Samsung has revealed its latest premium over-ear headphones, the AKG Y600 NC, which it will be hoping will have the audio chops to knock the long-reigning king of noice cancelling cans, the Sony WH-1000XM3, from the top spot in our best noise cancelling headphones table.
The big boys of Samsung's Y-range, the AKG Y600 NC go on sale from today, in three premium gloss color finishes (black, silver or gold), priced at £199 (with international pricing to be confirmed).
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The Y600s offer 25 hours of wireless battery life with noise cancellation turned on, and will offer 4 hours playback from a ten minute charge. Two hours is required for a full charge over the USB-C connection.
Feature-filled, they not only offer active noise cancellation, but have smart ambient aware modes that can let external sound in through the mic along with your tunes (perfect for, say, when zooming around on one of the best electric scooters), as well as a TalkThru option that will automatically dip the volume of your tunes when the headphones recognise you're having a conversation. Music will automatically pause when you take the cans off, and resume when you replace them.
The over ears (which feature memory foam cups and protein leather ear cushions) also have some smart hardware controls built in, too. Twist an ear cup to dial up the volume, and double tap the physical play button for voice assistant access, which supports Bixby and Google Assistant on Android, and Siri on iOS devices.
Weighing 322g, they're packing in 40mm drivers, and offer a frequency response range of 10Hz - 24kHz.
It's a solid spec sheet then, and we look forward to giving them a listen – and can't wait to see what how the incoming Sony WH-X1000M4 cans shape up next to them.
Cheaper alternative
If you're after something a little more portable and affordable, try the new AKG Y400 headphones, which Samsung's reps describe as "lightweight and foldable," offering "clear on-the-go sound".
The "mini" headphones are on rather than over ears, and are designed for comfort, weighing just 170g. They'll be available from today in black, pink, green, blue and rose gold shades.
Offering 20 hour battery life, you'll get 4 hours from a 10 minute charge over USB-C, with volume again controlled by the earcups. Auto-play and pause, plus ambient aware and TalkThru modes carry on over from the Y600s, but in terms of features you're losing the active noise cancellation and settling for slightly inferior drivers and frequency ranges with a 36mm driver, and 20Hz to 20kHz response range. But they'll set you back a mere £109, again with international pricing to be confirmed.
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