Verdict
It ’s a miscellaneous bag of performance for the Aonic 40 . Shure ’s low-priced over - ears put in an excellent performance as far as levelheaded , call lineament , and stamp battery life are concerned ; but they ’re not the most well-off and the ANC is not the strongest either
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
For a brand as fear in the audio market as Shure , a caller that ’s been around since 1925 and wears its heritage like any mortal would wear out a pair of headphones , the brand ’s first twosome of wireless headphone arrived in 2020 .
And since then Shure has wasted no time in launching more . In a grocery ripe with option , there have been successive Aonic branded headphones that search to take vantage of the popularity wireless phone encounter themselves in .
The Aonic 40 are n’t necessarily a sequel to the originalAonic 50but a youthful sibling , and like sib it ’s the same in some direction – and dissimilar in others . They ’re smaller , more suited for portable use yet still pack that powerhouse Shure performance .
Design
think the Aonic 50 but lowly and you ’re on the correct track with the Aonic 40 . It ’s the same colour scheme ( black and silver ) , though the 40 looks and feels less sophisticated , the materials used sense more charge card , in particular the yoke that touch base the headband to the earcups .
They ’re pocket-size , so if your head is of bigger proportion , the Aonic 40 are n’t as snug a fit . For my ears , they ’re a little too little and it ’s tricky to get a good burst while wearing shabu , plus the headband poke into the top of my question after a while . The Aonic 40 are just about adequate enough in term of comfort , but certainly not the most comfortable brace of over - ears .
They ’re foldable and slot into a carry slip that comes with a USB - C charging cable and 3.5 mm sound recording cable . You ’ve got a alternative between black and a more striking white / tan finish .
You ’ve got buttons on either earcup : power on the left and playback / volume / ANC on the right . The clit are quite cushy to press and make for a unspoiled point of fundamental interaction . There ’s no build - in voice assistance but you could access your mobile earphone ’ interpreter assistant through the controls .
Features
Shure has free three wireless over - ears and each one has had a unlike stochasticity - cancellation system . They all have their ups and down feather .
The system fitted to the Aonic 40 is fine but if noise - cancellation is crucial and you want a carrying into action that ’s more conclusive , you ’d be well off looking elsewhere . Wearing these headphones I can still hear people shuffle by , or a aloof motorcycle rumbling yesteryear .
It ’s efficient enough at pipe down car , buses , and louder noises ( construction works ) and used on a plane it ’s not too shabby at quelling people ’s voice , but there are good fashion model on the market whether that ’s the Cambridge Melomania P100 or theSennheiser Accentum PlusWireless . The noise - cancellation is n’t the inviolable aspect of the Shure ’s carrying out .
The transparency ( or Environmental mode ) is also fine at letting more sound in , and it does so in a unclouded manner with no change to how audio sound when actuate . It ’s adjustable in the ShurePlay app if you require to transfer how much noise is let in .
Bluetooth supportequates to v5.0with SBC , AAC , aptX and aptX HDstreaming ; and in term of the connection between my phone and the headphones , the Aonic 40 could be good . In engaged areas , the music would skip and skip . Bluetooth multipoint is supported .
Call quality , however , is near faultless . The mortal on the other closing of the call observed that there were no sounds see other than people ’s representative as they walked . None of the dealings I walked by had any shock on the call performance . They did mention my voice went a little low at one gunpoint but that was n’t a big matter in a five - minute+ call .
Shure claims 25 60 minutes of battery lifespan for the Aonic 40 , and a two - time of day drain at 50 % volume resulted in a 5 % drop cloth . That would make battery life-time closer to 40 hours ( if my math is correct ) , so these headphones potentially have much more longevity than even Shure would say . Fast charging provides five more hours from a 15 - min accusation .
The ShurePlay app offers the way to customise the noise - cancellation , battery charging stage setting and what the headphones can do when connected over USB ( you could use these earphone for conference meetings if you like ) .
There is a range of a function of equalizer presets to select from and a rather complex custom EQ that countenance you to shape the frequency chain of mountains , gain , and bandwidth . And , you ’ve also get a Hi - res euphony player functionality , so you may play file straight from your phone .
Sound Quality
As far as heavy tone run , Shure ’s wireless headphones have been some of my favourites . While they have flaws in other surface area , I sense with each headphone they ’ve squeezed as much functioning and tune up as they could have , and like the original Aonic 50 and theAonic 50 Gen 2 , the Aonic 40 are a sure-footed , liberal - flowing pair of over - ear .
compare to the Aonic 50 Gen 2 , they ’re a footfall down in carrying out but on the whole , they share characteristics – what you get from the flagship model is simply more of what ’s inside the Aonic 40 .
With The Prodigy ’s Omen the Aonic 40 yield unattackable sea bass delivery and get-up-and-go , but drop in size from the Gen 2 Aonic 50 ’s drivers ( 50 mm ) to the Aonic 40 ( 40 mm ) result in a soundstage that is n’t as big .
The way both headphones organize the soundstage is the same , you just get a more spacious execution with the Aonic 50 . What you get with the flagship dyad is more of what ’s already in the Aonic 40 : more energy , a large soundstage and increase storey of clarity and particular . Considering the terms the Aonic 40 have dropped to in some topographic point , I ’d wager some can live with that .
Regardless , the Aonic 40 are an energetic and crisp listen across most music musical style . There ’s an self-assertiveness to how it describes bass voice in Hard Life ’s frame that offers more depth and impressiveness than the Sennheiser Accentum Plus Wireless ( as well as a more expansive soundstage ) . Where the Sennheiser sounds a small more sedate and smooth , the Shure remains the more fascinating listen of the two .
The spirit level of midrange detail and both eminent and sharply transmit , while high oftenness are sharp , cleared and bright with Andreas Ihlebæk ’s Come Summer without falling into the trap some earpiece have of sounding harsh or distorted . They ’re an impressively tuned dyad of headphones , and if you look around , they ’re available for an only gettable damage .
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Should you buy it?
Easily one of the better - sounding over - ears , especially if you get them for less than £ 150 .
Good sound , foresightful battery , swell call lineament are hampered by average interference - cancellation , a design that ’s uncomfortable , and patchy wireless performance in busy expanse .
Final Thoughts
It ’s been a few yr since the Shure Aonic 40 launched , but even when they first come on scene , I felt they were compromised in some shipway . The pattern is n’t the most comfortable to wear for prolonged period , and the noise - cancelling is n’t the strongest at repel sound .
But they do carry Shure ’s earmark speech sound with a crisp , energetic carrying into action and considering you may find them for around £ 135 , they ’re easily one of the comfortably - fathom headphone at that terms . For that alone , you may want to forgive .
You may want to consider them as a cheaper alternative to mid - image over - ears such as the Cambridge Melomania P100 , theSennheiser Accentum Plus Wirelessor the still availableSony WH-1000XM4 .
And although they do n’t go as sound as the Shure , there is theSony WH - CH720Nover - ear , which are one of the best budget over - ears below £ 100 to think about too .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every set of earphone we review thoroughly over an extended period of time . We apply industry standard tests to compare features properly . We ’ll always tell you what we determine . We never , ever , accept money to survey a mathematical product .
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FAQs
There ’s no support for LDAC on this headphone . It does affirm up to aptX HD streaming .
