Customer Ratings & Reviews

The Shure Aonic 50 headphone is a great headphone it’s very open great sound stage. it’s not bass heavy there’s enough bass without overwhelming you. The app works great you can really Custom tailor your sound, you can add more bass if your into a heavier bass response they are very comfortable to wear. I also have B&W PX headphones Studio beats some old Original akg which are great too. If you want Close back cans these are great

Immediately upon opening the packaging box, my reaction was “Boy, this has got to be the biggest case ever!”. I mean, we are talking 10” in diameter! While I appreciate the fact that this case would protect this investment quite effectively, I do wonder who would tote this huge case around while commuting, rather than leaving it at home for proper headphone storage. However, upon taking the headphones out of the case, I was like: “Wow, these are some great-looking headphones!” At this point, the case’s size was no longer a concern. The black AONIC 50 Headphones simply look stunning, with their sleek design, ionized metal arms, and chrome logo on the cups. It screams luxury and it is something I would be proud to take on a business class flight, a work meeting, or video conference. These seem very well built and durable. The headband is made of faux leather on top with sturdy stitching and is quite flexible. The earcups are made of a matte plastic, and, while they did attract some fingerprints, look great, nonetheless. The right earcup holds all the controls. Personally, I would have liked the buttons to be dispersed between the earcups as this seems to me a bit too clustered. Once I got used to the layout, I am happy to say I was able to control with ease all functions -power, volume, play/skip/forward, and assistant from one side. There is also a slider that controls noise cancellation (ANC), which I think is a bit awkward and somewhat clunky, but still effective. There, you also have a USB-C charge/connection port, which I appreciate for future-proofing. On the left side, we have the 2.5mm to 3.5mm jack, which I think is odd, but Shure included a cable for it. The most important factor, at least for me, is the sound quality. In this regard, I am very pleased with the default sound signature of the AONIC '50s. Having support for multiple codecs including Bluetooth 5.0 Qualcomm® aptX™, aptX™ HD, aptX™ LL and more, there is something for everyone. Without getting into audiophile territory, the 50mm drivers produce an even or flat-oriented sound with distinct separation and great soundstage. The bass is punchy, but in some cases may lack depth or resonance. Personally, I don’t mind this as I like the bass to be tight and not overbearing. The mids are clear and present and the high frequencies are not fatiguing or harsh. I found the sound great for easy listening, classic rock, classical music, live performances, and podcasts/audiobooks. Perhaps these may not be the best for hip-hop, EDM, or any deep bass-oriented music. Overall, I believe these provide an exceptional listening experience, which I expected from Shure. When it comes to comfort, these cans are decent. The headband padding is good enough, with good clamping on the sides. I found that the headphones shifted often while walking -especially on a hike with uneven terrain. The earpads are super soft and do not rub against my ears (I will admit that I have small ears) and had no issues wearing glasses. After a couple of hours, the side of my ears did get a bit hot and sweaty, so keep that in mind, especially if you rock out to music as I do. Call quality is good. I was told my voice sounded clear, a bit tinny and recessed, but clear. There were no hiccups or breakup. I did try calling in different environmental settings. The noise cancelling (ANC) was not quite to the standard of other headphones I own, but I thought it was well implemented. It helps that the headphones themselves can block a lot of ambient noise passively. I tried this feature while washing dishes, walking on a heavily trafficked road, and while the TV was on. Again, while not overly impressed, the ANC did block most of the noise. Perhaps this can be improved through a firmware update later on. The Environment Mode simply picks up the sound around you through the microphones. It’s a convenient feature when you need to be aware of your surroundings, like crossing a street or listening for the next train stop announcement. Again, it is nice to have but to me, it is a feature I really will not be using all that much. If you do get these headphones, I recommend downloading the ShurePlus PLAY app. There, you can adjust and customize settings like noise cancellation, environment mode, the equalizer, and update the firmware. You can also play music straight from there, but I thought it was a bit unecessary in my opinion. Other good things about the AONIC 50s include a 20-hour battery life (so far so good), strong connectivity throughout my medium-size apartment, experiencing no lag while watching videos, and high-resolution playback through USB-C, which I appreciated when gaming on my PC. In the end, I believe the Shure AONIC 50 ANC Wireless Headset is a welcome and worthy addition to the world of premium headsets. So far, no ANC headset at this price range has been perfect for me, and this also is no exception. Having stated this, I highly recommend checking these bad boys before making any decisions on other comparable headphones from other well-known brands, and if you do decide to get these, you definitely will not be disappointed.

The headphones come in their own sleek zip up black carrying case. Inside of the carrying case comes the USB-C to USB-A cable (1M long), 2.5-3.5MM male to male audio cable (1.5M long), and the noise cancelling headphones. To adjust the headphone cups, you must twist them towards you. Inside the headphone cups, they are mark with an "L" and a "R" to let you know which side is which. The bottom button on the right headphone cup is the power button. When you turn it on for the first time, it will atomically enter paring mode with your device. Go to your settings and select "Shure 50". You will hear "connected" and then you are good to go. It took me 30 seconds to start hearing music in my headphones. It was the easiest setup ever. I was also able to connect to a phone call in the middle of the phone call with no problem. The sound of the caller is clear, and they were able to hear my voice perfectly fine with no issues. If you need to manually pair, then you need to turn off the headphones, press and hold the power button for 6 seconds, and then when you hear "Bluetooth pairing mode," release the button. From your audio source, select "Shure 50". When successfully paired, you will hear "connected". You can connect to more than one device (8 total). Here is what happens: I was connected to one device listening to music. I received a phone call that rang in the headphones. I answered the call, but it took about 15-20 seconds for the headphones to disconnect from one device to allow me to hear the caller in the headphones. Once it disconnected from my music device and connected to my phone, everything was great. It's just that initial connection takes some time to transfer over. Once the phone call was done and the caller hung up, it quickly connected to my music device in less than a second and continued playing my music. When you are listening to music, the center button (has an elevated circle to let you know which button it is) between the volume increase and decrease buttons will be your controller If you press it twice quickly, it skips to the next track. If you press it three times quickly, it goes to the previous track. Pressing it once will play/pause the song. Pressing it once will also answer/end a phone call. The noise cancelling button gets activated by sliding the button up or down. Up will deactivate the noise canceling feature (saving you battery life). Sliding it down will activate the noise cancelling feature and use up more battery. The headphones get up to 20 hours of battery life noise cancelling option off. The battery life is longer (up to 22hrs) if you are listening at less than max volume. You can get double runtime using noise cancelling without bluetooth. Standby time is about 35 hours. Fifteen minutes of charge gets you about 4 hours of use. Two and a half hours of charge gets you from 0% to 100% full battery. It weighs 11.8 oz. It does feel a bit heavy but when those headphones cover your ears and the sounds travel into your ears, it's like heaven. The bass is great, and the earcups feel soft on your ears and head. They are stable and do not move around while on your head. They cover your entire ear, so any discomfort is gone. The ear pads are replaceable, so all you have to do is twist and pull off. They are real easy to remove and put back. I would most definitely recommend these headphones to anyone and everyone. They are super comfortable, and the sound is amazing. They have a long batter life, and the bluetooth connection to multiple devices makes it very easy enjoy the headphones while doing other things.

The first thing that jumped out at me was that everything from the packaging to the headphones themselves screamed quality. The headset is solid with a build quality second to none, and comes in a quality (albiet a bit large) carrying case to store them. Some may be turned off by the fact that the headphones do not fold-- the ear cups roatate and the headset flattens for storage. Portability is not their strong suit. It seems durability took precedence. The removable earcup pads and headband are well cusioned with a soft faux leather covering. Comfort was excellent, though they may get a bit warm form some in hot, humid conditions. Extended usage for several hours did not alther the comfort -- they were great in that regard. Noise cancellation was excellent. Standing next to a gas powered tile cleaning machine (see picture), you could hear a bit of a drone when speaking but the call was clear. There was feedback to the call recipient however. While playing music the outside noise was barely perceptible and soon forgotten. The noise cancelling is adjustable, and at the high settings the noise was even less noticeable, however the music was slightly flatter to me. Not a huge deal, but the change in spatial sound is perceptible. The high density foam used in the earpads also doe a good job of passive isolation. Connection is via wire or bluetooth, and the Shure Aonic 50 seems support all the high end codecs (aptX, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, AAC, LDAC) required for reproducing high fidelity sound. Mulit point bluetooth is supported allowing connectivity to two devices at the same time. Battery life is a claimed 20 hours with ANC. After 2 days of normal use, the headset is still at 88%. Shure offers and app which allows you to control certain features as well as check and update the firmware (the evaluation was on the latest firmware (0.4.9.0) Sound is awesome. Drums were tight and snappy, and vocals were wonderful. In instances where vocals were somewhat overwhelmed in other headphones when multiple instruments can detract from the vacals, The Aonic 50s kept the vocals from being masked while the other instruments were clear and distinct. These are fantastic at reproducing music. Overall the sound quality is stellar, and the noise cancelling is quite effective. Compared to my Sony WH-1000XM4 which I considered to be in a class of its own, the Shure Aonic 50 is right up there when it comes to performance. The Aonic has a higher MSRP than the WH-1000XM4, but the Shure uses higher quality -- and more expensive materials, which may justify it's higher price tag. For me, if price were not a consideration, the Aonic 50 would be my favorite headset.

Lots of PRO's: Audio is amazing, the noise canceling works extremely well and it does have a mode where the audio gets partially amplified. The headset is on the heavy side due to it being insanely durable. interesting that you can use USB Direct DAC mode for PC and Mobile devices making it sound even better. The CON for this headset: The leather on the earpads and the Headband will UN GLUE, not ear out, the glue actually will wear out and the Leather will remove itself. Not too big a deal with the ear pads as those are replaceable, but the Headset is NOT replaceable and you wind up getting a headband WRAP from Aliexpress or amazon, and that tends to not fit right. Soo taking 2 stars due to this being a VERY avoidable issue (just use better glue) that makes the user spend extra money on a premium headset where other headsets the leather/fabric has to crumple and the glue rot before they come apart. If given a redo, with this price range, I would prefer B&O or Bose or V-Moda or other Audiophile with DAC as they are all around the same price range making this an avoidable issue pushing me AWAY from Shure in the future.

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.

A solid pair of over-the-ear headphones. Sound is pretty amazing. As several reviewers elsewhere have written, the sound is very natural, even--don't expect exaggeratedly thumping bass. Very comfortable to wear so far, although--to be fair--I've only had them on for about a two-hour period. That first international flight--post-COVID--will be the big test. Only partial negative to these headphones so far--I can foresee these being a bit of a pain to travel with. The sturdy round case is huge...and I don't want to travel without a case. Just wish these folded a bit (the only real movement, aside from extending/retracting from the headband, the only movement is the headphones rotating to allow them to be more-or-less flat).

I don’t use them for technical sound control like it’s intended to be used, but I do love the noise cancellation and the comfort, especially to my sensitive ears. I even had my brother to equalize them for me.

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!

It is difficult to write a review for these headphones for different reasons. First, I would not call these portable since they are not portable. Second, the noise cancellation is good, but not the best. So why would I purchase these? Comfort is outstanding, LDAC connection is solid, hi res, lo-res streaming sounds great and entertaining. Bass is solid by not exaggerated leaving the details of the music intact. These are now my go to headphones except for travelling.

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.

I replaced my Sony wh-1000xm4 headphones with Shure Aonic 50 headphones, and I'm happy I did. The Shure sound much, much better to me. More accurate, more detailed. They're comfortable and well made. If you're more interested in sound quality than noise canceling, then give these a try. Noise canceling is not as effective as either Sony or Bose QuietComfort 35.

Bought these for my dad for Father’s Day, since he loved my Bose headphones and I saw that these Shure headphones had even better ratings. He said the audio quality is amazing, they pair to his phone “immediately” when he turns them on, no delay, and he said they’re super comfortable & the noise cancelling works really well too. He rated “10/10”

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……

Great headphones. They live up to the functions - they cancel the noise. Comfortable on the ears

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)

If I was going to give a one word review for the Shure AONIC 50 Headphones, it would be, "Wow!" These are well worth the investment if you are looking for a top-of-the-line pair of headphones! These are a great looking set of headphones and every aspect of them appear and feel very well-built. The materials look and feel solid and durable, unlike some leading headphones that appear to be primarily made of cheap plastic. I have been working from home and have worn them for my entire work day, several days in a row, and they are also very comfortable to wear for extended periods. The Shure headphones are easy to use. They paired with my iPhone instantly. I really like the actual buttons for finger tip control. I have used some headphones that have swipe functionality or areas you touch to control things. I prefer having actual buttons I can feel. Since you are not looking at these controls when using them, being able to feel what you are doing makes them much easier to use. They have a power button, a button used for play/pause/answer calls/forward or reverse a track/volume up and down, and a button used to toggle between active noise control and the environmental mode. Of course, most importantly, when looking for a set of headphones, is the sound. The sound of these headphones is amazing, which was not a surprise given the reputation of Shure headphones. I have listened to a variety of types of music and genres, including hard rock, soft music, male and female singers, heavy bass tracks and everything I have listened to sounds great! The clarity, bass and treble response are all top-notch! I tend to enjoy heavy bass and I found the bass response to be very good without the equalizer on, and then it can be enhanced even more with the equalizer function. There is a free ShurePlus Play App that can be downloaded to enhance your use of these headphones. It is not required, as I was able to connect to my iPhone via Bluetooth and play music directly from any music app, but the ShurePlus Play App offers some additional features that come in handy. You can set it up to provide access to your Apple Music App songs through the Shure App. It pulled in all artists, albums, songs and genres for access through the App. It did not pull over my playlists from the Apple music app, but the Shure app allows you to build playlists within the app. If you play music through the Shure App, then you can use the equalizer built into the Shure app to control the music. It provides 5 preset 4-band settings, but you can also build and save additional equalizer presets to fit your own tastes. The app also allows you to do firmware updates when needed, access the user guide, control other settings, and control the settings for Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Environmental mode, I tested the ANC settings with a number of sounds around my house. It has a normal and max mode, which both work well and the best one to use varies by type of noise. I walked into a furnace room with a loud furnace and very loud, old dehumidifier running. I could not hear any of that background noise with the ANC on in either setting with the music on at a mid volume level. If I turned the music volume to a low setting, I could barely hear background noise on the normal setting and I could hear no noise with ANC on the max setting. The ANC also blocked out TV noise, other household noise and the sound of my car while riding as a passenger. I have not flown since getting these, but I have no doubt they will work well with airplane noise. Likewise, these headphones have an Environmental mode that allow you to hear however much outside noise as you want to hear. In the App you can set the Environmental mode at 10 different settings to allow varying levels of outside sound in. This could come in handy to listen to music but also be able to hear if someone is trying to talk to you while you have them on without removing them. You can use a button on the outside of the headphones to switch between ANC and Environmental mode, which will be convenient if in ANC and you quickly need to switch to the environmental mode to hear outside input. I have used ANC on other top brands of headphones and the ANC on these Shure headphones have the best ANC I have used. I have never seen the environmental mode, but feel this will come in handy also. Finally, these headphones come with a USB-C cord to charge them or connect to Digital Audio. They have also provided a 3.5mm cable to connect to other devices, such as airplane sound systems. The wireless feature is incredibly convenient, but I think it is great they thought of sources like airplane sound and provide the necessary cable for that. They come with a very nice hard case that will protect them in any luggage. It is a round case, approximately 10 inches in diameter and 2.25 inches deep, and has an inside pocket for the cables. While I like the case a lot, I will say this will not fit into the briefcase I use for business travel, but it will fit in any carry on luggage or in my backpack that I use for other travel. It does have an outside loop that could be connected to luggage also. The headphones say they will go for 20 hours when fully charged, which I have found is pretty accurate. Another nice feature is that you can get four more hours on a 15 minute charge, so easy to get a little boost while waiting in an airport. It takes about 2.5 hours for a full charge. All-in-all, I can't say enough good things about these Shure headphones! They are going to last me for many years of enjoyment to come! I highly recommend them!

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.

Shure has been a well-known name in studio audio equipment for years, particularly microphones and headphones. They have moved into the pro-consumer market as well and have several headphones, but I believe the AONIC50 is their first venture into the wireless, noise-canceling market. They certainly entered it in a big way. These high-end and high-priced phones are poised to give Bose and Sony’s best a run for it. At $400 they are priced at the top end of the market, and what do you get for all that money? You get first-class build quality and appearance, studio-quality balanced and purposely neutral sound, and up to 20 hours of battery life between charges. They are large, but the heavily padded leather ear cups make them very comfortable. They also have state of the art high-speed, high-definition audio processing and codecs. The processing is internal not app-driven meaning whether connected by Bluetooth, USB or analog cable, the sound will be as good as the source with no lag or latency. The noise-canceling ability is impressive as well, and it is switchable. Noise-canceling always has some effect on sound quality, so to get the absolute best sound … turn it off. There are two levels of reduction selected within the app. The normal level is quite adequate for general use with little coloring or loss. On high, there is some compromise, so I would reserve that mode for planes, trains, and automobiles where you really need it. With noise-canceling off, you can choose whether to allow ambient sound through and if so, how much of the outside world you wish to hear. There is a switch to change modes which makes it quick and easy with no need to open an app. Besides an on/off pairing button, there are the typical buttons for volume up, volume down, track switching, voice assistant, and phone control. As a minor complaint, I found the subtlety raised buttons a bit hard to find by touch at first. The amount of noise reduction and ambient sound pass-through is controlled by the Shure Play app. It shows the mode the phones are in, the level of charge, and lets you adjust the “Environmental Level” which is the amount of ambient sound passed through. The app has a couple of other features. It’s where you check and update the firmware, and there’s a built-in music player with an equalizer. It will only playback and equalize cuts that are located on your device. However, if they are high-definition and you have Bluetooth 5, you will get the full impact and quality of uncompressed, high-def audio. The sound quality is excellent. It’s full range, clean, neutral, and true to the source. As mentioned, the equalizer only works with the in-app player, so if you want to kick the sound around, you may need an add-on app. These headphones are about true, clean, uncolored sound, and they do not need any help to provide that. They are not trying to be Skull Crushers with thundering bass, and if that’s your thing, I would suggest you look elsewhere. If you want a high-quality build, look, feel, and sound with excellent noise reduction, these are among the top choices. Listen and decide.

The Shure AONIC 50 is a spectacular wireless headphone. The fit is great and they are super comfortable to wear for long stretches at a time. The sound is spectacular for everything from music to voice calls. With the SHURE PLAY app you can tailor the sound to you liking with a comprehensive Equalizer. I think the EQ happens purely in the playback software and not in the headphones though. I found out after fiddling for a bit with the app, while listening to Spotify and not noticing any audible difference when changing EQ settings, that it only has effect when playing via the PLAY app which for my iPhone is limited to Apple Music. If you want EQ functionality outside of listening through whatever PLAY integrates with any other app will need to implement EQ functionality, which the Spotify app does, by the way. I paired the headphones with my phone, laptop, and desktop computer. In all cases it worked perfectly with no issues, could connect to multiple devices at the same time and remembered each one when powering the headphones back on. There are multiple options for connecting to devices including Bluetooth, USB-C to USB-A (also for charging), and 3.5mm analog. Both cable types are included, however, the USB cable is pretty short and not all that useful for audio connections unless your device connection is really close to you. A couple of things to note is that when you plug in the 3.5 audio cable all Bluetooth connections will be turned off as stated in the manual. If you are plugged in via USB, connections will be maintained so that you could charge and listen to audio at the same time. My experience with the battery life is positive so far. For my first use I plugged in and charged the headphones. The app stated that they were at 95% charge when I started. After close to 10 hours of mixed use listening to music both Bluetooth and with cable, participating in online meetings using the microphone, and a couple of phone calls there was still 40% charge remaining. Given that I think that the headphones would probably come pretty close to hitting the 20 hours claimed by Shure on the packaging. Speaking of the packaging the retail box is a strange round hat-box style package. Inside is a very sturdy clamshell style zippered case with a rubberized outside which will do a great job protecting your headphones when not using them. Really the only area of improvement for these excellent headphones would be the side buttons. The controls are straight forward and easy to use. I did find that the center button / volume control was a little hard to locate by feel at times. Maybe the center button could be just a tiny bit larger or have a little different placement. Same goes for the other buttons. Overall, a superb headset with great sound and features. You will not be disappointed at all.