Sony H.ear On MDR-100ABN Quick Review

Sony has offered an array of over-ear and on-ear headphones with their Sony MDRs’ headphone line-up. This time, the Sony MDR-100ABN h.ear on is one of the company’s latest noise-cancelling ‘premium Hi-res’ headphones which stands out because of its stylish design and exceptional sound. Will you go for this? Let’s find out on our review.

Design and Construction

The Sony MDR-100ABN has the eye-catching looks despite being built almost entirely of plastic thanks to its five shimmering colors options – the mainstream Charcoal Black and other four different luminous colors in Lime Yellow, Viridian Blue, Bordeaux Pink and Cinnabar Red. What we have here is the Cinnabar Red which we think somehow in between the red and orange hues.

The synthetic leather ear cups on top of the padded adjustable headband are very comfy. Take note that the slanted-back ear cups sit around your ears, not on them. It weighs 290g which isn’t light but also not too heavy. We think that this weight is just comfortable enough for continuous wear whether you are just sitting pretty on a couch or walking around your neighborhood. The headphones can also be folded to fit into a neat hard carry case that is perfect for travel.

The left ear cup has the power and noise-cancellation (NC) control buttons which also have a small LED light sitting right next to them. The 3.5mm input socket for wired connection, NFC for fast Bluetooth-paring and micro-USB port for charging the headphones can also be found on this side.

The track control switch and volume rocker are located on the right ear cup. Pressing down on the switch will give you an option to play or pause music on supported devices when connected wirelessly via Bluetooth, while sliding it in either direction will go to the previous or next track of your playlist.

In addition, it comes with a hard carry case, 1.2m stereo cable, micro-USB cable for charging and data transfer included in the package.

Sound Quality

The Sony MDR-100ABN is equipped with Bluetooth and NFC technology for a full-fledged wireless music streaming. The company claims that the device’s LDAC feature, Sony’s latest audio technology, transmits approximately three times more data than a conventional Bluetooth Audio. It will also allow you to enjoy High-Resolution audio with exceptional sound quality.

Operating the headphones is as simple as pie, just long press to turn it on and you’ll hear a voice prompt saying ‘power on’ and the LED will start to blink in blue. Pressing it longer than 5 seconds will give you a second prompt saying ‘Bluetooth pairing’ which then lights up a blinking red and blue indicating that it’s available for pairing. You can also connect your device by attaching the stereo cable to the 3.5mm input socket if your battery completely dies but the Digital Noise Cancellation feature will be automatically disabled.

We used a Sony Walkman with High-Resolution Audio which is a perfect match to our noise cancelling headphones. Its Digital Noise Cancellation feature is great and well-implemented as you won’t hear any ambient sound at all, which might make you want to sit down during the first few minutes because it might disorient you a bit. When it comes to delivering music, it can provide a bass-head level of slam and rumble with good and utterly crisp details.

The battery is rated to power the headset for up to 20 hours of continuous playback. Charging time is extremely slow, it took us about four hours to fully charge the headphones using a a 2.1A wall power adapter.

Conclusion

The Sony MDR-100ABN will not only serve great as headphones for all your audio devices, but will also do the job as travel headphones. It has a beautiful finish with wide selection of vibrant colors to choose from that really are head-turners. Whether if you are an audiophile or not, you will surely love this not so ordinary headphones with wireless Bluetooth connectivity and digital noise-cancelling feature. Priced at Php15,999USD 273INR 23,112EUR 260CNY 1,985, the headphones are definitely on the premium high-end range which make up for with a combination of high standard features to its price point.

Sony MDR-100ABN specs:

Weight: 290g
Impedance value (OHM)
Power On: 32 ohms (Wired)
Power Off: 16ohms (Wired)
Sensitivities value (DB/MW)
Power Off: 97 dB/mW (Wired)
Power On: 103 dB/mW (Wired)

In the box:
* Sony MDR-100ABN headphones
* Audio cable for wired connection (Gold-plated L-shaped Stereo Mini)
* USB cable
* Carrying case

What we liked about it:
* Exceptional sound quality
* Effective Digital Noise Cancelling Technology
* Powerful bass
* Wireless Bluetooth connectivity with NFC
* Stylish and comfortable build
* Comes with own carrying case

What we disliked:
* Expensive
* Slow charging