One of my Gear Patrol colleagues has been using Audio-Technica’s popular ATH-M50 headphones for the last eight years. He loves them. Unfortunately, the right earcup is now coming loose – a side effect of heavy use – so now it’s time to upgrade. The company released a newer and better version of those studio headphones, the ATH-M50x ($148), back in 2014. Now, as analog jacks are getting more and more scarce on devices, Audio-Technica has released a wireless version those popular headphones: the ATH-M50xBT ($199).
The ATH-M50xBT are very similar to the previous ATH-M50x headphones. They have the same overall look, swiveling earcups and closed-back design. There are on-earcup controls for things like play/pause, volume and to access Siri or Google Assistant on your phone. The headphones have the same 45mm large-aperture drivers and voice coils, too, so you can expect pretty much the same level of sound quality as the ATH-M50x.
On the wireless side, the ATH-M50xBT headphones support Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX and AAC. They charge via micro-USB and the company claims that they’ll get 40 hours of battery life on a single charge.
The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT wireless headphones are available today on the company’s website and they cost a not unreasonable $199, which is $50ish more than you can get the ATH-M50x for on Amazon.
Key Specs
Type: Closed-back dynamic
Driver: 45 mm
Frequency Response: 15 Hz – 28 kHz
Sensitivity: 99 dB/mW
Impedance: 38 ohms
Battery Life: approx. 40 hours (continuous use)
Weight: 10.9 ounces
Bluetooth: 5.0
Support Codec: aptX, AAC, SBC
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