Lindy BNX-100
Wireless noise-cancelling headphones fall short of the standards set by the company’s previous budget cans
A few years ago, Lindy showed that it was possible to design a five-star pair of wireless noise-cancelling headphones for less than £100. But, as it says in the smallprint, past performance is no guarantee of future success, and so these BNX-100S arrive with the German manufacturer’s reputation at stake.
You can trust Lindy to offer all the mod cons at a reasonable price. For £120, the BNX-100S come equipped with active noise cancelling, aptx Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity up to 10m, a 12-hour battery life (with Bluetooth and noise-cancelling on), an integrated mic and even an auto-pause function that starts and stops your music depending on whether they’re on or off your head. And having the BNX-100S on your head is a nice feeling. They weigh just over 500g, enough to feel substantial without giving your neck muscles a workout. The padded earcups, which house 40mm neodymium drivers, warm our ears to a degree, but are generally rather comfortable.
Lindy has made the BNX-100S simple to use, too. A long press of the textured button on the right earcup starts pairing mode – a voice lets you know when it’s complete – while noise-cancellation is controlled via the buttons on the left.
Plenty of boxes ticked
You can also use the multi-function button on the right earcup, and those straddling it, to control playback, volume and calls without reaching for your phone. That’s not exactly a USP, but it is another box ticked.
Lindy has generally been good at ticking boxes with the BNX-100S, especially considering the price. We can imagine a few people will be thinking about putting them in their shopping basket, based on their budget price and impressive features alone. But the Lindy BNX-100S sound may make them think again. It certainly isn’t irritating, jagged or incompetent in any regard to make listening a chore, there’s just nothing about it we could call great.
The first thing you’ll notice is the balance, which, much like noticing your internal organs, is a worry in itself. It’s skewed heavily towards a soft bass end, spotlighting perhaps the BNX-100S’ greatest flaw, and rolls off a sizeable portion of top end frequencies.
There is a slight coarseness to treble frequencies, but these headphones’ presentation at least means you won’t hear much of that.
Turning on the noise cancelling tidies things up a little – and, though noisy in itself, also cuts out a fair bit of background interference. It helps a little with definition, though any dense arrangement leaves instruments fighting to take up the same space.
That paves the way for a rather slovenly performance overall, not helped by a dearth of attack and general dynamic indifference. Timing in itself isn’t too bad, but any sense of impetus is lost as the BNX-100S appear content to sit down and let the music pass them by.
Better rivals out there…
Finding a truly outstanding pair of wireless noise cancellers at this price can be a struggle, but anyone shopping for headphones with these specs should also consider Sony’s WH-CH700NS. They present a far better balance, with greater clarity and a more cohesive overall performance, and they're £20 cheaper.
We wanted to say that Lindy had improved on its five-star budget wireless cans of a couple years back, and we’re disappointed we can’t. This is no more than an average pair of headphones and, given our high hopes, that's a shame.