3838 AUGUST 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 378
LINDY BNX-100
★★★★★
£110•From http://www.amazon.co.uk
OVER-EAR BLUETOOTH HEADPHONES
HEADPHONESSUBTYPEOver-ear•PLUGTYPE3.5mm•
WEIGHT541g•CABLELENGTH1.5m•WARRANTYOne
yearRTB•DETAILSwww.lindy.co.uk•PARTCODE 73140
SPECIFICATIONS
LINDY’SBNX-60HEADPHONES(Shopper
341) have proven hugely popular,and forgood
reason: £80 foraset of great-sounding, active
noise-cancelling (ANC), Bluetooth over-ears is
atremendous deal. That’s still true today,
three years after release,and so the new
BNX-100 aren’t areplacement so much as a
more fashionable,feature-rich spin-off.
This means ahigher price as well, but only
modestly,and it does buy you acleaner,
more elegant design than that of the BNX-60.
The textured leatheretteonthe exterior of the
drivers’ housing calls to mind the premium
look of Sony’s discontinued MDR-1000X
headphones, but it’s tougher and much less
prone to scratching.
There are plenty of other upmarket
touches, too. The metal headband is sturdy,
the inner red lining is elegant, and both the
tough plastic casing and driver construction
feel like they’re built to last. Even the included
carrying case has atouch of class, with asoft
spandex-like material underneath and a
leatherettefinish on top.
INTHE ROUND
There are afew missteps, however.While the
circular cups look stylish, theydidn’t fit over
our ears as snugly as the oval-shaped pads of
the BNX-60. They’ve also got astrong clamp
force,which we found made them rather
uncomfortable to wear forextended periods,
especially while wearing glasses. In addition,
although the drivers still swivel, it’s alittle
disappointing that the headphones don’t fold;
many cheaper alternatives are easier to tuck
awayinarucksack.
Three discreet buttons on the right cup
provide media controls, with the central power
button also serving as ameans to answer calls.
There’s also a3.5mm auxiliary input,
and using awired connection
automatically disables Bluetooth,
thoughtfully conserving your battery.
On the leftcup,meanwhile,isa
Micro USB charging port, a
switch forturning ANC on and
off,and an audio passthrough
button. This instantly reduces
the volume of your music to
10%, so you can quickly tune
intoyour surroundings. Note
that this only works when ANC
is switched on.
The final clever feature is one
you can’t actually see: aset of
internal sensors enable the BNX-100 to
automatically pause playback when they’re
taken off your head, and instantaneously
resume it when they’re back on. This only
works over Bluetooth, but it’s supremely
convenient and anice addition to such an
affordable pair of headphones.
Battery life, naturally,depends on which
features you’re using. If you’re listening over a
wired connection with ANC enabled, you can
expect around 30 hours of use between
charges, while using ANC over Bluetooth will
give you closer to 12 hours. Four blue LEDs
on the exterior part of the leftcup give an
indication of remaining battery life, meaning
you can see at aglance when atop-up is in
order.It’s just apity that the illumination
can’t be disabled –and that goes forthe
power LED on the right cup,too.
Once it’s time to recharge,the headphones
take around two hours to fully refuel. There’s
no fast-charging option, and it’s slightly
annoying that theycan’t be used while
they’re being charged.
CARRYATUNE
When paired with acompatible sound
source,the BNX-100 support aptX, a
compression system that delivers
higher-quality audio over Bluetooth
than the more common AACand SBC
codecs. This helps them shine
throughout the frequency range,and
gives them afun sound signature,
which is reminiscent of the BNX-60 but
with amore aggressive approach and
clearer mids. Lindy has also tweaked the
highs, with the BNX-100 extending slightly
further than its cheaper counterpart.
The difference between the two is
noticeable.Onthe BNX-60, vocals sound
more restrained and atouch crowded by the
instrumentation. The BNX-100 sound atad
airier and give apunchier,faster-paced
delivery overall.
Instrument separation is good, too, and
the BNX-100 manage to deliver awider
sound, creating an engaging listening
experience.The only cause forconcern is
an inherited weakness from the BNX-60:
slightly uncontrolled mid-bass performance,
and sub-bass that doesn’t extend quiteas
fully as we’d like.
In addition to asouped-up sound, the
BNX-100 also feature improved ANC. Even
though the cups don’t form as tight aseal as
those on the BNX-60, we found the newer
headphones did aslightly better job of
cancelling high frequencies. Neither model
will silence all external sound –certainly not
to the extent that Sony’s or Bose’s flagship
models manage –but overall theydid an
impressive job of blocking out ambient noise
without noticeably interfering with the music.
Youwon’t do better at this price point.
HEARINGAID
Ultimately,the BNX-100 improve on the
BNX-60 in almost every way. Youmight
expect nothing less, given the higher price,
but a£30 premium isn’t that hard to swallow.
Besides, you’re getting afar more stylish
design, amore refined sound, better ANC
and that handy auto-pause feature.
ChristopherMinasians
VERDICT
MultipleimprovementsovertheprecedingBNX-60
maketheseourfavouritelow-costANCheadphones
