With the Sennheiser PXC 550 we test the second Bluetooth Headset from the well-known manufacturer. However, the Sennheiser PXC 550 plays in one completely different price range than the HD 4.40BT. Whether and how this is reflected in the quality?
Let's find out together in our Bluetooth headphone test!
Top sound with options as far as the eye can see.
- Cordless, lightweight, convenient and foldable - for the travel experience
- Unlimited freedom on the go
- Adaptive noise cancellation ensures excellent sound in...
Of usefulness and necessity, the Sennheiser PXC 550
The Sennheiser PXC 550 is one of the more expensive models in our test series. You can tell that you have invested a little more here before you even put the headphones into operation. Accordingly, the Sennheiser headphones come in a stable and high-quality-looking transport box, which is covered with textile and makes transporting the Sennheiser PXC 550 more stylish than the all too familiar bag.
If you have been happy about the bag long enough and turn to the headphones yourself, there are basically two scenarios. You either look in vain for a power button or you are surprised by the new, innovative Sennheiser system. Sennheiser has replaced the power button with the rotary movement of the handset, which is inevitable when using any foldable headphone. Brilliant! Or? While this innovation as simplifying a function by integrating it into the context of use is in theory a textbook innovation, it just doesn't want to excite us as much as it should. Does the new system make sense? Definitely yes! Was it necessary? I'm not sure about this. Maybe I want to switch off my headphones without folding them up?! As you can see - the missing power button is probably more a matter of taste and actually has a relatively weak impact on the actual performance of the PXC 550.
The shape of the ear cups is a little less striking, but still unusual. Based on the shape of an ear, these are oval instead of round - ear-shaped flat. While this adjustment causes one or the other to frown in view of the aesthetics, one has to admit that the Sennheiser PXC 550 have a relatively good and, above all, tight fit around the ears. As far as the aesthetics are concerned, the wireless headphones are not that bad overall. Mostly kept in black and equipped with leather, the Sennheiser PXC 550 looks elegant and upscale. Thanks to the metal backing, the sliders for setting the size not only look damn good, but are also extremely stable.
Did someone say touchpad?
If the Senneheiser PXC 550 has one thing, it's a penchant for extra features and gimmicks. One of them is controlling the headphones, which now works via a touchpad. Do you need Bluetooth headphones with a touchpad? Probably not. Are we excited anyway? Hell yes. As great as the initial skepticism about the touchpad on the surface of the right handset of the Sennheiser PXC 550 was, the greater the surprise during the first test. Without exception, all functions and gestures are recognized without any problems - fortunately not what we expected. However, the Sennheiser PXC 550 cannot do without buttons entirely. However, using the touchpad saves you from the sometimes tedious, blind orientation in the wide button landscape of some other headphones and - more importantly - feels damn futuristic. If only you looked halfway as cool to outsiders as you feel on the inside.
One of said buttons is the sound mode button. Here you can choose between “Club”, “Speech” and “Movie”. The Sennheiser PXC 550 thus avoids the problems of the cheaper member of the Sennheiser family and compensates for any differences in usage background and sound preferences.
Mom's favorite and boisterous art students
The youth of today - only in the technology world. They never listen, always these things on their ears. You may have heard it like this or something similar, at least in the past. If not, then hopefully you're not the ones who said that before either! Be that as it may: With the Sennheiser PXC 550, nobody has to complain anymore. Thanks to the four external microphones, the Bluetooth headphones not only filter out environmental noise in two different intensity levels, but also let voices through to you at the same time with the so-called TalkThrough technology. And once again we were surprised how well it actually works. If you have the Bluetooth headphones on, you can recognize voices aimed directly at you and the Sennheiser PXC 550 much better than the rest of the environmental noise. Of course, despite all the euphoria as a technology freak, it should also be noted here: This option is pure luxury. If you want to have quality conversations, you should probably take off your headphones anyway. But even in this case, Sennheiser didn't want to leave you alone. When removing the Sennheiser PXC 550, the headphones should automatically stop playback on the connected device. Unfortunately, at least in the test, that simply didn't work.
During the testing phase, the local college was kind enough to invite for a music event. In front of my front door. On the brink of anger, I remembered the noise-cancellation feature of the Sennheiser PXC 550 and lo and behold: relaxation. Driven by the inexhaustibility of the art students in front of my apartment, the headphones stayed on my head for the next few hours - without any comfort problems.
As expected, the connection setup was flawless. You are also guided through the menu by a voice and the connected devices are also named. However, this is limited to a primitive sequential numbering in combination with the word "phone" and initially appears more than it actually is. At least there you can still learn something from Bose, Sennheiser! For the sake of fairness, however, it should be noted that Sennheiser has the upper hand when it comes to connection range. With the PXC 550 you can almost reach the second floor – including the closed doors.
Since we have now discussed every detail apart from the most important things and the question of the actual sound of the Sennheiser PXC 550 is now so loud in the room that noise canceling probably no longer helps, let's get started. The sound passed our test just as easily as the connection. The basses are compared to the HD 4.40BT or the JBL E45BT fuller and at the same time more placed and precise. Unfortunately, it is beyond the scope to go into the individual comparisons here, but that doesn't mean that we can't do it in one of our comparison articles.
Overall, the Sennheiser PXC 550 simply delivers the sound that you can expect for your money and Bluetooth headphones. The highs, mids and lows are well balanced and even if something isn't to your liking, you can help out with the different sound modes depending on your needs and scenario. And if that's still not enough, the associated app Captune will help you with sound tuning.
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