Shure Earbuds, Black, Aonic 4

Product Information

Paolo Nutini's Loving You is a delight, with Nutini's textured voice held centrally among agile guitars and easy drums. If you’re happy with the price tag and can resist the bells and whistles promised by wireless earbuds, you'd be crazy not to give the Shure Aonic 3 a chance. But there's more! The Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2's bid for inclusion in our best wireless headphones guide culminates in a special USB-C port not just for charging. It means hi-res USB audio is also on the menu (look over here, iPhone 15 and Apple Music users!) thus completing a veritable banquet of connectivity options, from wireless Bluetooth audio pinged from your phone, older sources in a more traditional wired hi-fi system, right up to USB-C audio from your MacBook Pro at work. If that sounds good to you, add these headphones to your list. puts you in control of your audio experience. Select balanced, warm or bright audio through removable nozzles for three unique sound signatures. First off, there are clearly named presets for those who don’t want to bother: You can select Low Boost, Vocal Boost, or simply EQ Off, and you’re done. But if you want to tinker around, this EQ is highly responsive. Dragging a curve on the graph upward in the bass realm actually results in a noticeable increase in bass depth—and these drivers can deliver a serious bass boost if that’s what you’re after, though their default is a far more accurate sound signature. You can save presets and name them, and each preset you create gets its own icon that is a tiny, pretty-much-accurate version of the curve you created.It's a beautiful thing.

In case you're wondering whether the Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2's headband is nicely padded, yes it is. (Image credit: Future) Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2 review: Value At the same time, the Shures look a little unrefined compared to the simpler and more discreet hinge mechanisms used by some rivals. In hand, it doesn’t feel like there’s loads of cushioning on offer from either the earpads or the headband, but the Aonics are pretty comfortable. The grip pressure is nicely judged – the headphones don’t squeeze the size of your head too tightly, nor do they feel too loose. The headband sits on top without digging into your skull.The battery level is more than sufficient at 45 hours, the build is classy, the companion app is excellent and the multipoint pairing experience has never let me down.

Because it’s simple to fit the 215s snugly yet comfortably in the ear, Shure describes them (as it does the bulk of its wired ‘SE’ models) as a ‘Sound Isolating’ design. And it’s certainly true to say that extraneous sound is much diminished when the 215s are correctly in place – even without music playing. At a glance, of course, the AONIC 50 look pretty much like every other pair of pricey noise-cancelling over-ear headphones around. The detachable leather-and-memory-foam earpads are attached to robust plastic earcups, which in turn are connected to a leather-covered headband via aluminum arms. These articulate through 90 degrees to allow the AONIC 50 to lie flat, and are heftily damped through the hinges. Shure’s wired in-ear models route their cables over and behind the wearer’s ears. The Aonic 215s feature substantial wireless antennae (Shure refers to these as the ‘True Wireless Secure Fit Adapter’), and they follow the same route: over the ear and behind, where each terminates in an unpleasantly bulbous control button.

AONIC 4 Sound Isolating™ Earphones

I enjoyed the Aonic’s sense of personalization and versatility. Shure has shown that one earphone can try to do it all, and for the most part, the Aonic 5 succeeded. However, accessibility can be an issue, and this IEM can be a hard sell for some. I found that the more you put into the Aonic 5, the more it delivers. Some may just need an IEM that has a flat, neutral response for monitoring, and the Aonic 5 does that very well, but for a more textured, satisfying sound signature, it definitely benefits from outboard gear.

By the time this review is published, the app will have undergone several updates to allow greater customisation of the headphones’ noise-isolation and ‘environment mode’. However, during the test, it proved handy for importing and administering music stored on a computer and has several EQ presets with custom audio settings also available. Wireless connectivity is via Bluetooth 5, which is more than enough to a) offer a competitive 20 hours of battery life and b) get Hi-Res Audio files like MQA-powered Tidal Masters on board without alarms. Support for every worthwhile codec (including aptX HD, LDAC and aptX Low Latency) is included too. Even complex arrangements are presented as a unified whole, and cut and paste collages like the Kendrik Lamar tune sound consistent. Some might find the maximum setting more useful in particularly noisy environments where you might benefit from a slightly fuller, weightier sound, but we prefer the noise-cancelling on its standard setting. Verdict What I like about listening to Aonic 5 is that it gives equal prominence to all frequency ranges. It’s not about strong bass, nor about super clear treble. It’s about respecting the music.Press and hold the power button of the Shure AONIC 50 (Gen 2) for several seconds until the indicator LED starts flashing blue

The Farnborough-based studio will use the funding for future investments including third-party publishing and potential studio acquisitions. Shure claims a battery life of around 20 hours with noise-cancelling and Bluetooth both enabled. This isn’t quite as high as some of the class-leaders, but you should have enough in the tank for most trips before they require an injection of power. Bluetooth is the most obvious method of getting content into the Aonic 215s, but it’s possible to exert a little more control over the Shures than that offered by your favourite streaming service by using the Shure+ PLAY app (free for iOS and Android). Next up, Shure's Spatializer –no, nothing to do with turning vegetables into edible ribbons. In the app, under the device tab (see? It makes sense, it's a feature on the device) you can select spatial audio processing optimized for music, movies or a podcast. I found they brought all of these sources to life, adding depth, value and enjoyment to the whole testing process. As downsides go, it’s mild in the extreme. But as far as the sound of the AONIC 50 goes, it’s the best we can do. Final verdictPairing the Shure AONIC 50 (Gen 2) over Bluetooth is a bit of a pain, depending on whether the headphones are trying to find their last paired device. We had some issues in the lab where we needed to pair to a new device, but we had to void the list of paired devices first. Assuming you’re pairing to your phone for the first time, the process should look something like this: If this doesn’t work, or your headphones don’t automatically go into pairing mode, you’ll need to empty the list of paired devices. To do this, you must: The Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 and Bowers & Wilkins PX Wireless are also very worthwhile alternatives, and there’s very little to be gained by ruling out Sennheiser’s burly Momentum 3 Wireless or the JBL Club One, either. It’s a long shortlist, admittedly... To test headphones is to invite them into your life – how the case fits in your bag is just as important as how they slip onto your head. These cans became my daily musical companion – after a thorough run-in period.And just as Shure is a trusted name in audio, I now trust these headphones to work every day, regardless of how you're connecting to your music source, without fail.