Despite being a great pair of active noise-canceling headphones (ANC), the Sennheiser HD 450BT is budget-friendly and sold at $150. They come with amazing features and have a long battery life that is sufficient for you to use for commuting without running dry. This is an excellent feature not common to headphones using ANC. Let’s read below a Sennheiser HD 450BT Review that examines whether HD 450BT headphones are worth considering.
Sennheiser HD 450BT review
Design and Build
Typically, Sennheiser headphones are not designed to be intuitive. And HD 450BT is not an exception. You may first be befuddled by the cluster of onboard controls. It may even take you a while to recognize the front-most button between the microphone and the USB-C input. But when you get acquainted with the confusing layout, you’ll find it easy to operate the headset.
The Sennheiser HD 450BT headphones come with ergonomically-shaped over-ear cups, but they are not fit comfortably on average to above-average ears. According to some users, these headphones have features that make them more like on-ears than over-ears. Though this may sound infuriating, HD 450BT seems to be better than the large Shure AONIC 50 in terms of portability. The earpads are replaceable to allow you to tinker with them or upgrade from synthetic leather.
While testing the headset, we wore it for a while and felt the fit was painful around the borderline due to the clamping force and the forming of a hotspot on top of the head. However, after 5 days of frequent use, we observed that the headset loosened, so we were able to wear it comfortably for several hours. But note that wearing glass will seriously shorten the duration.
There is a limit to ear cup rotation. The limitation does not affect the comfort, but it somehow restricts transport options. While some headsets allow you to stow headphones either flat or balled up, Sennheiser HD 450BT only allows you to fold the ear cups towards the headband. You can do this perfectly with the case that comes with the package. However, we lost the opportunity to flatten the headphones and fold them in a bag.
Sennheiser HD 450BT Performance and Sound
As a mid-tier active noise canceling headset, the Sennheiser HD 450BT has low-frequency noises that are a bit attenuated and with lower sound when it is ANC enabled than when it is disabled. Though this modification is loud, PXC 5550-II and other more expensive headsets will deliver better performance on this aspect.
During our test, we used Sennheiser HD 450BT to work on the porch. We observed that the headset partially blocked wind noise, as we could still hear some sounds while the headset was on.
Sennheiser’s unique selling point is its sound quality, both in its over-ear headphones and real wireless earbuds.
Sennheiser is a reliable company when it comes to introducing to the market products that deliver high-quality sounds with all genres of music. The company stuck to its perfect performance but added some slight modifications to improve its delivery of accurate and attractive sound.
The subtle bump from 20-100Hz boosts the bass volume to make it a little louder than mids, a change that won’t be obvious to vocals.
There is another emphasized range between 450Hz and 3kHz. And this is where the most crucial instrumental notes fall.
Some people use the HD 450BT for phone calls, though it is not really designed for such.
Meanwhile, it is strange to note that the dual beamforming microphones magnify bass notes, and this is not what the regular headset microphones are known for. The bass emphasis leads to what is termed as the proximity effect. This is a condition that occurs when bass notes are distorted and intensified due to the closeness of the speaker to the microphone. To prevent this problem, most headphones follow the opposite path by applying a high-pass filter to the mic. Listen carefully to it to evaluate the features yourself.
Final Thoughts on Sennheiser HD 450BT
The qualities that the Sennheiser HD 450BT headphones are amazing, considering the reasonable price. They have high-quality sound and great noise canceling– qualities that rank them above some of their counterparts in this price range.
However, there are some deficiencies that we observed while using this device. When compared, the PXC 550-II come with a better mic, offer more comfort, and deliver extra ANC that is adjustable within the app. The Sennheiser HD 450BT is perfect for those with average-sized ears.