Shure Aonic 50 over-the-ear noise canceling headphones review

Shure has long been one of my favorite audio companies. As someone with experience in making music, I've been a fan of the company's professional audio equipment for years, including their pro headphones. I bought Shure SRH840 headphones about 10 years ago - and still use these headphones regularly. Now the company is finally taking consumer headphones more seriously - and to that end, they have launched the Shure Aonic 50 on-ear noise canceling headphones.

Of course, premium space noise canceling headphones aren't necessarily short on options. Everyone's favorite Sony VG-1000XM3 headphones are some of the best in the business, and they come in at $350. What he said, given his experience in professional audio, Schur could bring something new to the space - and it would have to be done, therefore, to convince customers to shell out $400.

Not sure Aonic 50 noise canceling headphones are worth buying, or should you save your money? We put the headphones to the test to find out.

Design

The Shure Aionic 50 headphones are clearly premium headphones - both in design and build. The headphones offer a sleek black and silver look, with a metal frame that should help ensure the headphones can withstand the vast majority of abuse you can throw at them.

Headphones are usually premium too. The ear pads swivel nicely, and the frame design looks generally good.

So far they look great, but the headphones are a bit bulky. This is to be expected from over-ear headphones, but this can cause problems when you are traveling. This is especially true given the case that comes with the headphones. This is an amazing case. It's strong, has plenty of cable and headphone storage, and looks good. But it's also huge. It will fit in a backpack, sure, but it might not fit in a pocket on the back of an airplane seat.

On the right ear cup is where you'll find all the controls, including volume and playback controls, a power button, a USB-C port, and a switch to enable noise cancellation and ambient mode. It's nice to have a switch here - it means you don't have to cycle through the modes to find the right one, as long as you memorize switch positions. On the left ear cup, there is an AUX port.

In the box, in addition to the headphones themselves, you get a nice sturdy case, an AUX port and a USB C cable. It's a good selection of accessories - and everything you need for normal use.

Comfort

The Shure Aionic 50 headphones are big and heavy, and this can lead to some comfort issues. Luckily, there's plenty of padding on the ear cups and under the head band, which helps ensure that the headphones don't feel too heavy during long periods of listening time.

The headphone clip is also very good. Some noise canceling headphones provide a seal around the ears with a snug fit, but these headphones provide a good compromise. They still create a good seal around the ears - but without the feel of a real head yoke.

Sound

When you buy from Shure, you expect high quality sound. And that's what you get here.

The bass on the headphones can be described as “tight”. If you are looking for heavy bass, you should avoid these headphones. Of course, you can set up the bass-guiding Shure app - but only if you actually listen to music through the app. And, these headphones are designed anyway, offering the quality natural sound they do in the bass department.

The midrange is well tuned too - though it does seem to change a bit depending on whether or not noise cancellation is involved. Without noise cancellation, you'll get a bit of a mid-range aloof, which sounds pretty natural. With him, the dropouts in the forefront are a bit more. Both sound pretty natural, however the noise-free sound is a bit closer to what audiophiles would expect.

The high end is one of the best things about these headphones. You'll get great detail and clarity, even over Bluetooth. What seemed to stay true was whether the noise-cancellation was engaged or not.

The noise canceling technology in the headphones is good, but not amazing. To be honest, if you buy new headphones , because Noise-cancelling, you'd better go for Sony Thu-1000XM3 headphones or Bose speaker 700 headphones. That said, it's still pretty good here, and would get the job done if you want a pair of great-sounding headphones that also have noise cancellation.

Performance

The headphones connect to a device to listen to music via Bluetooth 5.0, and we found that they maintained good connectivity throughout the testing process.

The battery life in the headphones is also quite good. You'll get an impressive 20 hours of music listening time with noise cancellation on. While that's good, however, it doesn't beat other premium offerings in its category, like the Sony Thu-1000XM3 headphones that offer 30 hours on a charge.

Conclusions

The Shure Aonic 50 noise-canceling headphones are for those who want great sound quality first, and noise-canceling second. I thought at the beginning of this review if sure could bring something new to the noise reduction category - and they do. Unfortunately at Shure, what's new doesn't necessarily make these noise canceling headphones what all should only buy noise canceling headphones that audiophiles should buy.

As a music lover, however, that suits me perfectly. If you want a pair of noise canceling headphones that sound great, are comfortable, and look amazing, buy the Sony THU-1000XM3 headphones. However, if you value high-end audio and want a pair of headphones that you can listen to music on the go, then the Shur Aonic 50 headphones are the way to go.

Because of their superior sound quality, we are awarding these headphones a Silver Headphone Review Medal. They lowered that price and just below the battery, preventing a gold medal.

Shure's post Aonic 50 in-ear noise canceling headphones review first appeared on the headphone commentary.