Sennheiser CX 400BT True Wireless review
SENNHEISER's CX 400BT True Wireless earbuds promise to break into a crowded market place, offering a 'superior sound'.
We tested them over a couple of months to see if they’re worth your money.
- Sennheiser CX 400BT wireless earbuds, £125 at Amazon -
Pros
- Excellent, comfortable fit
- Great sound
- Good touch controls
Cons
- Marmite appearance
Sennheiser CX 400BT True Wireless earbuds: Quick Summary
The biggest compliment we can give the Sennheiser CX 400BTs is that they’re the earbuds we use day-to-day when we’re not reviewing (which is saying something because we’ve got A LOT of wireless earbuds lying around the place).
Whether you’re commuting, exercising or taking a long walk (because what else is there to do right now?!) these headphones are exactly as advertised.
They’ve got a balanced sound, a great fit and will last seven hours between charges, which seems plenty to us.
Sennheiser CX 400BT: First impressions
The Sennheiser CX 400BT are easy to get to grips with from the get go. There’s no difficult setup instructions, they’re pretty much plug and play out of the case and we were easily able to connect them to our iPhone.
One thing we liked right away was the case: wireless earbud cases have a chance to be quite fiddly and can leave you spilling earbuds onto the floor when you’re trying to put them away. But the Sennheiser case has got small magnets to help clip your earbuds into place. As an added bonus, it’s on the smaller side, so it won’t take up much room in your pocket or bag.
We’re a little unsure on the appearance of the earbuds: some days we think they look neat, other’s a little bit ‘Bluetooth headset’, but ultimately, when they’re in your ears they’re pretty subtle so you won’t be drawing looks for the wrong reason.
Sennheiser CX 400BT: Sound
We think the CX 400BTs sound great. They’ve got a really nice, balanced sound that’s not overpowering on either end of the spectrum.
While there’s a defined, punchy bass element, the trebles are clean and they make for a great listening experience.
We listen to plenty of podcasts too, and while some bass-heavy headphones can leave voices sounding a bit ‘muddy’ and unpleasant, these keep the voices of your favourite presenters clean and clear.
Because you’re relying on passive (rather than active) noise cancelling, you might find a bit of external noise leaking in when you’re in busy environments, but as long as it’s not deafening, you should be okay with these.
- Sennheiser CX 400BT wireless earbuds, £125 at Amazon -
Sennheiser CX 400BT: Fit
We think one of the strengths of the Sennhesiers is the fit. The design screws into your ear and then stays put, and we experienced much less in-ear movement than we got with Apple Airpods or similar. Ultimately, we’ve all got different ears, so your experience may differ from ours, but we reckon these should provide a more secure fit than the standard ‘hair dryer’ shaped earbuds.
We were also happy to go out running with these without fear that they’d fall out halfway through, which isn’t always the case with wireless earbuds.
Sennheiser CX 400BT: Battery life
Sennheiser says these earbuds will go seven hours between charges and you get 20 hours total listening time with the charging case. That seems plenty to us (when are you going to listen to your headphones, without a break, for more than seven hours?!) And if you mainly use these for your commute, you should be able to go the whole week without plugging them into the mains.
- Sennheiser CX 400BT wireless earbuds, £125 at Amazon -
Sennheiser CX 400BT: The verdict
When we test out a pair of wireless earbuds, we think it’s a good sign if you forget you’re wearing them. That means you’re not worrying about them falling out, or a wavering Bluetooth connection or synchronization issues or battery life.
In the case of the Sennheiser CX 400BTs, we quickly forgot they were in our ears and simply got on with enjoying our music and podcasts: just how it should be.
As long as they fit your ears properly, we reckon these are as good as any wireless earbuds you’ll find in their price bracket (at the time of writing £125).
- Sennheiser CX 400BT wireless earbuds, £125 at Amazon -
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