Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Love At First Listen: B&O H9i Review”.
[, Michael ], For most of the past year, I’ve been editing YouTube videos with the help of the Sony XM3 headphones.. Before that I was plugging in the QC 35’s from Bose. And it all sounded just fine because, as I reminded you time and again, I’m not really an audio file., My buddy CrackBerryKevin hates it. When I sell myself short like that., But look its true., I can’t really tell much of a difference., Or at least I couldn’t until this day., When I found myself at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Working at this table with my mobile nation’s family.
And I had forgotten my headphones., So my other buddy Derek Kessler added me, his BNO H9i’s., I plugged them in cued up Final Cut and right away. I recognized from the sound quality boost alone. I was about to be hundreds of dollars: poorer. (, cheerful, music ).
Now I don’t say that as an endorsement necessarily see when these first broke cover in January 2018, they carried a sticker price of 500 bucks.. Frankly, I don’t think they’re worth that not today.. Now, unless you’re looking for a status symbol, in which case the stitched cow, high leather band, land, scan, ear, pads and distinctive color way of the pine pear here, will get you noticed., But a few weeks back something important. Happened.
Amazon put the H9i on a lightning sale at 50 % off.. Since then, I’ve been able to find them for 299 on Amazon., And so you see things have gotten interesting. My appreciation for the H9i’s began with that sound quality jump where, on the Sony’s, my video’s, music and vocals were flat subdued coming through the wire..
The H9i made them bright and dynamic. The same for music tracks and I don’t own a Pono or anything, but even through Spotify’s compression. There was a spaciousness to the music.
With these headphones that I hadn’t heard on my Bose or Sony’s.. The act of noise canceling that defeats background sound feels slightly less effective than those other headsets, but it’s barely noticeable enough to mention. Now headphones like these are much more than the soundstage. Like the Sony’s. These have a track pad on the right ear. Cup.
To adjust the volume you rotate your finger around the circular track pad as though you’re turning a dial. At first, I found it needlessly skeuomorphic., But once you get the hang of it, it’s a pretty fun way to turn up your tunes. Swiping down on the Track pad turns the noise cancellation on or off and swiping up toggles the audio transparency mode.. So you can monitor your surroundings. [ airport, Speaker ] Per FA regulations. Your carry-on bags are limited to one small bag or one personal item.. If more than two pieces.. [.
Michael ] There’s also a feature: that’s meant to automatically pause playback when you take the headphones off, but it had so many false triggers during my first few days that I disabled it., I don’t miss it at all.. You know its funny, the more I think about the H9i, the more I would change. I mean the Bose QC 35’s are much more comfortable. I can wear them for hours.
Where, as these clamp my head more tightly, so I need to take breaks every hour or so.. It’S more cumbersome to use the H9i with multiple devices, because there are no audio cues to tell you which one you’re connected to. And the app helps you a little.
But using it requires you to sign in which really shouldn’t be necessary. And that audio transparency mode is only available for listening to your surroundings. Alone., You can’t enable it and play music at the same time..
So why do I put up with those compromises? I like these headphones. For the same reason, I still carry a Blackberry. Each offers something no competitor does. In the case of a Blackberry, it’s the keyboard.
In the case of the H9i, it’s the unique look and the gorgeous sound. Or you know what Maybe a better comparison is to my New road camera., The Fugi XT3., The casing, has all the character of a classic old camera and some of the shooting modes. I use replicate the look and feel of old film., But under that classic surface, it’s packed with modern features like dual SD cards USB-C.. The H9i has that same potent contradiction.
Old world design and cutting edge tech. In which, by the way, includes USB-C and a first. For me, a removable battery. Battery life is exactly what it should be. Too. A five hour transcon flight burned through only 50 % of my juice in bluetooth mode, and I had no gripes with bluetooth reception across two laptops and four phones..
It’S a bad time to buy any headphone with Bose’s replacement to the QC 35’s due this summer.. But given those recent price cuts on the H9i, I will say this. Buy’em., If you’re looking for bluetooth, headphones, that blend old world style, modern features and a killer soundstage., But just be sure to use that returning period to your advantage. In case you find the compromises too much to handle.
Folks. I purchased these headphones from Amazon and, if you wan na do the same use, the affiliate link in the description and it’ll help support the channel. Be sure to subscribe to theMrMobile on YouTube. So you don’t miss the Bose 700 reviews when those cans drop and follow me at the same handle on Instagram for all the fun in between the videos. Until next time. Thanks for watching and stay mobile, my friends .