Bang & Olufsen - Beoplay H4 Wireless Over-the-Ear Headphones - Black

Comfortable, clear sound   The headphones have a very simple yet classic design. The headband is a single piece of metal wrapped with leather on top and cushion and fabric inside. The headband is fused to the hinges that hold the earcups, with exposed cables. The earcups are plastic with a polished metal cover. The inside is a very comfortably cushioned leather and fabric. Sound isolation is very good. People around you can hear the music but does a good job of isolating ambient noise. Note that the earcups are not replaceable. Controls: There are three controls: Volume up/down and a multi-function that works for play/stop/next/back/on/off depending on how it's pressed. -- Pairing and full reset is by holding the + and - simultaneously. There is no NFC nor voice prompts. There is a single color-changing LED (That's off during normal use, so it's not distracting), audio-in and micro-USB for charging. The audio-in works without battery power.   Sound quality: Overall, it produces a very neutral and clear sound. If you're planning on using the headphones with an iOS or Android phone, there's an App 'Beoplay' that checks for firmware updates on the headphones as well as an equalizer that's very intuitive and simple to use. In my particular preference, the default was a bit more muted and bass heavy than I'd preferred, but the EQ made it a lot better. The headphones support the Bluetooth AAC codec, and the audio quality with my iPhone was about the same as with a wired connection. Bluetooth range is excellent. No drops three rooms away from the phone. Once the headphone is paired, the connection when powering on is very quick. Microphone for voice calls is good. I tested making voice recordings and recordings were very clear. A drawback is that to turn it off, one has to press the multi-function button for several seconds. The phone will first trigger Siri, start listening and then the headphones eventually turn off. The headphones also turn off after 15 minutes or so of no use. Battery easily lasts all day. Rated for 19 hours when new. I was disappointed that there  was no carrying case included with the headphones.   To resume Pros: • Clear and balanced sound • Very comfortable to wear • Classic simple design • Lightweight • Long range BT with AAC support • 2 years warranty Cons: • No carrying case • Difficult to turn off • No replaceable ear cushions • Non-replaceable Li-Ion battery

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H4 Wireless Over-Ear-Headphones have totally taken me by surprise. I did not expect this amazing quality of sound from these entry, but premium headphones out of the B&O lineup of audio products. They play like confectionery candy for your ears, yummy and sweet, for pure, listening enjoyment. What truly impressed me was the clarity of the background, nuance sounds, like falling rain, far away thunder, or the distant chirping of birds. Subtle sounds move from ear to ear and as if they were in motion. Wow! The preset bass is a much richer bass then most Bluetooth units I have tried with mellow, low pitches, yet a nice wide range. If you are looking for ear-bursting, reverberating, pounding low frequencies - these headphones are not for you. The H4 features frequency from 20Hz to 20,000Hz, the limits of our human hearing range. The sound is mainly focused towards the mid ranges, but there is a clarity to the highs and instrumentals that gives quality depth to all the ranges. The contrast between the right and left side of the headphones provides great width coupled with a well-balanced level of sound, which is good as I have ever heard on a Bluetooth unit. These headphones perform superbly for all kinds of music genres. This degree of sound quality is what I would expect from much more expensive, high-performance headphones. However, B&O definitely has a premium set of headphones in this Beoplay H4, and, at an affordable price point. As outstanding as these Beoplay H4 headphones are over Bluetooth, they are unbelievable when connected to an amp receiver with a 3.5mm cable. I have a 'retro' vinyl collection of records I play on a turntable connected to my amp, which has an equalizer with twelve frequency bands. Adjusting these bands makes the vinyl come 'alive' and compensates for any treble and bass shortcomings. These H4 headphones do an outstanding job of delivering crisp, vibrant, and studio-quality sounds over a full range of frequency settings. I love it! Be aware when you plug-in the 3.5mm jack to an another audio source that your internal battery power of your headphones is disconnected automatically, and your auxiliary audio device then controls the sound volume. The construction of the H4 is primarily designed for weight and durability. The headband is stainless steel covered with a vinyl protection material on top, and a cushioned fabric cover on the bottom, which comes in contact with your head. The outer covering of the headphone ear pieces is aluminum, and the body of each ear pieces is composite plastic. The inner ear pieces are shrouded in memory foam covered with genuine lambskin. Each ear piece is marked as 'R' or 'L'. The whole headphone unit only weighs 8.3 ounces. Pretty lightweight. These headphones are extremely comfortable to wear, especially for extended periods. The soft lambskin cups on the ear pieces is kind to your ears. In fact, yesterday I fell asleep with them on while listening to my vinyls. Both ear pieces of the headphone fold inward for storage. There is no storage case or bag included. However, the build of the headphones appears to be rugged enough to hold up to tucking it away in your backpack or overnighter. The on-board controls are located towards the bottom of the right ear piece. There are two volume control buttons for Vol + and Vol - , plus they double as Bluetooth pairing buttons when both are depressed for five seconds. A smaller multipurpose button is in the middle. The smaller button is easily identifiable without having to look at it, just by touching alone because it has a raised point on its center. The small middle button is used as ON/OFF, press five seconds to turn OFF – a sound prompt will play when it is turning OFF; Play and Pause music – press center button once; Double press the center button to go to the next track – Triple press to go to the previous. For phone calls you must depress the center button to answer an incoming call – press center button for five seconds to reject the same call. After taking a call you have to press the center button for five seconds to terminate – double press the center button to transfer audio from the Beoplay H4 to your phone. If you want to use your voice assistant or Siri – press the center button for five seconds for voice activation. In the same area is an LED light that turns Blue when you are pairing, Red when the battery is below 10% with sound prompt, blinking Red when you are charging, and Green when fully charged. Some key information: * When the battery is low the volume of the headphones will automatically be reduced. * The battery takes approximately two and a half hours to fully charge. * The manufacturer states that the contained lithium-ion rechargeable battery will last up to four hundred charges before the capacity goes below 80% compared to its original. However, a partial discharge reduces stress and prolongs battery life. Hence, if you do not discharge the battery completely, the charges can go up to several thousand cycles. * Therefore it is recommended to charge your Beoplay products when necessary, e.g. every second day and store in normal room temperature when not in use. * If you play music at a moderate volume, the battery in your Beoplay H4 can provide up to 19 hours of playback. * The Beoplay H4 has a power savings feature – it turns itself OFF if it is out of Bluetooth range, or no music is streaming for fifteen minutes. * You can Connect Beoplay H4 with an Apple watch using the Beoplay App. * The Beoplay H4 has a two-year warranty. * The manufacturer suggests to clean the lambskin on ear pieces with a dry cloth only. * The H4 automatically remembers previously connected devices and when turned back ON it will try to reconnect to previously paired devices. * If you are using your phone to Bluetooth music to your H4 - increasing or decreasing the headphone volume controls will increase or decrease the volume on your phone, correspondingly. * The Beoplay H4 headphones are not noise canceling, but fit so well they are almost passively noise canceling. Included in the box: * Beoplay H4 Wireless Over-Ear-Headphones * Quick Start Guide * Twelve inch long USB 'A' to Micro USB cord for charging. * Forty-Eight inch long 3.5mm audio cable. The Beoplay App, which is available for free to download from Apple App Store or Google Play Store is pretty comprehensive. The main feature of this app is the Tone Touch adjustment. It acts like an equalizer of sorts, but not according to sound frequencies. Instead the Tone Touch allows you to adjust your music to your activity and, or, moods: Warm, Relaxed, Excited, and Bright. You can adjust anywhere in between these various moods and expand the tonality (expand the width) as you wish. It really is quite cool and fascinating. It has a Tone Touch Guide, which will walk you through the options. This app also allows you to increase or decrease the volume; stream to other B&O speakers; and provides detailed product information and support. After three days of pretty constant use - these Beoplay H4 Headphones are becoming my new best friend. They enhance the listening enjoyment of the music genres I love so much. They help me reduce anxiety, stress, and make me happy when I am immersed in so much rich, musical bliss. My kind of cloud nine. That is the best recommendation I can possibly make for purchasing these Beoplay H4 headphones. You will NOT be disappointed. And, remember with Christmas coming up – these headphones would make a phenomenal gift for that special someone, family member, or friend.

I was pleasantly surprised by these headphones. I know that B&O has a stellar reputation but have not had the pleasure of experiencing their products until now. Where to begin? Well they were very easy to pair with my phone. However, the app you need to use, it required me to update the firmware on the headphones before I could start using them. The download for the update went incredibly quick, maybe a few seconds with my internet. The biggest issue was installing the firmware. It was a good 20-30 minutes to update the firmware. It was moving about 1% a minute. Pretty disheartening when you can use them right out of the box, ymmv though depending on the manufacturing date. Comfort. They fit quite nice and stay in the place you put them in. The band doesn't feel loose or shifts at all and requires a bit force to initially adjust. Likely because of being used the first time. My issue with them is with most of the headphones designed like this is the way they sit on the ears instead of over them. This is of course completely dependent on how huge or small your ears are haha. They were actually fine for about an hour or so, but after that I had to frequently adjust them to be comfortable again, usually only after 10 or 15 minutes and adjust them again. Comfort aside they are really nice headphones. I'm not audiophile, but I have used my fair share of them. The build quality is really nice on these. They definitely have a high quality feel to them and don't feel cheap or make me feel like they are going to fall apart with use. On to the most important thing, how do these sound? Well they sound incredible. One thing I will say that I really enjoy is their app and it's Tone Control. It's works like an EQ, but without managing the individual frequencies. It's like choosing a pre-set EQ. Since I prefer a fair amount of LFE in my listening I found that right in the Middle at the top of the Tone Control between Warm and Excited is perfect for Bass centered tracks. It even worked great for Rock tracks. There were sounds that I hadn't quite made out before in songs that I've played over other Headphones of similar price. One thing I really enjoyed is that regardless of the Tone Control settings they sound great, even with it off. The Tone Control certainly add's tons of depth to the headphones. Most of all though, everything comes through even. Obviously there are differences to the types of sound, but i never felt like i was being overpowered with one thing over the other. this is evident in orchestral or jazz like tracks. Even while listening to Electronic, Rock, or Hip-Hop tracks I was never overwhelmed and everything just blended, but had in a sense it's own sound stage. One impressive thing I did notice with these headphones, is in bass focused tracks, I could feel the bass. I could actually feel the effect you would get from the reverberations from a speaker. I've never really felt this on most of my headphones I've used. My only complaint really aside from the exceedingly long firmware update is going to be the comfort of the headphones. They are such great headphones that I'm just sad because they get uncomfortable after such a short period of time. Again, this is going to be all in how they fit for you so they could be perfect for you, and if they are, the price of entry is more than worth it.

Let me get this our there right now, I have not been a fan of over the ear headphones since I was a kid. That is until now. I have listened to several high-end over the ear headphones and these B&O's blow them all away! That may sound like an over-exaggeration but it is not. The clarity of these headphones coupled with the sound range is nothing short of amazing. I could go on and on about the sound but the only way to fully experience it is to put them on. Now for some of the other important factors; they look great! A very minimalist design; exactly what you would expect from Bang & Olufsen. They are VERY light weight with pivoting ear pieces for easy carrying and storage. They are extremely comfortable to wear and you never have the bulky feel of most headphones. Operating them is somewhat straightforward. I say somewhat because there are only three buttons but each has multiple functions depending on what you are doing. If you are listening to music the center button will; pause, fast forward (2 quick pushes) and rewind (3 quick pushes). In Phone mode you push and hold to mute or unmute or hang up. It does include a mini-jack for wired listening and a short charging cable, it's only 12 inches long. One item that is not included is a carrying pouch but honestly that's not even close to being a deal breaker. Like I said earlier, this truly is an amazing audio device!

These are really high quality sounding and looking over-ear headphones. Perfect while studying or in a place where you don't have to worry about being robbed because while wearing these, you'll be completely immersed into what you're listening to, and won't be able to hear anything else happening outside. Bang & Olufsen has been around since 1925, so they've been in the game for almost 100 years designing and producing quality products, and this is one of the many examples of it. We were able to pair to iPhones and a Pixel via bluetooth no problem, but I'm wondering if the bluetooth 4.2 chip is too advanced for people using older devices. If you want high end and comfortable over-ear headphones, these are for you.

Let's start from the most important - the sound. B&O product has to sound fantastic and these headphones are no exception - crystal clear, full range, fully enveloping sound. Headphones have a good frequency response from 20Hz to 20kHz (I've tested with a REW software), precise highs, powerful but yet gentle bass. Headphones design is very pure and simple, round ear cups with very soft leather cushions, aluminium band, braided wire, just 3 control buttons, one LED. But there comes the first problem - middle button works as a power, play/pause control and when you want to turn the headphones off - you supposed to press and hold the middle button for 5 seconds, but guess what happens? Siri comes up! Then headphones turn off and your phone is talking aloud! Same experience with the Mac - holding the power button summons Siri and headphones turn off immediately after that. I would say this is the most annoying power control experience I ever had. Bluetooth pairing - headphones have a great range, I was able to go downstairs and they did not loose the connection to my Macbook sitting upstairs, however you could only pair to one device at a time. Listening the music on the Macbook and phone call comes in? Nope, you'll need to pick up your iPhone. What if you want to pair them to the phone and your computer was the last device you've paired them to? You supposed to disconnect headphones from the computer manually and then manually connect to the phone. Battery life is pretty good, it supposed to last up to 19 hours, however there is no way to tell the actual percentage of the battery left without pairing headphones to the phone first (what if you listening on the computer?). Beoplay iOS and Android app does not have anything to add either - it does have some sort of "equalizer" that allows you to cut highs or boost bass, I did not find that very useful. All the app did for me - updated the headphones firmware. To summarize - very sweet sound, however a bunch of sad things like power control, Bluetooth pairing with just a single device, absence of a carry case with the phones would prevent me from recommending these. There are plenty of other manufacturers that would give you a better experience for the same price. I really hope that B&O will fix some of the problems by updating the firmware in the future.

This set is an upgrade from my Sennheiser HD 428's. My biggest complaints for those were that they had a small bit of distortion in the mids, and could sometimes lose the punchiness of the bass. What I didn't realize was how fuzzy they sounded, as, at the time, they were the best headphones I had had. B&O really outdid themselves with these headphones. Every sound is very crisp and clean, even making some of my more lofi recordings sound cleaner. The bass is very punchy but nowhere near overwhelming, and the overall balance is very well done. The included (but optional) aux cord is very high quality with good insulation and a nice thickness to make sure that there's no audio loss. The sound is slightly better on the cord, but most people won't notice. The companion app for iPhone and Android is relatively well designed, but it's easy to see that it expects you to own more than one B&O device. However, the app does allow some fairly fine control over the sound, but my sony phone has a great equalizer built into it so I tend to use that. Aesthetically speaking, these headphones are beautiful, with a lightweight modern design. These headpones are very comfortable, good for longer listening session; however, they're still outdone by the likes of Sony's WH1000X's and the Bose QC35's. Overall, These headphones are spectacular, and if you don't mind sacrificing certain features (like Active Noise cancelling) for pure sound, these are brilliant (on that note, most everyone whom I've had try these thought they did have Active NC at first).

These are the best sounding headphones I have tried (to my ears) than the many I have listened to. Great sound, comfortable, customizable sound profiles within the B&O app on my iPhone. I just wish that at this price point that it came with NC. To get this feature included on this type of headphone you would have to move up to the B&O H9i which would run you up to $499. Ouch!! If you don’t need NC these are so worth the price.