Hi!
Welcome to Lachlan Likes A Thing, a show where I take a thing and see whether or not I like
it.
Now the thing we're looking at in this video is the Bang & Olufsen H3 dynamic driver in-ear
earphones.
Now in this video we're going to have a look at the build quality and the sound quality
of the H3, and then I'm going to give you a comparison to an earphone which I think
is in a similar class to the H3.
Now the Bang & Olufsen H3 is something of an aspirational purchase for me, because ever
since I started learning about design in high school I've been absolutely fascinated with
the amazing designs Bang and Olufsen has come up with for their speakers, for their televisions
and even their telephones, and I've always wanted to own a Bang & Olufsen product.
Now inn recent years Bang and Olufsen have started to market towards a younger audience
by releasing products under the 'Beoplay' brand name, and the H3 is the company's first
in-ear earphone in that range of products.
Now it retails at a recommended retail price of $249 US Dollars or $299 Australian dollars,
and while that isn't cheap, for a company that is famous for releasing $85,000 televisions
it actually seems remarkably reasonable.
Now let's have a closer look for what we get for the money.
One of Bang and Olufsen's signatures is precision metal crafting, and the earpieces of the H3
show this off in style.
They look and feel beautiful , with these tiny pin-prick vent holes and detailing which
is pretty exquisite.
One disappointment though is that the driver capsule appears to be made out of 3 different
parts, most of them plastic - B&O didn't craft the nozzle out of a single piece of metal
like some other premium or even some cheaper earphones and as a result this part of the
earphone feels less durable and less fancy.
The cable on the H3 is not detachable and comes with a simple 3 button remote for Apple
devices.
The cable itself is also a bit of a disappointment.
It's a bit thin and not very supple, meaning that it tends to retain memory and develop
ugly kinks, especially when you use the nice cable winder case that Bang & Olufsen provides.
There are no strain reliefs at all on the Y-splitter, which is worrying, and the straight
angle jack on the other end feels a little insubstantial.
Overall build quality is okay but you would expect better given the brand and the price.
One thing to note is that Bang and Olufsen offer a 3 year warranty on the H3, and given
that they have retail stores in some major cities around the world, getting good after
sales service from B&O would probably be easier than most other brands.
The Bang & Olufsen H3 has a half earbud design and that means you cannot wear it with the
cable going up over the back of your ears, you have to wear it with the cable going down
like a traditional earbud, and that means that noise from the cable, while it's not
severe, it is somewhat of an issue.
The other thing about the H3 is that even though I find it a comfortable earphone most
of the earpiece does rest in your outer ear and depending on the shape of your ears you
might not find it that comfortable.
The other issue with the H3 is that with this many vents on the back you would expect external
noise isolation not to be great, and it isn't.
You can pretty much forget about using the H3 on a bus or a train, it's going to let
in a lot of external noise and you're not going to enjoy it.
So the H3 is really well suited only for quiet environments.
So how does the H3 sound?
Well in a word, natural.
The H3 has definitely an inoffensive character, it's very much an all-rounder.
It's just a bit warmer than neutral with quite a substantial bass response but I think clearly
Bang & Olufsen has done their homework with the tuning because the H3 has a warm pleasant,
kind of musical sound that I think most people would enjoy.
Now one really nice aspect of the H3 sound is that they have quite a relaxed and open
soundstage and that might be because of the extensive venting on the back.
They aren't quite as open and spacious as something like the Sony EX1000 but I think
Bang & Olufsen have done a good job of balancing getting a substantial bass response with a
quite spacious sounding earphone.
Now there are two issues that I can point out with the sound of the H3.
The first is that at times the treble on the H3 can get somewhat sibilant, and that means
that the S sounds are a bit pronounced.
Now it's not severe on the H3, it's certainly not as bad as some earphones that I've heard,
but it is something to watch out for.
You can tame the sound of the sibilance a little bit by changing out the stock tips
with Sony hybrid tips with a smaller aperture, and I find the hybrid tips a little more comfortable
anyway.
Now my other issue with the H3 is that I think that at this price range it lacks a little
in terms of clarity and definition, and this is especially true in the bass regions where
I think the bass on the H3 can at times sound a little blunted and a little bit uncontrolled.
Now it's not completely bloated bass but again I've heard earphones at around this price
or at cheaper prices where the bass is a lot tighter and more controlled.
Now I mentioned at the beginning of this video that there was an earphone that I was going
to compare the H3 to and it's the HIFIMAN RE-400.
Now this is an earphone that I've reviewed before.
I think that it's an absolutely stunning earphone especially for the price of $99 and I highly
recommend it on that basis.
Now I bring up the RE-400 because I actually think it sounds very similar to the H3.
Now the H3 sounds a bit bassier than the RE-400, in terms of sibilance it's a little more sibilant
than the RE-400, in terms of sounstaging it's a bit more open and natural but the RE-400
I think sounds tighter and cleaner than the H3 especially in the bass region.
Now for $99 I think the RE-400 is actually a bit underpriced and again it's one of the
best options on the market.
In contrast I think the H3 is a little overpriced for the sound quality that you get.
Now by no means is the H3 a bad sounding earphone.
I do think that it is on a similar tier to the RE-400 and that's a good place to be.
But the H3 is definitely one of those earphones where I can listen to it for hours and hours
and quite enjoy the sound but when I put it up against something else like the RE-400
I can't help but feel a little disappointed for the price of the H3.
So overall for the price I can't really recommend the H3.
I think it's a good sounding earphone but the lack of external noise isolation means
that it's not a particularly practical design, in terms of build quality I think there are
aspects of the build quality that are questionable at this price point and in terms of sound
quality while I think it's a good sounding earphone I think it could be a bit cleaner
and tighter.
Now all that said I don't think it's a bad earphone and definitely if you were after
an open sounding, kind of natural and relaxed all rounder earphone you could definitely
do a lot worse than the H3, but at the price, as I said, I can't really recommend it.
Now I do have a review up of the H3 of the HIFIMAN RE-400, the earphone that I mentioned,
and that's linked in the description of this video so check that out if you're interested.
Click the like button if you found this review helpful, and thanks to everyone who's liked
to my other videos and subscribed to my channel.
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and happy listening!