Bang & Olufsen H95 Nice cans, but how much!?

Remember being miffed at the price of a pair of Airpods Max? Well, the Danes just hit us with a ‘hold my beer’ moment…

£700 / stuff.tv/h95

■ If Stuff were celebrating 95 years of heritage in sound, we’d just be glad we could still hear at all. Bang & Olufsen has marked the milestone with what looks on the surface like a vanity project: a crazy-expensive pair of folding ANC headphones made from aluminium with magnetic lambskin ear-cushions.

■ When buying a B&O product you expect a certain level of quality, but even by the Danish company’s standards the H95s are exquisitely built, not to mention over 60g lighter than Apple’s over-ears and with almost double the battery life in ANC mode.

■ The headphones use a mix of touch controls, buttons, and a pair of glorious rotating dials on the inside edge of the aluminium housings – think of them like oversize Apple Digital Crowns extending all around the cans.

They make functions like increasing the volume massively satisfying.

■ Two 40mm titanium drivers with neodymium magnets are coupled with Bluetooth 5.1 aptx for hi-res audio and lagless synchronisation of video content. Spatially they sound quite exceptional, and a smidge of over-excitement in the high frequencies is easily rectified with the app’s EQ.

■ Noise-cancelling is adaptive and can be adjusted with one of the dials or through the app. In terms of killing unwanted din they’re on a par with the best in the business… but then, at this price, anything less would be a disgrace.

Tech specs

Connectivity Bluetooth 5 aptx, 3.5mm, USB-C Battery life Up to 38hrs Weight 323g (case 500g)

Fool if you pink it over

No Apple-style gaudy colours here: your options are black, light grey or a slightly more blingy look called Gold Tone.

■ Stow me the way

While Apple has been derided for its cans’ bizarrely unprotective ‘bra’ case, the H95s fold neatly into a little aluminium suitcase with a separate compartment for the fabric charging cable, 3.5mm audio lead and flight adaptor.

■ Stay on these modes Rather than being an additional pain of a platform, the Bang & Olufsen app is a pleasant place to be and a home for every B&O product you own. The EQ has a lovely interface and there’s a choice of preset listening modes.