Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8 (2018) vs Sony MDR-1A (2014)

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i (2018) and the Sony MDR-1A (2014) are decent Closed-Back Headphones at their respective price points, but don't manage to stand out from their direct competitors in any meaningful way. We suggest that you also look at some alternatives that can be found for around $220 or $330.

If you're still interested in learning a bit more about the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i (2018) and the Sony MDR-1A (2014), however, read on for a summary of what we could gather about them:

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i (2018) hasn't managed to earn a top spot in any roundups from sources that conduct trustworthy hands-on testing. Nevertheless, reviewers from sites, such as Techradar, PCmag, and Wirecutter (NYTimes) all gave it a spot on their list.

As for the Sony MDR-1A (2014), 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 PCmag, CNET, What Hi-Fi?, and Rtings enough to make it onto their respective shortlists.

We conducted an analysis of all of the review data that we could find on these two products. First, we focused on sources that tested and rated both of them, like PCmag, and learned that they all showed a preference for the Sony MDR-1A (2014).

Then we took a look at the highest review scores that these two Closed-Back Headphones received. We found that the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i (2018) managed to earn a rating of 9.4 from Lifewire, whereas the Sony MDR-1A (2014) got its highest, 10, score from reviewers at Pocket-lint.

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 Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i (2018) and Sony MDR-1A (2014) managed averages of 8.5 and 8.3 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i (2018) vs. Sony MDR-1A (2014) 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.