Whether we’re chilling out, powering up, or winding down, headphones are they way many of us get our music on. Recently a new brand crossed my desk; I had a chance to get ears-on with Edifier W820NB over-ear wireless headphones. I’ll tell you what you get with these headphones, about their features and highlights, how they sound and if I think they’re a good buy for you.
Edifier W820NB Headphones: review
Edifier bills these headphones as having long battery life, excellent sound, and says they won’t break the bank. The W820NMB headphones come in white, black, and grey. The headphones themselves feel light but reasonably sturdy, and the ear cups can swivel 90 degrees, allowing them to fold virtually flat for transport. While they look similar to Sony’s WH-1000XM4s, Edifier has resisted the urge to put logs everywhere, so the W820NBs look very clean and subtle.
The Edifier W820NB weigh about 220 grams, which is decent for over-ear headphones, and the clamping force isn’t too strong, so you won’t have a lot of ear or head fatigue—or feel like the headphones will slip off. A padded head band and generous foam in the ear cups makes them comfortable even over long listening sessions.
Buttons and controls
The W820NBs have buttons that perform various tasks depending on how you interact with them. The power button is part of a volume rocker switch; you can turn the headphones on and off with a long press, pause or play your music with a click. Double clicking brings different actions; turn on your voice assistant with a double click, and pick up a call with a click and hang up or refuse a call with a double click.
The volume up and down buttons will control volume with a tap and advance or move to a previous track with a long press.
The Bluetooth pairing button is also a multifunction button which will allow you to switch between Active Noise Cancelling (ANC), Ambient, and standard mode with a click, move to Game mode with a double click, and handle Bluetooth pairing with a long press.
Features including noise cancellation and ambient mode
Features including noise cancellation and ambient modeActive Noise Cancelling (ANC) is quickly becoming an essential feature in the headphone world. ANC is supposed to use digital signals to listen for and then eliminate outside noise from bleeding into your headphones.
There are actually three setting for this with the Edifier W820NB: ANC on, ANC off and Ambient mode. I have to say the noise cancelling isn’t as strong as I’d like; there’s not a lot of difference here; it’s most noticeable with things like humming or fan noise; that type of droning sound seems to get eliminated. But louder sounds, like clapping, tapping or the like, or even voices aren’t nearly as muted as they could be, in my opinion. Ambient mode, designed to allow some outside noise to pass through to your ears, does allow more sound in, but it sounds tinny, hollow and odd.
Sound quality: Edifier W820NB Headphones
This was my first experience with Edifier headphones so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I can say I was impresses right out of the gate. The sound quality is excellent. I found the headphones to be well balanced with a possible lean a touch towards the low end. I enjoy lots of bass so I didn’t find this unpleasant at all. The bass overall is powerful and charming without being buzzy. Vocals ride the top of the musical wave well and slide through nicely.
I listened to a bunch of different music and podcasts, and found everything sounded great.
Call quality
The onboard microphone assists with Ambient mode and can be used to talk to your phone’s voice assistant or make calls. I tested out these headphones on phone calls and found they did indeed deliver on clear calls; I could hear my callers well and they said I sounded sharp too. Edifier uses Clear Voice Capture technology to pick out human voices and ensure the voice is passed through to the other party, even in loud environments. Another setting called Gaming mode (accessed via the app) allows a reduction in the delay from the screen to your headphones, ensuring that audio is synced up to the action. I don’t have any type of gaming set up so I didn’t test this feature.
Edifier Connect App Features
Edifier Connect App FeaturesLike most wireless devices, the Edifier W820NBs have an app to control features. You can toggle on and off the Ambient Sound mode, Noise Cancelling, and Game mode. You’ll also be able to pair the headphones, view battery levels, see the user manual, and return the headphones to factory settings if something goes wrong. There’s no adjustments to be made for Equalization levels.
Bluetooth & connectivity
The headphones use Bluetooth 5.0 and should maintain a solid connection up to ten metres away. I tested this out by walking around my home (about 1000 square feet) and the connection stayed solid with no breakup or dropout.
Battery Life and Charging: Edifier W820NB Headphones
As with most headphones, your battery life will be affected by features, and the Edifier W820NBs will see that battery drain with the ANC mode. With ANC off, you’ll get about 49 hours of use, which is massively impressive. With ANC on, that number drops to 29 hours – still outstanding nonetheless.
A full charge will take only 90 minutes to achieve via a USB-C cord, which is pretty quick for headphones with such a long listening time.
Overall review: Edifier W820NB wireless over ear headphones
Overall review: Edifier W820NB wireless over ear headphonesOverall I was impressed with my first Edifier experience. The W820NB’s are comfortable and easy to wear. While they are very plain and may lack that special something on the design side, they more than make up for it in the overall audio quality. I have zero complaints to make on the audio side and can recommend them for their outstanding audio. The battery life both with ANC on and off is massively impressive too.
The biggest downside for me is the lacklustre noise cancelling. I’ve tested out a lot of headphones over the years and while the Edifier W820NB do offer some muffling of outside sound, they don’t go as far as they really could to creating that tightly sealed cone of silence some of us need —and that some other headphones do offer.
If you don’t need A-list noise cancelling and aren’t fussed about EQ settings, you’ll probably really love the Edifier W820NB over ear headphones.
The Edifier W820NB sell for about $70USD and you can get them from Edifier or Amazon.
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