Sony MDR-EX31BN/B Wireless Stereo Headphones with Noise Cancellation - Black | Bluetooth Headset for Travel, Work & Gym

I have had these for exactly one day now and I could not be more impressed. First, let me get the cons out of the way:* It does not include an AC plug for charging, only a USB cable.* Not glove friendlyOver the past few years I have had several Bluetooth noise cancelling ear buds including the Sony DR-BT150NC-B, MDR-NWBT10N B, and Phiaton PS 210 BTNC. This set blows them all out of the water. The Phiaton had lousy noise cancelling; in fact I would just call it noise dampening but had a great battery life. I used them on an 8 hour motorcycle trip and had music all the way. The Sony's both had excellent noise cancelling but the battery life was about 2 or 2.5 hours max. Not good for a long ride. All were easy to pair with my Zumo 660 LM mounted on my bike.The MDR-EX31BN / B seem to take the best of both brands and eliminate the bad and the supplier was excellent. These are only available from a Japanese exporter and I paid the extra bucks for expedited shipping. They arrived 1 day ahead of schedule. The package was secure but it was easy to open. I charged the set for 2.5 hours as recommended but I noted that the charging light went out after approximately 30 minutes indicating that it was fully charged. In the meantime I downloaded the manual from the Sony Japan website in English (only Japanese instructions are included) and read them.At first I had a little difficulty pairing with my Zumo, which was easily fixed by updating my Zumo's firmware. And then went for a ride.My bike is loud...very loud. The default setting on the headphones is noise cancelling. As I set off down the road, I noticed the noise of my bike was reduced to a mere rumble and the music was crisp and clear in my ear with medium volume.These ear buds come with a feature called Artificial Intelligence (A/I) Noise Cancelling. When activated it listens to your surroundings for 3 seconds and then adjusts the noise cancelling mode to fit. I tested this with my motorcycle cruising at 75 mph (Legal speed in Texas). After the 3 seconds, the sound of my pipes virtually disappeared. I was listening to Mozart's Requiem with absolute clarity flying along at 75 mph and feeling like I was in a movie. I actually had to turn down the music volume (this is where I wish it was glove friendly). It was absolutely awesome. I did the same a few hours later with my old school (loud) riding mower. I mowed my 2 acres listening to Peter Tosh, Bob Marley and Pat Metheny. After about 6 hours of listening to music, the battery was still going strong. The next day I donned the buds again for my commute to work. So far the charge is still holding. I have not paired it to my phone since I do not take calls while riding. My office also does not allow headphones or I would wear them here. One day I might try out the microphone, but for now...no need.So for the pros:* Good sound (not great)* Superb noise cancelling* Long battery life* Compact* Easy to open Package* Easy Bluetooth connectivity* SIMPLE* Superb noise cancelling (worth repeating) I love these buds and will probably purchase another pair for backup.I was really excited to get these headphones because I don't like the design of the behind the neck wireless earbuds. It turns out those are a better design than these SONYs. I bought these headphones in the Fall as the weather started to cool in NYC but I'm starting to dread the weather getting warmer. I'll tell you why.The Good:These headphones sound great. Like... really good. The noise cancelling feature is pretty good. In-ear earbuds usually offer a good amount of noise reduction so adding the active noise cancelling is icing on the cake. The noise reduction isn't perfect. I have a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-ANC9 that perform a little better in that regard but for the price point, the noise cancelling on these SONYs is good enough. The sound quality of the music is great. Rich, warm sound. Deep bass and nice highs. I listen to everything from Miles Davis to Led Zepelin to Redman to Royal Blood and it all sounds great.The Bad:The design. The pictures for this product on this site don't fully describe the engineering monstrosity that is these headpones. Another reviewer mentioned that that cord is too short for the control module of the headset and he's absolutely right. He also mentioned that the clip is weak. He's also right. When I wear this headset I have to drop the control module into the breast pocket of my coat or jacket, otherwise, it just does not work. The clip isn't strong enough to clip onto a shirt and even if it did, it would actually look horrendous. Once the weather gets too warm for coats and jackets, there's no way I can use these headphones.The Ugly:The design. This time it's the control button. The button you see in the picture with the phone icon sits practically flush with the module. I can't tell you how many time I've paused my music, or the call I was on, just by simply touching the main module. It's happened enough times to bring up a visceral anger.The Ugly Part 2. Speaking of design. This time it's the overall design of module, again. Going back to having to keep this module inside a breast pocket. When on a telephone call, the person on the other end of the call can't hear you in the module is in your pocket. So you'll either have to clip it to your coat - which somewhat works for me since my coat's lapel/flap is thick enough and textured enough to hold it but it's not perfect and it's impractical, so I end up having to hold it most times, which sucks. And when wearing gloves, I've had the problem in "The Ugly Park 1".So it's not a bad headset. It's a great sounding headset with a really bad design. You really should know what you're getting into before you buy it. For commuters, it's a Winter/Fall headset, unless you're able to clip the module to your bag, if you wear a bag.Lovely little unit - compact and comfortable to wear.The noise cancelling is not super strong but perfectly good for use on the bus or train.The sound quality is very good, being clear and well defined, if not very strong in terms of lower bass. I hope that once the headphones are worn in then their bass response will have improved somewhat.A great thing - Bluetooth headset WITH active noise cancelling.Can't think why they didn't originally sell it in the UK.Purchased these after getting a ball from a packet of silica beads stuck in the headphone socket of my iPad. Now use everyday with my iPad as well as just for general use with other devices. The blue-tooth receiver produces good quality output and the battery will last for several days when using for multiple hours a day. The headphones supplied are actually pretty decent considering the price point and for general day to day use I tend to just stick with them. I have tried using the receiver with my Oppo PM3 headphones and was pretty impressed with the result, but for me this is not the main purpose for a device like this. If I want to use my better headphones I am likely going to be in an environment where a better output source from a dedicated amplifier is available.Overall this is a really nice product at a decent price point that I wasn't able to find many competitors for at the time I bought it.通勤時、電車やバスで使用しています。aptxに対応していてノイズキャンセリングがあってこの価格帯で買えるのはこれしかないと思います。上位機種のwi1000xは首掛け式で、荷物になる、夏は汗がつくというデメリットがあります。しまうときは無造作に鞄のポケットに丸めて突っ込んでいます。ノイズキャンセリングの効きは話し声とかアナウンスはあまり遮断しませんが、ゴォーッという低音の騒音が大きくなればなるほど、ノイズリダクションが効くようになります。なので地下鉄内や高架下などでは如何に良く効いているのかわかります。また地下鉄駅構内のようなうるさい環境で電話をするときも、スマホを耳に当てて通話するより相手の声が聞きやすくなります。コードが短いのを欠点と捉える事もありますが、通勤時の服装は胸ポケットがあるので問題はなく、コードが短い分絡みにくいし、鞄の出し入れがとても楽です。充電も9時間くらい持つので、往復2時間以上の通勤でも3日以上持ちます。音楽をかけずにノイズキャンセリングのみ作動させて電車に乗ったら騒音による疲れが大幅に軽減される実感がありますので、私にとってはデジタル耳栓としての使い道もあります。願わくば、首掛け式ではないwi1000xと同等のノイキャン無線イヤホンを待ち望んでいる次第です。あれだけデカい再生、停止ボタンを付けてホールド機能がない。バカが作ったとしか考えられない。基本的に完璧ですが、誤作動起こしてストレスになります。ちなみに1回洗濯してしまったのですが、問題なく動作しました。耐久性は申し分ないのですがねぇ。電車の中で音楽を聴く際にノイズキャンセリング機能が大変便利です。もっと値が張るイヤホンも持っていますが、電車では周りの音にかき消されて音量を上げざるを得ないので、結局外出時は持ち歩いていません。音もいい音ので、通勤での必須アイテムです。ベビーに使い続けて3年目で壊れてしまったので、また買おうと思います。2018年6月6日追記壊れてたと思っていたのですが、充電がちゃんとされていないだけでした。新しいほうを今は使っており、古いほうは母に譲りました。本日届きました。線が短いとか、音質やノイキャン機能は「そこそこ」とか「まあまあ」という書き込みがありますが、その通りでした。で、手持ちの「Bose QuietComfort 20 ノイズキャンセリングイヤホン」を繋げてみたら、繋がりました！「ボーズの高音質+ハイレベルのノイキャン+耳へのフィット感+Bluetooth」のセットが完成！ Boseの耳へのフィット感を経験したら、耳の中に押し込むタイプで長時間聴くのはシンドイです。Boseイヤホンからi-phone XRのライトニングへの変換コネクタ部分でブチブチ雑音が入って困っていたのですが、これでストレスから解放されます。Sonyの本品からBluetooth機能だけ頂き、Boseの高機能のいいとこ取りのセット。こういう使い方もありかと。唯一のマイナス点は、Boseを繋げるとmax音量は下がりました。しかしノイキャン機能があるので、音量を上げる必要もなく、私のように電車の中でも静かにBGMとして音楽を聴きたい人には十分な音量です。ガンガンの音量で聴きたい人は同梱のSonyのイヤホンを使ってください。３ヶ月ほど使用して、以下印象です。<良いところ>・軽い・まぁまぁ妥協できる音質・電池が長持ち<悪いところ>・カナル型じゃないバージョンも欲しい・サイドスイッチが手探りだと分かりにくい・電源のオンオフと再生停止ボタンが一緒なのはNG・電源が入らなくなった（後述）で、タイトルの症状と対処法です。電源を入れたままで過放電をしてしまったのか、ある日突然電源が入らなくなりました。USBを挿すと充電LEDがついたので、そのまま放置（充電）して、LEDが消えたのを見て再度電源投入しても起動せず。リセットボタンや電源１５秒長押しなど、対処法をいろいろ試してみても起動せず。改めてUSBを挿すとまた点灯するLED…結局、LEDが消える度にUSBを指し直す（充電を繰り返す）ことで３日目に復活しました。他のレビューアさんも同様なことを書かれてましたが、電源が入らない、サポセンに連絡するのが面倒な方はお試しください。