Lately I have been travelling a lot for work, and finding the right set of headphones for on the road has not been an easy task. The Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones have managed to check quite a few of the boxes, moving into first place for my device of choice for longer trips.
There are a few things that are vital when it comes to my headphones. They need to be comfortable. They need to have enough battery to last a full flight (8+ hours). They need to have good noise cancellation, and I suppose they should also sound great. Thankfully, the Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones come with a slew of features that will please anyone looking for an upgrade to their current pair of headphones.
Unboxing the Edifier WH950NB’s, I was met with a firm, stylish charcoal grey hard case that the headphones fold to fit inside. Each ear cup turns and bends for easy, flat travel, and the whole package fits perfectly in my laptop bag. The entire device weighs 296 grams and fits nicely alongside my laptop, Nintendo Switch and Xiaomi Pad 6 when I’m on the go. No, I don’t pack light. All the more reason to have a headset that is lightweight and compact.
The Edifier WH950NB has a soft black design (also available in ivory) with minimal gold designs, like the subtle Edifier logo on the band, and a small gold trim on each ear cup that looks oddly like a USB-C charging port…it is not. There is, however, a USB-C port on the right ear cup, along with a mode button, volume up and down, and the power button that doubles as the pairing button. The right ear cup only has an AUX port, allowing connection to non-Bluetooth devices.
“I’m pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones are overall.”
Each cup and the headband is also covered in extremely soft memory foam padding with buttery smooth, soft protein leather. It is soft enough for long-term wear but also forms a good seal around your ear to block out any noise. The cups are a little on the smaller side, so larger heads or ears might end up with some discomfort. Luckily for me, I am petite, so the Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones fit me perfectly in the smallest setting.
While I am writing this, I have been wearing the Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones for a solid four hours. The only reason I have taken them off is to prevent discomfort on the long flight, but I have never actually felt like I needed to. The headset does apply a bit of pressure when first worn, but you get used to it quickly, and it blocks out sound well. The headband may as well not even be there; that is how unnoticeable it is when you wear it, but it does show fingerprints very prominently. I could do without that, but I’m pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones are overall.
That great seal over the ears is only partly responsible for the excellent noise cancellation. To date, my favourite ANC experience sat with the HUAWEI FreeBuds 3 Pro, but I think there might be a tie with the Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones. There are multiple settings, including ambient sound, low noise cancellation, high noise cancellation and wind reduction.
Even when set to low noise reduction, much of the world goes quiet, including background hum and airplane engines. At the same time, I am able to sense when someone is around me or can hear enough that I am aware that someone might be trying to get my attention. Full noise cancellation cuts the world out completely, and I found myself sitting with the Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones on but nothing playing, just for the peace and quiet.
We’ve covered what it helps you NOT hear, but what about what you can hear? The Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones support Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Audio wireless with LDAC certification. That means you’re still met with the same great sound whether you’re wired or wireless. You can change this to a 96kHz sampling rate, 48kHz/44.1kHz or disable LDAC altogether. I found the Edifier WH950NB to sit with a bit of a lower sound, picking up bassy sounds a bit more than other devices.
The Edifier WH950NB also features four built-in microphones and does so without the boom you’d find on a gaming headset. This means I could take phone calls without the need for a mic shoved toward my mouth. Every call was flawless, and my partner was surprised by how good I sounded on the other end.
The headset is controlled by the Edifier Connect app, which allows you to customize your listening experience. Here, you can choose between presets like Classic and Dynamic or customize by adjusting the Gain, Q factor from 100-8000Hz, and frequency settings. You can also save multiple profiles if you like different experiences depending on what you are doing. There is an option to share or import settings via a QR code as well.
In the app, you can also choose between Game, Theatre or Music with a double press of the mode button. A single press will change between ANC modes. There are a slew of other options in the app, like updating your headphones, turning on or off Safe Volume, adjusting the shutdown timer, adjusting Bluetooth settings or restoring the device to defaults. You can also find the user menu, which includes a handy map for the button controls to change songs, answer calls and more.
“Luckily, the controls on the Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones are incredibly responsive, making the control process painless.”
Usually, I find controls on devices with limited buttons frustrating, as remembering all the different combinations of presses and holds for multiple controls gets complicated. Luckily, the controls on the Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones are incredibly responsive, making the control process painless. It was also a breeze to set up because of auto pairing with Android.
My one issue came with the device’s dual pairing mode. Pairing to one device is simple, but pairing to a second involved resetting the Bluetooth pairings a few times before it worked successfully. After that, if I left it alone, the Edifier WH950NB automatically connected to my Xiaomi Pad 6 and my OnePlus 12 smartphone. If I wanted to switch from the table to something else, I would need to completely reset and start again.
A few times, when the Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones said they were connected to my phone, they would not produce sound, even if a song or movie said it was playing. I would need to shut it all down, unpair it, and repair the headset again. I can confirm that I did have dual pairing working, with sound coming from both my tablet and smartphone at the same time. If you plan to connect to two devices, it is better left alone once completely, constantly swapping devices gets a bit messy. Single pairing with the Edifier WH950NB wireless headset was always flawless, though.
But what is really blowing my mind with these headphones is the battery. With ANC on, Edifier promises 34 hours of playtime, 55 hours with it off, and 1.5 hours to fully charge. With ANC at its max on the Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones, I only lost about 20% of my battery in six hours on my flight, which is right on par with what they said. I would love to see a fast charge option, but 1.5 hours to fully isn’t awful, and with a battery that lasts this long, if you forget to charge it after that many uses, then that’s on you.
All of these features come in at a price of $179.99 USD. That is obviously not inexpensive, but the Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones also aren’t coming in at the top price range either. With the range of features on offer, incredible comfort, impressive battery life and ANC I am extremely grateful for, I would gladly recommend the Edifier WH950NB wireless headphones.
- Hi-Res Audio Wireless: The WH950NB headphone supports both Hi-Res Audio wireless with LDAC certification, which gives you a wide range of details, and clarity for the ultimate listening experience.
- Active Noise Cancellation with Ambient Sound: There are 2 active noise cancellation modes, so that users could choose ambient sound or wind reduction in different scenarios to create an ideal environment.
