry out finest for these with Android gadgets, however they’re nonetheless a strong choice for iPhone customers as effectively.
If you happen to’re after critical journey or work headphones with out the intense value, the Edifier WH950NB are value placing in your record.
Right here’s What We Like
Spectacular options
Good noise canceling
Loaded EQ
Cozy and comparatively trendy
And What We Do not
Unintuitive controls
No AAC for iPhone
No auto-pause
Midrange will be cloudy
.jpg)
