Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 Wireless Headphones Review

Just like the Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT, the Audio-Technica M50xBT2 look like basic studio headphones. They have an all-black design, except for round silver accents on the outside of each earcup and the brand name printed in white on top of the headband. Unlike the wired Audio-Technica ATH-M50x, they don't currently come in any other colors, but the manufacturer says an orange 'Lantern Glow' variant is coming soon.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 are comfortable headphones. They don't feel too tight and have good padding on the ear cups. The headband also doesn't squeak when you move, which is an issue with the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x. However, some users may feel their ears coming into contact with the drivers, which can be annoying.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2's controls are a bit different than the previous generation's. You can now activate the voice assistant with a dedicated button, which is a nice change because the previous model's touch-sensitive surface can sometimes be unresponsive. However, it's so close to the '+' button that it's easy to press accidentally. Also, the power switch is now a button located between the volume up/down buttons.

Center button:

• Two-second press: Turns headphones on or off.
• Click: Plays and pausse audio or answers and ends a call.

+/- buttons:

• Click: Turns volume up (+) or down (-).
• Hold: Skips track forward (+) or backward (-).
• Three-second hold: If you hold both buttons for three seconds, you enter pairing mode.

Voice assistant button:

• Click: Activates voice assistant, or mutes the mic when in a call.

Depending on what you select in the app, the voice assistant button activates either Amazon's Alexa, which is built-in, or your device's assistant, like Google Assistant or Siri. Overall, the controls are easy to use, with voice prompts and beeps for many commands. There's a voice prompt and a beep when you play or pause audio, but you can turn it off in the app if you prefer. There's no voice prompt when you reach maximum or minimum volume, but you do hear different chimes in each situation.

Note: You can't find the instructions for pairing mode and resetting the headphones in the included Quick Start Guide. Instead, you can find this information in the online user guide. If you can't pair the headphones after holding the +/- buttons for three seconds, you can reset them by holding both volume buttons and the center button for six seconds. The light on the ear cup turns red when the headphones are reset, and then you can try to pair them again.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 are acceptably breathable. Although their ear cup padding appears to be identical, they trap less heat against your ears than the original Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT. They shouldn't make your ears feel too warm during casual listening sessions but aren't intended for sports use and may make you sweat more if you wear them during a workout.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 are somewhat bulky over-ear headphones. Their size means they aren't very portable. You can fold the ear cups in or swivel them to lay flat, but the headphones still take up quite a bit of space in a bag or backpack. On the plus side, they come with a pouch that should protect the headphones from minor scratches when you're carrying them around.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 come with a nice faux-leather pouch that closes with a drawstring, similar to the Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT. It should protect the headphones from minor scratches and splashes but doesn't protect them from being dropped or crushed. Consider the V-MODA Crossfade 3 Wireless with their similarly portable build and a proper hardshell zip case because it guards your headphones better than a drawstring pouch.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 are well-built headphones. The yokes feel a bit less sturdy than the rest of the headphones, but overall they have a very similar build to their previous generation. The only noticeable difference is a slight change to the texture of the faux-leather padding: it has a more visible, larger flat grain texture than that used by their predecessor. You can see the two models compared here, and the M50xBT2's headband is the one on the bottom.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 aren't designed for sports and don't have a very stable fit. They should stay on your head with no issue during casual listening sessions but tend to slip around even with lower intensity head movements and are likely to fall off your head if you use them during exercise. On the plus side, their wireless design means you don't need to worry about the cable snagging something and yanking the headphones off your head.

• Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 headphones
• USB-C to USB-A charging cable
• 1/8" TRS audio cable
• Carrying pouch
• Manuals

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 have a very neutral default sound profile. It's less boomy than the Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT, but there's a bit less thump and rumble, which may not be ideal for fans of a bass-heavy sound. You can also customize their sound profile with a graphic EQ and presets in the companion app. Unfortunately, the headphones seem to emit a low humming sound when there's no audio playing, which some users may find annoying.

Keep in mind that we originally tested these headphones using SBC codec, as we didn't have a device capable of testing LDAC. However, while LDAC can provide a larger bandwidth of information and reduce distortion, it won't change the headphones' frequency response. When we retested these headphones, we noticed the original default settings matched our new passes performed without using the EQ. The results are also similar whether using SBC or LDAC codec. However, there's a slight difference in frequency response's bass range when wired versus Bluetooth. It's fairly minor, though. You can see a comparison of all passes here. If what you really want is more bass-heavy tuning, you can use the app's EQ or consider headphones that are already tuned for that, like the Pioneer DJ HDJ-CUE1BT Wireless.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 have decent frequency response consistency. They're less prone to inconsistencies in bass and treble delivery than their predecessor but are still sensitive to the fit, seal, and positioning of the headphones on your head. You may notice a drop in bass if you have glasses or thick hair.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 have excellent bass accuracy. The whole range is quite neutral, although they lack a bit of low-bass, so mixes have a bit less thump and rumble. The slight overemphasis in the mid and high-bass adds punch and warmth, but they have a more accurate high-bass range than the Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT, so they sound less boomy.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 have excellent mid accuracy. Like the previous generation, they have a dip in the low-mid range that thins out vocals and lead instruments slightly, but it's not as pronounced. Overall, vocals and lead instruments sound present and clear.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 have decent treble accuracy. The low treble is somewhat underemphasized, which causes vocals and lead instruments to lose a bit of detail and presence. However, the mid-treble is very well-balanced, so sibilant sounds, like cymbals, are bright and accurate.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2's peaks and dips performance is okay. There's a peak in the mid and high-bass ranges that adds punch and boom, while a bigger dip in the low-mid thins out lead instruments and vocals. However, a peak from the mid-mid to high-mid makes their upper harmonics more forward and harsh. There's a steep dip in the low-treble that hurts the detail and presence of instruments, and the mid-treble is uneven, so sibilants like S and T sounds can be either piercing or dull.

The Audio-Technica M50xBT2 have an excellent imaging performance. The weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold for most of the range. Some peaks in the bass range may be audible but shouldn't be noticeable for most users with regular content. The L/R drivers are very well-matched in terms of amplitude and frequency response. Their phase response is slightly mismatched at some frequencies, but for the most part, objects like instruments and voices are accurately placed within the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our unit, and your experience may vary.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 have a poor passive soundstage performance. Their sound is likely to seem to come from inside your head rather than from speakers in the room around you. The soundstage also seems less open and spacious than that of most open-back over-ear headphones.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 have a good weighted harmonic distortion performance. There's some distortion present in the treble range at normal listening volumes, but it shouldn't be noticeable for most people with real-life content, resulting in mostly clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test the Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2. Our results are only valid when used in this configuration.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 have a poor noise isolation performance. They block out virtually no sound in the bass range, so they don't isolate you from noises like rumbling bus and plane engines. They also do a mediocre job of reducing mid-range noise like ambient conversation. That said, they block out a decent amount of higher-pitched sounds, like humming A/C units.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 have a decent leakage performance. The leaked audio sounds relatively full, but it's not very loud. You should be able to listen to your music at a high volume in a moderately loud environment like an office without worrying too much about bothering people nearby.

The integrated mic has a decent recording quality. If you use it to talk on the phone, your voice sounds fairly clear, open, and less muffled than when using the Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT. However, it may not sound very full-bodied.

The mic has a decent noise handling performance. It can separate your voice from moderate ambient noise, but the mic struggles more with louder sounds. While you shouldn't have a problem taking calls at the office, your voice may be drowned out in a louder environment like a subway station.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 have an excellent battery performance. We measured 61.6 hours of continuous playback, well above the advertised 50 hours and roughly 24 hours longer than the original Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT. However, battery life varies with real-life use, so you may have a different experience.

The headphones charge with a USB-C connection, which is a change from the ATH-M50xBT's micro-USB charging cable. They now recharge more quickly and have a new quick charge feature. The manufacturer says they can provide three hours of use from 10 minutes of charging, but we don't test for it currently. Unfortunately, they still lack a power-saving feature, so the battery continues to drain if you forget to turn them off before putting them away.

The Audio-Technica M50xBT2's companion app is great, and offers more features and options than the previous generation. You can adjust their sound profile with a five-band EQ or by choosing a preset: 'Original', 'Bass Boost', 'Clear Vocal', 'V-shaped', or 'Treble Enhance'. You can adjust the L/R balance of your audio, set the amount of mic side tone you hear during phone calls to 'High' or 'Low', turn 'Low Latency Mode' on and off, and change the voice assistant to Alexa or your device's assistant, like Google Assistant or Siri. In addition, you can play/pause audio, skip tracks forward and backward, adjust your audio's volume, and choose whether you hear beeps or voice cues when you register a command with the buttons on the headphones' earcup. Also, like the previous generation, you can use the app to find your headphones if you misplace them and select the audio codec.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 have excellent Bluetooth connectivity. Unlike the Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT, they support multi-device pairing. They also have low Bluetooth latency with iOS and Android devices when you use the default codec, so they're suitable for watching videos on your phone. Unfortunately, they have high latency with PCs.

These headphones also have a 'Low Latency Mode' that you can turn on or off in the app. With 'Low Latency Mode' enabled, we measured 160 ms of latency with PCs. However, it's still somewhat high, so you may still notice a slight delay if you use them to game or watch TV on your computer. 'Low Latency Mode' doesn't improve their latency with iOS devices, though, as they have 22 ms of latency. It lowers their latency with Android phones, but we measured -40 ms, so they have a better performance with 'Low Latency Mode' turned off. However, some apps and devices seem to compensate for audio lag, meaning that you may have a different experience with real-life use.

Unlike the M50xBT, they don't support aptX codec, but using the app, you can choose between a few audio codecs: LDAC, AAC, SBC, or Auto. However, we don't currently test the LDAC or AAC codecs.

The Audio-Technica M50xBT2 come with a detachable 1/8" TRS cable that allows you to receive audio when the battery is dead, although you won't be able to use their mic. There's also a USB-C to USB-A cable to charge the headphones.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 can be used with Bluetooth-enabled PCs, although their latency is a bit too high to recommend them for gaming or streaming videos on your computer. They can also receive audio from PCs using their 1/8" TRS audio cable, but you can't use the microphone in that case.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 can be used with PS4 and PS5 by plugging their 1/8" TRS cable into a controller. However, you can only receive audio.

Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 are compatible with Xbox consoles by plugging their 1/8" TRS cable into a controller. However, you can't use the microphone.