As a person who takes music everywhere, I would not wait to give these a try. From personal experience, Edifier has made some great quality products in the past. Is the Edifier WH500 one of them?
Maximum Quality, Minimum Spend
As a current owner of the W820NB headphones which go everywhere with me, I was interested to see how the WH500 compares in quality to a more expensive product. Were they good enough to replace my current favourites? Let’s take a look at the features and see what I thought.
The Hardware
When the package arrived from Edifier, I was pleasantly surprised at how slim the packaging was. This lead me to believe that the headset was ultra-compact which is perfect for daily use and travel. So straight out of the box, they are ready to go with an 80% charge on them. Ideal as I was going for a walk in the afternoon and didn’t have to wait to try them out.
You get a USB-C charging and quick start guide to start you off. My first impressions were that they look really comfortable and they were indeed ultra-portable. The cups swivel 90 degrees and fold inwards taking up as little space as possible.
The cups and headband have some nice thick padding, while the headband is not so firm to clamp onto your head. Coupled with being lightweight, I was able to wear them for long periods of time without them ever feeling intrusive. When out for a run there was no slippage so they were pretty secure on my head. I was sent the black and yellow pair which look pretty funky. They are also available in white/gold and baby blue/white if you fancy something a little more classy or trendy.
Connection and Functionality
Pairing them to devices is an absolute breeze. I have these paired with my Android phone, Nintendo Switch, and my laptop, and connecting via Bluetooth 5.2 was as easy as holding down the power button on the right cup, 6 seconds, and done! Switching between devices is seamless.
On either side of the power button are the 2 function buttons. These will perform various functions depending on what you are using them more. Primarily for music, you will use them for changing the volume and skipping tracks. If someone has the audacity to call you while listening to music, hold the power button for one second to answer the call, or preferably for two seconds to reject the call. Again the two function buttons will adjust the volume of that call.
The mode button allows you to quickly switch between music mode and game mode. On the other side of that is the USB-C charging port. Charging on this headset is brilliant, provided you are using fast charging. In a rush? No problem, a 10-minute charge will give you 6 hours of use. A full charge will only take 2 hours giving you 40 hours of playback. All of these controls are positioned on the rear of the right cup ensuring ease of access to them without twisting your wrist.
So we’ve gathered that they are comfortable and charge very fast, but how do they sound? The 30mm composite diaphragm drivers are more than capable of delivering a well-balanced audio experience spanning a wide variety of music genres. The bass is particularly good but not in the slightest bit overbearing. While I listen to metal mostly, I’m very partial to classical and video game scores of the like. Both genres are very heavy in the low and treble range, but the Edifier WH500 delivered crisply and cleanly without scooping out or distorting either of the frequencies. All of this is customisable as well with the Edifier Connect app from which you can also control what you are listening to.
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While the padding on your ears is very thick, there is a small amount of sound leakage. Just don’t have them at full blast on the bus. This is only minor and an excellent pair of headphones. Calls were clear on my end as well as the receiver not being able to fault it. If listening to podcasts in bed is your thing, then you can even set a timer on the headset to switch it off. You know, in case you fall asleep, but handy for conserving battery life.
Conclusions
Suffice it to say that the Edifier WH500 surpassed my expectations. For only £44.99, you get a lot of features and great sound quality for your money. Would I recommend these to anyone who would be looking for a new set of headphones? Hell yes, I would! It’s also worth mentioning that these have replaced my W820NB pair as my daily headset. Great value, great sound, great product!
For more information, check out the product on their website here.
Thank you to Edifier for providing the sample for us to review.
