Even though the Shure Aonic 50’s have a solid foundation to them. For me these headphones are a hard pass cause performance wise these headphones have a lot of room for improvement. And if you’re looking for a pair of headphones to commute with… then its really hard to justify getting these headphones when compared to either the Sony 1000XM3’s or Bose NC 700’s. But today we’re going to compare these headphones to more audiophile centric options like the Sennheiser Momentum 3’s and the Bowers and Wilkins PX7.

So first off there’s price… all three of these headphones retail for $400. But one thing that I do want to point out here is that the Aonic 50’s are Shure’s first attempt at over ear ANC headphones. Where as the PX7’s are Bowers and Wilkins second attempt. And as the name implies the Momentum 3’s are Sennheiser’s third attempt. So here’s hoping that we’ll see some major improvements with the second generation Aonic 50’s. But non the less if you want to pick any of these headphones up they’ll be linked down below. 

Next up lets address the carrying cases that come included with these headphones. If you’re planning on regularly commuting with your headphones personally for me the Aonic 50’s are automatically disqualified cause their case is huge. Its feels premium and it going to keep these headphones protected… but its just way too big. Now the momentum 3’s case also feels premium but I also wouldn’t feel comfortable commuting with these headphones cause I think you run the risk of crushing your headphones. But then there’s the PX7’s case… it feels premium, its extremely sturdy so you don’t have to worry about your headphones, and its also a manageable size… comparable to the Sony 1000XM3’s and Bose NC 700’s case. So plainly said, if you’re looking for a pair of quality headphones to travel with then the PX7’s are a no brainier here. 

Now when it comes to the headphones themselves… all three of these headphones have sturdier and more premium build quality than what you would find on your more main stream options like the Sony’s and Bose. And all three of these headphones, build quality wise will stand the test of time better than the Sony’s and Bose when it comes to wear and tear. Now all three of these headphones feel great in the hand but something that I do want to call attention to here is going to be the feel of their ear pads and headband. Now the Sennheiser’s have the best feeling ear cups here particularly cause they’re using real sheep skin leather. Which just feels very luxurious. Its soft and its very supple. Where as the leatherette on the PX7’s also feels very nice but its just not as nice as what you would find on the Momentum 3’s… and it is a slight down grade from what you would find on the Bose NC 700’s. And then there’s the leatherette on the Shure’s… its passable, but it does feel rubbery. And something that I also want to quickly point out about the Shure’s is that I feel their control buttons feel pretty cheap. Especially their Ambient and Active Noise cancellation Slider. Where as the control buttons on these other headphones feel much better. But over all, all of these headphones have decent build quality to them and they are a step up from their more main stream options… but I think the main differentiating factor here for a lot of people here is going to be the feel of the ear pads. And if thats the case then the Sennheiser’s do edge out here a little bit. 

Now when it comes to actually wearing these headphones… first off I gotta point out that both the PX7’s and Shure’s are not big head approved cause they have a firmer fit to them. Where as the Momentum 3’s are big head approved cause they have less clamping force. So I can wear these headphones for hours on end without any problems.  But something that I do gotta point out about all three of these headphones is that since they do have sturdier and more premium build qualities than more main stream options… they are a little heavier. Now the heaviest headphones here are the Shure’s weighing in at 334 grams. Where as the Sennheiser’s weigh in at 306 grams and the PX7’s weigh in at 305 grams. And for comparison, the Bose NC 700’s weigh in at 263 grams and the Sony 1000XM3’s weigh in at 252 grams. So what im getting at here is that with all of these more premium feeling options they are more noticeable when they’re on your head… and you do notice them when you’re walking around with them on when compared to more main stream options. But since the Shure’s weigh in at 334 grams they’re even more noticeable. Now when it comes to their ear pads, even though my ears fit okay with the Shure’s… they do feel a little cramped cause these ear pads have a low ceiling to them. Where as the ear pads on the Sennheiser’s are more spacious and they should have no problem fitting most ear types. But if you have really large ears or ears that stick out a lot then you’ll might want to go with the PX7’s cause these headphones have the roomiest ear cups here. And these ear cups are very similar to the ones you’ll find on the Bose NC 700’s. But the last thing that I do want to address about these headphones is heating. Since the ear pads on the PX7’s have the least amount of contact area, these ear pads heat up the slowest which contributes to over all comfort. Where as the ear pads on the Sennheiser’s heat up like your average pair of headphones cause they have an average amount of contact area… But then there are the Shure’s which do like to heat up fairly quickly cause because they do have a lot of surface area. But over all… when it comes to fit for me the Momentum 3’s are the best fitting headphones here but thats completely subjective cause they’re big head approved. Objectivly, I would have to say the PX7’s are the most comfortable headphones here if you have a smaller head cause these headphones have the most spacious ear cups here and they heat up the slowest. But I still say the Momentum 3’s come in second here cause their ear cups are more spacious than the Shure’s and they don’t heat up as fast either. 

Now when it comes to tech specs, all three of these headphones charge via a USB C port as they should. And the USB C port on all of these headphones can be used as a wired connection which is something that you can’t do with more main stream options like the Sony 1000XM3’s or Bose NC 700. 

Now when it comes to battery life… unfortunately the Momentum 3’s are trailing behind here cause they’re only good for up to 18 hours. Which is below average. Now the battery life on the Shure’s is also a little below average cause these are only good for around 20 hours. But then there are the PX7’s which are good for up to 30 hours which is a little above average and they’re clearly trying to go after the Sony 1000XM3’s here. 

Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, all three of these headphones can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so you can easily hot swap from one device to another. Which could be a big deal for some power user out there. And when it comes to watching movies or videos on your phone… all three of these headphones have zero latency across the board whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device. 

And when it comes to audio codecs all three of these headphones have a more extensive list than your typical main stream options. Now the momentum 3’s have support for SBC, AAC, APTX, and APTX low latency. Where as the PX7’s have support for SBC, AAC, APTX, APTX HD, and APTX Adaptive. But then there are the Shure’s which have support for SBC, AAC, Aptx, APTX HD, APTX Low Latency, and they also have support for Sony’s LDAC. 

But if you want to you can always just use a wired connection with any of these headphones. They only thing that I want to point out here is that the PX7’s are using a 3.5 millimeter audio jack where as these other two headphones are using a 2.5 millimeter audio jack. 

But now lets talk about listening to music with these headphones… now everything that im going to say here is with the ANC on all of these headphones turned off. The Shure Aonic 50’s are a pair very flat sounding headphones. The bass on these headphones has very little physicality to it. Its doesn’t resonate all that much and its not going to rattle your head. But my biggest problem with these headphones is that even though their bass has very little physicality to it sometimes the bass on these headphones might rattle a little bit. And if you were to go into their companion app and select their low boost EQ then you’re going to hear that rattling even more often. And even with their Low boost EQ these headphones still have very little bass. Now keep in mind, even though Shure’s companion app allows you to select from a few pre made EQ’s or even make your own… these EQ settings are not loaded directly onto the headphones themselves. If you want these EQ settings to take affect you gotta play your locally stored music through this app. Other wise if you’re streaming music through any other app youre stuck with stock EQ on these headphones. Now like I said the bass on these headphones is very flat, but they do have pronounced mids. Now these headphones have great clarity but when it comes to their instrument separation and sound stage I think it just sounds average. Where as with the Bowers and Wilkins PX7’s their stand out characteristic is their super wide sound stage and instrument separation. These headphones sound super open. The only thing about them is that they don’t have an adjustable EQ. But personally I really wouldn’t change anything about them cause these headphones have a very balanced sound signature with a decent amount of resonating bass. But then there are Momentum 3’s and these are the people pleasers here. Now they also have a wide sound stage and great instrument separation… its not quite up there with the PX7’s but its still really good. But the thing about these headphones is that they have an adjustable EQ. And unlike the Shure’s this EQ setting is loaded directly on to the headphones themselves. Now if you want a flat sound signature like the Shure’s you can do that or if you want to turn the bass up on these headphones you can also do that. Now the majority of the bass on these headphones is going to resonate. But if you turn up the bass on these headphones then these headphones are going to physically rattle your head a little bit. Which is a lot of fun. So over all, personally for me the Shure’s are my lest favorite sounding headphones here cause their bass is very flat… but thats definitely a preference thing. But then there’s also the fact that sometimes their bass does start to rattle a little bit which I feel is unacceptable for $400 headphones… but then also their instrument separation and sound stage just sounds average. But then there are PX7’s which I think are the best sounding headphones here cause of their very impressive sound stage… But personally for me my favorite sounding headphones here are the Momentum 3’s cause they’re just a lot of fun if you turn up the bass on these headphones. All while still having great instrument separation and a wide sound stage.

But keep in mind, everything that I said about these headphones sound quality wise was with their ANC turned off. If you were to use either the Shure’s or PX7’s with their ANC turned on they do change how they sound. The Shure’s get a little shallow, and the Sound stage on the PX7’s narrows up a little bit and their bass doesn’t resonate as deep. The PX7’s still sound good… but they sound noticeably better with their ANC turned off. Where as with the Momentum’s… they don’t change how they sound with their ANC turned on which is good. And when it comes to the actual effectiveness of the Active Noise cancelation on these headphones… both the PX7’s and Momentum 3’s do out perform the Shure’s by a decent amount. But so that you can see for yourself we're going to jump into an ANC test. Now so that we’re clear… all of these headphones are being used in their Maximum ANC setting… cause all of them have Active Noise Canceltion level settings to choose from. 

So like you may have just seen, both the Momentum 3’s and PX7’s block out more noise than the Shure’s. The Momentum 3’s block out noticeably more noise while the PX’s block out significantly more noise. Now even though the PX7’s block out a significantly more noise  than the Shure’s they do have a lot of cabin pressure. To the point where you feel like you gotta pop your ears from time to time if you’re not playing music through these headphones or if you’re watching movies with them… Where as with the Momentum 3’s, they barely have any cabin pressure, and they have way less cabin pressure then the Shure’s. So over all… I gotta say the Momentum 3’s have the best performing active noise cancellation here. Now no they aren’t blocking out as much noise as the Sony 1000XM3 or Bose NC 700 and the PX7’s clearly block out more noise… But unlike the Shure’s and PX7’s their Active noice cancelation doesn’t change how their music sounds… and they also barley have any cabin pressure which contributes to their over all comfort.

But now lets switch over to the ambient modes on these headphones. Now the ambient modes on all of these headphones sounds natural and they all have zero hissing in the background which is very important for when you’re watching movies with these headphones. But the problem with the ambient mode on the Shure’s is that they like to pick up a lot wind noise when walking out doors. Which could be a problem for commuters. Where as the ambient modes on these other two headphones pick up significantly less wind noise. But the momentum 3’s do do a better job of rejecting wind noise than the PX7’s. 

Now before we jump into the microphone test… I do want to point out that the Shure’s are the only headphones here that don’t have wears sensors. So when you take you’re headphones off but the Momentum’s and PX7’s will pause your music and when you put them back on they’ll start playing music again. Now personally I don’t care for wear sensors and I usually turn that feature off on all of my headphones… but I just wanted to point it out. 

But now here’s the microphone test. Now the PX7’s have the worst performing microphone here cause it sounds very muffled. 

Now even though my voice sounds pretty good on the Shure’s this microphone isn’t really doing much to block out this AC unit I’ve got going here. 

And even if we were to turn this AC unit off I still don’t think the microphone on these headphones is all that great cause if I stay quite then you’ll hear a constant buzzing in the background. So yeah thats the buzzing that im talking about. 

But finally there’s the microphone on the Momentum 3’s. Its not the best but its usable. My voice sounds decent but there is a decent amount of amplification but this microphone does do a decent job of blocking out that AC unit. Cause if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to hear that AC unit. But if we were to switch back over to the Momentum’s its not as bad.

So with all that being said… I know the Aonic 50’s are Shure’s first pair of ANC headphones… but they have a lot of room for improvement. Personally for me, I am not a fan of their flat bass… but also their instrument separation and sound stage sounds average especially when compared to these other two headphones. Now if shure wants to make these headphones a viable option for constant commuters they need to shrink their crying case down, they need to improve the active noise cancellation on these headphones, and they need to reduce the amount of wind noise the ambient mode on these headphones pick up. And it’ll also be nice if these headphones got an adjustable EQ that get loaded directly on to the headphones themselves like how most other headphones do so that your EQ setting follows you from app to app. Cause lets face it, the majority of people stream the majority of their music. Now when it comes to choosing between the Sennheiser Momentum 3’s and Bowers And Wilkins PX7’s personally for me I gotta go with the Momentum 3’s cause for me they’re the most comfortable headphones here… But also I really like listening to music with these headphones cause if you turn up their bass they can be a lot of fun… but they also still have great instrument separation and a wide sound stage. But also the active noise cancellation on these headphones is very good. Now no they don’t block out as much noise as the Sony 1000XM3’s or Bose NC 700… but they do have the least amount of cabin pressure here and it doesn’t change how your music sounds all while blocking out a decent amount of noise. But then there are the PX7’s… these headphones also sound really good, and they are the better option here for commuters cause they have a longer battery life, a super tough carrying case, and they also block out the most amount of noise here. But their Active noise cancellation does have a considerable amount fo cabin pressure to it and these headphones might not fit everyone all that great cause of their clamping force.