It’s been awhile since we last reviewed a pair of headphones, but here we have the Edifier W855BT Stereo Bluetooth Headphone in our hands. Just for your information, while the headphone doesn't show up in their website (yet); it’s doesn't mean that it's not official in Malaysia yet. With a price tag of RM439, it does seem quite cheap for a wireless headphone, so is just a "wannabe" headphone? Check out our review for now to see how well it fares with its price.
Design - Comfortable and compact
Upon unboxing the product, the headphone is inside a storage bag and the headphones sure look comfy. This includes leather padding on the ear cups and top making your headphone experience as comfortable as possible. Other than that, the rest of the materials that aren’t covered in leather are solidly made in plastic around the ear cups. A flexible alloy headband lets you adjust the head size.
Top view
The leather material on top of the headband
The play/pause button and NFC sensor, the volume control is hidden on both left (decrease volume) and right side (increase volume)
The off/on/Bluetooth switcher, headphone jack and charging port
Nice cushion for the ear cups
Overall, the design is nice and simple. The ear cups design also offers a bit of noise isolation but compared with my Audio Technica ATH-M40x headphones, it loses out. I also wish it can be folded inwards giving much needed space when you go traveling, but at least it comes with a storage bag so that’s something.
The clamshell protector
Aside from fitting perfectly, you can put other things inside on the left side pouch
Tech-specs and features - Nice wireless controls, but...
Here are the Edifier W855BT specifications:
- Headphone type - over-ear
- Drive unit - 40mm
- Frequency response - 20-20K Hz
- Sound pressure level - 98dB
- Rated impedance - 320hm
- Bluetooth 4.1 version (protocol - HFP, HSP, A2DP, AVRCP)
- Effective distance - 10m
- Playback time - Up to 19 hours
- Answering time - Up to 20 hours
- Standby time - About 600 hours
- Charging input - DC 5.0V, 500mA
- Charging time - About 3 hours
- Dimension - 192.4 x 172.5 79.8mm
- Weight - 238g
- Accessories - Micro USB data charging cable x1, audio cable x1, storage bag x1
The manual book, along with the Micro USB data charging and audio cable
Although it’s marketed as a Bluetooth Headphone, the W855BT can also be connected via a headphone jack cable to your phone or PC without turning it on. Pairing up with your device (iOS and Android) is easy as pie too, you don’t need to download an additional app just for that unlike some other brands. After you’ve successfully paired up, you just need to switch on your device’s Bluetooth then your W855BT will automatically be connected instantly.
Ah, but that’s not all. It can even receive incoming calls which sounds pretty good. So if there’s someone calling you in the midst of listening to your jam, simply press play/pause button once to answer/end the call, or press hold to reject, even redialing the last number by double clicking the play/pause button. These are just the basics, as there are more options in the manual book.
One thing to note, though. For some reason, you can’t control the music by pressing the play/pause or volume buttons (for skipping songs) on the headphones if the audio cable is plugged in to the smartphone or PC (and even if the headphone is switched on), you have to do it “manually” on the music player program.
Performance - Crisp and clear, but not for movies
Charging mode
So what about the sound? Well, it’s pretty good. With the 40mm large driver units inside, the manual wasn’t kidding when it said the headphones can create a clear and accurate Hi-Fi sound for all genres. Even with or without using the headphone jack, there’s barely any difference in sound quality. So whether if it’s pop, rock, soul, hip hop, acoustic, orchestra and many others, the sound is crystal clear. But that’s not always a good thing.
What I mean by that is that because it’s so clear, sometimes (note - sometimes) the sound can get too sharp or high pitched (eg. when the guitar rhythm part comes in a rock song), it’s probably because of the bass “omph” level is just slightly lesser when compared with the ATH-M40x. It’s there alright, but just needed a bit more power to even things out.
As for movies, I find it kind of underwhelming as I often have to increase the volume fully to listen to the characters' dialogue (even for YouTube too). But whenever the background music comes on, then it sounds great again. Also, never bring this headphone for walking around in malls, you won't want your sweat sticking to the cushion, making it unsuitable for the outdoors. And it's good enough for games too in any genre, though, not as precise as some gaming headphones.
Another tiny flaw is how quickly it drains the device when connected through Bluetooth. For example, the iPhone 7 Plus which has a pretty good battery life gets sipped quickly and this goes the same to any Android phone, which I tested with the OPPO R9s and Vivo V5; normally this is not the case so it could be just this pair of headset. But on the bright side, the wireless headphone itself can last really long; it actually took me a week or so just to drain it by listening to 2-3 hours of music playback every night, so that’s impressive. But then again, after the battery depletes, it takes 3 hours to recharge fully.
Conclusion - A great audio wireless headphone, but only for music
Despite the minor flaws, such as a quick battery drain on the device (don’t think it’s the headphones fault though) and the questionable no-control on the PC, we think the Edifier W855BT Stereo Bluetooth Headphone does an incredible job of delivering a clear sound (even on Bluetooth mode). It is super comfy while the ability to receive a call was a surprise there, and having the option to listen through a headphone cable is nice too.
Because we don’t usually review a lot of headphones (the ones we did are gaming headphones), the only comparison we can give you is - you guessed it - the Audio Technica ATH-M40x Professional Monitor Headphones. Both have similar tech-specs, except that the M40x is not Bluetooth, costs slightly more expensive in Malaysia (ironically, its official price is $99 in U.S.A. while the W855BT cost $199), and sounds slightly better if you prefer to have more bass power. Otherwise, the W855BT is a really good one and well worth buying.
Want to know more about Edifier? Then maybe you can head over to their website and check out the rest of their audio products, ranging from earphones to speakers. That’s all from us, stay tuned for more reviews at Technave.com.
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