Customer Ratings & Reviews

Like a kid on Christmas, I excitedly awaited UPS delivery, and immediately tore into this review First impression was super premium across the board, packaging, build quality, subtle touches to detail, The Whole 9’s. When companies. Ail the little things, you can trust their core competency. For Shure that usually nebas studio level sound quality. Having long been a fan for Shure cans for studio usage — HD 598 open-back wired that have held up remarkably for years and remain my go-to reference cans, I cherish the comparisons. As is typical of my review methodology of audio products, I feel it is imperative to critially listen to audio recordings you are well familiar with, paying close attention to the subtletes between notes, as well as various kit materials, driver types, crossover frequenices, etc. Mike Oldenfeld’s 1973 recording Tubular Bells (The Exorcist seemed fitting considering Halloween holiday). Very smooth mid bass integration, with detailed and crisp highs without even a hint of top-end harshness all too common as manufacturers try to artificially inflate sonic detail by applying unnatural frequency curves. It’s not uncommon for audiophile evaluation material to include Pink Floyd catalog. Staples include 1973’s “Dark Side of the Moon”, and 1979’s “The Wall”, but let us not forget 1975’s “Wish You Were Here”, and 1977’s “Animals”. WYWH starts with “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”. These Shure 50 headphones present the music with the appropriate weight striking the delicate balance between the heft of the bottom-end, textured and rich mid-range, with smooth top-end. David Gilmour’s delicate note and a half triple fret bends on his trusty Strat are a joy to experience. The saxophone solo that launches 11:07 into the song is filled with such emotion and character, offset by an ensemble of supporting instruments to the coda. The transition into “Welcome to the Machine” is another all-time favorite. The synthesizer’s stereo separation pulsing between left and right earphones is something to behold. As with reviewing high-end 4 and 5-figure loudspeakers, it’s prudent to remind focussed on what you’re listening for specifically, but with the best of the bunch, it’s difficult to not get lost in the music as the cans and walls melt away leaving only immense sonic enjoyment. Once the brunt of the review “work” is done, it’s always rewarding to listen to something new. Fortunately one of my favorite rock bands AC/DC just released their new single “Shot in the Dark”. I’m pleased to report that these Shure 50 headphones do not skimp on the raw classic rock image produced by a combination of Gibson Guitars and Marshall Amplification. The band’s sound has remained iconic for decades, yet Angus and the boys are able to retain the gritty sound with a certain rawness to it. These headphones don’t miss a beat, and stayed on my head the better part of 2 hours consecutive on first listen with no ear fatigue whatsoever. The cans are super comfortable, light weight, feature packed, sound absolutely killer, and offer a tremendous feature set from Shure’s exclusive ShurePlus PLAY App. The App unlocks the true power of the Shure AONIC 50. In addition to media library management (useful to segment your audiophile tracks from general music) the app enables high-resolution and uncompressed audio playback. The fun is just getting started bc it also includes a parametric graphic equalizer, with gain, frequency, and bandwidth adjustments possible to create various sonic profiles for diff genres of music. I was also pleased to learn that Shure pulled no punches, and used the much more advanced version of Active Noise Cancellation known as Hybrid ANC, by using an environment microphone inside and outside the cans. These really are the real deal, with and without the App. I’m so thankful for the sonic enjoyment they bring me each and every time I’m in need of serious ear candy. Button Operation —————————— *Power On/Off - Hold PWR 2 seconds *Pwr Bluetooth pairing - Hold 6 seconds *Pwr Battery status - double tap *Center button - press 1x play / pause *Next track - double tap *Prev track - triple tap *Answer / End call - single press *Decline a call - press 2 seconds *Siri voice control - triple press *Vol +/- volume up/down *ANC switch up - environment mode *ANC switch down - active noise cancellation Specifications ———————— *50-mm driver (excellent bass) *dynamic neodymium transducer *20 hz - 22 kHz frequency response *97.5 dB/mW sensitivity @1 kHz (easy to drive) *39 ohm impedance *100 mW max input power *11.8 oz (334 g) weight Codecs ———— *aptX, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, SBC, AAC, LDAC ShurePlus PLAY App ——————————— *uncompressed audio files iOS / Android *Shure EQ for customized sound profiles *parametric graphic equalizer *Frequency / Gain / Bandwidth settings *Bypass EQ setting to audition changes *factory and custom sound mode presets *music library management features *Ten Environment boost level adjustments *Hybrid ANC normal / max toggle switch *Firmware updates are enabled in app PROS ———- + excellent solid build quality + impeccably perfect balance + world class tech incl Bluetooth 5 + lightweight and uber comfortable + smooth and volumous bass response + rich and exquisitely textured mid-range + subtle top-end detail that avoid harshness + 20-hour battery lasts days and days of usage CONS ———- -eq curves apply to both cups vs independently -no personalized listening test to match user ears -app incompatibility with iOS 14.2 beta (public release fine) CONCLUSION ———————— As more and more audio companies spring ANC headphones on the market, the quality difference widens further between good, better, best. I clearly place these Shure AONIC 50 cans in the latter category. They skimp on nothing, and integrate excellent materials and craftsmanship for a truly rewarding step above all the other “me too” products. The headphones alone are a fantastic purchase, and with the power features of the ShurePlus PLAY app, it puts these over the top. Strong buy recommendation

Features/performance: USB Type C Charging and digital playback. Bluetooth 5.0 supported codecs aptX, aptX HD,aptX Low Latency, SBC, AAC, LDAC The multipoint connection allows you to connect 2 devices at the same time. Driver Size: 50mm Supported wired connections: 3.5mm audio and USB C digital audio connection. Battery life rated at 20hrs with ANC on. Without ANC battery life can almost double. I have been using it a couple of hours each day with around 45mins of talk for the last several days since I received them and so far the battery is down to 45%. It’s been right around 7 days since the first full charge and this is including ANC on for most of the time. 6 microphones for excellent MIC quality. I tested on a Teams conference call and voice calls from my phone. No complaints from the caller and they said I sounded clear. 15mins of charge gives you around 4hrs of playback. ShurePlus Play is an app that allows you to perform firmware upgrades, high-resolution file music player, and edit equalizer settings. You have your choice from 5 presets (De-ess, Flat, Loudness, Low Boost, Vocal Boost). You also have the ability to create custom equalizer settings. Problem is that it only works with local music files played through the Shure music player apps like Spotify or Apple Music are out of luck. It also allows you to adjust the ANC level from max to normal. The app also shows the battery percentage. Environment Mode is also available to be aware of your surroundings for outside environments. Shure provides a protective carrying case that looks like it's carrying a mini tire. (look at the pics you see why) Charging cable and 2.5mm to 3.5mm aux cable for wired connection listening. Build Quality and Style: It screams luxury from a solidly built anodized aluminum frame surrounded by soft stitched faux leather. The earpads are thick that are soft are memory pillow. The soft feeling of faux leather helps in making them a comfortable headset to use. With the solid aluminum frame, they hug your ears with the con being after a while your ears will get warm. They’re comfortable to be used for people that wear glasses. The earcups themselves are made out of hard plastic with no squeaks at all. Adjusting the size provides this satisfying clicking feeling when sliding up and down. With this build quality, the headset should provide years of quality service. You definitely get your money’s worths on the materials and craftsmanship of the headphones. The style comes up as a cross between old school and new technology. without being over flashy. Sound Quality: One word I can use to describe the sound would be balanced. If you’re used to bass hitting headsets the sound coming out of the Aonic 50 will probably be more on the flat side for you. The low-frequency effects are perfectly balanced with the mids but with just the right amount of kick to contribute to the song. If you find the bass lacking you can compensate for this with a third party equalizer. For audiophiles, they will be satisfied with the sound reproduction as is without the use of an equalizer. For most genres of music, it sounded great. For songs that are known for strong bass is the only time I felt missing that strong bass hit that I get from other headphones. One of my go-to songs immediately for new headphones is When the Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin. From the way, the harmonica sounds to the guitar riff accompanied by solid low frequency produced by the drums. It’s the extra details that these headphones managed to reproduce that makes it stand out against the competition. Even with ANC activated it doesn’t have a strong effect on audio reproduction. The only subtle effect I’ve noticed is on the low-frequency effects. Overall it falls more on a reference side of things a flat accurate sound profile. Like I said earlier if you enjoy the bass you most likely will end up being disappointed. For those that value a detailed balanced sound, the Shure Aonic 50 will exceed your expectations. ANC Performance: For me, the active noise cancellation performed very well. A lot of the low frequency sounds you get from the ac running or washing machine we’re considerably muted. Now it won’t work wonders for people talking and stuff like that. Overall I must say I was satisfied with how well it managed to cut down background noise. Now it did take me a little bit longer to warm up to this style of reference sound. But in the end, I learned to appreciate what it accomplishes in bringing out those small details in the music that other headphones struggle to reproduce. The investment is high but in return, you get amazing build quality, a vast amount of support for High-Quality Bluetooth Codecs thus making it an excellent headset for Android and IOS users, If I had any small complaint would just be the ANC slider preferring the use of a single button to cycle through the ANC modes instead of having a hard time trying to toggle it between ANC On, Environment Mode, and Normal. At the end of the day, I highly recommend them if it fits your style of sound listening. “Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews.”

Love these headphones from the design aesthetic to the sound quality. They're comfortable to wear for long periods, have Bluetooth and wired input, sound is very accurate which is what I was looking for.

Love these headphones. Phenomenal audio quality, super comfortable, great battery life. The codec support beats just about everything else on the market, including Sony's. Multipoint bluetooth connections with LDAC for high-res audio on two devices at once. AptX Low Latency (with an appropriate AptX-LL adapter) means you can actually play games with almost no lag - something that's pretty difficult to find in any other pair of headphones. And the price is right. These are terrific!

Very nice headphones considering both the sound quality and materials. It feels like a premium headset in hour hands and on your head, very comfortable and easy to use for hours. I was pleasantly surprised by the volume level and power these produce using only bluetooth, definitely one of the best ive heard.

If you want simple to use controls. If you want great sound If you need really good ANC Then I highly recommend these. Found sound to be great. Tested ANC around home - worked great while vacuuming and doing dishes (while others watched TV in next room) – almost making both a “joy” to do. Nice to not have to blast the volume to override outside sounds helping to save your hearting. Maybe I am showing my age but I am really tired of touching the wrong area or sliding the wrong way on most new headphones – causing them to turn off or inadvertently changing volume or track, etc. These have a separate on/off and separate volume up and down buttons. There is a multitouch/function button situated between the up/down volume buttons with raised indicator - making it easily found and to navigate. I am retired but used to work from home often and can see that these would be great to stop sound distractions. Documentation indicates they work with Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Bluejean. There are so many features and specifications for these headphones that if you are considering please go to Shures website to get most complete info. In the box; Hard sided black traveling circular case with a nice built in mesh area to store the included USB-C and USB connector and 4ft 2.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable. Basic manual with control information. Suggest you go to Shure website and download PDF manual. 2-year warranty Use/impressions; Nicely designed and seem very sturdy with well cushioned headrest and earpads. Is made of anodized aluminum including earcup swivels. Replaceable leather earpads Easily synched and uses Bluetooth 5 .0. I had good signal up to around 35 feet thru 2 walls. Supports aptX, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, AAC, LDAC. To be fair I don’t know what some of these are but others might. Can be connected using provided 4ft 2.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable or USB-C. I did try to use USB-C to USB-C on my Windows 10 laptop and android phone and neither worked (but it did indicate it was charging). What did work on both is a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter. Also, if using cable, you can still use ANC – as long as battery has not run out. Found the sound to be great whether using Bluetooth or audio cable. Even at low volume bass was very nice but make sure you check your equalizer settings. The headphones themselves are pretty much standard size but they don’t fold in any way other than the earcups swiveling sideways. So, the case is about the size of a dinner plate, not great if planning to use for travel. There are some voice alerts letting you know headphones have been turned on, when they are connected, etc. Shure app is okay. You can set ANC levels (normal or MAX) or Environment mode (can hear outside noises), see battery charge info, use pre-set equalizer settings or adjust and create your own. Import your music to play, etc. I found headphones to be comfortable to wear BUT they fit very snugly around your ears/head. I assume to aid in noise canceling. They were also comfortable when I wore reading glasses As mentioned, controls are buttons on the right earcup. I found them very easy to use. Center button is multifunction – one tap for play/pause, next track 2 taps, previous track 3 taps, answer/end call 1 tap, decline call hold for 2 seconds, 3 taps to activate voice assistant and factory reset. Easy to move volume up/down using dedicated buttons. Noise canceling function is very good. As stated, they worked great while vacuuming. I did have an issue when going in/out garage door from house. It closes automatically and when it “slammed” shut I got very uncomfortable feedback thru the ANC. I did have volume a little high and ANC on MAX. Watching movies on my laptop, using Bluetooth connection, the sound I heard was well synched with the screen. I have had other headphones where that was not the case. Having the option to hard wire these is nice if headphone battery is dead, somewhere you cannot use Bluetooth or maybe to tap into in-flight entertainment. I don’t use headphones for calls so did not test that feature. But documentation indicates there are 6 microphones. 2 beamforming (4mm) on the right earcup for voice and telephony. 1 microphone on top of each earcup (6mm) for environment mode as well as FeedForward ANC. 2 microphones (6mm) inside each earcup for FeedBack ANC. Manual indicates around 20 hours of continuous use with a 15-minute charge providing 4 hours of playback and around 2 ½ hours for 0 – 100% charge. I didn’t run until battery ran out but after 2 hours of use indicated I had 91% left. My only real negative is that the headphones don’t fold necessitating a large carrying case. Overall a great option if you are looking for headphones in this price range. I do have a pair of Bose 700s that I did a back to back comparison and I would give edge to Shure on sound, app with controls, for me, being MUCH easier to use than Bose. But Bose are a tad lighter and case is ¾ the size of Shure’s. But please check Shures website for complete info as there is a lot……

In the days of most every other company giving in to the wireless earbud craze, and thus using all their advertising budget, it is refreshing to see one company stand out from the crowd. As they should. Tall and proud. For these headphones are tantalizing to the audiophile in all of us. Going into it, I will say that I was expecting a lot. This is the company that makes my work-horse beta 58a microphones! Of which, I love and find no fault with. The Shure AONIC 50 headphones are sort of a hybrid, they are wireless, utilizing Bluetooth 5, but give you the luxury of sound and comfort that only premium OTE headphones can deliver. And the AONIC are premium in every aspect. That's not even including the fact that the AONIC 50 are ADJUSTABLE noise cancelling as well! Unboxing, I was greeted with a spectacular semi-hard-shell zip up carrying case. I feel confident that this case will protect the product in all my travels. And they will travel! Shure made sure (yes, I will be making puns) to have a rugged carry handle on the case. It's the little things like this that go a long way. Unzipping, inside I found the headphones, an "even your grandma can understand" owner's manual, a 3.5mm cable for when you want to be "wired", and a USB-C cable for charging and for connecting to "High-Res audio devices". Before getting all technical, it must be pointed out how comfortable the AONIC are! I have a big head which usually leaves me feeling like OTE/Studio headphones are trying to squeeze my brain out of my nostrils! Not so with the AONIC. The band can be lengthened to accommodate my big head! There is no "squeezing" effect like with other brands I have used. The cups feel like they are made with memory foam, so there is no "ear fatigue" either. Another on the "it's the little things" list, is that inside the cups in large font are the letters "L" and "R". I'm OCD about that, but I like to be assured I'm wearing them correctly. There is no second guessing in that aspect! All my audio "testing" was done either in my silent studio office utilizing a well-known DAW, or in the case of testing the noise cancellation feature - a well-known chain coffee shop that plays music that isn't anyone's......er....... I mean not my cup of tea (see what I did there?) :) The specs include a 50mm driver, dynamic Neodymium magnet delivering a very respectable 20Hz-22kHz frequency range. Impedance and sensitivity at 1kHz are 39 and 97.5dB/mW. The max input power is 100mW. The premium headphone amp supports many codecs, including aptX, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, SBC, AAC, and LDAC. SHURE claims that the wireless range is 30ft. I can confirm that I was able to go further. Roughly 45 feet. Couple all that with an "up to" 20-hour battery life and you have yourself an awesome pair of comfortable headphones... BUT WAIT.... There's more! We haven't even begun! One of the two things that blew my mind was the adjustable (Via Shure Plus app) active noise cancelling. There are two little mics, one on the inside and one on the out, which allows the ANC to adapt to your surroundings and dampen noise over a bigger frequency range. Out of the box, and default in the app is the "Max" setting. This utilizes a mixture of both feed forward ANC and feedback ANC. This setting removes up to 30dB of surrounding noise and annoying coffee consuming patron conversation. Again, these are so comfortable that when I was walking back to my car, I forgot I had them on. This led to me seeing but not hearing an incoming plane to our intl. airport! And normally such a plane would be LOUD. If, however, you are at the office and you don't need such a strong level of noise cancelling - you can switch it to normal mode. The one feature I wished other headphones had, this one does. No longer do I have to take off the headphones to hear something important (announcements, winning lottery numbers ha ha, etc.). Instead, you can easily switch to environment mode. This turns off the ANC to the degree that you can hear what's going on around you. All these settings and more are all configurable in the ShurePlus app. The second thing that blew me away was the sound quality and range! When I say these are the best sounding headphones I've ever had, I truly mean it! Using the above mentioned DAW, I played back full mixes and the clarity of each instrument was unbelievable. The "high" notes on an electric guitar produced no shrill buzzing, just as lows of a bass guitar or kicks of a bass drum produced no rumble. If you want to hear music the way the artists and producers meant for you to, then you want to get these headphones! It's a no brainer, and I'm SHURE of that (ok, the puns are over now)

Full Disclosure: I received this product through Best Buy’s Tech Insider Network in exchange for an honest evaluation and an unbiased review. PROs: I found the Shure AONIC 50 Wireless Headphones to have a wonderful sound in addition to an extremely powerful Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). They are without a doubt the best ANC headphones I've ever used. I have other brand headphones with ANC that can't begin to touch the Shure AONIC 50. You need to know that this is not a pair of headphones where you could safely wander around an urban environment with the ANC on full cancel. You can definitely lose your situational awareness while wearing these headphones. Better to enjoy them at home or in the office using the impressive ANC to block out the kid's TV or other background noise. I am not an expert on sound quality because of some significant hearing loss. But, I know what sounds good to me and these Shure AONIC 50 Wireless Headphones sound very good to me. They are not bass heavy and would be considered to have a neutral sound with just the right amount of bass, a full and clear mid-range, and the right amount of crisp, clean highs with no hiss or other distortions. They are among the best sounding headphones I've ever listened to. The Shure AONIC 50 Headphones are the first headphones I've owned that use a USB-C connection for recharging and Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless listening. They also offer wired listening and include a 3.5mm audio cable. They are a very comfortable around-the-ear headphone. I had them on for 4 hours straight one afternoon with no fatigue and no clamping discomfort at all. They are actually an enjoyable pair of headphones to wear. Supposedly the ear pads are detachable for cleaning and replacement, but I couldn't figure out how to remove them. The headphones come in a very nice, zippered, cheese wheel-style, hard case for storing and transporting the headphones. CONs (none of which affect the quality of the headphones themselves): Documentation does not specify length of time needed for a complete recharge. I plugged the headphones in about 4pm on the day they arrived and the red LED came on. The red LED turned off about 9pm indicating a full charge took about 5 hours for what were probably partially charged headphones. Minimum operating temp is only 32F deg. I'm sure there are lot of people who might want to use them in outside temps lower than 32 degrees. Shure included a hardcopy Owner's Manual that only measures 3" x 3" x 3/16" (76mm x 76mm x 5mm), is laid out in a 2 column format on each page, and includes many, many different languages. It is so small that it is of no real value to the owner. Even my granddaughter with perfect vision had to use a magnifying glass to read any of it. Better to just download the AONIC 50 User Guide from the Shure website. I found the ShurePlus Play App to be very limited and frustrating to use. On the iPad it's one of those aggravating apps that demands to operate strictly in the tablet's portrait mode and offers no way to change it. Very aggravating for those users who favor folio-style keyboard cases like the Rugged Book where the iPad lives in the landscape mode. On both the iPad and my Android smartphone I found the ShurePlus Play App to be limited in functionality for any music other than what you've downloaded. For example, if you're streaming music, the app's equalizer presets have no effect on the sound. Basically, if you stream, all the app lets you do is control the level of ANC and the level of the Environment Mode. SUMMARY: Overall, if you're in the market for a pair of premium headphones, don’t let the price scare you away, because they are worth the money. If you're looking for strong active noise cancellation these headphones are better than all the other ANC headphones I own, and I own quite a few. I can fully recommend these Shure AONIC 50 Wireless Headphones and I truly believe you’ll enjoy them as much as I do.