Unboxing the Shure Aonic 50 headphones

Let’s start at the beginning.

We all know how satisfying it is to open a new product, whatever it is, and the Shure Aonic 50s are no different.

They have a satisfying unboxing process in that the top half of the box slides off just like an iPhone box does to reveal the fairly large Shure Aonic 50 carry case.

The carry case is hard and able to protect your headphones in their daily use.

It’s quite large as the headphones are only able to fold flat and not in on themselves like the Shure Aonic 40.

When opening the case you’re greeted by the Shure Aonic 50s, a USB-C charging cable, and a 3.5mm audio jack cable.  

So, after unboxing, I couldn’t wait to give them a try…

Are the Aonic 50s comfortable to wear?

One of the most important things about any pair of headphones is comfort. How long can you wear these headphones before you start feeling fatigued?

I find the Shure Aonic 50s incredibly comfortable to wear, I’ve spent entire work days (about 8hrs) in the office using these headphones to listen to music and found that I don’t experience much, if any, fatigue from them.

This is likely due to the large ear cups which have a lot of soft padding covered in faux leather material.

The cups rotate too, which helps them to fit the contours of your head. A good level of clamping pressure then ensures the headphones feel snug and won’t fall off your head at any moment.

Tie this in with the headband padding and extendable arms, and you have a pair of headphones that are very pleasant to wear. 

The headphones themselves are slightly bigger than average and weigh 334g but they don’t feel heavy at all and make listening for long periods of time enjoyable.  

High-quality construction

Shure has a reputation for building their products to military specifications, and the Aonic 50s demonstrate this. They feel incredibly robust and rugged.

The cups have a strong plastic housing which is connected to the headband via a metal frame.

Plus, they’re clearly made with premium materials and are designed to withstand any kind of abuse you throw at them.  

Features of the Shure Aonic 50 headphones

So, what can the Shure Aonic 50s actually do?

Connectivity

The Aonic 50s can be used in a number of different ways, the most common and the way I’ve been using them is by Bluetooth. 

These headphones feature Bluetooth 5.0, which is standard for most headphones and Bluetooth devices now.

In short, this allows you to stream Hi-Fi audio from your device, and it transfers data much faster, meaning there’s little latency. You can even connect multiple headphones to one device. 

Another way to connect these headphones to your source is by a 3.5mm jack, which is perfect if you forget to charge them. You can also use the USB-C cable – this gives you that super hi-fi audio as the Aonic 50 supports the following codecs:  

• aptX 
• aptX HD 
• aptX Low Latency  
• SBC  
• AAC 
• LDAC

Sound modes

My favourite thing about these headphones is the Sound Modes you can choose from.

There are three separate modes that can be changed via the switch on the right ear cup. When the switch is in the middle, you’re in the generic headphone mode, no fancy tech is happening here! It’s just how the headphones sound naturally, which is incredibly clear, crisp, and detailed.

When the switch is down, the Active Sound Cancellation mode is turned on. With this enabled, it’s an absolute joy to immerse yourself in the music as you can pick out every detail of the sound.

The Shure Aonic 50s are compatible with the Shure Play app, in which you can amend the sound-cancellation settings. There are two settings to choose from: Normal and Max.

When in Max, you get a complete sense of isolation. The Aonic 50 sound isolating technology does a great job of keeping the audio consistent and is perfect to use on a plane or in any very noisy environment.

The final position is up, which activates the Environment Mode. I use this feature quite a lot, especially when I’m at work and want to be able to listen out for anyone calling me.

With this mode, you get great sound but can be a bit more aware of your surroundings, which is good if you’re out of the house. The sensitivity of the environment mode can be changed in the Shure Play app.

The headphones also have a built-in microphone, making them great for taking calls. If you’re at work and need to be in video meetings, the headphones connect effortlessly to any device and require minimal set-up.

Controls

On the right ear cup, you’ll find all the onboard controls. They’re very tactile, so it’s easy to tell which button you are pressing. With just a touch of a button, you can play/pause music, skip tracks, answer calls, and even activate your voice assistant on your device.   

A handy app! 

You can get even more out of the Shure Aonic 50 by downloading the Shure Play app from the iOS App Store or Google Play.

Shure Play allows you to change the EQ of the headphones. There are a number of EQ presets to choose from or you can create your own using the manual mode which has a 4-band EQ.  

Final thoughts of the Shure Aonic 50s

I’ve been using these headphones daily for a couple of months and I enjoy them a lot. They easily switch between my devices without me disconnecting one and reconnecting another – they just know which one I’m using.

The sound quality is very impressive. It’s exactly what I would expect from Shure as their Studio headphones are some of the best.

Having adjustable noise-cancellation is great for getting immersed in the music, however, the Max setting is a bit extreme for everyday listening – but it would be great for very noisy environments.  

The Shure Aonic 50 are an impressive pair of headphones that you should definitely check out if you’re looking for something new.

This is Shure’s first attempt at these types of headphones, so it’s exciting to think about how they’ll develop in the future!