Shure has released the AONIC 40 headphones; it joins their line that includes the AONIC 215
Gen 2 and AONIC 50.
I've been using a pair of black AONIC 40 headphones and was struck by their stylish brushed aluminum frame and design; they're lightweight and good fit on my head. Once charged up using the included USB cable, I downloaded and installed their latest firmware plus the ShurePlus PLAY app on my iPhone 12. Now I was ready to go out and test them on my daily walk around my urban neighborhood.
I preferred using the app; it opens up more customizable controls for the sound using an equalizer with preset memories. You can set three levels of noise cancellation as well as set the volume level for the Environment Mode—a way to listen in on what's going on around you.
The sound quality is awesome—with plenty of volume and up to 25 hours of battery life and the noise-cancelling mode works very well to reduce loud noise from the street. Making phone calls is better than using my iPhone conventionally; I freely walk and talk around the studio, even outside for a short distance and leave the phone inside.
Because of the beam-forming microphones, my voice sounds super-clear to my friends and they sound present and distinct; clear enough to hear the actual acoustics of the space they are talking in! I could answer/end/decline calls, adjust volume, play/pause music streaming and more all on the AONIC 40s; but the buttons are a little small to find easily.
On my daily walks, even though I'm wearing a Covid mask and sunglasses, the good fit and the noise-cancelling feature gave me great-sounding phone calls and good music streaming.
Shure's AONIC 40 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones are available in White/Tan and Black for $249 MSRP.
