Unfortunately the Beyerdynamic Lagoon ANC headphones are just an underwhelming pair
of ANC headphones that just can’t compete with other current ANC headphones.
They don’t fit all that well, they have missing features, their active noise cancellation
isn’t all that great and they don’t sound all that remarkable.
Personally I can’t find any viable reason to get these headphones over any other pair
of $400 headphones that I've recently reviewed.
Now the Lagoon ANC’s retail for $400, but you can find them on sale for $300 and I’ve
even seen them go on sale for $278… but even at $278 I still don’t recommend that
you get them.
Now if you’re new here, the Sony 1000XM3’s are my preferred and most recommend pair of
ANC headphones if active noise cancelation is your main priority.
But if the Sony 1000XM3’s are out of the question because you want something that fits
better or something that sounds better than the Sony’s but still has decent active noise
cancellation then the Bose NC 700’s are the way to go.
So if you want to pick these headphones up or any other pair of headphones mentioned
in this video, they’ll be linked down below.
Now first off, I’ll admit that the Lagoon ANC’s come included with a very decent hard
shell carrying case… and besides wanting a dedicated pocket to store my cables I don’t
really have any issues with this case.
Now when it comes to the headphones themselves I like how they look and I also like how they
look when they’re on your head… these are a pair of very low profile headphones.
But when it comes to their build quality, thats another story.
When we enter the $400 headphone price range, thats where we start to see headphones with
more out there designs like the Bose NC 700’s, or headphones start to use finer materials
like lets say the Bowers And Wilkins PX7’s with their Carbon Fiber composite arms which
look awesome, or the real sheepskin leather on the Sennheiser Momentum 3’s which feels
awesome.
But none of that is present on the Lagoon ANC’s… they don’t feel like a pair of
$400 headphones.
And personally to me these headphones feel cheep for two key reasons… first off the
headband on these headphones feels very loss whenever you extend it and the way these ear
cups pivot and swivel is also way too loss.
But something that I do want to point out is that the leatherette on these ear cups
actually does feel pretty nice.
Now it doesn’t feel as nice as the leatherette on the Bose NC 700’s… but it is a step
up from the leatherette found on the Bowers And Wilkins PX7 and Sony 1000XM3’s.
But unfortunately, when it comes to comfort these headphones don’t fit all that well
and they’re definitely not big head approved.
I even think that people with smaller heads will find these headphones to be a little
too tight just cause these headphones have so much clamping force.
But also, these headphones aren’t suited for people with ears that stick out a lot.
Even though these ear pads have a good diameter to them since they’re so shallow they still
end up pushing your ear down cause they don’t cave in like other headphones out there.
But another reason why I don think these headphones are all the comfortable is cause their padding
is very stiff.
But now you may have noticed that the ear cups on these headphones light up which beyerdynamic
calls their light guide system which are supposed to intuitively help you use your headphones.
Besides looking pretty… is it useful?
Not really.
I mean you can set your own default color and they’ll tell you when your phone is
connected but personally I just wish Beyerdynamic would have focused on the important stuff
first before they start working on gimmicks.
Now when it comes to tech specs these headphones charge via a USB C port so at least they got
that right and they have an advertised battery life of 24 and a half hours with ANC turned
on.
Which is average for ANC headphones these days.
So these headphones should last you about a week and a half between charges.
Regarding bluetooth connectivity these headphones are using Bluetooth 4.2 but more importantly,
they can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so you can easily hot swap between
your phone and your computer.
And when it comes to watching videos with these headphones they have zero latency across
the board whether you’re using an iPhone or android device.
But when it comes to listening to music with these headphones personally I don’t think
that they sound all that remarkable.
Now out of the box I think that these headphones sound shallow because the bass on these headphones
overpowers the mids.
But its not like these headphones have a lot of bass to them…
instead it just sounds like the bass on these headphone are placed in front of the mids.
And unfortunately these headphones don’t have an adjustable EQ.
Instead you’re supposed to go through a hearing test on these headphones and then
they’ll make an optimized EQ for you.
Although after going through the hearing test I did notice that the mids were brought out
a little, I still couldn’t help but notice that the bass on these headphones could still
easily overpower the mids.
But still like I mentioned these headphones don’t sound all that remarkable cause they
sound like any other pair of headphones out there.
Theres nothing really special about them like lets say the super wide sound stage and well
defined bass on the Bowers and Wilkins PX7 or the resonating bass on the Sennheiser Momentum
3’s.
But at least the touch pad on the Lagoon ANC is fairly decent and they actually copied
on of my favorite things about the touch pad on the Sony 1000XM3’s where if you press
and hold they’ll continuously raise or lower your volume.
Which is something I just wish Bose would add to the NC 700’s through a software update.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones.
Even though these headphones don’t have all that much cabin pressure, the active noise
cancelation on these headphones isn’t all the impressive for a pair of $400 headphones.
But so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into an ANC test.
Like you may have just seen, both the Bose NC 700 and Sony 1000XM3’s manage to block
out considerably more noise than the Lagoon ANC across the board.
But also, the active noise cancelation on the Lagoon ANC’s feels a little last gen
mainly because there is a noticeable hissing in the back ground than can sometimes be heard
when you’re listening to music or watching a movie with these headphones.
And also the microphone on these headphones really like to pick up a lot of wind noise
when walking out doors.
Personally, in the amount of time that ive been using these headphones I’ve just been
using them with their ANC turned off.
But like I mentioned earlier the Lagoon ANC are missing features that are pretty standard
for ANC headphones these days.
And thats a quick attention or conversation feature like on the Bose NC 700’s where
they’ll pause your music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you so that you
can quickly talk to some one like this…
And the Lagoon ANC’s are also missing an ambient mode where the headphones will pump
in the ambient sound around you while you’re listening to music which I think is crucial
for any commuter cause having an ambient mode allows you to be aware of you’re surroundings
while you’re listening to your music or podcast.
And finally, when it comes to the microphone on the lagoon ANC’s for phone calls…
I think it sounds pretty muffled.
So I wouldn’t take phone calls with these headphones.
So overall, I can’t really find any compelling reasons to pick up the Lagoon ANC’s.
If you’re a constant commuter looking for ANC headphones well these aren’t all that
comfortable, their active noise cancellation isn’t that impressive, and they out right
just lack an ambient mode.
And when it comes to their sound, I just don’t think these headphones sound all that remarkable
given their $400 asking price.
And even at $300 or a little less I still wouldn’t consider getting these headphones.
So like I mentioned earlier if active noise cancellation is a main priority for you then
I highly recommend the Sony 1000XM3’s or if those are out of the question cause you
want something that fits better or if you want something that sounds better then the
Bose NC 700’s are the way to go.
Or if sound is your main priority then I highly recommend the Bowers and Wilkins PX7 or if
you need something thats big head approved but still sounds great, then the Sennheiser
Momentum 3’s are the way
to go.