Beoplay H6: Headphones Review

Last Friday I was at Fidgets, an indoor children's playground at Turf City Singapore. The air con was cold, but the playing children certainly felt otherwise. Finding a cosy corner in the cafe section was not a problem on a Friday afternoon. As I made myself comfortable, I set up my gear on the table: the Samsung Galaxy Note PRO on a stand, a separate Bluetooth keyboard placed on my lap, and the Bang and Olufsen B&O PLAY Beoplay H6 plugged into the HTC One M8.



I then began composing this blog review as I listened to the H6.

I recalled the day I received the Beoplay H6 review unit and opened up the retail box. The first time I picked up the headphones, it gave me an impression of a well-made quality product. It was uncommon for a set of headphones to be endowed with premium natural materials like real cow leather headband, soft lambskin memory foam ear cushions, solid aluminium frames. The headphones feel relatively lightweight compared to other expensive headphones, because there was no unnecessary beefing. The only thing that feels cheap was the in-line music control buttons (which only works with iOS devices).



I like the huge ear cups that completely covers my ears. The headband is comfortable with the right tension. Noise isolation is pretty good, as the ear cushions effectively muffs the ambient noise to let you enjoy the music.

Sound-wise, the Beoplay H6 delivers punchy subtle low bass, brilliantly detailed treble, relatively flat upper bass and thin mids. The soundstaging is spacious, giving sufficient room to enjoy the details to the after tones and reverbs. This makes the Beoplay H6 great for orchestral, jazz, instrumental music, while modern pop-rock genres feels less exciting.

I like the ability to plug the audio cables on either side of the earcup, and daisy chain to another pair of earphones to share your music with others. And while the in-line music controls feel cheap, it is nonetheless useful as I conveniently picked up incoming calls from my Android smartphone. B&O went through trouble to get the right leather and treatment that ages well over time, so just use it like you would with a leather handbag or wallet.



The Beoplay H6 is truly a beautiful set of headphones, ranks high on the comfort scale. Its sound characteristics fit the kind of music I love. There are better headphones for the modern edgy genres, with thick sounds and rocking bass, but the Beoplay H6 has subtle design, premium quality and unmatched style. I really love the natural leather (beige) edition (below), and if you want an edgier style, B&O PLAY recently partnered with Pepsi to launch a new limited blue edition designed by Ricardo AKN for the "Live For Now" Capsule Collection.

If I were to get a pair of premium branded headphones just for the looks but still with enjoyable sound quality, the Beoplay H6 would probably be it.


Beoplay H6 Specs
Driver: 40mm
Impedance: 30 ohms
Weight: 230g
Frequency: 20 - 22,000 Hz
Cord: 1.2m
Suggested Retail Price in Singapore: S$648
Availability: Apple Stores (EpiCentre, Infinite, iStudio, Nubox & Polaris), Challenger (Musica), Courts, ConnectIT, Gadget World, Harvey Norman, Jaben, Newstead, Sprint-Cass (Changi Airport T1, T2 & T3), Stereo & Swee Lee




Reviewed by Chester Tan
Rating: 4.5 of 5