Bang & Olufsen Beoplay HX: Two Weeks, Daily Use, One Frustrating Discovery and One Genuine Surprise
We’re going to start with the surprise because it’s the thing that stuck with us most after two weeks of daily use.
The Beoplay HX – Rs. 59,500, lambskin ear pads, aluminium frame, adaptive ANC made us stop comparing it to other headphones after about four days and just use it. That sounds like nothing. It’s actually rare. At this price point most headphones spend their entire test period being mentally evaluated against alternatives. The HX just settled into their daily routine and stayed there. We stopped thinking about whether we preferred Sony or Bose and started thinking about what to put on next.
That’s the surprise. Now the frustrating discovery and we’ll get to it properly in the ANC section because it’s specific, it matters, and it will affect some buyers more than others.
First, what the HX actually is.
The Basics
Over-ear wireless ANC headphones. 40mm electrodynamic drivers. Adaptive noise cancellation via four MEMS microphones. Bluetooth 5.1 with aptX Adaptive. 35 hours of battery with ANC on. Lambskin leather ear pads and memory foam headband. 285 grams.
B&O released the HX in 2021 as a follow-up to the Beoplay H9. The shift was deliberate: less focus on making something visually arresting, more focus on competing directly with Sony and Bose in a category they dominate. The HX looks like a premium headphone rather than a design statement and for a lot of buyers, that’s exactly right.
Available via The Den India at Rs. 59,500 in Black Anthracite, Timber, Sand, and Dark Maroon (availability may vary).
Specs
Drivers: 40mm electrodynamic, neodymium magnets
ANC: Adaptive — four MEMS microphones
Bluetooth: 5.1 — aptX Adaptive, AAC, SBC
Multipoint: Yes — two devices simultaneously
Battery: 35 hours ANC on / 40 hours ANC off
Fast charge: 15 minutes = 4 hours
Charging: USB-C
Wired: 3.5mm detachable cable included
Weight: 285g
Case: Semi-rigid fabric with storage
App: B&O Music app — Beosonic EQ, ANC slider
Voice assistants: Google Assistant and Siri
Price via The Den India: Rs. 59,500
How They Sound
Warm. That’s the word. The HX has a warm sound signature bass and lower midrange are slightly elevated relative to neutral, treble is smooth and present without pushing forward. It’s not trying to be a reference headphone and it doesn’t pretend to be.
The bass is the best part. Controlled, present, with enough weight to make music feel physical without turning every track into a bass exercise. Jazz double bass has a genuine body. Electronic music has a presence. Hip-hop hits properly. We listened to a lot of different genres across two weeks and the low end handled all of them without complaint.
Treble is clean. Cymbals, strings, vocal consonants all there, no harshness, nothing fatiguing about sustained listening at normal volumes. We wore these for four and five hour sessions on several occasions and never hit the ear-fatigue wall.
The midrange is where it gets more complicated. It’s slightly recessed voices sit a bit further back in the mix than they would on a more neutral headphone. In casual listening at moderate volumes most people won’t notice. But if you listen to a lot of acoustic music, jazz vocals, podcasts, anything where clarity of voice in the 500Hz to 2kHz range matters there’s a slight hollowness there. Not ruinous. Present.
We want to be honest about this because it’s the one area where the HX doesn’t fully match its price tag and glossing over it would be doing you a disservice. Run it through Podcast mode in the app and voices come forward significantly genuinely useful for spoken word content. For music it’s a characteristic you’ll either stop noticing or occasionally wish wasn’t there.
Soundstage is better than expected for a closed-back wireless headphone. There’s real width and separation instruments occupy distinct positions in the mix rather than collapsing towards the centre of your head. Not open-back territory but noticeably better than most closed wireless headphones we’ve used at this price.
The ANC- And the Frustrating Discovery
The adaptive ANC works well. Four microphones monitor ambient noise continuously, adjusting the cancellation level in real time. In office environments, on trains, in cafés, in airport terminals- steady-state noise disappears within a few minutes of putting the HX on and stays gone. Good performance, nothing to complain about in these environments.
The frustrating discovery: wind.
Take the HX outside on a breezy day, not a storm, just a normal windy afternoon and the microphones pick up wind noise and feed it into your ears rather than suppressing it. The ANC actually makes things worse in the wind. Significantly worse. Switching ANC off entirely is the better option in those conditions.
This isn’t unique to the HX and it isn’t a fault exactly; wind is a hard problem for ANC microphones because it creates turbulent, unpredictable noise that’s difficult to model and cancel. But it’s a specific limitation worth knowing about because it affects a real use case. If you commute by bike, if you run with headphones, if you live somewhere windy, the HX ANC will frustrate you on outdoor days.
For indoor use, commuting on trains and metros, travel, and office environments it’s genuinely excellent. Just know the wind thing going in.
Against Sony specifically: the XM5 handles very low frequency noise aircraft cabin rumble slightly better than the HX. The gap isn’t enormous in practice and both suppress it meaningfully. If you fly long-haul frequently the Sony’s advantage in that specific frequency range is worth factoring in. For everything else they’re close enough that it doesn’t decide the comparison.
App control for ANC is better than the physical button on the left earcup. The button cycles through full ANC, transparency, and off adequate for quick switching. The app gives you a granular slider between full ANC and full transparency which is actually more useful for everyday scenarios where you want partial awareness. Use the app.
Comfort – This Is the Real Story
285 grams. Lambskin over memory foam earcups. Memory foam headband with breathable fabric lining.
We went into this test expecting the comfort to be good. We came out thinking it was one of the better comfort stories at this price point, full stop. The clamping force is measured – present enough for a good seal, not so strong that you feel it after an hour. The lambskin doesn’t trap heat the way pleather does. Long sessions are fine.
Four-hour wearing stretches happened several times during testing. Five hours once. No headache from headband pressure, no ear warmth building to discomfort. That’s a better result than several more expensive headphones we’ve used.
One honest caveat: ear size matters here. If you have larger ears you may find the earcup depth limited. A couple of people who tried these during our test period noted that their ears made contact with the inside of the driver housing over extended wear. Not painful but noticeable. If you can, try before buying. If you can’t, confirm return options with AVStore India before ordering.
The case is semi-rigid fabric not the hard aluminium of the H95 but considerably better than a soft pouch. Cables store in a dedicated compartment. It handles being thrown in a bag without the headphones suffering. Fine for travel, not precious about it.
The earcups swivel flat but don’t fold as compactly as some competitors. The case reflects this, it’s not small. Something to factor in if bag space is a genuine constraint.
No flight adapter in the box. You’ll need to bring your own dual-3.5mm adapter for older aircraft entertainment systems. Annoying omission at Rs. 59,500.
The Controls
The right earcup has a touch surface swipe forward for next track, back for previous, circular swipe for volume (clockwise up, anticlockwise down), tap for play/pause. Left earcup has physical buttons for power and ANC mode cycling, plus a multifunction button for voice assistant.
The touch surface is reliable for track control and play/pause. Volume via circular swipe works well once the gesture feels natural took us a day or two to stop second-guessing it. One specific thing: on particularly dry days when skin moisture is low, the circular swipe occasionally doesn’t register the first time. Minor. Came up maybe four or five times across two weeks. The track buttons never had this issue.
The multifunction button is customisable in the app. The default is voice assistant. Most people will probably leave it there.
Multipoint Bluetooth worked throughout testing. Phone and laptop simultaneously, call comes in, headphone switches, call ends, music resumes. No manual intervention required and no failures in two weeks of daily use.
Compared to the Competition- The Honest Version
vs. Sony WH-1000XM5: This is the comparison that matters most because the XM5 is the reference point for wireless ANC headphones in this price range. Sony wins on ANC performance meaningfully for very low frequency noise, marginally for most other environments. Sony also costs less.
The HX wins on build quality, the materials feel more premium and the aluminium frame is more substantial than Sony’s all-plastic construction. The HX has a better battery. The HX has aptX Adaptive where the XM5 doesn’t, which matters if you’re on Android and streaming high-quality audio. And in our experience the HX is more comfortable over four-plus hour sessions.
Neither is the obvious winner. It depends on your priorities. Maximum ANC performance and lower price- Sony. Premium materials, better battery, and comfort for long wear – HX.
vs. Bose QuietComfort 45: The QC45 is lighter- 238g versus 285g- which some people feel meaningfully in extended wear. Bose ANC is excellent. But the HX sounds better, is built more substantially, has a longer battery, and has aptX Adaptive. At similar pricing the HX is the better headphone unless weight is your primary concern.
vs. Bowers & Wilkins Px8: Closer competition philosophically both are premium-materials wireless headphones aimed at the discerning end of the market. The Px8 has a slightly more neutral sound signature, which some listeners will prefer. The HX has better battery life and more sophisticated adaptive ANC. Sound quality is genuinely close. Warm and engaging versus slightly more neutral and analytical personal preference decides it.
vs. Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95: Rs. 59,500 versus Rs. 99,000. The H95 has titanium drivers, a five-level physical ANC dial, a hard aluminium carry case, and a more refined midrange. It’s the better headphone. If the budget extends to it, buy the H95. The HX is for people who want B&O quality without H95 pricing and it gets closer to that target than anything else B&O makes at a lower price point.
Who These Are For
The daily commuter who wants a headphone that’s genuinely comfortable for long stretches, sounds good rather than just adequate, and looks like it costs what it costs without being ostentatious about it.
The open-plan office worker who needs an ANC that actually works and a headphone they can wear from nine to five without thinking about their ears by three.
For someone who wants to buy once rather than upgrade every two years, the build quality here supports long-term ownership in a way that cheaper options don’t.
Someone on Android who wants aptX Adaptive for the best possible Bluetooth audio quality.
Who should look elsewhere: anyone for whom outdoor or exercise use is the primary context, the wind ANC issue is a real problem for that use case. Anyone who wants maximum ANC performance above everything else, Sony is better at that specifically. Anyone with large ears who should really try before buying. And anyone expecting H95-level midrange refinement at HX prices, the gap is real and it costs Rs. 39,500 to close it.
Questions We Get Asked
Is ANC compared to Sony XM5 honestly?
Sony is better specifically on very low frequency noise like aircraft engines. For office, commuting, and cafe environments they’re close. Sony wins the pure ANC comparison. HX wins on build, battery, and long-session comfort.
The wind ANC problem, how bad is it really?
Bad enough to switch ANC off outdoors on windy days. Not a dealbreaker for primarily indoor use. A real limitation if outdoor and exercise use is important to you.
Battery life real world?
We charged twice across two weeks of daily use at moderate listening volumes. The 35-hour claimed figure with ANC on held up accurately in real conditions.
Can you use them wired?
Yes, 3.5mm detachable cable included. Worth noting the headphone needs to be powered on for wired mode the battery drains slowly even in wired use.
Flight adapter included?
No. Bring your own dual-3.5mm adapter for older aircraft systems. Annoying for a Rs. 59,500 headphone.
What’s the call quality?
Good, clear audio with solid background rejection. People we called during testing consistently reported clean audio from our end.
Multipoint Bluetooth- does it actually work properly?
Yes, reliably. Two devices simultaneously with automatic switching worked throughout testing without intervention.
Honestly, Where We Landed
Two weeks with the Beoplay HX and the thing we keep coming back to is how quickly they became the headphone we reached for without thinking about it.
The wind ANC discovery was frustrating and we’re not minimising it. The slight midrange recess is real. No flight adapter is a genuinely poor omission at this price.
But the battery is excellent. The comfort is among the best in this price range. The sound is warm and engaging rather than clinical. And the build quality of the aluminium, the lambskin, the way they feel after two weeks of daily use versus how they felt on day one holds up in a way that cheaper alternatives don’t.
If you’re primarily a commuter and office listener, the HX makes a strong case for itself at Rs. 59,500. If you need more ANC performance outdoors, the Sony is the honest recommendation. If you can stretch to Rs. 99,000, the H95 is a better headphone.
But the HX for what it is and what it costs it earns its place. Comfortably.