Audio company Klipsch has announced its first ever pair of wireless noise-cancelling headphones, which will debut at CES 2020 in Las Vegas from January 7 – representing a new rival for the class-leading Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless Headphones.
According to Engadget, the new Klipsch Over-Ear Active Noise Cancelling headphones will go on sale sometime between September and November, and will cost $399 (which works out at around £300 / AU$570 based on current conversion rates).
That’s the same price as the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, and $50 more expensive than Sony’s wireless cans, which cost $349 / £300 / AU$499 upon their launch in August 2018.
Impressive specs
Based on the specs, the new Klipsch headphones compare favorably to their biggest competitors, boasting a 30-hour battery life, which matches the Sony WH-1000XM3, and beats the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 by about ten hours.
If you frequently forget to charge your wireless headphones, you’ll be pleased to know that a USB-C quick charge feature provides five hours of battery life from just ten minutes of charging time. Klipsch’s nifty FlightCase means you can even charge these cans without taking them out of their case.
The new Over-Ear Active Noise Cancelling headphones look very striking indeed, with a chunky, retro-looking finish and rose gold accents. They certainly don’t look as sleek as the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, but that robust design could appeal to those who like their headphones on the sturdier side.
Klipsch claims that its new over-ear headphones are capable of providing 40 decibels of noise cancelation, and will include a transparency mode so you can hear your surroundings when needed.
The company hasn’t revealed very much about the audio quality offered by its latest headphones, simply stating that they’ll deliver the company’s “signature sound” – we’ll be on the ground at CES 2020 to test this out for ourselves, but Klipsch does have a good reputation in this regard. In fact, we awarded the brand’s true wireless earbuds 4.5 out of 5 stars in our Klipsch T5 True Wireless Earphones review.
Should you find the sound profile of these headphones isn’t to your liking, you’ll be able to tweak the EQ settings using the Klipsch Connect App; however, it was supposed to be released last year, and a quick check of the Google Play Store shows that the app still isn’t available to download. Upon its release, the Connect App should allow you to contact customer support and check your the battery level of
You’ll get support for codecs like SBC, aptX HD and AAC, but there’s no word on whether these noise-cancelling headphones will support Hi-Res Audio files for lossless listening.
A dedicated Google Assistant button provides access to the super smart voice assistant – whether Klipsch will eventually include support for Alexa remains to be seen.
Based on their specs, price, and design, these cans could definitely give Sony a run for its money – as long as the brand doesn’t launch the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Headphones at CES 2020.
Rumors of an imminent Sony WH-1000XM4 release date have been circling since an FCC filing from Sony revealed the model number of what could be a brand new pair of noise-canceling headphones.
At this stage, we only have the FCC filing, which doesn’t give a firm indication of release date – however, clearing an FCC filing usually suggests that a launch is imminent, and CES 2020 would be a great place for Sony to launch its new cans.
Via Engadget