The words “rush-hour commute” can cause even the most upbeat New Yorkers anxiety. While the “we are delayed because of train traffic ahead of us” or “we are being held momentarily by the train’s dispatcher,” alerts are inevitable, having headphones that only add to your daily annoyance doesn’t have to be a given.
Sennheiser’s PXC 550 wireless headphones, released this summer, offer nearly unparalleled sound quality, comfort and premium features for those looking for the perfect pair of headphones while traveling or commuting. The Bluetooth headphones offer a 30-hour battery life, adaptive noise cancellation, touch control panel, voice prompt system, a corresponding app to help personalize your experience and much more. Of those features, the clear standout is the PXC 550's NoiseGard hybrid adaptive noise cancellation.
Outside a few much more expensive headphones, Sennheiser’s PXC 550 has the best noise cancellation effectiveness I’ve used. Whether it was on a jam-packed 4/5 subway train during rush hour or walking through the middle of Times Square, these headphones almost made the outside world disappear. It is truly remarkable how quiet some of the loudest places in the world could be. The only time sound seemingly broke the noise cancellation was when it was windy outside. Occasionally you’d get the jolt of a whoosh, but for the most part this feature exceeds any expectations I had.
Other standout features of the PXC 550 are sound quality and comfort. While the PXC 550 wireless headphones are more expensive than its closest competitors, their quality is significantly greater than headphones like the Beats Studio or the Marshall II Bluetooth. Clear but deep bass, coupled with a lightweight feel made listening to music or talking on the phone much more enjoyable... even on the move. It didn’t matter if I was listening to Daft Punk, Radiohead or just on the phone with my parents, the sound was perfect for the situation.
Sennheiser says its PXC 550 headphones feature a 30-hour battery life, which is almost unprecedented for headphones of this size and quality. Never in my time with the PXC 550 headphones did the battery die. The long battery life definitely lived up to expectations as I charged less than once per day. A single three-hour charge lasted me until the following day. Like any Bluetooth device, though, it does drain your phone’s battery at a much faster rate.
The cons of the Sennheiser PXC 550 are minimal, but they do exist. While the touch panel usually works, there were times it didn’t exactly do what I intended. If your hands are sweaty at all or if you swipe too quickly, you could accidentally change the song instead of turning down the volume. The audio panel isn’t something that was so easy I couldn’t imagine the device without it, but it is useful the more you utilize the feature. It worked better for volume control than it did changing the song or hitting pause/play. For those commands I usually just pulled my phone out of my pocket.
Again, the comfort level of the PXC 550 is great, but in the humidity the wireless headphones tended to trap sweat and were just too hot in some situations. At my desk, on a plane, etc. this wasn’t an issue but it was when walking outside or on a very crowded subway train I had to take them off and let my skin breathe.
At $399, the Sennheiser PXC 550 headphones certainly aren’t cheap, but if you’re the type of person that wants top quality (or you travel frequently) it will be hard to match the PXC 550. The sound is clear, the noise cancellation is nearly perfect and for the money you simply cannot get the value these headphones offer on any other wireless devices I’ve tried.
For more information about the Sennheiser PXC 550 wireless headphones, click here .
