Edifier WH950NB over-ear headphones are a hi-res travel companion
A Sony XM5 rival for almost half the price
It’s tricky to find the perfect pair of holiday headphones. There’s more to it than “has active noise cancellation, will travel” – they’ve got to be bag-friendly, comfortable to wear for the length of a long haul flight, and last just as long on battery power. The Edifier WH950NB reckons it ticks all those boxes, and sounds great to boot.
The wireless on-ears clearly have Sony’s excellent WH-1000XM5 in their sights, with Hi Resolution Audio Wireless certification courtesy of LDAC Bluetooth codec support and 40mm dynamic drivers good for an extended 20Hz-40kHz frequency range. There’s Bluetooth 5.3 for dual device connectivity, along with Google Fast Pair for quick setup on an Android smartphone. Four built-in mics handle voice calls.
There’s a choice of active noise cancellation modes, which is handy when moving between areas with different levels of background chatter, and Edifier’s companion app lets you pick between EQs for a more personalised sound. A volume cutoff option should keep your lugholes safe, and game mode strips out latency for perfectly synced sound.
Edifier promises 34 hours of playback with ANC enabled, or more than 50 hours with it switched off, which sounds ideal for frequent flyers. A ten minute top-up over USB-C should be enough for seven more hours of listening, too.
Comfort and convenience are the order of the day, with memory foam ear pads that won’t crush your ears after hours of listening, and a fold-up design that’s ideal for stashing in a travel bag and taking on the move. The headband is protein leather-wrapped stainless steel.
With minimal branding, these headphones look suitably premium -but they come without the premium price. You can pick up the WH950NB right now for £180 from Amazon, in black and white colours.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor