Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H6 (2nd generation)
I'm not an audiophile, I think I care a little more than your average person, but not a huge amount more. I don't have a lot of experience with a wide array of different types of headphones, or even models, so I don't feel like I can really review headphones.. or any audio gear.
So I won't, and I don't actually want to, but what I wanted to do was to write a simple recommendation. I have had these for around 15 months and they still consistently surprise and impress me. They're light, they're comfortable for long sessions, they're small for what they are and they sound excellent.
I repeat, I'm not an audiophile - so I'm not sure what in particular made the reviews for these stand out, but after reading a few, in particular those from Marco Arment and Vlad Savov - I (literally) ran out that day to my nearest Bang & Olufsen store and bought them.
The reviews in question:
- Marco Arment - 'The new headphone king: B&O H6 (2nd generation)'
- Vlad Savov (The Verge) - 'Bang & Olufsen's H6 are my new benchmark for portable headphones'
I don't keep up with the headphone market, so I don't know if these are still as recommended as they were. I said earlier that I'm consistently surprised by these headphones and this surprise is what prompted me to write this.
I use these headphones every day on my commute (if it's raining, I'll fall back to my Jaybird X3s), I use them at work at my desk and I use them at home when I just want to listen to music on my laptop. So I'm always using them and yet, I still find myself being surprised at how good they are. They're not cheap at £240 RRP and they don't offer many things that some people are looking for in headphones, stuff like active noise cancellation or a tight seal to avoid disrupting others when the volume is high.
But if you're looking for a set of light, comfortable, good looking, portable headphones that are easy to drive and offer great sound quality - then I can't recommend these enough. There have been few things I've bought in the past few years which I have had such a consistently high positive opinion of as I have had with these.
Read some actual reviews if you're actually considering them though, I have no idea what I'm talking about and you shouldn't trust a word I say.