Sennheiser HD 250BT and IE 300

Though Sennheiser was not an official CES exhibitor, the company timed the announcement of two new models to coincide with the show. The “entry level” HD 250BT wireless headphones ($70) support Aptx-enabled Bluetooth 5.0 and work with the company’s Smart Control App, which puts an equalizer at the listener’s fingertips and shows remaining battery life, which is rated for up to 25 hours on a full charge.

At $300, the IE 300 in-ear headphones are more than four times the cost of the 250BT, and they’re not even wireless — but they are “meticulously crafted to offer nuanced, natural sound on the go” thanks to the use of a new, refined version of the 0.28-inch “extra wide band” (XWB) transducer Sennheiser builds at its headquarters in Wedemark, Germany. The XWB is made with a special “membrane foil” designed to minimize resonance and reduce distortion and loaded with a back volume said to minimize reflections. The design also includes a resonant chamber that “removes masking resonances in the ear canal for more refined and detailed treble.”