Edifier W860NB - Bluetooth Noise Cancelling Headphones

This Review is of these Edifier W860NB  headphones, they are 4.1 Bluetooth active noise cancelling (ANC) headphones and they are very good indeed.  I have a review pair in rose gold, there is also a black offering, that might be a slightly more understated look for middle aged men like myself.  Having said that, my daughter thinks these ‘look amazing’ and has been happily parading around not listening to them around her neck, as they do.

Design

The Edifier W860NB are a very comfortable pair of headphones.  They are over ear featuring a leather feel cup but they are not quite big enough to fit my ears in, but a little bit of ear tucking is fine.  This is not particularly a problem, the foam pad crushes nicely in the end for a very comfortable seal for listening.

They feature NFC pairing, which means I can waft my phone near the left cup, which has a big ‘L’ on the foam inner, to connect it.  However, with my phone, I just need to turn the headphones on and my phone connects automatically.  Design-wise the right-hand cup has a soft touch feature that can pause/play skip tracks and adjust the volume.  This is a nice feature, once you get used to it.  The ANC is battery dependent and is easy to turn on, though it is not always needed as there is a 3.5mm headphone jack option.  The battery does not need to be charged to hear the music, this is a great feature as you have continual listening whilst you have your phone.  The headphones fold up nicely in on themselves for a bit of rucksack storage.

Quality

I feel these headphones are of a good quality.  There is a lot of plastic around on the cup, the back, the band, the rotating cups, etc.  They are no more plasticky than Beats headphones and the leather feel cup and top band are very soft.  They have a more solid feel than the Beats pair I have access to, by comparison.  My review pair is rose gold and they look good.

Edifier W860NB – In the Box

• Edifier W860NB headphones
• ‘Clam Shell’ style hard carry case
• Useful slimline manual
• USB C-B charging cable
• 3.5mm audio cable
• The obligatory airplane adaptor

Edifier W860NB – Specification

• Freq Response:  20Hz～20kHz
• Impedance:  32 Ohms
• Sensitivity:  100dB
• Bluetooth:  HSP HFP A2DP AVRCP
• Bluetooth Connecting Distance:  10m
• Battery Capacity:  1400mAh rechargeable battery
• Charge input:  DC 5.0V=500mA
• The Edifier W860NB support NFC pairing and Qualcomm® aptXTM audio decoding.

Performance

I’m generally using these headphones with my Pixel 2 XL .  Connection has been flawless.

Battery Performance

Has been good, I charged the headphones up straight away, and started to run them in before giving them to my daughter for half term. She managed to leave the ANC running and flattened the battery promptly, however, since then I have had good use of the battery and the 25 hours running time seems plausible.   A 45 hour non ANC running time seems to about right.  The headphones take about 3 hours or so (confirmed) to charge fully with the provided USB C-B cable.

The Edifier W860NB run wired without the battery being charged and this is good.  Always a problem with my old style Bose Quiet Comforts (QC15) was the battery running out on longer journeys so being able to run them as passive headphones is really good for long distance users.

Soft Touch Control

The soft touch feature on the right hand cup is a bit annoying if you knock it and you are not used to it.  I managed to skip a podcast episode which was a bit of a pain.  However, once you’re into it, the feature is really good and the volume control is really useful and good.

Finally, if you’re a lefty, tough (or swap your ears over, the headphones are kind of ambidextrous, though they are slightly offset for ‘righties’?)!

Bluetooth connectivity

As I have mentioned, connectivity is very very good, in fact flawless in my 20 plus hours of usage.   Room to room the Bluetooth has been fine for me even with a low battery (less than 40% as measured on my phone).  These headphones also feature dual Bluetooth connectivity, like the Lindy BNX-100s.  This is a great feature.

Aesthetics

My daughter loves the look and feel in Rose Gold, nuff said.

Comfort

First off, they are very comfortable for long term listening.  I’ve been doing a lot of headphone listening recently, including the Meze Empyreans, and these are comfortable as they can be for longer-term listening.  When I tuck my ears in to fit the cup, the pads squidge well on the side of my head.

Sound Performance

These guys sound OK in fact.  I’m really quite happy with them.  The bass control is good, they’re not particularly ‘Beats’, which is a good thing.  The bass control is OK and the vocals are fine.  I can notice the mid-ranged are lacking a fraction of clarity, some may call this ‘muddy’, but I have just come off the back of the Empyreans however and these are in a different stratosphere in terms of quality (and price).

The resolution is overall very nice indeed.  The ANC is pretty good but that’s all.  I prefer the ANC off for effective listening here, which is not always the case with these types of headphone where I prefer it On!  When the ANC on the sound feels a bit restricted.

Overall

I think these Edifier W860NB headphones are well worth a listen at £120.  They are clear, understated but with a stylish look, the quality is enough, at this price.   They are due to appear on Amazon I’m sure and I would advocate a listen.  Think I need a black pair if I’m honest with myself.

Review Price £119.99.  Available at Amazon here.  I am now an affiliate marketer with Amazon, see my About page.