JUNE 2019 MACWORLD 119and first-class construction.
They come in two colors:
Traditional black and natural.
The latter was the color of
my review pair.
The headband’s arms are
made from brushed
aluminum anodized to match
the headphones’ color. The
aluminum arms slide in and
out in a perfectly smooth,
infinitely adjustable motion.
This is no clunky, click-
adjustable headband. Best of
all, once you set the headphone’s arm
positions, they don’t slide or move.
You’ll find similar high-quality materials
throughout this product. The top of the
headband is genuine cowhide, for
example, while the ear pads consist of
ultra comfortable memory form enveloped
in soft lambskin. Should you ever need to,
you can replace the entire ear pads for $70.
The ear cups are adjustable and fold
flat. You’ll need to look hard to see the fine
line at the base of the headband arms
indicating these are two pieces of metal
joined together. The folding ear cups
accommodate both travel and adjustments
to fit the contour of your face. The folding
motion is silky smooth.
The acoustically transparent fabric
covering the electrodynamic 40mm drivers
is printed with a large “L” or “R,” so you can
easily discern which is left and which is
right. The ear cups are made of a plastic
polymer and capped with matching
brushed aluminum B&O branded discs.
The plastic polymer doesn’t feel cheap by
any means.
In contrast to the cowhide leather on
top, the headband’s underside has a cloth
covering with four quadrants of padding,
which doesn’t seem to do much. These
headphones tended to become
uncomfortable after long listening
sessions. After about an hour, I’d feel
pressure at the very top of my head,
forcing me to either take the headphones
off for a bit or loosen them. This was a bit
of a disappointment considering how
comfortable the ear pads are.
I found the Beoplay H9i easy to slip into
a backpack or extra large coat pocket, butThe Beoplay H9i’s ear pads are removable and replaceable.