Our Verdict
The Mpow 059 are average mixed usage headphones. They're above-average comfortable, they have an efficient and easy-to-use control scheme and they don't leak too much. Unfortunately, they do not block enough noise for commuting, they feel a little cheap, and they're slightly too unstable for sports. However, sound-wise, they have a sufficiently adequate audio reproduction for most casual listeners, especially at their price range, although they won't be ideal headphones for more critical listening.
- Good battery life.
- Efficient control scheme.
- Poor Noise Isolation.
- Plasticky build quality.
The Mpow 059 are decent for neutral listening. They have a moderately well-balanced sound that unfortunately overemphasizes high-bass. This makes them sound a bit muddy, and since they don't have the best treble range, they may cause some instruments and vocals to lack detail. They also don't have the best soundstage for more neutral listeners but have a suitable sound for casual use, especially for their price.
Mediocre for commuting. The Mpow 059 are fairly eay to use and decently comfortable but let a lot of noise seep into your audio, which is not suitable for the loud environments involved in commuting.
Average for sports. They do not get as hot as some of the other over-ears and they're also wireless with an easy to use control scheme. However, the ear cups sway a lot while running which is not ideal for sports.
Average for office-use. They do not leak much, they sound decent and have an efficient and easy to use control scheme. However, they won't block the noise of a particularly noisy office.
Subpar for gaming. The Mpow 059 have too much latency, they're not compatible with consoles via Bluetooth and cannot be customized to the extent of other gaming headphones. They also have a mediocre-at-best integrated microphone.
Changelog
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Feb 16, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Sep 28, 2017: The microphone has been tested with our new methodology, as explained here
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Popular Headphones Comparisons
The Mpow Bluetooth Over-Ear are decent mixed usage headphones. They don't have the most durable design and won't be ideal for commuting since they don't block as much noise as some of the noise cancelling models in their price range compared below. However, they're easy-to-use, comfortable and sound good enough for most listeners. This makes them a decent option for most use cases and a good choice if you are looking for a budget wireless over-ear. See our recommendations for the best over-ear headphones under $50 and the best wireless headphones.
The Mpow H5 WIreless are better headphones overall when compared to the Mpow 059 Wireless. The H5 have a more premium look, a better-balanced sound quality, and a more compact form factor. They're also noise cancelling headphones, but their ANC is not very strong. On the other hand, the 059 have a more comfortable fit that's not as tight on the head. They also have a longer battery life and do not leak as much as the H5 since they create a better seal around your ears. They're also a better value for your money at their current price point.
We've upgraded our Headphones Test Bench to 2.0! This update brings several key changes to our tests and usages, making it easier than ever to interpret our sound results based on your personal preferences. You'll also find a brand-new interactive graph tool featuring multiple targets (including our own!) for you to explore and compare.
For a full breakdown, check out our changelog, which includes detailed commentary from our test designer explaining the rationale behind our update.
We'd also love to hear your thoughts: your feedback helps us keep improving, so join us in the comments!
Test Results
The Mpow 059 Bluetooth Over-ear look like a wireless version of the Noontect hammo go. They have slightly larger ear cups, and since they're wireless, all the buttons and controls can be found on the right ear cup instead of an inline remote. They have a stylish two-tone red and black design but also come in other color schemes to better suit your taste and preferences.
The Mpow 059 Bluetooth have a decently comfortable over-ear fit, better than the Cowin E8. The ear cups are well padded and the headband doesn't exert too much pressure on your head. However, the ear cups are a bit on the shallow side, they're also somewhat small so they won't fit perfectly for every listener.
The Mpow 059 have an above-average control scheme that gives you all the basic functions; track skipping, call/music, and volume controls. The buttons are also decently well laid out on the right ear cup making them easy to use. They don't have the best feedback but the buttons are easy to get accustomed to once you've used them once or twice.
These headphones, like most over-ears, are not the most breathable option for running and working out. They seal the ear fairly well within the ear cups which obstructs a good amount of airflow causing your outer ear to warm up relatively quickly. They're not as bad as some of the other over-ear headphones we've tested like the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro 2016 but they also won't be the best choice for sports.
These headphones are somewhat portable thanks to their foldable design. However, they still take a fair bit of space in your bag and won't be the ideal headphones to carry on your person. They also do not come with a case, which is slightly disappointing.
They come with a carrying pouch that will shield the headphones from minor scratches but will not protect them against impacts, drops or water damage.
The Mpow 059 Bluetooth are decently well built but feel a bit cheap and plasticky. They have almost the same build quality as that of the Noontec Hammo Go with slightly larger earcups. This means they have the same issues with their build quality. The design is reinforced with a metal frame but the plastic coating over the headband and ear cups feels susceptible to cracking under physical stress, although they feel slightly sturdier than the Plantronics BackBeat Go 600.
These headphones are decently stable. They're wireless so they won't get yanked off your head because the audio cable got hooked on something. However, since they're not too tight on the head they won't be the ideal headphones for running or working out. They're stable enough for casual listening sessions but the ear cups will sway a lot under physical activity.
The frequency response of the Mpow 059 has great consistency. These headphones have a surprisingly consistent performance across multiple humans and re-seats. This probably due to their small and shallow ear cups, which makes them perform more like on-ears. The maximum amount of deviation between 20Hz and 10KHz is around 2dB which is excellent.
The Mpow 059 has a decent bass. LFE (low-frequency extension) is at 10Hz, which is excellent. Low-bass, responsible for the thump and rumble common to bass-heavy music is over our neutral target by 2dB, which fans of bass may like. However, mid-bass, responsible for punch, and high-bass, responsible for warmth, are overemphasized by 4dB and 6dB respectively. This makes the overall bass of these headphones deep and heavy, but also noticeably boomy and muddy.
The mid-range is decent. Low-mid is overemphasized by about 3dB, which is going to add thickness to vocals and an overall muddiness to the mid-range. Mid-mid is recessed by about 4dB, pushing vocals/leads slightly to the back of the mix. High-mid, occupied by the upper harmonics of vocals and leads is virtually flat and within 1.5dB of our neutral target.
The treble range performance is decent. Low-treble is relatively flat and balanced, which is important for the detail and articulation in vocals and lead instruments. However, the broad 10dB dip surrounding 6KHz will have a negative effect on clarity and presence of vocals, leads and cymbals.
The imaging performance is great. Weighted group delay is at 0.22, which is very good. The GD graph also shows that the entire group delay response is below the audibility threshold. This ensures a tight bass and a transparent treble reproduction. Additionally, the L/R drivers of our test unit were exceptionally well-matched, resulting in an accurate placement and localization of objects (voices, instruments, video game effects) in the stereo image.
The soundstage performance is sub-par. The PRTF graph shows that these headphones don't interact with the pinna that much, and don't activate its resonances. Therefore, their soundstage measures more like an on/in-ear. This results in a soundstage that is perceived as small and located inside the listener's head.
The isolation performance of the Mpow 059 is sub-par. In the bass range, where the rumble of airplane and bus engines sit, they don't achieve any isolation. In the mid-range, important for blocking out speech, they isolate by about 4dB, which is inadequate. In the treble range, occupied by sharp sounds like S and Ts, they achieve 29dB of isolation, which is above-average.
The leakage performance of the Mpow 059 is decent. The significant portion of the leakage is spread between 500Hz and 4KHz, which is a relatively broad range. However, the overall level of the leakage is not very loud. With the music at 100dB SPL, the leakage at 1 foot away averages at about 39dB SPL, and peaks at about 55dB SPL, which is just above the noise floor of an average office.
The Mpow 059 has a below-average microphone. In quiet environments, speech recorded or transmitted with this integrated mic will sound relatively thin and noticeably muffled and lacking in detail. In noisy situations, this mic will struggle to fully separate speech from background noise even in moderately loud places, like a busy street.
The microphone has a sub-par recording quality. The LFE (low-frequency extension) of 277Hz indicates a recorded/transmitted speech that sound a bit thin. The HFE (high-frequency extension) of 2.4KHz means that speech will sound noticeably muffled and lacking in detail. However, it will still be relatively easy to understand, since speech intelligibility is mostly dependent on the 500Hz-4KHz range.
The integrated microphone of the Mpow 059 is mediocre at noise handling. In our SpNR test, they achieved a speech-to-noise ratio of about 12dB, suggesting that they are best suited for quiet environments and may struggle to fully separate speech from ambient noise in loud or even moderately loud places.
The Mpow 059 Over-Ear have a great battery life but take too long to fully charge. They lasted up to 24 hours at average volumes in our battery test, which is a lot higher than expected from their specifications. Unfortunately, they also took slightly longer to fully charge too. At 4.5 hours they won't be the ideal headphones if you need a quick charge for the day.
These headphones do not have a comptible app for Android, iOS, Windows or Mac OS.
These Bluetooth headphones support multi-device pairing but not NFC.
These headphones do not support any additional codecs. This means their base SBC latency is 165ms which is fine for streaming music but maybe become an issue when watching videos or gaming. The slight sync issues are even more prominent on high frame rate content.
The Mpow Blutooth Over-Ears come with an audio cable with no in-line microphone or USB adapter. This means they do not have mic support on consoles and PCs.
These headphones do not have a base/dock. If you want a versatile headset with a base that you can also use wired, check out the Arctis 7 by SteelSeries.