Buyer's Guide: Wireless Headphones

The Facts

Wireless headphones have the obvious advantage that you are no longer restricted by cables attaching the headphones to the audio source.  You have the freedom to walk, run or jump around listening to your music or playing computer games with no restrictions on your movement.

The trade-off for all the freedom of movement is that wireless headphones generally don't sound quite as good as equivalently priced wired headphones.  The audio gets processed by electronics in the base unit, gets transmitted via radio signal (or in some cases infra-red) and then is converted back to an audio signal by the headset.  All this processing adds extra noise to the audio signal.  For example if you compare a pair of Sennheiser RS140 wireless headphones against a pair of similarly priced Sennheiser HD595 wired headphones there is a noticeable difference in audio quality.  You may even be able to detect a background hiss with the wireless pair during quiet passages of music.

Our Opinion

A good set of wireless headphones does a great job of making listening mobile around the house or office, but don't go expecting audiophile quality sound.  That said you can't beat the experience of cooking a meal while listening to your favourite tunes, or jumping around the room playing Nintendo Wii, Xbox or Playstation late at night with no wires.

The best wireless headphones we have heard are Sennheiser's RS wireless headphone range - see the Sennheiser RS110, RS120, RS130 and RS140 models.  The Sennheiser RS130 is a highly recommended open back headphone design, whereas the Sennheiser RS140 is a closed back headphone design with better sound isolation for noisier environments or for those with hearing difficulties.  The open back design of the RS130 gives a more open soundstage and a more natural sound as the earcups reflect less sound back into the ear.

Browse our selection of Wireless Headphones