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The bottom line: Not everyone needs headphones dripping with tech. The Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H4 are solid wireless headphones that don’t have active noise cancelling, jaw-dropping battery life or aptX HD. However, they are comfortable, sound and look good, and last a solid 19 hours between charges. B&O also takes it usual approach to materials too. If something looks like metal, it is metal. Those leather pads? They are real leather, not synthetic stuff. At their launch price the BeoPlay H4 might be a tough sell in a world of super-advanced headphones like the Sony WH-1000xm2. But you can sometimes find them on sale under their standard price online. Make sure you like bass, though, as there's quite a lot of it here.
Pros: Smart looks, powerful sound
Cons: No active noise cancellation, focus-pulling bass
What you should know about the BeoPlay H4
B&O’s Play range offers a touch of luxury without a price radically different to, say, Sony’s. The BeoPlay H4 come in seven colors, including a particularly eye-catching tangerine and grey two-tone.
These are full-size headphones, with large cups that encompass your ears. As such, they’re particularly well-suited to glasses-wearers who might not get on with on-ear pairs.
Specs-wise, you get a solid set of basics but nothing too flashy. The 600mAh battery lasts around 19 hours, there are on-cup controls and you can plug in a cable if you forget to recharge them.
However, there’s no aptX, NFC or active noise cancellation. They might not be the best choice at the price if you want a pair to wear on a particularly noisy commute.
And the sound? The Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H4 are pretty bassy. If you like bass lines to sound pounding, you’ll probably love this signature.
Those after a delicate tone or neutral frequency response should look elsewhere, but Bang & Olufsen has made exactly the kind of tone it wanted here. Big bass wasn’t a mistake.
So if you’re a basshead and a bit of a style fiend, the Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H4 will keep you very happy.
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