Review: Sennheiser PXC-550 Bluetooth headphones

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The age of wireless headphones are upon us. While many sports in-ear headphones and general use models like the Apple Airpods, are ideal for short term casual use. Sennheiser’s PXC-550 Wireless headphones are designed for travelling. These are lightweight, yet supremely comfortable headphones that innovate the segment in a variety of ways.

While they look like traditional high-end wired headphones the Sennheiser PXC-550’s pack a ton of tech innovation. Since this set can collapse to fit into a travel bag, simply twist the headsets to turn them on or off. They also have touch controls right on the headsets, you can use these to toggle volume or to pause/play or skip to the next song.

State of the headphone art

I'll admit that the touch controls take some getting used to and can initially feel difficult to master but will eventually feel natural once you get used to it.

Sennheiser designed these headphones for long-haul flights and they deliver an unprecedented 30-hour playback time. 

You can plug them in and use as wired headphones if your battery runs out. I’ve been testing a unit on and off for five days and it keeps on going. 

The noise cancelling feature is impressive, and can be turned on or off using the “Captune” smartphone app. There’s various ways to tweak the sound using the app and Sennheiser even gives some free music for travelling.

Comfort is key

These headphones are comfortable, even for prolonged use. The use of premium materials and a user-focused design is evident, these should satisfy most users. Sound quality for voice and music is stellar, there’s a fair amount of bass but this can be tuned via the app and while I wouldn’t recommend these as a set for heavy home use, they’re undeniably the best travel headphones I’ve tried.

Noise cancelling is adaptive

Aside from the sound quality, what makes these headphones worth checking out is the adaptive noise cancelling feature. Sennheiser’s NoiseGard Hybrid adaptive noise cancelling creates an aural space in even the most chaotic of environments: The louder the noise around you, the stronger it is cancelled, giving you the most comfortable listening experience.

I listen to music and news podcasts and often walk by construction sites where the noise levels are out of control. Any other headphones would let a lot of construction noise in, but the Sennheiser PXC-550 manages to counteract this accurately without distorting sound.

Sennheiser’s PXC-550 Wireless headphones exemplify the best mix of sound, noise cancelling technology and app-based tuning and control plus the best battery life of any premium wireless headset in this class.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5