Sennheiser PXC 550 vs Phiaton BT 220 NC

The feature works really well in preventing outside noise from intruding into your music listening experience. Also, there are very little to no reports of a feeling of pressure in the ears when the feature is active.

The sound tuning of these headphones is focused on the lower frequencies. The bass is quite powerful with good sub-bass extension. Users who listen to a lot of hip-hop, dance and bass-heavy music will certainly enjoy the oomph that these headphones can give. The mids sound natural and smooth, yet the lower regions of these frequencies can be overwhelmed by the powerful bass. The highs are crisp and clear though, which prevents the sound from getting too muddy.

Soft foam and leather are used in the interior and exterior of the ear pads respectively which makes them feel really soft and smooth on the head. The same material choices can be found in the headband.

The Smart Pause feature detects if you are removing or putting on your headphones. These gestures will trigger the music to pause or play automatically.

When in wireless mode, you do not need to use buttons in order to control the functions of the headphones. The right ear cup lets you control the headphones through touch gestures. You can swipe left or right for next or previous track, swipe up or down to increase or decrease the volume or tap on the ear cup to pause or play track as well as answer or end calls.

You can set just how much noise is cancelled by the headphones, from maximum active noise cancelling, to an ambient mode which allows some sound into the headphones. You can also turn the feature off entirely.

These headphones are quite effective at preventing sound leakage, and also passively block out noise really well. This is achieved by the closed ear cup design along with the effective seal from the leather-surfaced ear pads.

You can twist the ear cups and then fold them into the headband for a smaller, more travel friendly size. In this state, it should take up a lot less space inside your bag for less hassle when used on the go.

Sennheiser offers the CapTune smartphone app which allows users to see the battery level of the headphones, adjust the headphones' EQ, and control other functions.

The case is made from a tough fabric material which should protect the headphones from minor bumps and scratches.

You’ll have minimal issues with headphone wires. While there is a cable connecting the earpieces to the active noise cancelling module, you can eliminate the need for a cable from the module to your source device if the source is Bluetooth capable.

These headphones can block out a decent amount of ambient noise. The active noise cancelling filters out most high and mid frequency noise. To further reduce low frequency noise, you’ll want to switch the eartips to the Comply foam ones.

Should the battery run out, you can still use these headphones in wired mode. There is a micro-USB to 3.5mm cable included so you can connect the ANC module to your source device. You won’t get active noise cancelling in this mode though.

The ANC module doubles as a remote, and gives you a lot of control over phone and music functions. There is a dedicated button for answering calls, a switch to turn ANC on or off, as well as buttons for volume adjustment and play/pause.