Cnet Reviews Sennheiser Hd 1 on-ear Wireless Headphones With Integrated Microphone
Few people brag about how good their $100 headphones sound. In fact, a good chunk of headphones in this price bracket audio pretty mediocre, but Sennheiser doesn't forsake its decades-onetime legacy with the Sennheiser Hd 350BT. This pair of Bluetooth headphones sounds first-class and gives more premium headsets plenty to chew on. Let's find out if audio quality alone is plenty to brand the HD 350BT worth your money.
Editor's notation: this Sennheiser Hard disk 350BT review was updated on February xi, 2022, to address new FAQs and to add together a disclosure box regarding quondam charts.
Who should get the Sennheiser Hd 350BT?
- Anyone tin get the Sennheiser HD 350BT, and while information technology doesn't have active noise cancelling (ANC) the passive isolation is adept enough to block out distant chatter. The compact design is like shooting fish in a barrel to take on the become, but listeners with large ears may find the small ear pads uncomfortable.
- At-home workers generally don't need dissonance cancelling during the day, then these would be a expert fit for keyboard warriors who need a decent microphone for conference calls
What'due south information technology like to use the Sennheiser HD 350BT?
The Hd 350BT (left) looks near identical to the noise cancelling Sennheiser HD 450BT (right) headphones.
The Sennheiser Hd 350BT has a slight learning curve if yous plan to memorize all of the onboard controls. A number of buttons and switches crowd the right ear loving cup and make for a much less intuitive experience compared to offerings from Bose and Sony. Equally with anything else, once yous commit the controls to memory, the Hard disk drive 350BT is easy plenty to operate. Though, I wish the book rocker was bigger and the toggle switch was more divers.
Commencement hither: Ultimate headphone ownership guide
Sennheiser deserves some credit for attempting to make an ergonomic headset, but the ear cups are far likewise narrow to exist comfortable for nearly listeners. The company swung a little besides far to keep these headphones portable, without considering the importance of ear clearance inside the ear cups. You can replace and clean the ear pads, which is great if you lot happen to detect a third-party pair that fits.
The Sennheiser Hard disk 350BT are more comfortable than the pricier HD 450BT noise cancelling headphones.
Dissimilar the Sennheiser Hd 450BT, the HD 350BT isn't painful to wear. The clamping force is far less intense with the Hard disk drive 350BT variant, making information technology easy to wear these for 2 hours at a time. The ear cups offering minimal rotation, just you can ball them upward toward the headband and toss them in your handbag. Sennheiser doesn't include a conveying pouch, then you may desire to invest in a headphone case if scuffs and scratches bother yous.
How to use the onboard controls
The Sennheiser HD 350BT keeps all controls on the right ear cup.
Here'south a quick listing of controls so you lot don't fumble effectually as much as I did.
- Tap and concur the power button for two seconds to turn the headset on/off.
- Printing the vocalism banana push (closest to the headphone yoke) to talk to your virtual assistant.
- Slide the switch dorsum (located only beneath the vocalism assistant button) to skip back a rail.
- Slide the switch forward to skip to the next track.
- Printing the switch like a button to pause or resume playback.
- Press the book rocker up or downwards to arrange media output.
For calls you have two options:
- Depress the switch button once to answer or terminate a call.
- Press and concur the switch button for two seconds to identify a call on hold.
Should you get the Sennheiser Smart Control app?
Sennheiser provides a three-band custom EQ module in its Smart Control app.
The Sennheiser mobile app is very make clean and easy to use and features a custom EQ module that lets y'all personalize the sound profile. You lot tin can also enable transparent hearing style to remain aware of your surroundings or hold a quick conversation. If yous really want to dive in, go ahead and configure voice prompts, this lets you toggle the headset'due south voice notifications on/off every time you power the headset on. Arguably the nigh important characteristic of any headphone app is the ability to receive firmware updates, something the Sennheiser Smart Command app can also practise.
Does the Sennheiser Hard disk 350BT stay connected?
The Sennheiser Hard disk drive 350BT operates via Bluetooth 5.0 and stays continued whether you use it indoors or outdoors. Unfortunately, the Sennheiser HD 350BT lacks a 3.5mm input, so you can't get the full high-resolution experience from your FLAC files with this headset. To make up for the lack of wired audio, the headphones support quite a few Bluetooth codecs: SBC, AAC, aptX, and aptX Low-Latency.
You tin easily ball the headphones into a small purse for ship.
Lag is absent-minded when streaming video from my Samsung Galaxy S10e over the aptX Bluetooth codec, and the experience is the same when streaming video from my MacBook Air to over the AAC Bluetooth codec.
Bluetooth multipoint suffers from the same bug as other Sennheiser Bluetooth headphones: notifications from the secondary device are rarely pushed through to the Hard disk 350BT when streaming music from the primary device. The only result that interrupted playback from the master device was if my smartphone received a phone phone call. This outcome can exist fixed with a firmware update, though.
How long does the Sennheiser HD 350BT bombardment last?
Nosotros subjected the Sennheiser Hard disk 350BT to a abiding playback, peaking at 75dB(SPL) output, and it lasted 33 hours, 49 minutes on a single charge. This exceeds the official 30-hour battery life and is far better than most wireless headphones. Just similar the Sennheiser Hd 450BT, the Hard disk 350BT doesn't support fast charging, so you volition need to set aside the full two hours to accuse the headset via USB-C.
Does the Sennheiser Hard disk 350BT take noise cancelling?
High-frequency noise is blocked out past the headphones, merely these aren't not bad for cross-country flights.
No, unlike some of Sennheiser'south other headsets like the PXC 550-Two and MOMENTUM Wireless three, the Hard disk 350BT lacks dissonance cancellation. The ear pads cake out noise well plenty, aided past the tight simply bearable, clamping force. You won't hear much in the style of conversations especially if yous take music playing through the headset.
Information technology'southward very important that you get a proper fit for optimal isolation. When you get a good fit, the headset can passively block out these loftier-frequency, incidental sounds. That way, you don't run into auditory masking problems. Make sure the seal betwixt the ear pads and your head is gratis of gaps, which is hard to practise if you wear spectacles.
Concord up! Something's different:
This article's frequency response and isolation charts were measured with our old testing organization. We have since purchased a Bruel & Kjaer 5128 test fixture (and the appropriate support equipment) to update our testing and information collection. It volition take a while to update our backlog of former test results, but we will update this review (and many others!) in one case nosotros're able with improved sound quality measurements, isolation performance plots, and standardized microphone demos. These will be made obvious with our new nautical chart artful (black background instead of white). Each new mic sample begins with the phrase, "This is a SoundGuys standardized microphone sit-in …"
Thanks for begetting with united states, and we hope to meet you again one time nosotros've sorted everything out.
How does the Sennheiser HD 350BT sound?
Sennheiser knows how to reproduce accurate sound, which will please sound engineers but may disappoint bassheads.
Sennheiser makes some of the all-time-sounding headphones, and it spared nothing with the Sennheiser HD 350BT. This headset's frequency response represents the bass and midrange frequencies well, with a slight dip effectually 200Hz. Listeners who want a bit more than bass tin can always change this in the Sennheiser Smart Control app.
Related: How to read charts
Lows, mids, and highs
The songOde to Artifice by Samia opens with a groovy electric guitar riff and a simple pulsate beat. Samia has an impressive song range, and her voice remains clear throughout the vocal. Well-nigh Bluetooth headphones nether or around $100 run with the standard consumer-friendly bass-boosted response that would ordinarily make information technology harder to pick out Samia'due south vocal nuances.
The Hd 350BT is a smashing headset for listeners with an eclectic taste in music.
Despite the apparent treble frequency deviations, cymbal hits and tambourines audio corking through the HD 350BT. Skip ahead to the bridge at one:57, where perfectly measured pulsate kicks set the beat of Samia and a down strummed guitar. Cymbal hits remain perfectly articulate here, which can't be said for similarly priced headphones like the JBL LIVE 650BTNC.
Tin can yous utilize the Sennheiser HD 350BT for telephone calls?
You can easily brawl the headphones into a pocket-size bag for transport.
The HD 350BT microphone is passable for casual calls and has a great sidetone feature that allows you to hear your voice while speaking, which helps you avoid unintentional shouting. It tends to amplify everything, including background racket, despite the dual beamforming microphones. Although this isn't great, we've seen companies like Shure release firmware updates that substantially improved the Shure AONIC fifty microphone operation, and so Sennheiser may follow accommodate with its Hard disk BT headsets.
Sennheiser Hard disk 350BT microphone demo:
How does the microphone sound to y'all?
2142 votes
As of July ii, 2021, 829 readers have rated the above mic sample as somewhere between "okay" and "skillful." This is a pretty typical result for Bluetooth headset microphones, and at the center-upper end of what you should expect to get out of any products of this blazon.
Should you buy the Sennheiser HD 350BT?
The HD 350BT is a corking pair of no-nonsense wireless headphones.
Sennhseier nails just nearly everything about the Sennheiser Hard disk drive 350BT headphones. Audio quality is very good, and the high-quality Bluetooth codec support is a rarity at this price point. If y'all don't intendance for high-tech features similar automatic ear detection you'll be very happy with these portable headphones.
Sennheiser HD 350BT
All prices listed in USD unless otherwise specified. Prices may modify over time, and vary past region. Unfortunately, we cannot list Amazon prices on the site, as they vary greatly by currency.
Of course, large-eared listeners won't be comfy wearing the HD 350BT for more than an hour at a time, because the narrow ear cups are jump to fit more like on-ears than over-ears. What's more, the microphone isn't the best, and you may want to invest in a defended headset if your day task is spent on the video call treadmill. I sure wish that a legacy audio company similar Sennheiser kept the headphone jack, but once again, the high-quality Bluetooth codecs soften the accident.
Next: The best aptX Bluetooth headphones
Sennheiser HD 350BT vs Sennheiser Hd 450BT: What'due south the deviation?
The Sennheiser Hd 450BT (left) has a more narrow-set headband, and greater clamping strength compared to the HD 350BT (right).
The Sennheiser HD 350BT and the HD 450BT await virtually identical to i some other, just at that place are some key differences between the ii wireless headphones. The most glaring divergence is that the Sennheiser HD 450BT features active racket cancelling (ANC), while the Sennheiser Hd 350BT relies on passive isolation lonely. The Hard disk drive 450BT is a better pick for commuters because of the ANC.
Must read: Sennheiser Hard disk 450BT vs Sennheiser PXC 550-II
The Sennheiser HD 450BBT headband has a tighter clamping forcefulness, because it'southward set more narrowly than the Hard disk drive 350BT. You'll experience better passive isolation at the expense of comfort, as a tight fit like this is often a necessary evil for optimal noise cancellation. If yous're basing your buy on comfort solitary, get the cheaper model. Be aware though: both the Sennheiser HD 350BT and HD 450BT have uniquely small ear cups for over-ear headphones.
The HD 450BT isolation is quite good, due to the strong clamping strength, and noise cancelling operation is okay.
Sennheiser dropped the headphone jack from the Hard disk drive 350BT model but kept it on its more premium headset. It can also be found on the Sennheiser PXC 550-2, simply the company used a 2.5mm input, rather than the standard iii.5mm input. Both Hd series headphones house a USB-C charging port, but neither supports fast charging.
The microphone frequency responses vary from 1 headset to the other, but neither would be our go-to pick for conference calls. If anything, you're better off with the PXC 550-II, or another brand altogether.
What should you get instead of the Sennheiser HD 350BT?
The Monoprice BT-600ANC is cheaper than Sennheiser's headphones and it includes very skillful active noise cancelling for the price—even outperforming headphones double the cost. The frequency response is consumer-friendly, but the bass notation accent is sure to mask vocals and instrumental particular. Monoprice doesn't include an app for its headset, then y'all'll have to rely on your phone's integrated EQ or a third-party option.
The Skullcandy Crusher Wireless lasts over 57 hours on a single charge.
If you want something a bit more stylish, consider the Skullcandy Crusher Wireless. You tin typically find this headset for around $99 USD and it features a sleek, covert design, excellent battery life, comfortable ear pads, and bass sliders that let yous manually accommodate the bass response from the headset.
Run into: The best Bluetooth headphones nether $200
Frequently asked questions about the Sennheiser Hd 350BT
Though they are the same price, the Sennheiser HD 350BT and Sennheiser HD 280 Pro are very unlike headsets with very different use cases. The HD 280 Pro is a wired headset that is meant to be used in the studio. Though the frequency responses are similar, y'all won't want to be doing whatever audio mixing with a pair of Bluetooth cans like the HD 350BT. The Hd 280 Pro headset does not offering any software features, is non compatible with the Sennheiser Smart Control app, and does not have a microphone. If y'all desire consumer headphones, go the Sennheiser HD 350BT; if you want studio headphones, get the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro.
To pair the HD 350BT headset, follow these steps:
- Press and hold the ability switch for two seconds.
- Wait until the LED flashes bluish three times.
- You will hear the vox prompt say, "Power on."
- The LED will flash blue three more times when you lot hear a vocalism prompt say, "Connected."
Source: https://www.soundguys.com/sennheiser-hd-350bt-review-42599/
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