Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 Wireless Headphones Review

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 sport a sleek wireless design that's reminiscent of the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 Gen 1 Wireless, with their low-profile padded headband and circular ear cups. They're crafted from premium materials like aluminum, titanium, lambskin leather, cowhide leather, and high-quality plastic. They're available in four color variants ranging from the understated 'Black,' 'Navy,' and 'Chestnut' to the opulent 'Gold Tone.' There's even a version produced in collaboration with Ferrari that's available in 'Ferrari Red.' This version has the Ferrari logo etched onto an earcup and features distinctive red speaker grilles.

They're comfortable headphones. The high-quality leather and fabric that's used on the ear cups and headband feel supple to the touch and pleasant to wear. However, they fit quite tightly on the head, which might cause discomfort after prolonged use, especially if you wear glasses. Their earcups are also quite small, which isn't ideal if you have larger-than-average ears or wear earrings.

The Bang & Olufsen H95 have very good controls. They feature a unique design that allows you to adjust the volume and ANC levels via two control wheels that are located on both ear cups. There are also touchpads located on both ear cups that are responsive and allow you to input controls intuitively. There are chime sounds to acknowledge when you adjust the ANC levels, but unfortunately, they don't make a sound when you've hit maximum or minimum volume.

On the right ear cup:

• Tap the middle: Play/pause audio. Also answers/ends calls.
• Swipe forward: Skips to the next track.
• Swipe backwards: Skips back to the previous track.
• Rotate wheel: Scrolls between ANC and Transparency mode (talk-through strength).

On the left ear cup:

• Tap Button: Activates voice assistant.
• Rotate wheel: Adjusts audio volume level.

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 aren't the most portable headphones. While the ear cups swivel and fold up flat, so you can save space and store them in the case, they're still quite bulky and won't fit in a pocket or small bag.

They come with an impressive case that provides a great level of protection against drops and bumps. It has a solid outer shell with a soft, cloth-like fabric lining the inside. The headphones are designed to fit into the case when in their folded-up state, but it can often be a tight fit. Furthermore, while the hinge is nice and snappy, there's no clasp or zipper, so it's hard to tell when the headphones are positioned correctly and the case is fully closed. You can see a photo of the headphones positioned inside the case here.

The Bang & Olufsen H95 have great build quality. They're constructed using premium materials like titanium, aluminum, polymer, and fabric, as well as both lambskin and cowhide leather. The hinges and headband feel sturdy and well-constructed; however, while the leather ear cups feel nice on the ear, they're small and somewhat shallow. The right ear cup yoke also squeaks and creaks as you twist it. The overall impression of the build quality is that it's high quality but stiff; these headphones feel a little brittle and impliable compared to other premium wireless over-ears like the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 Wireless. That said, the provided cables are of a very high quality. They have a tough, braided shell and come with tie wraps to keep them tidy and organized while they're in the case. They're also rated IP53 for protection against dust and water splashes, which is rare for over-ear headphones and makes them a solid choice if you enjoy working out with over-ear headphones.

These headphones are decently stable. They'll stay well-positioned on your head if you move around the house or lightly headbanging to your favorite tunes. That said, more intense physical activity, like running, will case them to slip off your head and require re-positioning.

• B&O Beoplay H95 headphones
• Microfiber cloth
• 1/8" TRS to 1/8" TRS cable (47.5" / 120.65cm)
• Carrying case
• USB-A to USB-C cable (47.5" / 120.65cm)
• Warranties and quick start guides

The Bang & Olufsen H95 have a boomy sound profile with a very prominent bass response that will please fans of bass-centric genres like house and EDM. However, voices and lead instruments sound somewhat muted and lacking in high-end sparkle due to the veiled treble response. If you feel like switching up the sound, you can use the manufacturer's Beosonic equalizer system that's found in the companion app. It provides an intuitive interface to modify the default sound profile using a circular visualizer that lets you manipulate the characteristics of the sound in real-time. You can see how this looks here.

Some users online have also voiced their concern that these headphones' max volume isn't loud enough compared to other wireless over-ears. We had no issue getting the output of our unit to 100 dB while testing and found that they could easily exceed this while connected via USB-C or Bluetooth. However, listening to audio at volumes this high isn't recommended as it greatly increases the risk of hearing damage.

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 have very good frequency response consistency. They're somewhat prone to inconsistencies in the bass and treble delivery due to their smaller ear cups and tight fit, especially if you have thick hair or wear glasses. That said, if you take the time to adjust the fit and achieve a good seal, you'll get consistent audio delivery between listening sessions.

The bass accuracy is reasonable. The response is overemphasized across almost the entire range, resulting in a boomy, thumpy bass response that adds serious heft to kicks and basslines. In songs like Marea (We've Lost Dancing) by Fred Again and the Blessed Madonna, the kicks and bassline are extremely prominent and so boomy that they often blend into each other.

The mid accuracy is impressive. The low-mids are somewhat boosted, carrying over from the over-emphasized bass range, adding warmth and body to snares and bass guitars. The rest of the range is relatively neutral, so vocals and lead instruments sound clear and balanced.

The treble accuracy is alright, and the overall response is uneven across almost the entire range. There are some inconsistencies between the left and right drivers in the low-treble that cause this frequency range to sound louder in the left channel in the lowest part of this range. Discerning listeners may notice a shift between L/R frequencies at higher ranges, but it won't cause issues for most playback. There's a dip between the low-treble and mid-treble, too, that hurts the upper harmonics of vocals. However, a peak at the top of the mid-treble range adds some brightness and shrillness to sibilants, like hi-hats and cymbals.

The peaks and dips performance is decent, meaning these headphones generally follow their own sound profile well. There's a dip in mid-bass that takes some of the punch out of kicks and bass instruments, followed by a slight peak across the high-bass and low-mid that adds warmth to the mix. There's a small dip in the mid-mid that hurts the detail of voices and lead instruments. The deviations in the treble range are larger; there's a significant dip in the low and mid-treble that dulls the upper harmonics of vocals, followed by a sharp peak in the mid-treble that makes sibilants, like S and T sounds, sound shrill and piercing.

The imaging performance is reasonable. Our unit's L/R drivers are well-matched regarding group delay, amplitude, and frequency, resulting in tight bass and transparent highs. This indicates Bang & Olufsen's generally high level of quality control and ergonomics in their products. While some bumps are visible in the phase response, they won't be noticeable when listening to real-life content. During subjective listening, they didn't affect the accurate placement of objects in the stereo field. The results are only valid for our test unit, so your experience may vary.

Like most closed-back headphones, the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 have poor passive soundstage performance. While the soundstage is perceived to be large, it doesn't sound very open or natural and lacks the immersive quality of open-back headphones, which allow audio to interact with your outer ear.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance is good. There's a slight peak in the low treble at normal listening volumes. However, this is difficult to hear in everyday content unless you have highly sensitive ears, as it affects a relatively narrow frequency band. Other frequencies fall within good limits, including at higher listening levels, so audio generally sounds clear and pure.

These are the settings we used to test the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95. Our results are only valid when using these settings.

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95's noise isolation performance is decent. The control wheel that adjusts the ANC level allows you to scroll between maximum noise cancellation and transparency mode (which lets in external noise that's captured by the microphones). Setting the control wheel in a neutral position produces the same result as with the headphones switched off, so any noise isolation is passively induced through the design of the headphones. The ANC system is also adaptive, ensuring that changes in noise levels around you don't alter your level of isolation and that the level of audio that's allowed in remains consistent. At the maximum ANC level, these headphones do an amazing job of cutting out higher-frequency sounds, like fridge hum and background chatter. However, they do a significantly worse job of cutting out bass frequency sounds, like engine rumble.

It's worth noting, however, that there's a high peak in our noise isolation graph between 100-150Hz. Our test rig measures the volume in this frequency range as louder than when the buds are removed. We don't know why the peak is occurring. However, we're currently investigating this issue.

The leakage performance is very good. Their closed-back design means that leakage is minimal across the entire frequency range. You can listen to music at a high volume without disturbing others around you, even in a quiet office environment.

The integrated microphone has an okay recording quality. Your voice sounds thin and lacking in body but will still be clearly understandable to whoever's on the other end.

The integrated mic's noise handling is passable. It does a decent job of separating your voice from moderately noisy environments, and you'll have no trouble being understood when taking calls from your living room or a quiet office. That said, in noisier environments like a busy street, your voice will be entirely drowned out as background noise removes any clarity from your voice. There are also settings accessible through the Bang & Olufsen app that let you adjust the level of wind noise reduction.

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95's battery life performance is amazing. The manufacturer advertises up to 38 hours of continuous battery life with Bluetooth and ANC enabled. However, we measured a little over 42 hours. It's worth noting that battery life tends to vary based on usage, so your experience may differ. These headphones also have a handy auto-off timer, which can help conserve battery life, and you can even listen to audio while charging.

The Bang & Olufsen app is great. It allows you to choose between a few default sound profiles or use the unique Beosonic EQ interface to customize the sound. Additionally, you can adjust the ANC and transparency levels, toggle adaptive ANC on and off, adjust the wind reduction settings, and enable or disable the auto-off timer. You can also use the app to install any new software updates. You can check out a video of the app's features here.

The Bang & Olufsen H95 come with a detachable high-quality braided audio cable and a similarly sturdy USB cable of the same length. Latency is low via the analog connection and only a bit higher via USB. Via a wired connection, you can watch videos with minimal lip-synching issues, but the latency will be slightly noticeable when connected via USB. It's worth noting that you need to switch the headphones on when you use them with the analog input, but you can't use any of the ANC or transparency features.

The Bang & Olufsen H95 have great Bluetooth connectivity. They support multi-device pairing via Bluetooth, meaning you can connect them to up to two devices without needing to unpair. They also support Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair for rapid pairing with your Android and Windows devices.

They have high latency while using the SBC and aptX, meaning that you'll likely observe some lip-synching issues between audio and video while watching video content with these codecs. However, this lag time is greatly reduced when using AptX Adaptive (Low Latency), and it'll automatically adjust to the High-Quality version when you're listening to audio content. Some apps compensate for latency differently, so your experience may vary. Sadly, these headphones don't support high-resolution audio codecs like LDAC. However, there's AAC support built-in for slightly higher-quality audio playback compared to the default SBC codec.

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 can wirelessly connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs. You can also connect them via analog or USB for a lower latency performance. However, you won't be able to use the integrated mic when connected via wired inputs.

These headphones can only connect to PlayStation family consoles via a wired connection. However, you'll only be able to receive audio this way, and you'll need to buy a separate mic if you want to communicate with your teammates.

The Bang & Olufsen H95 can only connect to Xbox family consoles via a wired connection. You'll hear audio this way, but you'll need to buy a separate mic if you want to communicate with your teammates.