Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones Review

Today I will be reviewing Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless Headphones which are known for their noise-canceling feature among many others.

Over the years I’ve bought many headphones for work and gaming, if you follow me and my reviews.

But ever since I tested Sennheiser PXC 550 there has been a dramatic difference in my routine and trust me I’m not exaggerating. You will shortly find out in this article why I’ve become a fan of Sennheiser PXC 550.

Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless – NoiseGard Adaptive Noise Cancelling, Bluetooth Headphone with Touch Sensitive Control and 30-Hour Battery Life

• Bluetooth 4.2 wireless technology in an ergonomically designed lightweight, comfortable and collapsible travel headset...
• NoiseGard adaptive noise cancellation ensures superior sound quality in every environment. Impedance:Active 490 Ohm/ Passive...
• Intuitive user control and convenience thanks for voice prompts, touch controls, NFC pairing, smart pause and automatic...

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Last update on 2024-04-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Product Specifications

Unboxing

Sennheiser PXC 550 comes with attractive packaging, which includes a micro USB cable for charging purposes and a 2.5 – 3.5 millimeter cable for the audio files. These cables are quite rare and are not easily available in the market so better not lose them.

List of items that comes with the packaging; 

1. Headphones.
2. Case to carry and to keep it safe.
3. USB cable for charging purposes. 
4. Audio cable approx. 3.5mm with inline remote control.
5. Adaptor of approx. 3.5 mm – 6.3 mm.
6. For airplane usage, it also includes an inflight entertainment adapter. 
7. A safety guide is also available. 

How Does It Feel To Use Sennheiser PXC 550?

I’ve been testing Sennheiser PXC 550 for about three years. There are some positive things as well as some negative points that I felt during my experience of three years of usage. First, I will move on towards the positive points.

As you know I travel a lot, so I want my traveling experience to be as comfortable as possible. One of my favorite features is the double tap on the right pad of the headphones.

My friends, you will be shocked if I tell you how much I use this double-tap, you can cancel the noise whenever you want without any delay. I love this noise-canceling feature, it’s really very good as if you are stuck in a vacuum.

The Oval Shape

One of the things that I like the most about the Sennheiser PXC 550 is the shape of the headsets and the product design. It’s no secret that I have big ears, bigger than the average human size. 

Over the past years, I’ve tried many headsets but all of them had the same exact round shape, which after some time did apply pressure on my earlobes, and I couldn’t stand the pain after an hour of wearing it.

As a result, I cannot wear them for a long period of time. So Sennheiser PXC 550 has resolved one of the biggest traveling issues as the selection of their design is more towards oval shape rather than round, making them perfect for my earlobes.

But at the same time earphones can do the same job for me.

The Attractive Body

This oval-shaped size is way more attractive looking and more comfortable to use. As a result, I can now travel hours without feeling a need to take them off. Again, the PXC 550 is not just comfortable to use but also elegant looking as well.

The Sweat Pads Around the Earlobe

I was impressed by the attractive body and the oval shape but as I travel a lot I need to wear headphones for a longer period of time.

Using PXC 550 I’ve noticed that its pads are not comfortable. They become sweaty real quickly which is a no for me. Like I can’t wear them for a longer period of time. It gets very uncomfortable and I seriously don’t like that.

How Do You Control the Sennheiser PXC 550?

It also has some neat tricks, which are:

• If you want to activate the headphones you just have to put them in a hearing position, and you will find them activated.

• For pairing, you simply have to pair them through NFC (turn on NFC on your mobile, you will also get to know if your mobile supports NFC or not), by simply touching your mobile with the left ear pads.

• On the other hand, the right pad is used for controlling purposes. 

a) If you move your finger vertically up and down, you can control the volume.

b) By moving your finger from left to right, you can change the track. 

c) Tap once if you want to pause and play.

d) Finally, my personal favorite, is double-tap to hear the world outside, as it uses the microphones that help to feed the audio that surrounds you. Moreover, you can always control the level through the mobile application and also through a switch included on the side of the sets. 

• If you ever want to opt for the standard version of Bluetooth pairing, and if it prompts for any pin or maybe a password, the default response is always 0000.

• I charged these headphones for 3 hours non-stop before my first use, it normally takes 3 hours. Now my battery performs better and it will perform better in the long run as well.

Features That Don’t Really Work In Longer Run

NFT One-Touch Pairing

This feature never worked for me. Like I tried many times but sadly it’s another failure for me. It gets annoying when it clearly says that it’s a one-touch pairing and it does not pair after one touch. Weird right? 

Bluetooth

when you are using a laptop and this headset is connected and you are listening to songs but then if you use discord, me and my friends usually use discord but when I open this application, all of a sudden songs stop and it tries to reconnect.

It’s very confusing and gives a very bad impression. I don’t know the details of how the Bluetooth works but I’ve to reconnect PXC 550 to make it work. It’s not at all impressive.

30 Hours Of Battery Life

I feel that the 30-hour battery life of PXC 550 is a myth. I don’t even remember now when was the last time these headsets worked for 30 hours not even once. After use for 3 years, it hardly works even for 4 hours. And I have to hear all the time that headphones need to be charged.

8 Best Features of Sennheiser PXC 550

1. The noise-canceling feature helps you in many noisy places but does not perform well during wind breeze. 
2. Touch controls on both right and left pads will make your life a lot easier.
3. Talking while wearing your headphones is one of the most impressive features I believe. You just have to double-tap the pad on the right side of the headphones.
4. Foldable headphones will make your life a lot easier and are travel-friendly.
5. You can do a quick battery check by holding the right side of the pad for almost 4 seconds. You will hear beeps, 1 beep means you need to charge your headphones i.e. battery life is 2-20%, 2 beeps indicate that battery is 20-40% and 3 beeps mean 40-60% battery life, 4 beeps mean battery life is 60-80% and 5 beeps mean that battery is over 80%.
6. I always forget my charger at home and suffer later but if you are anywhere near like me, this headphone is your best friend. It has a flat battery work system, as it comes with a USB cable.
7. Sennheiser PXC 550 can pair up to 8 devices at a time.
8. It says you can connect it with the capture companion app, available in both iOS and Android. It will allow you to tune any sound that you love. Currently, the app does not support Spotify and services related to music streaming

Pros 

So coming towards positive things first.

Its audio quality is pretty good when compared to other Bluetooth audio devices.

Its audio is not the loudest that I’ve heard before, but it’s rich, considering its epic noise cancellation. The combination is good.

Apart from that, there is also an equalizer through the Sennheiser cap to tune the application if you prefer.

Cons

There are as such no negative points but the wind filter of these Sennheiser PXC 550 is not really perfect.

I mean normally there is no way for wind to not filter into the earphones whenever you are walking through a breeze. It just defeats the purpose of noise cancellation as the audio quality is just not that impressive during that moment.

The other point is that if you sweat a lot like me you will feel that these are not comfortable headphones to use as they are not suitable for warm weather and for constant use. 

The 30-hour battery which is being advertised, No, that is actually not true. You have to remember to switch them off whenever you put them on your neck, So you would be able to save some of its battery.

These smart applications tend to stop the music when you put them on your neck but what they don’t do is they won’t do noise cancellation mode until you actually switch them off.

 Comparison

Is PXC 550 the Right Set of Headphones for You?

These headphones were basically designed for travelers. Travelers who love music, and who make a lot of calls during their journey, and also for those who really like to avoid noise. If you are one of those people, these PXC 550 will be a natural fit for you.

Regardless of its technical expertise, it’s very easy to use. You just have to flip it and it will be ready to use. It has a good noise cancellation feature.

I won’t say that It’s really a one-time investment, and I believe it is always better to invest in something that will last longer.

But when we talk about Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones. An iPod earphone is a better option than these and they are less expensive than these headsets. It gets very uncomfortable due to its sweaty pads.

As there is a saying, always choose quality over quantity.

If you worry about the money and have a limited budget, then Sennheiser PXC 550 is not for you.

But on the other hand, if you have a high budget and are looking for fancy headphones and sweaty pads that don’t bother you and you don’t travel for a longer period of time then you are the right person for the PXC 550. 

If you are looking for headphones for your workouts, then I would not recommend these PXC 550. The reason behind this is if you do a heavy workout or an intense cardio workout, these headphones won’t hold on tight.

As they are a little heavy and can slip from ears. It would be better if you use internal earphones. And if you travel for long hours then this is not your guy.

Conclusion 

Even with its some benefits, Sennheiser PXC 550 has not made any place in my travel light items list. As I travel a lot and for a longer period of time I always face battery issues when I use Sennheiser PXC 550. And I cannot wear it as it gets very sweaty. 

Yes, active noise cancellation is truly something good but there are other headsets that also work great but investing a lot of money just for this and some fancy touch features, I would not recommend that.

Coming towards the price of 400 dollars, yes, they cost a pretty penny. There are many other better options out there in the market.

The first-generation PXC 550 is a good option for listeners who don’t need easy access to their voice assistant and don’t care about AAC functionality.

That’s all for today’s article you can follow me for more honest reviews.