AKG Y50BT review: Cutting free

AKG has taken one of its popular headsets and set it free from the cords that bind it. Here’s our review of the updated version of the AKG Y50 headphones, the AKG Y50BT. Given AKG’s reputation for awesome headsets, we think this one won’t disappoint.

Build

In terms of looks, they are almost identical to the original AKG Y50 headphones that hit the market in 2014, except that it has different colour options as well as Bluetooth capabilities. They come in three flavours — black, silver and blue — with the same signature AKG-emblazoned metal cans on each side. We got the silver one.

As for the cans themselves, they’re laid in with plush PVC leather, with the sides marked clearly on the insides of each cup.

Out of the box, you get a handful of accessories; namely, a micro-USB charging cable, a 3.5mm audio cable as well as a dense cloth carrying pouch for you to store your headset in. The headset also can swivel, so you can fold it up and bung it in the bag pretty easy, which is also big enough for you to toss in all your extras if you feel the need to.

Comfort

In terms of comfort, we like this headset a lot. It has a very gentle clamp and the cans are very comfortable. Being an on-ear device, they sit just on top of your ears instead of going right over.

No issues if you’re wearing glasses either, they weren’t even a bother when I had my Nessie computer glasses on. They’ll even happily sit around your neck and not even get in the way. Bliss.

Unfortunately, your ears might get a bit hot after long use because of our weather but if you’re in an air-conditioned environment or cooler climes you’ll be perfectly fine.

Performance and Battery

The battery is rated to run at about 20 hours, and if you run out of juice, the headset will also happily run passively when plugged in with the audio cable. It lasted us a good couple of days using it on and off so we don’t think that it will need to be charged very often; unless you literally use it the whole day every day.

When you are running around with it in wireless mode, there are some simple volume controls on the right side of the headset alongside the power button. The charging port is on the left side, but it’s unfortunately left open and bare.

Pairing it up was pretty effortless, no extra apps necessary. Just hook it up and go.

Sound quality

Sound reproduction is pretty spot on. Initially, we felt the bass was a bit too strong but after it warmed up a bit that was no longer an issue.

It essentially sounds the same when you’re on cable as it does while on Bluetooth, which is a big plus. It’s crispy and clear, with bass that’s neither overbearing or underwhelming. We particularly like how it catches little nuances in music, something that many of the more expensive headsets out there don’t. Overall we’re quite impressed with it in this department.

There is no active noise cancellation but we think it’s perfectly fine as it is, as it seems to do pretty decent in sealing out unwanted sound.

Verdict

All in, we’d definitely recommend the AKG Y50BTs if you want a super fuss-free wireless headset that sounds pretty dang good. It’s comfy, it stores pretty well and last but not least, it’s a very practical headset.

You’ll have to look elsewhere if you want active noise cancelling or larger cans, but frankly, we like the AKG Y50BT just as it is.

The AKG Y50BT retails for RM 699.

This review was originally posted on The Hyped Geek.