Plantronics BackBeat PRO 2 (2016) vs Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8 (2018)

The Plantronics BackBeat PRO 2 (2016) is a great Closed-Back Headphone for its $119 asking price.

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i (2018), however, is merely passable at its $302 price point. If you're considering buying a Closed-Back Headphone in the $220 range, you might want to check out some of its competitors.

The Plantronics BackBeat PRO 2 (2016) has managed to impress reviewers from some of the most highly trusted sources on the internet, including Rtings and SoundGuys. It performed great in their in-depth hands-on roundups - it was awarded the "Top Pick" title by Android Central and "Best Bluetooth TV Headphones" by Rtings in their respective Closed-Back Headphone roundups. That's high praise, especially when coming from such high-quality sources.

As for the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i (2018), it wasn't able to earn a top spot in any roundups from trusted sources that conduct their own hands-on testing. Nevertheless, it managed to impress reviewers at Techradar, PCmag, and Wirecutter (NYTimes) enough to make it onto their respective shortlists.

When we thoroughly analyzed their review scores, we learned that all of the sources that tested both Closed-Back Headphones, including Techradar and PCmag, preferred the Plantronics BackBeat PRO 2 (2016) over the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i (2018).

We also took a look at which sources they managed to impress the most. The Plantronics BackBeat PRO 2 (2016) was liked best by Techradar, which gave it a score of 9, while the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i (2018) got its highest, 9.4, score from Lifewire.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Closed-Back Headphones on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Closed-Back Headphones being 7.4 out of 10, whereas the Plantronics BackBeat PRO 2 (2016) and Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i (2018) managed averages of 8.0 and 8.5 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct Plantronics BackBeat PRO 2 (2016) vs. Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i (2018) comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.