I know everybody cant afford to spend $350 on a pair of ANC headphones like the Sony
1000XM3, but honestly there are some really good $200 headphones out there from big name
brands thanks to heavy competition.
But there are also some less expensive headphones out there from lesser known brands that some
publications even claim they give premium ANC headphones like the Bose QC35’s a run
for their money.
So today we’re going to compare how a pair of budget ANC headphones like the TaoTronics
BH060 which retail for $70 stack up against my currently most recommended pair of $200
ANC headphones the Audio-Technica SR50BT and my currently most recommended pair of $350
ANC headphones the Sony 1000XM3’s.
And remember, if you want to pick any of the headphones up mentioned in this video.
Those will be linked down below.
Now the first things were going to be looking into is build quality and fit… cause you
don’t want your headphones falling apart on you and you want them to be comfortable
when you have them on.
And when ever you decide to go with a budget friendly option like the Taotronics, thats
the first most obvious sacrifice you’re going to notice.
The TaoTronics look very reminiscent to the Bose QC35’s and I think thats intentional.
Even though their build quality is decent for $70 headphones its nowhere near as good
as the $200 SR50BT’s or $350 1000XM3’s.
Tolerances aren’t as tight, the stitching isn’t as precise and the plastics and leatherette
used don’t feel as good.
And not to mention, these headphones are considerably heavier than its counterparts.
But again I don’t blame them cause they’re just 70 bucks.
But most importantly, the TaoTronics just don’t fit right.
Even though they have a similar yolk design as the Audio-Technica’s and Sony’s for
some reason they apply an uneven amount of pressure around your ears… which just make
them very uncomfortable and annoying to wear.
Instead of evenly applying pressure around your ear, the TaoTronics apply the majority
of the pressure on the top portion of your ear.
And I point this out cause even if you have one of the best built and best performing
headphones out there, if they don’t fit well you’re not going to want to use them.
But with design and fit out fo the way, lets get into tech specs and performance.
The TaoTronics have an advertised battery life of 30 hours, but I suspect thats with
ANC turned off cause with ANC turned on these headphones only managed to go for 20 hours.
But still, a 20 hour battery life is respectable cause the industry standard right now is around
25 hours of battery life.
Cause for comparison, the Bose QC35’s have an advertised battery life of 20 hours and
the Surface headphones have an advertised battery life of 15 hours.
So both of these are below average for 2019 and their price range.
Where as the Audio-Technica’s have a battery life of 28 hours and the Sony’s have an
advertised battery life of 30 hours.
And personally I think we’re going to see the industry standard for battery life on
ANC headphones to go up a bit over the next few months.
Cause we have a few headphones slated for release that have advertised battery lives
of 32 and 35 hours with ANC turned on.
So maybe by late 2019 we'll be seeing an industry standard of around 28 hours of battery life.
So definitely both Bose and Microsoft need to step it up.
But now lets talk about the Active noise cancelation on these headphones.
What separates good ANC headphones from great ANC headphones is being able to block out
constant low frequency sounds like road noise without causing a lot of cabin pressure.
Cause like I’ve said in the past, the Bose QC35’S do have a considerable amount of
cabin pressure which is usually found on older or cheaper ANC headphones.
And what separates great ANC headphones from Amazing ANC Headphones is also being able
to also effectively block out random higher frequency sounds like chatter all while not
distorting the quality of your music.
Now before we jump into the ANC test, I just wanna say that I’m pretty impressed at how
well the TaoTronics managed to perform.
Without a doubt the TaoTronics managed to block out noticeably more noise than the Audio-Technica’s
all while having very little cabin pressure just like the other two headphones here.
But there are other $200 ANC Headphones out there that have better performing ANC than
the SR50BT’s.
I just really like the SR50BT’s cause of their build quality and additional features
that we’ll get into later.
But just as you’d expect, the Sony 1000XM3’s clearly managed to wipe the floor with the
Taotronics and thats to be expected.
Now even though the TaoTronics manage to block out a considerable amount of noise for $70
headphones with very little cabin pressure, there is one major caveat.
And that’s, these headphones sound very shallow with their ANC turned on.
Now its pretty common for the Sound stage on ANC headphones in general to get narrowed
when you turn on their ANC, but the narrowing affect on the TaoTronics is one of the most
dramatic I’ve heard so far.
Theres even an echo effect on the mids and vocals as soon as you turn on the ANC on these
headphones.
And even with ANC turned off, the TaoTronics have a very narrow soundstage to start with
and instrument separation is almost non existent.
So for those reasons I personally wouldn’t recommend the Taotronics for listening to
music but instead only recommend for watching videos and movies or listening to podcasts
cause they at least don’t have any latency issues on either iPhones or Android devices.
Cause again for comparison, the SR50BT’s also have a bit of sound stage narrowing when
their ANC is turned on, but its nowhere near as prominent as the TaoTronics and honestly
you wont notice it unless you actively listen for it.
And then theres the Sony’s which personally I haven’t been able to hear a performance
difference with ANC turned on or off.
Which is good.
But deciding to spend the extra money on a pair of headphones not only gets you better
build quality and performance… for the most part you get access to more features.
Its just like if you decided to get a Flagship phone over a mid tier phone… you get more
bells and whistles like a better OLED Screen, Multiple cameras, wireless charging and so
on.
Something more expensive headphones have that budget headphones generally don’t is a dedicated
app.
From Sony’s app you can adjust their EQ and make them sound how ever you want.
The 1000XM3’s even have a calibration process for their ANC that not a lot of other headphones
have in general.
But something thats quickly becoming standard on both mid tier and premium ANC headphones
these days is the inclusion of a transparency mode where the headphones will pump in the
ambient sound around so you can still be aware of whats going on when you’re listening
to music.
And personally having a transparency mode on my headphones and earbuds is a must have
these days cause I find it to be extremely useful.
And also, a lot of mid tier and premium headphones these days are starting to come with a Quick
hear through mode where at the press of a button the headphones will lower the volume
of your music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you so you can quickly talk to
someone without having to take your headphones off like this.
So overall, even though TaoTronic’s $70 ANC headphones do manage to block out an impressive
amount of noise for their price range… they do so at the expense of sound quality.
And also keep in mind, these headphones are noticeably heavier and their plastic is thicker
than the other headphones so they are offering more passive noise isolation.
But I also find it very hard to recommend them because because of their poor fit.
The TaoTronics BH060 aren’t all bad, but if you’re looking for a pair of good performing
budget friendly ANC headphones than I recommend the Sony WH-CN700N or Sennerhiser 4.50 BTNC’s
which are typically on sale these days for around $150 or less.
But I also wanted to make this video to showcase the performance improvements and added features
you get when you go from mid tier $200 ANC headphones to $350 Premium ANC headphones.
Cause I feel you definitely get what you pay for.