WH950NB Wireless Noise Cancellation Over-Ear Headphones Review

The Edifier WH950NB Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones offer lightweight comfort, sophisticated noise canceling, and a warm yet detailed sound signature.

When I was asked if I would like to review a pair of Edifier WH950NB headphones, I was not familiar with the brand. I did a little digging and found out that this company, with a market share in 70 countries, started out twenty years ago as the brainchild of a small group of music lovers. They established their venture in May 1996 in Beijing, China. Guided by the principle “a passion for sound” over the past two decades, Edifier has emerged as a highly regarded designer and manufacturer of sound systems, including speakers and headphones.

It is said you can’t judge a book by its cover, but when I received the Edifier WH950NB wireless noise cancellation over-ear headphones and pulled the carton out of the shipping container, I was impressed even before I opened the box. Clearly, Edifier was proud of these headphones and wanted me to feel the quality and care that went into the design of the WH950NBs.

Nestled inside the box is an elegant black and white tweed fabric zippered carrying case, which is a refreshing change from the finger-snapping, spring-loaded cases that some other manufacturers provide.

Inside the case on the right side are the headphones tightly packed in the black velour-lined case, and on the left side, a pocket with a USB-C to USB-A charging cable, a 3.5mm analog cable, a two-prong airline adaptor and a way too tiny multi-language manual with parts diagrams with the functions outlined. I would have liked to have seen clear instructions directing me to the Edifier website where they have an excellent downloadable PDF manual.

The design is understated and elegant. The gold Edifier logo is discreetly placed above each ear cup on the headband. The textured outer hard shell of the ear cups has a pebbled leather look-and-feel that compliments the sumptuous soft protein leather used on the earcups and headband. The thought “soft as a baby’s bum” came to mind when I first cradled the earcups in my hand.

The stainless-steel headband is easily adjustable with ratcheting slots that appear when adjusting and then disappear when not extended. It is apparent that care has been taken in the many subtle details. For example, there are no sharp edges along the metal in the headband. I reached out to Edifier and asked several questions to their design team about how they arrive at these touches, that, for the most part, would go unnoticed by the average user. The answer to these questions was so sophisticated, I thought I would include it in its entirety.

“All the ideas are driven by our demanding pursuit of great user experience: via products, we communicate with users, and by which we intend to showcase caring and understanding that are especially precious and necessary in the post-COVID era. Thus, we have redesigned and worked out a brand-new movable joint employed in the headband, sliding arm, and brackets. That design avoids any sharp corners or edges which result in an adverse impact on the sense of touch or ever potential safety hazards, no matter how the user folds or rotates the headphones when wearing. In this way, the human-machine interaction becomes a more tender and affectionate experience ever than before. That caring is integrated into the whole design process: the rounded earmuffs are integrated with the upper bracket, avoiding redundant steps and angular shapes; further advantaged by skin-like paint, those minimalist headphones with affinity and fashionable style finally come to you.”

I was also curious about the term “protein leather”. I realized that I don’t know what that is. I know it is Vegan friendly, but WHAT is it?

I received another prompt reply from the team at Edifier.

“Protein leather is a term related to the textile industry, referring to a material made from proteins. Protein leather can be produced from various protein sources such as soy, wheat, corn, or other plant proteins. These proteins undergo a series of chemical treatments and processing techniques to give them the texture and appearance characteristics of leather. Protein leather often closely resembles animal leather in appearance but offers better sustainability and animal-friendliness. This [these are] also the rules [when] we choose materials: affordable, comfortable and environmentally friendly.”

Well, I have to say, Edifier’s “protein leather” is a marvel to wear. The moment I put them on, the terms “intimate” and “embracing” came to mind. Once I snugged up the headband, the headphones seemed to both float lightly and hug my ears. I knew they would be a pleasure to wear for long listening sessions. The headphones come in black or a warm white.

After downloading the very detailed manual, I downloaded the Edifier Connect app from the Apple iOS app store. Edifier Connect is also available for Android devices. Edifier Connect is nicely laid out and easy to navigate. There is an overwhelming choice of features, including a quick link to the online manual, which came in handy when I found I needed help with the various button combinations to activate all the modes via the “M” button. There are so many combinations that control many functions, I finally gave up trying to memorize everything. Fortunately, all those same features are available through the Edifier Connect app.

There are three listening modes: Music mode which is what I went back to after checking out the Game and Theatre modes. Theatre mode is for movies and video and seems to boost the midrange and add quite a bit of oomph and depth to the soundtrack. The Game mode might be a good choice for movies, as it has a low 80ms latency, so your dialog should sync up well with the picture, if that is an issue, however, the sound was too bright and lacked the depth and warmth of the Theatre mode. Theatre mode did seem to capture surround effects in movies, but not Apple’s spatial audio, since that requires head tracking, which only Apple products have.

Using the Edifier Connect app, swiping right takes you to what Edifier calls Sound Effects, which gives you three listening modes: Classic which seemed to be the most balanced and clear, or Dynamic, which seemed to work like a loudness control and boosted volume with an emphasis on the deeper bass notes.

The third effect is a Customized equalizer, which I didn’t find necessary as the other two modes provided enough adjustments depending on the music genre.

I was impressed with the noise canceling and phone call settings. I made several calls from my iPhone, and the reports were all the same. Thanks to the four built-in microphones, my voice came across clear and crisp, yet warm. These microphones are integrated with the audio signal processor to reduce wind and background noise, which they did quite well.

There are four noise-canceling modes: High, Medium, Wind reduction, and Ambient. Noise-canceling can also be turned off. I gave the High noise-canceling mode a test by wearing the Edifiers while blowing off the deck with a loud leaf blower, and though I could still hear the blower, the high-pitched sound was reduced to a quiet hum. Good enough, in fact, that they could replace the cumbersome and clunky hearing protectors I usually wear. Not to mention I could also listen to music. This brings up an impressive point. Bluetooth is rated for 10 meters (30 feet) from the transmission source. I set my iPhone down on a bench and walked about 70 feet down a hillside below our backyard. The music didn’t stutter once.

When listening to music, none of the noise-canceling settings seemed to reduce the audio quality, which is not always the case with other noise-canceling headphones. With noise-cancelling active there was a drop in battery life, from a generous 55 hours to around 34 hours. A ten-minute quick charge will gain back 7 hours and a full charge takes 1.5 hours. Bluetooth 5.3 is more efficient and should contribute to better battery life.

I thought that “Dimming of the Day” would also be a good test to see if there was much of a difference between Bluetooth and using the cable included with the headphones. I plugged the 3.5mm jack into my Dragonfly Red USB DAC which is connected to a Lightning adaptor in my iPhone. When using the cable, Bluetooth is no longer available, which means the Edifier Connect app is not available either. Even without the benefits of the app, I felt that the wired and amplified version of the music sounded more detailed, balanced, and fuller. All the slight shortcomings of Bluetooth disappeared. Both the Hammond Organ and the Harmonium filled the background with the emotional richness I was missing before. One other plus of the cable is that it allows the use of the headphones even when the battery has run down.

The Edifier WH950NB wireless noise-canceling headphones are a terrific value. They offer first-rate noise cancellation. Voice quality for calls is excellent, and the Edifier Connect app adjusts the sound profile to music preferences and provides a detailed yet warm sound. They hold their own against noise-canceling headphones costing two to three hundred dollars more.

Edifier is a company that has found its niche in the highly competitive wireless noise-canceling headphone market. They have built a high quality, great looking, and very capable ANC headphone that has hit the sweet spot between the lower-end headphones and the much more expensive companies like Bose and Sennheiser. I’m impressed that Edifier used a 40mm composite titanium film driver in a $179.00 wireless headphone.

Overall, I found the sound signature warm and balanced, and it is easy to select a custom sound if you find the first listen a little lacking. The highs are clear, and the sound stage opens up for voices to be expressive and engaging, and the bass can be punchy and kept in balance by choosing a mode that suits the music type.