The Lindy BNX-60XT over-ears are the newest in a line of fine-value noise-cancelling headphones from the German model. The unique BNX-60 are a funds favorite of ours, coming away with a five-star ranking in 2016. That, although, was seven years in the past, and there was no scarcity of funds ANC headphones coming into the market since. Has the addition of the letters ‘XT’ to the mannequin title moved issues on for the sub-£100 mannequin?
Worth
The brand new Lindy BNX-60XT wi-fi noise-cancellers will set you again £95 / $116 approx / AUS$189, and the function checklist is respectable for a set of headphones on the inexpensive scale. Within the UK, you may presently discover them for as little as £89, even. Be aware that in Australia, these headphones go by a special mannequin title of LH700XW.
At this value, nevertheless, it faces stiff competitors from the newly-crowned 2023 Award-winner, the Sony WH-CH720N, that are yours for comparable cash at £99 / $129 / AU$259. Furthermore, the unique Lindy BNX-60, which we’re instructed will probably be discontinued as soon as present inventory is bought, are nonetheless available for purchase, with costs as little as £79 within the UK. Discount.
Construct & options
Like their forebears, the discreet all-black Lindy BNX-60XT are solidly made out of sturdy plastic with pleather earpads. The headscarf is softly padded as properly, and will be expanded to suit bigger heads.
Every earcup homes a couple of buttons and controls, and there are a few lights, one on every earcup, to let what is occurring. On the left cup you can find quantity and subsequent/earlier tune controls, along with a multi-function button to show issues on and off, arrange Bluetooth 5.0 pairing, play and pause and name answering. There may be additionally a lightweight to let if the headset is charging, or functioning wirelessly. And at last, there’s a 3.5mm output for the provided cable – with a microphone and management buttons – which suggests the headphones will operate with no cost as properly (supplied, after all, you have got the technique of plugging them into your supply machine).
Lindy BNX-60XT tech specs
Bluetooth 5.0 (aptX)
Noise cancelling? Sure
Battery life As much as 29 hours (BT and ANC on)
Charging USB-C
Cable size 1.5 m
Constructed-in mic and controls? Sure
Finishes x1
Weight 198g
The precise earcup has the USB-C enter for charging and a toggle to show the noise cancelling on and off. A lightweight reveals when ANC is functioning.
It is going to take two hours to totally cost the headphones from empty, however you can provide them a five-minute zap for as much as an hour of playback – helpful for that commute house, maybe. Totally charged, the headphones ought to present greater than a day’s playback with each Bluetooth and ANC on – 29 hours is Lindy’s declare.
The BNX-60XT additionally profit from twin pairing – spectacular for the comparatively low outlay. This implies that you would be able to have them paired with each a telephone and a laptop computer and may change between the 2. This isn’t seamless – you need to pause the sound on the laptop computer, say, to then take a name in your telephone – nevertheless it does work when you get used to issues. Moreover, headphones will be paired with a most of eight units.
Additionally supplied along with your buy are a hard-shell carry case, the audio cable, a USB-A to C charging cable, a 6.3mm adaptor and a dual-plug flight adaptor. It is a fairly well-specified package deal for the cash.
Consolation & usability
The BNX-60XT sit pretty comfortably on the top. Our largest-headed reviewers on the staff did must have the headscarf absolutely prolonged to get an inexpensive match and seal, so these with a jumbo max-sized skull could must test these Lindys for match earlier than buy. The earpads are fairly properly padded and delicate sufficient, and the clamping strain – initially a contact too agency for these of us with spectacles – eases with use.
As with many over-ear designs, your ears will in all probability get fairly heat after half an hour or so’s use, nevertheless it by no means will get too uncomfortable.
As is common with headphone controls, it takes a little bit of getting used to the varied button positions, however when you get that down pat, it’s pretty simple to get your head round every part round your head.
There are points, nevertheless. When the headphones are in noise-cancelling mode, a slight push on the earcups will make the sound lower out. It doesn’t occur when the ANC is switched off, or when the cable is getting used, so there’s clearly a difficulty with that individual mode. We examined and lived with the headphones for almost a full month, and it doesn’t occur on a regular basis, however the slightest of touches could make the audio skip for a second.
Additionally, after we used the headphones for a video assembly, the opposite folks on the decision discovered the audio muffled from time to time. This wasn’t such a difficulty with telephone calls, however we discovered utilizing our MacBook Professional’s built-in mic on video conferences made us extra audible on the different finish as compared.
Sound & noise cancelling
We join our Lindy BNX-60XT headphones to each our Apple MacBook Professional and iPhone 12 and take heed to music on Spotify and Tidal over Bluetooth, with noise cancelling each on and off. And the variations between the 2 are stark.
With noise cancelling off, bass is overly outstanding and the remainder of the sonic vary appears to be hiding behind a curtain, or smear of vaseline; it isn’t muffled precisely, nevertheless it has to battle too arduous to win its place within the highlight from the overarching bass tones.
Change the noise cancelling on, and the midrange snaps into life and pushes that bass a bit additional into the background. The sound is bulged to the midrange, however not uncomfortably or irritatingly so. There are occasions when the highest finish veers perilously near being too strident for our style, nevertheless it nearly manages to hold on on the acceptable degree of brightness.
The midrange and bass, with noise cancelling on, are decently built-in usually, and the timing of the headphones is fairly good – Younger The Big’s My Physique rattles alongside at a jaunty lick – and dynamics and element are acceptable for headphones at this finish of the market.
The difficulty right here is that, whereas the Lindy BNX-60XT are completely practical over-ear headphones, they don’t present an enormous sense of enjoyment to our music listening. They’d do sterling service as a commuting or workplace workhorse, but when we had been trying to get engrossed in our music we might look elsewhere.
The noise-cancelling, too, is center of the highway at finest. In fact, the character of over-ear headphones means that there’s a respectable quantity of passive noise isolation anyway, however the change to noise cancelling, whereas bettering the sound the BNX-60XT present significantly, is extra disappointing so far as an exterior sound blocking software. Once more, in all probability positive for a brief commute, however voices within the workplace are nonetheless clearly audible, and we might definitely plump for a greater choice if we had been about to embark on a long-haul flight.
Verdict
If the noise-cancelling had been higher, we would have the ability to make a greater case for the Lindy BNX-60XT, maybe; however they fall only a bit brief on each ANC and, extra importantly, sound. At this value, the five-star Sony CH720N provide a extra full of life, detailed and rhythmically succesful efficiency that lets us get pleasure from our music extra – and you may tone down that emphatic bass, too.
As a software to make use of in your each day commute, and within the workplace maybe, the Lindys will do a superbly serviceable job. If you wish to actually get pleasure from your music, nevertheless, there are higher, extra succesful choices out there for even much less cash elsewhere.
SCORES
- Sound 3
- Options 4
- Consolation 4
MORE:
Learn our overview of the Award-winning Sony WH-CH720N
Additionally take into account the five-star (non-ANC) Sony WH-CH520
Learn our authentic Lindy BNX-60 overview
Finest noise-cancelling headphones: high ANC headphones for each funds
