Surface Headphones 2: All we know about Microsoft's ANC over-ears

It’s been a while since Microsoft first over-ear headphone went on sale. Rumours heavily indicate that the Surface Headphones 2 are on their way soon. 

If the rumours are true, the Surface Headphones 2 could launch as soon as May, alongside the Surface Earbuds.

The original Surface Headphones were decent. Let’s hope Microsoft has improved in areas where it counts

Related: Best noise-cancelling headphones

Surface Headphones 2 release date

The first Surface Headphones popped up in November 2018. We expected they might have made an appearance at Microsoft’s Surface Event in late 2019, but that came and went.

We know that Microsoft is holding another Surface even in May where it’s expected to announce more Surface tablets and laptops. We’d put some money on it being announced then, with a release date in the next few weeks.

Surface Headphones 2 price

Quite frankly, for what they offered, the original Surface Headphones were too costly compared to the competition they were up against.

Will Microsoft still feel the the Surface Headphones 2 exist in the premium range of noise-cancelling headphones. We’re not so sure.

With the release of the Kygo A11/800 and Cleer FLOW II headphones, there’s definitely a mid-market tier for ANC headphones that are a lot more affordable than the likes of Sony, Bowers & Wilkins and Sennheiser. And to be even more frank, Microsoft don’t have the audio heritage to go up against those brands.

£230 to £260 would make more sense in our minds than a price of £350.

Surface Headphones 2 design — What features will they have?

The original Surface Headphones were grey. Very, very grey.

In terms of opening impressions, a grey aesthetic doesn’t lend itself to a ‘wow’ moment. It does tie into Microsoft’s choice for its audio products so far. With the Surface Headphones 2, we are hoping  Microsoft could be more adventurous in terms of colour. Even black would be better than grey and thankfully, a black version was spotted in a leaked promotional video from 2019.

The Surface Headphones were a robust pair of headphones and we’d expect the same level of build quality with a new effort in the headphone range. Plus, they were very comfortable to wear, so in these regards Microsoft got it spot on. A few tweaks in this area

Otherwise, the Surface Headphones 2 could use more pizzazz, something to make them stand out but also create a sense of identity about the brand too as they’re rather drab and boring looking.

We’d expect the same features the original Surface Headphones had – so built-in Cortana integration that’s actually built-in, noise-cancellation, touch panels etc. 91mobiles spotted a new Bluetooth SIG listing that Microsoft is tweaking the control scheme. Instead of using rotary dials to adjust the volume and ANC, it appears the Surface Headphones 2 will have dial buttons that let the user customise ANC via three levels.

Battery life was only 15 hours with ANC on, and recent reports have indicated that it has been bumped up to 20 hours, which puts them around the Bose NC 700 and Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3. It doesn’t look like they’ll be hitting the 30 hour mark any time soon.

An upgrade to aptX/Bluetooth 5 from Bluetooth 4.2 would help in the audio quality department too.

That’s all we know about the Surface Headphones 2. Hopefully we’ll be able to glean more details from Microsoft’s upcoming Surface event.

The post Surface Headphones 2: All we know about Microsoft's ANC over-ears appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

from Trusted Reviews https://ift.tt/2ohyjJ2