When it comes to wireless headphones, the lower you go down the price ladder, the more the compromises creep in, especially in terms of audio quality. So imagine getting a Bluetooth headphone that not only serves up very good audio quality but also gives you the chance to improve it even further, with some help from a bundled Bluetooth dongle, and all of it now for a price in the vicinity of Rs 10,000. We are talking of the Sennheiser Accentum Wireless SE, which has an official price tag of Rs 20,990, but which is now available for Rs 10,990, or even lower from some retailers.
A special edition of the Accentum Wireless
The headphone comes with eco-friendly packaging. (Express Photo)
The Sennheiser Accentum Wireless SE should not be confused with the Sennheiser Accentum Wireless, which is a stand-alone pair of Bluetooth headphones priced at Rs 12,990. The Sennheiser Accentum Wireless SE are actually a special edition of the same headphone and includes not just a pair of Sennheiser Accentum Bluetooth headphones, but also a Sennheiser BTD600 dongle, which otherwise retails for Rs 5,990. So in essence, you are getting headphones priced at Rs 12,990 and a dongle priced at Rs 5,990, which would generally have a combined price of Rs 18,980, at a price of Rs 10,990, which is actually lower than the price of only the headphones. Yes, it is quite a deal, which is why it is featured here.
A very good pair of headphones, now with a dongle that improves sound
The headphone comes with comfortable ear cushions. (Express Photo)
Sennheiser launched the Accentum Wireless as part of its affordable wireless ANC range last year and the headphones are among the best you can get at their price. They are a little on the compact side and are made of plastic, but have a very solid and sleek look to them. The padding on the ear cushions as well as the headband is comfortable without being too dense (you will need to move them around if you have big ears), and at around 220 grams are not too heavy – we have worn them for hours without discomfort. The right ear cup has some buttons for volume amend controls and for ANC – they are a little small but one gets the hang of them with constant use.
The soundest (pun intended) USP of the Accentum Wireless is their audio quality – you get the very clear Sennheiser sound with just a touch of bass and the 37 mm drivers churn out some very impressive volumes. This makes them superb all-rounders, be it for listening to music, podcasts or films. The headphones come with a companion app that lets you tweak equalisers and also handle transparency and ANC modes and others – you can use the headphones without it, but we would recommend using them with it, simply for the level you get and also access to firmware updates.
These Bluetooth dongles further improve wireless connectivity performance. (Express Photo)
What’s more, if you want to improve the quality still further, all you need to do is attach the BTD 600 dongle to the device from which you want to get your audio – it can connect to a USB Type-A port directly and to a Type-C port using an attachment (which comes in the box), and works with Macs, PCs and even smartphones. This lowers latency, and not only considerably improves audio quality but also allows you to switch from one device to another by simply plugging the dongle in it – the headphones are connected to it. While the Accentum Wireless sound pretty good on their own, we could detect a significant difference in the audio quality when you switch to using them through the dongle. The headphones last for a very impressive 40-45 hours on a single charge, and the dongle does not seem to affect their battery life much.
Staggering value for money, if you love wireless audio!
An affordable headphone with premium features. (Express Photo)
We are going to keep it simple – you are likely to get perhaps the best sound from any wireless audio headphones in the price of Rs 10,000 from the Sennheiser HD SE. This is not to say that they are perfect – their ANC is decent rather than good (the Sony WH-CH720N are much better in that department), and we would not recommend using them for calls in noisy environments. Some might also be disappointed at the absence of a carrying case in the box and the fact that the headphones do not have a 3.5 mm jack, which means you cannot use them in wired mode. But those seem minor compromises when you consider that you are getting very good audio over Bluetooth connectivity combined with excellent battery life. Just figure out a way to carry that dongle – it is tiny enough to get lost!
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
