Sennheiser HD4.40BT

The Sennheiser HD 4.40BT – a headphone that you will not forget, at least because of its brand affiliation can expect a lot. Sennheiser is as high quality manufacturer known. We tested whether the wireless headphones released at CES 2017 can live up to expectations.

Decent Sennheiser quality at a low price. If you also have smaller ears and like bass, you will get a lot here.

Over-ear or on-ear?

According to all the rules of superficiality, let's first turn to the exterior of the headphones. The foldable, quite compact headphones come with an admittedly rather inconspicuous carrying case.

Putting this aside, you look at a relatively simple design that was kept exclusively in black and dark gray. The HD 4.40BT is largely made of plastic and thus clearly leaves points in the processing category. Although this is not bad in itself, the material quality means that there is more or less no feeling of high quality. It also doesn't help that the surface of the Sennheiser HD 4.40BT is quite prone to scratches.

When folding the headphones, there are unpleasant, cracking noises and the controls for adjusting the size also seem to whisper "Please be careful!". If you take this advice, however, you have nothing to fear - the claim to the lack of stability of the size controls is pure luxury. No less luxurious is the demand for a pleasant feel of the controls. Here, too, the Sennheiser HD 4.40BT does not particularly stand out. just plastic. Specifically, there's a power button that doubles as a pairing button, a typical volume bar, and a slider to navigate through songs. It is often not the headphones that are decisive here, but the corresponding program.

There are often problems with individual functions. For example, you can easily interrupt the current title with a push of a button on the slider. However, starting it again often does not work. Other problems are simply accelerating the playback speed instead of fast-forwarding or the complete lack of the rewind function. Both the VLC Media Player as well as the Windows Media Player are affected. If you want to use all the functions here, you have to use iTunes, for example.

As I wrote the last sentence, my left ear pulsated slightly. Why is that and why exactly this, admittedly extraordinary, piece of information found a place in a review? That's because Sennheiser was probably not a friend of decisions with the HD 4.40BT. Over- or on-ear headphones that blur the boundaries. The recess for the auricles is cut so narrowly that at least a longer period of getting used to it is necessary.

If you can't call yourself the owner of a smaller pair of ears, even an adjustment phase will probably not be enough. Here you run the risk that the actually ear-enclosing pads are partially resting on the ear - a rather uncomfortable feeling. There are no complaints with the general fit. The headphones from Sennheiser sit fairly firmly and stably on the head and, even after a Lord of the Rings marathon, still feel the same as they did in the first hour - despite the relatively little padding of the headband.

It's over on the second floor

Where the Sennheiser HD 4.40BT can score is clearly the Bluetooth function, which is ultimately the main issue here. Of course, a cable is included, but the connection setup via NFC works so quickly and easily that you can safely leave the cable in the box for now. A quick touch with the left handset is enough and a connection can be established. Especially for Bluetooth Headset, which are to a large extent mobile and therefore associated with Smartphones are used, this is a feature that makes using the Sennheiser HD 4.40BT much more relaxed. If the device to be paired is not NFC-capable, there is of course the option of a normal Bluetooth connection. As far as the range is concerned, the low-budget version from Sennheiser has no problems, at least with the doors closed. Even on the first floor, there are rarely connection problems. However, if you want to move a little further away from the connected device or even go to the second floor, Bluetooth becomes weak and the connection abruptly breaks off.

Boom Boom Boom Boom - I don't want that much bass in my room

Now for the most interesting and admittedly the most subjective part. How do the Sennheiser HD 4.40BT sound? What actual performance do you get for currently 149 euros?

One thing should be clear: for audiophiles, there are definitely better headphones than the Sennheiser HD 4.40BT. But audiophiles also pay significantly more money for it. Ultimately, the sound quality is good for headphones in this price range. As already indicated in the title, the only problem with the headphones is the bass.
What is a desired feature for some was too much for us in the test. In short: the bass is omnipresent and just a bit too dominant. Of course, this can be less of a problem for music genres like techno, but the bass was often a little bit too overwhelming when tested for the entire music genre range. In contrast, the Sennheiser HD 4.40BT are very well balanced in the middle and upper range.

All in all, the Sennheiser headphones give everything a quite pleasant, warm sound. It might have been desirable to have sound options to avoid this problem and to offer alternatives for the range of sound preferences. So the Sennheiser HD 4.40BT is probably nothing for audiophiles. Everyone who feels addressed should see the Sennheiser PXC550 or check out the Bose Quiet Comfort 35.