Sony MDR-XB950B1 Wireless Headphone Review

Sony had recently launched their new headphones from the EXTRA Bass lineup and Sony MDR-XB950B1 is one of the headphones from the EXTRA Bass Lineup. The Sony MDR-XB950B1 is a flagship wireless headphone from Sony which is priced at Rs. 12,990. We got a chance to try it out so, here’s the full Sony MDR-XB950B1 Review, which will clear all your doubts regarding this pair of premium headphone.

Now, before moving onto the Sony MDR-XB950B1, let me clear a few things about it, or say just an overview of the features-

• The Sony MDR-XB950B1 is made for use with any device say smartphone, tablet, PC or even with a gaming console.
• It’s wireless.
• You can use it with or without charging both.
• If it’s not charged, then connecting via 3.5mm jack works good.
• It’s one of the best looking headphones in the market at present.
• It’s a symbol for premium headphones by Sony. One of the best ever by Sony.

Sony MDR-XB950B1 Design and Features

Upon using it for few days, my conclusion is, the headphone are quietly comfortable and well you can pretty much use it anywhere, but it may be uncomfortable sometimes if you wear it during long journeys. Also, the ear cups can be rotated and folded to make it lie flat. The earcups are huge and heavily padded with a rubbery finish. The design is quite generic to the XB family of Sony headphones. The power and bass effect buttons are on the left cup (along with the Micro-USB charging port and 3.5mm input), while volume and playback controls are on the right cup. There’s also a mic on the left cup for hands-free.

The design is quite generic to the XB family of Sony headphones. The power and bass effect buttons are on the left cup (along with the Micro-USB charging port and 3.5mm input), while volume and playback controls are on the right cup. There’s also a mic on the left cup for hands-free.

while volume and playback controls are on the right cup. There’s also a mic on the left cup for hands-free calling.

The Sony MDR-XB950B1 is rated to offer 18 hours music playback after a 4-hour charge. However, if you run out of power you can, of course, use it like a wired headphone. The only thing which you’ll miss while listening with 3.5mm jack is enhanced bass effect capability which requires headphone to be in power.

Each driver is 40mm in size, and the frequency range is rated at 3Hz to 28,000Hz. It weights at 281 grams, so it is not that light. That’s all about design and some features. But what about the audio quality? We will move on to that in the next part of this Sony MDR-XB950B1 review.

Sony MDR-XB950B1 Performance and Audio Quality

This headphone is great for those who listen to hip-hop, rap, and EDM. The bass is perfect and the overall audio output is well balanced. However, if you’re more into rock, metal,  or blues you may feel like it has got some extra bass, the level which is not required at all.

In short, this headphone is made for everyone and quite comparable with any studio headphones under the same price segment. When you press the bass effect button, you get a huge amount of bass hitting your eardrums. But there are actually two ways to control the sound and effects. You can either turn off the bass effect while you’re not listening to EDM, hip-hop or rap or you can also use the companion app. It comes with its own equalizer, which lets you tweak the audio output of MDR-XB950B1. You can set the amount of bass boost, and can also control the whole music listening experience with it. Not just that, the Surround sound settings can be adjusted. Surround sound is another thing that I personally loved and the earcups do a good job of reducing noise. In the case of calls as well, it worked really great and there were no issues picking up voice via the microphone present on it, nor there were any issues with the range.

You can set the amount of bass boost, and can also control the whole music listening experience with it. Not just that, the Surround sound settings can be adjusted. Surround sound is another thing that I personally loved and the earcups do a good job of reducing noise. In the case of calls as well, it worked really great and there were no issues picking up voice via the microphone present on it, nor there were any issues with the range.

Final Verdict

What do I say in the final verdict of the Sony MDR-XB950B1 review? Well, this headphone is made for everyone, but it’s not light as a feather that you can always put it around your neck. But if you know how to tweak equalizer and adjust some settings, and a pair of headphones that stand out in the crowd, with a good build and performance, this is for you. So, that’s all in our Sony MDR-XB950B1 Review, hope you have enjoyed reading it and it has helped you in your buying decision.