Plays the highs and the lows; but it is never loud

Just a little over three years old and B&O Play, the sister brand of Danish high-end audio and video equipment maker Bang & Olufsen, already has a sizeable portfolio of consumer products. The brand was launched with the intent of making B&O products more accessible, more mass-market, without compromising on its core values – minimalist design, top-notch build quality and a fantastic audio or video experience.

B&O re-entered India earlier this year and the brand has wasted no time in bringing its classy AV equipment to discerning audiophiles here too. Thankfully, the BeoPlay range of products is priced within reach, though it would still be ranked along with the other premium brands like Bose, Beats Audio and Sennheiser. BeoPlay headsets are a great way to start your experience with the brand. The H6, BeoPlay’s mid-level, on-ear headphones landed on our test bench last week and here are our first impressions.

The H6 looks like the larger, better endowed sibling of the H8. In reality, the H8 features active noise-cancelling and the H6’s, which doesn’t have this feature, is just attempting to fully encase the ear with its larger ear pads.

True to its brand’s promises, the H6’s build is a classy mix of soft, yet hardy, leather, crafted aluminium accents and high grade plastics. A padded head-band with a thick arc of double-stitched leather gives it a sturdy and yet hand-finished look. The ear-cups can be adjusted for reach and angle with its pivoting side-hinged arm. And, since it is extremely light-weight too, getting the most comfortable fit is real easy. The arms and the circular speaker housing look like machined aluminium parts. The padded foam ear-cups are covered with soft, supple leather. One can wear these cans for hours without feeling their presence.

The design of the H6 seems symmetric and the cups look like they may be interchangeable, until you trace the headband and see the mild curve that is meant to handle the proportion of the average person’s head. Making it easy for the user, the insides of the ear-cups have a large ‘L’ or ‘R’ printed to indicate the right way to wear the headphone. The H6 is offered in many colours including some limited edition colours, ours came with a coordinated beige brown and light grey combination. The 3.5mm in-line cable, with mic, volume and mute/ call accept controls, is long and is expectedly sturdy with chunky connectors. The cable connects to either of the two ear-cups to make it convenient to run the cable on the side you may choose to. But, the other cool part is that you can daisy chain a second headset and intimately share your music with another listener. B&Os audio products are said to be objects of beauty that don’t inordinately call attention to themselves. The H6 comes close, making it capable of merging with the rest of the stuff on our test bench and yet stirring up our curiosity. The H6 is a pair of light-weight around-ear headphones. Weighing in at just 230 grams, this headphone should be able to comfortably cover most listeners’ ears. The H6 features thin 40mm drivers inside each ear-cup.

The reproduction quality of the H6 can’t really be benchmarked with the audio experience of the mother brand’s audiophile grade equipment. But it surely can be compared to competing brands in the premium segment. The H6’s strength is its really strong mid-range reproduction and its ability to deliver clear high-frequency notes with minimal loss of detail.

This is not a pair of headphones that go overboard with the bass. You’d have to choose one from Dr Dre’s portfolio for a higher level of bass boost. Some of Bose’s headsets can also seem louder. But, the H6 delivers high levels of clarity and identity to the music you are listening to. There is very mild leakage of exterior sound inward into the cups and a mild leak of the music outward from the ear-cups.

We listened to different file types – mP3, Flac etc, and streamed from YouTube and online radio stations. And the genres of music ranged from Rock and Metal to Western and Indian classical music. The H6 never sounded really loud even at full volume and the music never lost its magic across genres. Its relatively underwhelming bass output could make it less likeable for some buyers. Of course, the equipment that the H6 is connected to can also make a lot of difference to the quality of music it delivers.

At ₹34,990, the H6 is a pricey pair of headphones. Even more so, considering that it doesn’t feature active noise cancellation. So, you might have to choose the H8 (₹39,990) if you are a frequent flyer. There are competing headsets to be had for cheaper, but sheer build quality and brand aura, the H6 can’t be beat.

₹ 34,990

Love: Classy leather build,

comfortable fit

Hate: Pricey, low bass output

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