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The world is obviously becoming a much noisier place. There’s suddenly such a proliferation of noise cancellation headphones that this seems to be the one conclusion to draw. German audio legend Sennheiser has just launched a new pair of over-ear headphones, the HD 4.50 BTNC, which combine audio expertise with active noise cancellation in a wireless headset. And its price shows that high-end is getting affordable.
Understated elegance The HD 4.50 BTNC is solid and very well built without being in the least heavy or clunky. It’s easy to forget that the body is plastic because it looks sophisticated and understated. The Sennheiser branding is on one side on the headband and on the strong hinges that attach the ear-cups. Those hinges make the ear-cups fold in completely so they take up a smaller footprint wherever you want to store them. In the box, you have a pouch, not one of those boxes but a soft case that will protect them from scratches.
When worn, the headphones are very comfortable. They have a lot of adjustability and a good grip and are cushioned thoroughly with soft leatherette both under the headband and inside the ear-cups. They’re very soft and feel good to wear for a long time. With headphones invariably falling off of my head if I tilt back, I was pleasantly surprised to find that these stayed on.
Fuss-free use The controls are simple enough. On the right ear-cup you have the USB inlet for charging the non user-replaceable battery, a direct listening slot (simple cable provided), a power on-off button, a multi-function button for skipping tracks and answering phone calls, and a volume rocker, which when pressed at both ends also controls the noise cancellation.
You can’t listen to the headphones and charge them at the same time as you could with the recently reviewed Bang & Olufsen H9 headphones. They connect easily to your phone or whatever other device via Bluetooth and NFC. If you pair via NFC, all you have to do is hold the phone against the ear-cup and they will connect. The HD 4.50 BTNC retains the Bluetooth signal very well once paired. The battery lasts a good 20 hours.
Music and noise You can feel the noise cancellation even before you turn the music on. Persistent steady noise dims and disappears as you turn on the music. While perhaps not as good as Sennheiser’s own top end model or Bose’s QC35, the noise cancellation is pretty good overall, especially given the price. It’s safe to say Bose has to be worried about the number of devices that are now getting close to its own level of active noise cancellation.
The sound of the music on these headphones is very clean and balanced. Nothing sounds overboosted or artificial. I didn’t find it lively, like the Bang & Olufsen, but nor did I find them flat and uninteresting. Senheisser has an app called Captune, which can be used to change the sound values and even save custom settings, but it doesn’t work with streaming music such as from Apple Music.
Overall, the Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNC headphones are quite a bargain at the asking price and the best noise cancellation headphones you’ll get at this price.
Price: ₹14,990
Pros: Great price, clean sound, effective active noise cancellation, comfortable, good battery life
Cons: App doesn't work with streaming music
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