I just tested the best designed headphones yet — and they take the fight to Sony and Bose

Beyerdynamic cut its teeth making studio headphones, but in recent years it has brought its expertise to the consumer space with some very popular over-ear cans. The Aventho 300 are the latest model from the brand, featuring a specs list that makes even the most hardened audio fan blush.

They're built to go up against the Sony WH-1000XM5 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones. They manage to do that, too, with some great headline features and a very attractive style. They’re built better than the competition as well. But does that make them good enough to join the ranks of the best wireless headphones?

Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 review: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? Beyerdynamics answer to the Sony WH-1000XM5 and the QuietComfort Ultra headphones.
• Who is it for? People who want something with some studio pedigree and a unique feature set.
• What does it cost? $399/£359/AUS$649
• What we like: The battery life, the app and the excellent build
• What we don’t like: The tight fit, the sound-shifting ANC and the Spatial Audio implementation

Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 review: Price and Availability

At $399, the Aventho 300 sit at around the same kind of price as the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM5 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones. It’s definitely flagship territory, but there are a couple of reasons why the other two options might be your speed. The Bose have superior noise canceling, while the Sony are a more complete package — both for a similar, and now often reduced price.

The Beyerdynamic do have some other points going for them though. They have some truly epic battery life with a rated 50 hours of staying power with ANC active. Then there’s the EQ customization, which is among the most adjustable that I’ve ever seen in a pair of headphones.

Getting hold of them is no problem of course. You can head to any of your favorite retailers like Amazon or Best Buy and pick up a pair in one of two colors — Black, or White. We’ve got the Black pair in for testing.

Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 review: Design and Build

• Solid build quality
• They look really slick
• Very tight clamping force

The Aventho have, I think, a very unique design. They don’t necessarily make waves in the looks category – they look, as you might expect, like a pair of overhead, over-ear headphones. But there are some very nice design touches that I think make them look more premium than the all plastic competition. I really like the metal hinges and frames that join the earcups to the headband, and they click down into place with a satisfying ratchet. The earcups are big and, while plastic, look like they’re made of something more expensive. The fake leather of the headband has a nice grain to it and it's supple and soft.

This is an understated classy design — and even better, they’re built incredibly well. The aforementioned metal in the hinges is screwed together, and feels solid in the hand. The ratcheting headband mechanism is tight and clicky, and inspires confidence in the longevity of the headphones. The headband itself is springy but firm, letting you know that it’s going to last for a long time. The whole headset isn’t heavy, but there’s still some heft here that makes them feel well built.

Unfortunately, that build lends itself to a relatively tight fit that becomes uncomfortable after a little while. The clamping force that keeps the headphones in place is very tight indeed, and it presses on the sides of my head more than I’d like. It’s something that the competition has managed to dial in perfectly, so it’s a shame that it’s a problem here. It does mean that they don’t fall off your head when headbanging though, which is a bonus.

Bringing them back up to snuff though is the excellent carry case that comes in the box. Just like the rest of the headphones, it feels very premium and protective, and slipping it into a bag makes you feel better that your expensive headphones are going to be well looked after. It’s got an attractive teardrop shape as well, so I think it looks pretty good.

My only gripe with the case is one that also makes the whole package feel like Beyerdynamic cares about making solid-feeling headphones — included in the box is a dustbag for the headphones, and it seems like the designers want you to wrap the headphones in the bag when you put them in the case. They whole affair does fit — but it is tight. It’s a shame, because it’s a nice addition.

Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 review: Controls

• Solid touch controls
• Small buttons

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times — I remain a touch control skeptic on my headphones. Having said that, the touch controls on the Aventho 300 are well implemented and work well. They’re all stuck on the right earcup, and they’re easy enough to use. Swipe up for more volume, swipe down for less. Swipe forward to skip a track, and backward for the previous. Tap for pause, tap again for pause. Easy! They are susceptible to my touch control bugbear though; when I take the headphones off or put them back on, I sometimes activate the controls and skip a track without meaning to.

There are a couple of different physical controls on the right earcup — the power/Bluetooth pairing button and the ANC key. While fairly small, they are different shapes so its super easy to work out which is which. It does raise an issue though. Because they’re on the same earcup as the touch controls, I sometimes find myself accidentally activating the touch functions when I wanted to just turn the ANC on and off. That’s annoying.

Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 review: Features

• Great custom EQ
• Spatial Audio
• Good wear detect

Beyerdynamic has packed the Aventho 300 with an array of features — although not quite as many as Sony and the WH-1000XM5. There’s no ANC modes that change depending on where you are, for example, but otherwise there's a good mix. There headline feature here is the implementation of Spatial Audio, which you can turn on and off with the app. It’s… not amazing.

Where it’s supposed to track your head (which you can turn on and off as well), it kind of just jumps around haphazardly when you’re playing Spatial Audio content. As always, it does work better with some tracks than it does others, so it will depend on the mix itself, but these are uncommonly unkind to tracks that aren’t spatially mixed. They end up sounding thin, one-dimensional, and all the impact of the track is lost. As a result, I mostly left the Dolby Atmos feature turned off for most of my testing.

Thankfully, the EQ customization is among some of the very best in a pair of flagship headphones. There are five bands in the EQ, and then some extra custom modes you can choose to really dial in how the headphones sound. Sure, it would be nice if there was a ten-band eq, but you’ll have to pay more for the likes of the Noble Fokus Apollo before you get a 10-band EQ that actually works.

In fact, the app is a very good one that I think gives a simpler readout than the Sony and Bose equivalents. The battery life is front and center, and then all the main features appear as buttons on the product pane. It looks good; it's very smooth; and using all the features is super easy thanks to the intuitive layout. It’s a good app, and I’m impressed with Beyerdynamic's implementation.

Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 review: ANC

• Solid noise blocking
• Changes the sound too much

If you’re pricing your headphones to match those of the flagship Sony and Bose options, you’d better put some decent ANC in your cans — and the Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 feature some very good ANC, to a point. It’s good for blocking out noise when you’re out and about, and keeps sounds like bus engines and the like out of your music.

The issue is that the music is changed too much by the ANC. It has a habit of bass-boosting your music, while thinning out the mid-range. Now, it’s worth noting that all ANC headphones change the way your music sounds when noise canceling is turned on, but the Aventho 300 are more prone to it than most. It’s a shame, because the ANC is good — but turning it on colored my tunes just a little too much.

Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 review: Connectivity

• Bluetooth 5.4
• Multipoint
• 3.5mm headphone jack

Connecting your headphones to your phone is super easy with the Aventho 300. Bluetooth 5.4 makes hooking them up super simple — just put them in pairing mode and find them in your settings menu. Easy. You can also hook the headphones up over a 3.5mm wired connection for a tethered option, with the included cable that clicks into a 3.5mm socket on the headphones. Finally, there’s the USB-C port, which does charging duties.

Multipoint connection is useful as well, and it lets me connect my headphones to my computer and my phone at the same time. It’s easy to get working. Connect the headphones to the first device, then put them back into pairing mode and connect the second. They’ll switch automatically for you from there.

Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 review: Call Quality

• Good mics
• Great quality on the calling end

Using the Aventho 300 as a hands-free headset was easy and pleasurable — or as pleasurable as taking calls while walking around the suburbs can be. Hit the touch panel to take the call, and then talk away with the other person on the end of the lines. Call quality on the headphones end was good thanks to some decent audio hardware that Beyerdynamic has packed in, and then my call partner said I sounded great on their end as well.

There’s side tone as well, which can be turned off. It essentially pumps your voice back to you so that you avoid the muffled, unnatural tone your voice can take when you can only hear it from the confines of your skull. I am personally not a fan of the effect, but those who like it will find a competent side mode here.

Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 review: Sound Quality

• Solid bass extension
• Decent mid-range
• Some roll-off in the top-end

Overall, the Aventho 300 sound very good. They’re weighted towards a bassier sound, but most people are going to appreciate the way that they sound in the long run. I did find a little bit of high-end roll-off towards the very top, but it was never enough to make me want to stop listening and take the headphones off. They are comparable to both the Bose and Sony — they sound better than the former, and the latter have slightly better highs than the Aventho 300.

Festive arena rock anthem Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End) from The Darkness sounds as big as you’d hope, with plenty of space in the mix to have a good time. The guitars sound great, with plenty of detail. There’s a little lost in the cymbals, but then the big, booming low end comes in to make you feel all warm and cozy inside. The soundstage is fairly wide, though, which does make tracks feel immersive.

Tame Impala brings the fuzz in Elephant. The Aventho 300 do an admirable job with the track, the guitars loosely defined as they should be. Most of the fun comes from the rock-solid bass line, and the Aventho have a great time showing you what they're capable of. The Synth is smooth, and the lo-fi vocals have some wonderful crackle. There's a little bit missing from the hi-hats, but it's otherwise a great listen.

Hunter from Björk shows off the Aventho's soundstage. Those bizarre synth bass lines dance from ear to ear, wide and spacious. Björk's vocals are crystal clear when she wants them to be and unnerving in all the right spots. The string section brings some detail to the party, while the drums tap in the right earcup. It builds and it builds into a glorious cacophony, only to settle back down again — and the Aventho keep tempo the entire time.

Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 review: Battery life

• 50 hours (ANC on)
• 70 hours (ANC off)

While not the very best when it comes to battery life, the Aventho are still very good. With a rated 50 hours of endurance with ANC on, they easily beat the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM5 (30 hours) and the QuietComfort Ultra headphones (24 hours).

They’re only beaten by the Sennheiser Momentum 4 and the Marshall Monitor III. Either way, it offers loads of staying power, and my testing showed that battery life might even be better than the stats that Beyerdynamic has given us.

Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 review: Verdict

The Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 are a good pair of headphones. In some respects they’re great — their app is amongst the very best around, and the EQ customization is super useful. They're built much better than their similarly priced competitors, and the touch controls work as well as any I l've tested. The battery life is excellent, and they even have a decent sound signature, with plenty of warmth and detail.

They trip up slightly in their fit and Spatial Audio, but if you can overlook those issues, then the Aventho 300 are a great alternative to the more established options from the likes of Bose and Sony.