TOP-5 overhead closed headphones with a combined connection

JBL E55BT — wireless and full-size headphones, which for their modest enough for wireless price of $ 80, provide excellent sound quality, functionality, excellent appearance and comfort. They are made of high-quality plastic, have a nice neat design, a fairly compact size, as well as a folding design. Moreover, the cups not only fold inwards, but also turn sideways thanks to special hinges, which is why the headphones are somewhat reduced in size. These will not take up much space in a backpack or bag. The quality of the design and the fit on the head are at a decent level. The only claims can be made to the headband — it lacks a bit of upholstery in the lower part, so they don't sit too tight (you shouldn't go to the gym in such), and after a while they can start to put pressure on the crown.

The sound quality here is not premium, but quite decent. Especially considering the price. The detailing is excellent, the character is warm and assertive, but slightly muted. Judging by the advertising booklets, JBL aimed at young people who prefer electronic music or hip-hop, so the emphasis in the sound is on bass. At the same time, the lower frequencies do not dominate the rest, but rather unobtrusively emphasize them. Therefore, you can listen to absolutely any music in them, from classical to punk.

The battery life in reality is 16-20 hours, this is not a bad, but not a fantastic result. However, if you forget to recharge, you can always connect the cable and listen the old-fashioned way. This is the beauty of models with a combined connection. And then the main drawback of the E55BT comes out, namely the lack of support for popular Hi-Res audio codecs. Therefore, the sound quality over the wire and over Bluetooth is different. Even if the model is not the most expensive, but wouldn't it be better to do everything right and add an extra $10 – 20 to the price? But they added Multipoint support.

According to customer reviews and reviews in the profile press, we can make an unequivocal conclusion that the Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT is such an extremely successful universal headphones that will suit almost everyone. They are not much more expensive than conventional wired or Bluetooth models, are assembled like a tank, provide reliable noise insulation, are equally suitable for games and music, can work both wirelessly and wirelessly. Moreover, due to the presence of built-in NFC, they instantly pick up the sound source without unnecessary clicks, and the built-in battery holds up to 25 hours.

It is equally important that they look great and have received a couple of awards for the best design for a reason. The designers of Sennheiser seemed to be inspired by Scandinavian minimalism: the cups are made of beautiful and pleasant to the touch matte plastic, the ear pads are made of matte leatherette, which perfectly repeats the shape and texture of the cups. Externally, they have a minimum of identification marks or eye-catching elements (the control buttons are hidden at the bottom of the right cup), so they look like cast. For carrying there is a branded case made in the same aesthetics. It is equally important that the HD 4.40 BT shape turned out to be comfortable, the ear pads fit snugly to the ears, protecting from external noise (even in the subway), but at the same time do not put pressure on the head. Although, like any closed headphones, after 2-3 hours of wearing, the head and ears get tired of them.

As for the sound, everything is smooth and honest here, just for your money. The bass is quite dense, the middle is clear and not blurred, the tops are clean and detailed. I was pleased that they confidently cope with complex compositions with numerous instruments — the details are not lost in the general clutter of sounds, and the instruments do not merge into a mess. Some users complain that the sound over the wire and Bluetooth is slightly different and in the second case it is more "thin" with less pronounced bass. During the test auditions, we didn't hear anything like that. Perhaps the problem was connecting to an iPhone that does not support aptX codecs? If there is something to find fault with, then definitely with the built-in microphone. He's really bad here and when talking, the interlocutor either does not hear you at all, or the sound is like from a barrel.

Marshall headphones are bought primarily for their signature rock and roll style, so each of their models does not differ much in appearance. So the Marshall Mid Bluetooth has a relief coating under the skin everywhere, which seems to have been pulled from a Marshall combo or amplifier. The company's logo, familiar to every rock music lover, is emblazoned on both cups. It's quite difficult to say something new here, if you like this style or you appreciate retro aesthetics, then you will love these headphones. If all this is purple to you, then you will love them anyway. Still, they stand out great against the background of the same type of plastic models.

The cable is easily disconnected and then the headphones go offline, transmitting music via Bluetooth, and a small golden rivet on one of the headphones turns into a universal volume control button, rewind, pause and call control. In terms of convenience, Marshall has an ambiguous situation as usual: due to the rigid headband, the headphones sit firmly on the head and reliably isolate the ears from external noise, but they can cause discomfort quite quickly. It all depends on the shape of the head, so before buying, we strongly advise you to allocate 10 – 15 minutes for a test listening.

In terms of sound, Marshall has reached a new level and they do not need to make a discount for the design or brand. Now we have crystal-clear, wide, detailed and high-quality playing headphones that do not have serious sound flaws and dips in the spectrum. The model supports aptX, which allows you to transmit an Audio CD level signal over the air. The Apple AAC format is not supported, so it's better for iPhone, iPod and iPad owners to look for another model so that they don't swear at the sound quality over Bluetooth later. And most importantly, the headphones keep up to 30 hours offline at medium volume, that is, 5-10 hours more than other overhead Bluetooth models. Great result.

Sony WH-H900N is a top—level wireless headphones with excellent sound, bright youth design and a serious functional set. Here you have support for all popular Hi-Res codecs (AAC, aptX, aptX HD and Sonevsky LDAC), so they can be used with any smartphone, and active noise reduction (although it is not of the best quality here), and NFC for quick pairing with a sound source. Also, do not forget about the DSEE HX sound quality software improvement, a well-made touch panel for controlling the player and a battery that lasts about 30 hours. We can safely say that this is one of the most sophisticated models in the segment up to $ 250.

The WH-H900N looks in the spirit of the entire h.ear line — minimalistic design, smooth lines, matte surfaces and a riot of colours. In black and blue colours, the model looks versatile and fits any clothes, while red, green and golden colours look more extravagant. I liked that the colours are not too bright and "eye-popping", but rather soft and unobtrusive, and the plastic is not branded. I also liked the build quality and design, nothing is backlash and does not hang out, and when assembled with the cups turned inside, they easily fit in a small carrying case and do not take up much space in a backpack or bag. Well, the landing here is generally good, with minimal pressure on the head and ears.

Although, the ear pads are slightly narrower than usual, so the degree of comfort depends on the shape and size of the head. In this case, the bigger the head, the better the fit. With a miniature head, they will fall off.

The sound of the Sony WHH900N is very good for both wireless headphones. It is smooth, detailed, with an emphasis on the detail of midrange frequencies, panning and naturalness of timbres. The emphasis on the bass, of course, is there — it is now difficult to sell headphones without it — but it is unobtrusive and does not stick out above the rest of the sounds. In general, the sound here is universal and equally suitable for classical or jazz, as well as for electronics, rock or hip-hop. Although, fans will miss a little bit to pile on a stronger bass.

Headphones with active noise cancellation are in every way a great thing. The problem is that it is not so easy to make a truly working noise reduction system. Often, with noise reduction, a part of the music is killed, then the noise on the contrary is amplified or parasitic sounds come out. Fortunately, Bose ate the dog in this case, so if you are looking for such a model, then be sure to look towards the popular QuietComfort 35 II. They have an excellent audiophile sound, elegant ergonomics and a fairly simple but extremely effective noise reduction system from a pair of conventional microphones and an antiphase creation algorithm. In these you will not even hear the noise of a subway car or a concert of street musicians.

Like many Bose models, the QuietComfort 35 II looks stylish but restrained. Pleasant to the touch, but slightly branded plastic, soft leather ear pads and a headband covered with suede — nothing screams about the $400 price tag here. It is much more important that the landing here is 5 plus, moderately strong, moderately soft, with the correct distribution of pressure on the ears and head. These are one of the few closed headphones that can be worn on your head all day with short breaks.

In terms of sound, there is a solid five, you don't expect anything else from Bose headphones for $ 400. Engineers have rebuilt the Bose QuietComfort 35 II speakers so that the sound is velvety, with good detail and with a pronounced middle and top. The bass is confident and collected, the sound stage is wide and spacious. This sound is easy to listen to for hours without fatigue.

I was pleased that the headphones digest all genres in the same way — they do not have dominant character traits that would be transmitted to each song. And, probably, this is good, because everyone has their own preferences in terms of sound. Apple AAC is supported from codecs, but when using an Android smartphone without Hi-res audio, we did not notice any drop in quality.

Against the background of all the compliments to the headphones, we actually have the only complaint about the length of the replaceable audio cable. It is unforgivably short, as if someone tried to twist a rope from the remaining pieces and escape from the Bose factory. It would be possible to buy a new longer one, but the problem is that on the one hand there is no output of the format 3.5, but 2.5. And it will not be easy to find such a cable. But of the additional buns there is NFC for quick connection with a smartphone, support for voice assistants from Amazon and Google, as well as the multipoint function for simultaneous connection to multiple sound sources.