Hybrid ANC with transparency mode and AILDAC streaming and Bluetooth 5.4$99.99 / £59.99
Some of the best headphones are pretty pricey, but there are some increasingly impressive options for considerably less cash: our current pick of the best budget headphones, Sony’s WH-CH520, have a recommended price of $60 / £60 / AU$99 (although right now there’s a deal running on them, as you’ll see if you head to our Black Friday headphones deals roundup).
But what the Sonys don’t have is ANC. OneOdio’s new Focus A5 Pro headphones do, for a very similar price in the UK and a bit more in the US.
The specs sound very impressive: 75 hours of battery life, LDAC hi-res audio support and hybrid ANC, all for under $70. And the big selling point here is what OneOdio describes as AI-Based Adaptive Noise Cancellation.
OneOdio Focus A5 Pro: big specs, small price
The ANC here promises real-time adjustments to reduce overall ambient noise by up to -45dB. That’s more than many headphones, which tend to reduce by around -30dB, so it should be better in relatively noisy environments.
However, a huge part of ANC depends on how effective and efficient the ANC algorithm is (feel free to consult our active noise cancellation explainer for more), so until we’ve actually tested these headphones we can only take OneOdio’s word for it. We’ve tested multiple models from OneOdio before, but as far as I can see we haven’t tested any with ANC; at this price it might be wise to curb your excitement.
The rest of the spec is solid: Bluetooth 5.4, 20Hz to 40kHz frequency response, LDAC streaming, 40mm drivers and a low latency mode for gaming. The quoted 75 hours battery is with ANC off but there’s still an impressive 45 hours with ANC on, and the headphones support fast charging to deliver 5 hours of play time after just 5 minutes of charging.
The new Focus A5 Pro are available now from the OneOdio website, Amazon and Amazon UK for $99.99 / £59.99.
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