Shure Earbuds, Black, Aonic 4

Product Information

At a glance, of course, the AONIC 50 look pretty much like every other pair of pricey noise-cancelling over-ear headphones around. The detachable leather-and-memory-foam earpads are attached to robust plastic earcups, which in turn are connected to a leather-covered headband via aluminum arms. These articulate through 90 degrees to allow the AONIC 50 to lie flat, and are heftily damped through the hinges. Deploying the Treble Cut EQ option is the panacea for the upper registers, but it really is worth switching out these profiles depending on your music. If you're someone who believes headphones should just sound good without having to lift a finger, you may not like this solution – and it's a fair point. nDreams executive leadership team will remain in their positions following the deal, and the company says that it’s ‘core focus will remain unchanged’, but that this new investment will help them out with third-party publishing and may even lead to more acquisitions.

This acquisition is yet another example of Aonic's commitment to championing mid-sized studios and creating an environment where teams can create fantastic games." Tested over two weeks, listened against the Edifier Stax Spirit S3, Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless and Focal Bathys A device like the AudioQuest DragonFly Red would be a good starting place. Provided you’ve got the appropriate cable, it’s a DAC that can also be used with iOS or Android devices too.

AONIC 50 GEN 2 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones

But there's more! The Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2's bid for inclusion in our best wireless headphones guide culminates in a special USB-C port not just for charging. It means hi-res USB audio is also on the menu (look over here, iPhone 15 and Apple Music users!) thus completing a veritable banquet of connectivity options, from wireless Bluetooth audio pinged from your phone, older sources in a more traditional wired hi-fi system, right up to USB-C audio from your MacBook Pro at work. If that sounds good to you, add these headphones to your list. Given this is new ground for Shure, the Aonic 50s are a solid first attempt at a pair of wireless noise-canceling headphones. In hand, it doesn’t feel like there’s loads of cushioning on offer from either the earpads or the headband, but the Aonics are pretty comfortable. The grip pressure is nicely judged – the headphones don’t squeeze the size of your head too tightly, nor do they feel too loose. The headband sits on top without digging into your skull. One lovely little perk here is PausePlus. Imagine you're listening to death metal at the office with Max ANC deployed and your boss approaches (just a random example, no reason). If PausePlus is toggled to on, simply pressing the multi-function button to pause the music also deploys ambient sound, so you can hold a polite conversation with your superior and pretend you were only listening to the latest episode of Revisionist History podcast. The Farnborough-based studio will use the funding for future investments including third-party publishing and potential studio acquisitions.

In summary, the Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2 are a handsome, sleek – if marginally heavy, at 340g – set of over-ears. They're not winning any design awards for originality, but the branding on each earcup is classy and if you prefer physical controls and sliders over touch capacitive functions (I do) you'll enjoy them. The Secure Fit Adapter/antennae serve to keep the 215s secure, certainly, and they’re very effective at maintaining a wireless connection to a source player – not once during what has been a pretty extensive test did the Shures even come close to letting go of their wireless grip on the incoming signal. The smooth metal arms that attach to each earcup feel especially solid. They twist just above the earcups, which allows them to fold flat, but there’s also just enough freedom so they can twist in the other direction and help angle the earpads on the side of your head and over your ears properly.Because it’s simple to fit the 215s snugly yet comfortably in the ear, Shure describes them (as it does the bulk of its wired ‘SE’ models) as a ‘Sound Isolating’ design. And it’s certainly true to say that extraneous sound is much diminished when the 215s are correctly in place – even without music playing. In case you're wondering whether the Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2's headband is nicely padded, yes it is. (Image credit: Future) Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2 review: Value

The padding on both the earcups and headband is ample and personally, I love that the physical buttons are all one earcup, since I'm right-handed, although those with larger fingers (or lefties) may find this a little fiddly. They’re at the upper end of the market in terms of price, but Shure has given the established class leaders something to worry about at its very first attempt. Battery life is very acceptable at eight hours from a single charge. And there’s a further three full charges contained in the carrying/charging case – this is a hard, zip-fastening case that’s plenty robust enough to keep your headphones safe even if they’re in the bottom of a bag with stuff piled on top. Charging the headphones while they’re in the case happens via USB-C. Sound quality It looks quite nice, too, and is logical enough to navigate. But it proved unwilling to play FLAC files and was prone to crashing (or ‘not responding’) quite a lot more than is acceptable. But, as I say, Shure seems confident that the updates timed for when the Aonic 215s go on sale will result in a better experience. Some might find the maximum setting more useful in particularly noisy environments where you might benefit from a slightly fuller, weightier sound, but we prefer the noise-cancelling on its standard setting. Verdict

How long does the Shure AONIC 50 (Gen 2) battery last?

By the time this review is published, the app will have undergone several updates to allow greater customisation of the headphones’ noise-isolation and ‘environment mode’. However, during the test, it proved handy for importing and administering music stored on a computer and has several EQ presets with custom audio settings also available. Downsides, in terms of audio performance, are conspicuous only by their absence. Some listeners may conceivably find the Bluetooth sound (where there’s no EQ adjustment available) fractionally lightweight in the bass – the rest of us will just revel in the way the AONIC 50 describe low-end sounds with such straight-edged certainty. Adding to the versatility of the Aonic 5 is a low impedance of 36 Ohms. Perfect for satisfying output on laptops and smartphones. I do prefer a DAC with these earphones, as they help to even out some of the powerful signal information the Aonic 5 will produce. If you’re using a laptop or smartphone, be careful and watch your input gain.