Sennheiser Over Ear Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones HD 450BT, Black

Good sound quality with effective noise cancellation if selected. Comfortable to wear. Good value.

Very good boost cancelling. Too small however, they bend your ears in which is painful after half an hour or so.

Work well but are NOT fully ‘over-ear’. Slightly to small in circumference.

Using for 7 months already.

Pros:
* Light
* Decent noise cancellation
* Didn’t run out of battery even once

Cons:
* The ear pads quality is bad, take a look at the photo. They’re glued, not stitched. Easy to fix, but 🙁
* Comfortable for a while but for my ears these headphones can’t be used >2h, I’m working from home and aurucles are in pain.
* Not exciting sound, my wired sennheiser’s (10x cheaper) are much better. I guess it’s a Bluetooth bandwidth issue, even with v4.
* God they’re buggy! So buggy! Just because of this -1 start, terrible!
* If you turn off the PC and switch to the phone they will start to report “Lost connection” every 40 seconds. You have a connection! With the phone!
* Jumping between A2DP and HFP all the time.
* Using with Android, Debian Linux, Ubuntu Linux, Windows 10, tried with Mac OS X and iPhone. There’s no device properly working with them. Slow connection, half an hour to do pairing, slow pairing, random messages (out of nowhere saying how much time on battery left). Android 11 is the best one so far, tho. So if you plan to use with just a phone it’s fine.

Don’t buy it.

Update:
Out-of-nowhere battery reporting fixed in the latest firmware update, use Sennheiser app to update

Sennheiser 450BT Over-Ear headphones review.

TL:DR
Sound good, reasonably priced, but incredibly awful controls means I must recommend you avoid them.

The baseline for a good pair of ordinary headpohones is that they are comfortable, affordable, and sound good.
The 450BT’s from Sennehsier do well for all three points.
Bluetooth headphones have requirements beyond that though, as the headphones have other critereons, such as connection stability, as well as needing controls on them for things like power, volume, ANC, etc.
This is what lets the 450BT’s down: Their terrible UI.

Glasses:
Firsly, I should state that I wear glasses, which means I tend to prefer headphone earcups that are larger to those that are smaller so as to prevent the headphones from clamping on my glasses.
The 450BT’s earpads are over-ear, but very small, to the extent that there is no real way to adjust them such that I can’t feel them on either the backs of my glasses frames behind my ears, or the front of my ears.
If you wear glasses then I would not recommend these headphones at all, regardless of your perception of their price, features, or performance, due to their small earcup size alone.

The Volume Beep:
The headphones beep at you every single time you change the volume – both up and down, which is extremely irritating, to the extent I will knock a star off of them for it alone.
The beep does not adjust its volume to the music being played or the headphones current volume level, which means the beep is very quiet when you have loud music playing, but extremely loud when you are listening to something quiet.
For example, wearing these headphones whilst laying in bed is rather uncomfortable because the beep is very loud relative to the music and [lack of] ambient noise.

Volume Levels
Human hearing is non-linear, and the Sennheiser 450BT’s do not quite replicate that.
For example, if you double the power output of audio, then a human will not perceive it to be twice as loud.
The 450BT’s are better than most other Bluetooth headphones I have used in replicating the correct power-perception curve, however it is obviously not quite correct, and the volume jumps are quite obvious at high volume, but at low volume the volume changes have very little impact – often too little, to the extent that I find myself changing volume several times for perceived small changes.
In addition, many other Bluetooth headphones I have used will beep at the user only when max volume is reached, however since the Sennheisers do this at every volume change, the extra beep that occurs at max volume is not very noticeable, which means that if you change to max volume, then you often won’t know you are at max volume unless you attempt to change volume up again and actually notice the volume hasn’t changed.

The 2.5mm Jack:
The 2.5mm headphone jack is also very heavily recessed, which means that many of my right-angled connectors simply wouldn’t fit into it – you will probably only be able to use a straight connector for these headphones.
The tightness of the slot meant that I had trouble connecting the jack correctly, however once in place it stays put very well.
In addition, the canal that leads to the jack has a small plastic pip in it – this allows in included 2.5mm-male-to-3.5mm-right-angled-male cable to effectively lock into place by twisting it to hook into the pip.
If something does pull on the jack though, rather than simply unplugging itself, the 450BT’s will instead be yanked from your head, which might damage the cable – the cable also has very little strain relief, so this will very probably damage the cable very quickly.
Considering this pip means that many other 2.5mm cables simply won’t fit into the headphones, this system is actually something I would have rather have not been present, or at least as some kind of option that could be bypassed.
Also note that the headphones themselves do not have a 3.5mm plug – they have a 2.5mm plug, so almost all of the average persons audio cables won’t work with the 450BT’s.
The locking pip also means that if you want a replacement cable then you will likely only be able to use one designed for the Sennheisers specifically, which will be considerably more expensive and more limited than other replacements.
Further note that no explicit 2.5mm to 3.5mm converter is included with the headphones – only the 2.5mm to 3.5mm cable itself.

Bluetooth Disconnections:
The headphones will also instantly disconnect from Bluetooth the instant that something touches the headphone jack, meaning you can’t keep a Bluetooth device connected whilst using the wired connection.
This seems to be the norm for the Bluetooth headphones I have tried, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying.

Auto Power-Off
The headphones will also power themselves off after a seeemingly quite short period of time.
All other bluetooth headphones I have owned will remain connected indefinitely – I have sometimes come back to them 10 or 15 hours later and they are still connected – whereas the Sennheiser 450BT’s switch themselves off after an hour or so.
The headphones don’t really use much power whilst connected but not actually playing anything, so I personally don’t think this will conserve very much battery life at all, however it is annoying if, like me, you often leave your headphones for quite long periods.

Headphone Height and Width:
The headphones are considerably wider than a typical pair of headphones above the ears. This has the effect of creating slightly more pressure on the ears, which makes the headphones feel tighter than most other headphones I have tried.
This design also makes the changes to the length of the band less substantial, since such changes make the headphones stick out more, meaning length changes translate more into width changes, which makes the headphones feel as if they take more adjusting than other headphones.
This also makes the headphones feel less adjustable, and I found the headphones comfortable only when they are almost completely extended, meaning I wouldn’t be able to wear these with any form of hat, for example.

Headband Width:
I felt as if the headband for these headphones sat very high on my head. This is partly because the earcups are not angled at all relative to the band, meaning they do naturally sit high on my head, but also the fact that the headband itself is actually rather thin (i.e. where it touches your head at the top).
The Sennheisers headband is around 23mm, and is semicircular in its shape. The headband is also made of some kind of rubber. The rubber feels fine as a material, but it seems to deform less than the leather[ette] or fabric usually used on other headphones, and the band seems less flat, meaning the 450BT’s band feels thinner than its already thin width appears.
This all means that the headband is thin, but feels even thinner still, which just exaccerbates the feeling of how high up on my head they naturally sit.
For reference, my V-Moda Crossfade LP’s have a 34mm headband and my Sennheiser HD201’s have around a 38mm headcushion.
The 450BT’s are thin, and feel thinner still.

Weight:
The 450BT’s are also very thin in most forms of their construction.
Despite that thinness, they are not actually that light. They are lighter than my other bluetooth headphones, but the decreased weight is not proportional to their decreased size, which can make them feel heavier than they actually are, as you sort of expect them to be light based upon their size, which is an expectation they do not really entirely meet.
Overall though, their weight is fine.

USB-C:
The headphones feature a USB-C connector. The headphones do come with a USB A-C male-male cable. USB-C is fine as a connector, however most other bluetooth headphones to have ever existed, inlcluding all my prior/other ones, have tended to use micro-USB, which makes the 450BT’s USB-C unusual, at least.

Symmetry:
The headphones are entirely symmetric in their design, meaning you can wear them back-to-front without anything being physically wrong.
The headphones therefore don’t have much that visually tells you which way around they should be worn: There is an “L” and “R” on the inside of the respective headphones, as well as three tactile bumps on the inside of the Left headphone.
These are raised sections of plastic, and are not coloured or highlighted at all.
Whilst these are fine to see in normal light, when under lower lighting conditions or if you only take a quick glance, then it can be very difficult to determine which way around is actually the correct orientation.

Comfort:
The headphones are relatively light, albeit with more pressure on the head than other headphones, but the foam used for the cushions is pleasant and comfortable, which means that overall the headphonesa would be pleasant to wear for extended periods if they didn’t press on either my ears or my glasses, so if you don’t wear glasses, then they should be quite comfortable.

So, the train-wreck that is the UI:
The headphones look like they have a good UI when you look at the pictures of them:

I thought something along these lines to myself whilst looking at the pictures of these headphones:
“They have a slider that looks like it will make changing volume easy and intuitive, as the slider will be easy to find due to its shape, size, and position, and changing volume is the thing I (and I suspect most other people) do the most with headphones by-far.
There is a two-button rocker that is probably used for changing track, as that is more noticeable than changing volume and used less, so it makes sense to have that more out of the way and less easy to accidentally hit.
There are two standalone buttons, which are probably play/pause and ANC.
There is probably a button on the left headphone the pictures don’t show that does Power On/Off.”
None of that is actually correct though.

When looking at the controls on the right earcup, with the pad facing down:
The right-most of the two buttons (The button with the small LED next to it) is the power on/off and ANC button. You hold this for two seconds to turn the headphones on and off. You then single-press it to toggle ANC.
The LED next to this does not go on/off to indicate power or bluetooth connection status. Instead, the button flashes 3 times when you toggle ANC – which you probably won’t see as you will likely be wearing the headphones when you do this, meaning this will annoy everybody except you.
This ANC LED flashing when connected via Bluetooth can also be annoying when people are driving. Whilst in the passenger seat with somebody else driving I’ve had people driving me say they mistook my headphone LED’s for the flashing lights of emergency service vehicles in their side-mirrors – and that was with constantly-on lights on other headphones, with the actual flashing on the 450BT’s this is much worse, and I would argue it might actually be quite dangerous if the driver was caught unaware by this.
There is also absolutely no visual or audio notification or indicator as to whether ANC is switched on or off at all when using Bluetooth. The easiest way I have found to know whether ANC is on or off is to either take the headphones off and see how much louder things become, or to make noise and see how much it is cancelled, for example by clicking my fingers, which is not really something that’s likely to make much difference in any environment where you might actually want to use ANC in the first place.
On other headphones I have had, the ANC has its own slider, so you can very easily feel when it is toggled or not, which also meant that no LED was required.
Also note the ANC on the 450BT’s cannot function whilst the headphones are switched off.
If you are using the wired connection, the LED does stay constantly on to indicate that ANC is on – which, again, you won’t see whilst you are wearing them.
The headphones also get very considerably louder when ANC is on with the wired connection, but not when using Bluetooth.
This is all just bad design for the 450BT’s.

That two-button rocker?
That controls the volume.
It’s simple enough, however I personally find it to be placed too low on the headphones, and I instinctively find myself going for the position tht the slider above them is located in whilst I wear the 450BT’s.
That slider controls the Next/Back functions, which skip track. You can also push in the slider to play/pause.
Pushing in the slider to play/pause is as unintuitive as it sounds, yes.
There is no feedback on how much you need to push it in to actually Play/Pause, meaning I tend to want to press it very hard and fully depress it in order to makes sure it has actually actuated. This makes me feel as if I am being excessively rough with the headphones though.
When I don’t depress it fully though it often doesn’t register the press, meaning I have to press it several times, hence why I prefer bottoming it out.
Even when I do fully depress it, due to the fact that it is very difficult to push it straight down, it sometimes won’t register the press regardless, likely as the button isn’t centred, so you are efffectively pushing both play/pause and tack up/down at the same time, which the headphones can’t handle and do nothing. Either that, or the headphones only register a play/pause press if the button is actually centred, so nothing is being registered at all. Either way, it is difficult to correctly press.
There is also a delay in the response of the headphones to the play/pause request. All bluetooth devices will have some delay of course, however the 450BT’s delay feels far longer than any other pair of bluetooth headphones I have used, often over a second before the device responds, whereas all my other devices were a fraction of that.
Given that I have used other headphones that have the exact same devices respond far quicker, this is an isue with the 450BT’s specifically.
The slider is also very easy to press, and you can very easily change tracks with relatively little pressure placed on it.
This also means that it is very very difficult to change volume with your left hand, as you are very likely to hit the forward/play/pause/back rocker, and I often hit it accidentally. This means that unlike most other bluetooth headphones, I can really only use my right hand for the controls – with other cans I can usually use my left hand, just with more time and tedium – with the 450BT’s I can’t at all, as I am just too likely to hit the rocker and change track. This is also because the rocker is in the location I instinctively feel the volume should be, so I very often hit it accidentally.

The left-most button is for the voice-assistant function.
Since I never use the microphone on my headphones, and despise voice-assistants and other such spyware, I haven’t used this feature, nor have I used the microphone.
I would personally have preferred it if the headphones were cheaper, but without this functionality.

Sennheiser promote a “Sennheiser Smart Control” App for Android and iOS on the box and in the Quick Start Guide, although don’t actually say what the app actually does.
Instead, you get this: “Use the app to configure the headphones and additional functions.”. That’s it.
Based upon the screenshots for it, it appears that it might let you change the Equiliser for the headphones. Most of the options shown appear to be for the in-ear style of Bluetooth earphones, and I can’t see any options other than EQ that look relevant to the 450BT’s at all.
I haven’t tried the app, as the default EQ on the headphones is fine, and they aren’t broken in anyway, as well as using an app to control or even modify headphones seems like a rather silly idea to me.
The app also wants GPS data and internet access, and the ability to download files and send data to/from the internet without notifications, so if you want to have your personal data saved and probably sold by Sennheiser, then that’s the app for you. Otherwise though it seems rather useless for the 450BT’s unless you want to change their EQ.

The sound itself is ok: Out of the box I found the headphones tended to be rather heavy on bass with slightly weaker highs and much weaker mids, but not quite enough to drown anything out or make the experience unpleasant.
For the type of music I listen to this means that the music appears quite unbalanced, with perceived strong bass, ok highs, and quiet mids.
They are much better than many other headphones I have tried, especially out of the box, however they are clearly not perfect.
I think the headphones should break-in very well though, I think, as the headphones are not well balanced in what they deliver, but what is delivered is delivered well across the board.
As I haven’t broken them in though, I’ll give them a 4/5 for sound quality, but with time they might go up to a 4.5 or even a 5/5.

I bought these headphones for £89, and for that price, they are bad as Bluetooth headphones.
Actually, they are bad as Bluetooth headphones regardless of price.
The sound is good, and they are light enough and sturdy enough that I can enjoy listening to them for extended periods (provided I don’t need to change the volume, or use the controls at all…).
Yet, these are bluetooth headphones – they are not something I will sit down and use on my computer. They are designed to be used when you are moving, out-and-about, or otherwise somewhat mobile, and don’t want to be tied down to a wired connection.
Since they are designed to be mobile – and thus being worn in varying amounts of ambient noise, which will likely nececcitate volume changes, the decision to make the headphones beep on every volume change is utterly baffling.
Similarly, the headphones buttons and interface design is just plain idiotic.

It is said that artists don’t know what they should be making, but they know what their competitors and colleages are making, and simply strive to make something more outlandish than them.
This is what these feel like – a good pair of base headphones that some marketing idiots have insisted have all the features their competitors include bolted onto them, without any thought or testing as to how to make it work.
The end result is a bad product that feels unbalanced – good base headphones, but all the bluetooth-specific elements just feel badly designed or badly executed.

Sennheiser know how to make headphones that sound good.
Unfortunately though, you need more than that to make a good pair of Bluetooth headphones, and the 450BT’s get that extra bit wrong.
I do not recommend these headphones – the good aspects, including the sound, are simply not nearly enough to counteract the stupid controls, design, and UI.
There was lots of potential here, but it was squandered, and not only did I expect better from Sennheiser, I expected something good.

Bought 2 x HD 450BT for my children to use with their devices. Pros are decent overall build quality, good sound, decent battery life, small carry-case and ability to AUX plug into devices. USB-C charging.

Two major cons:
(1) headphones cannot cycle through known devices (like you can with Bose). Instead, if you want to connect a 3rd device, you must set the headphones back into pairing mode and reconnect via the device’s bluetooth settings (and I always found it necessary to “forget” the headphones first, otherwise the reconnection attempt fails).

(2) the power button (also acts as the pairing button) is a very small click button that depresses a switch on the headphones motherboard (under the padding). On two consecutive pairs (including a replacement from Amazon) the external power button failed, resulting in inability to reliably turn the headphones on/off or put into pairing mode. If you open the headset you can still manually push the switch on the MB, but the connection from the external button is a cheap plastic clicker, and the clicker snaps/fails, meaning it cannot apply pressure to the motherboard switch.

Ok so a little background before I delve in.

I’m a musician and I was looking for an alternative to my 2nd Gen AirPods as I was sick of consuming music on the go through tinny little headphones on full blast and still hearing all the bleed from tubes, buses, trains and general city life.

My budget was around the £100 mark so I wasn’t expecting anything too special but I did some research before I bought these and did see both the positives and negatives from most peoples review on Amazon and YouTube and hopefully I’ll be able to answer a few of peoples concerns with this product.

Firstly, the sound quality is good once you play with the EQ settings – I found the best results with L+3 M+1 H+3 as it’s quite flat at the default setting. – Overall happy with the quality.

They look great – This may sound silly but it was a factor when picking the headphones as I was originally going to go with the Anker Q30’s which everyone seems to rave about however in my opinion they look tacky and the logo reminds me of a knock off beats sign. But the 450’s look sleek and elegant so another tick.

Comfort is…ok – when I first put them on I wondered why so many complained about the shape of the cup foam but 2 hours later, I soon found out why. My ears felt a cramped and I had to give them a break from the discomfort. It wasn’t unbearable just annoying to be honest. After a five minute break they felt fine again but don’t expect to wear these for 30 hours straight without getting a migraine. Overall, I can live with it but they could be comfier.

Battery life is fantastic – not much to say on this, does exactly what it says 30 hours from one full charge and it charges quickly. Thumbs up here!

Connectivity is better than I expected – moving from the flawless connection between my iPhone and AirPods I was expecting laggy connections and having to manually do it myself but no. The headphones connect quickly after you switch them on which I like, and the buttons react immediately. The app can be a bit slow to connect but I rarely used that after initial set up. Overall good!

Noise Cancellation is to put it nicely, pretty rubbish – I’ve pressed the button for the noise cancellation a lot to figure whether it’s actually on or not. To this day I couldn’t tell you if I’m listening to my headphones with it on or off. HOWEVER, the cups do a very good job of keeping and unwanted noise out. It would’ve been nice to hear what the noise cancellation sounds like on more expensive headphones to see what these are trying to emulate. Cups do the job, but the noise cancellation button doesn’t.

Other minor issues – there can occasionally be a glitchy click when shutting apps such as Spotify or YouTube with audio but this shouldn’t bother you. The buttons are a little cramped and would’ve been nice split over the two sides but again, is a minor niggle.

Overall 8/10 from me. So much better than my AirPods I persevered with for too long, if looks don’t bother you I’d say go with the £80 Ankers Q30 as so many people recommend them and specs wise they are compared to headphones upwards of £300!

But if you’re looking for a solid pair of overheads for around £100 you can’t go too wrong with these 450’s.