The last few years I’ve written up a fair number of new Sennheiser headphones, most of which have had more premium price tags. But now the company has released a new $70 on-ear wireless model, the 250BT, that should appeal to those on a tighter budget. Equipped with Bluetooth 5.0, its features seem pretty basic, but it does have 25-hour battery life, as well as support for the AAC and aptX audio codecs, and it also taps into Sennheiser’s Smart Control app, allowing you to customize the sound a bit.
Sennheiser describes the 250BT as having club-like sound, and that’s a fairly apt take. There’s lots of energy in the bass and some sparkle in the treble. This is what I like to call an exciting headphone — dynamic, fun. I can’t say it’s got premium build quality (it looks and feels like a more of a budget model). But it’s lightweight and comfortable for an on-ear model, though it lacks any padding on the inside of the headband so I occasionally had to make adjustments to relieve a little pressure on the crown of my head.
You can use the 250BT as a headset for making calls — it works reasonably well for that — but Sennheiser doesn’t really talk up the call quality, mentioning only that the headphones have a built-in microphone. The noise-isolating ear pads cut the background noise, giving you a better listening experience. This headphone is more about the sound and it did grow on me over time.
