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There are the cheap store-helf headphones that you get just to funnel sound into your ears. There are also the high-priced premium headphones that you buy to immerse yourself into your music. Well, we were given the opportunity to review the Edifier W820NB, which promise to be a mixture of both. Do these headphones sit in the sweet spot between affordable and premium? Let’s find out in this review.
As stated before, these headphones sit in the middle of affordability and premium. They’re the kind of headphones to buy if you don’t want to break the bank, but you do care about the sound going into your ears. If you’re looking for a more premium experience, then you might also want to look at the Edifier WH950NB.
At $199, these headphones offer a great listening experience with several great features. They have great noise cancelation, amazing build quality, access to advanced features in the Edifier Connect app, and more. Read our Edifier WH950NB review to learn more.
Edifier W820NB Review: Design
In terms of design, the Edifier W820NB are pretty standard. They have a pretty simple design overall. There’s a nice bevel on the outside of the ear cups that gives them a bit of an angular look.
The microphones sit on the top of the ear cups with an additional microphone on the side of the right ear cup. Under that, we see the USB-C port and the buttons.
When it comes to the design of the Edifier W820NB, you wouldn’t really be able to pick them out of a line. You don’t have a radical or extremely sleek design. They’re very basic, which should be expected from an affordable pair of headphones.
I’m obviously not going to dock points for this. Their understated design does lend a bit of professionalism to the look. Many cheaper headphones go all out with wild colors or crazy designs. They’re meant to appeal to a younger audience. So, if you want a more professional look then, these headphones definitely have that look. When it comes to design, less is more.
Edifier W820NB Review: Build quality
The main selling point of these headphones is their affordability, and it’s obvious the second that you pick them up. There are no tricks or smoke and mirrors to make these headphones seem more expensive than they are. They’re inexpensive headphones, and they feel like it.
These headphones have a fully plastic design. Everything from the headband to the joints is all plastic, which gives the headphones a very lightweight and cheap feeling. I know that these are affordable headphones, but honestly, they feel cheap for an $80 pair of headphones. $80 is cheap to the premium Sony headphones, but it’s still a notable chunk of change. When I pick up the Edifier W820NB, it almost feels like I’m holding a $30 pair of headphones. I think that Edifier could have put a little more effort into the overall feeling.
One of the main gripes that I have with the build quality is the creaking. When I pick them up, put them on, adjust the cups, or interact with them in any way, I hear the plastic creaking loudly. That only adds to the cheap feeling. It gets rather distracting when listening to music. Again, these are $80 headphones. This shouldn’t really be happening.
But, there’s a silver lining
There is one good thing about the lightweight feeling. If you’re planning on listening to headphones for extended periods of time, they will not weigh your head down. Honestly, when I put them on, it feels like nothing is sitting on my head.
I typically use these headphones for work, and that means 6+ hours of usage. At the end of a shift, I never feel tired or weighed down.
Edifier W820NB Review: Color options
The Edifier W820NB come in three different color options. I reviewed the black color, but there’s also a light gray color. This one looks nice as well. It doesn’t have that super sleek look that you would get with a set of black headphones, but the gray color gives them a certain elegance.
Lastly, there’s an Ivory color. The body of the headphones are a bright sand color while the ear cups and headband padding are a darker shade (closer to a darker tan). This gives them a warmer aesthetic. Either way you cut it, all of the colors look very nice.
Edifier W820NB Review: Controls
While build quality and audio quality are important for a pair of headphones, it’s also important to be able to use them easily. All of the buttons for the Edifier W820NB are on the right ear cup. They’re all easily accessible, as when I put my hand on the earcup, my thumb naturally rests on the controls.
There are four buttons, and all of them serve multiple purposes. There’s a long rubber piece that houses the volume up, volume down, and power button. Separately, there’s the Bluetooth button.
The volume buttons have double purposes, as you’d expect. Holding the volume up button will skip to the next track, and holding the volume down button will restart the track. If you hold it down again within a few seconds, it will go to the previous track.
Holding the power button will power on/off the headphones. If you just press the power button while the headphones are on, then it will play/pause the music. As for the Bluetooth button, when you press it, it will cycle between ANC (active noise cancelation), ambient sound, and regular modes. If you hold the button, you’ll enter Bluetooth pairing mode.
Convenience
Feeling for the buttons can take a little getting used to. The volume up button has a small protruding “+” sign that you can feel, but the volume down button doesn’t. You’d expect to feel a little “-” sign when looking to change the volume, but you don’t. It’s not bad, but it’s slightly off-putting for some reason.
One of the best things I like about the controls for these headphones is the convenience of the Bluetooth pairing. With the Edifier WB950NB, if you want to pair with a new device, you’ll have to disconnect the headphones using the old device. You’ll either do that, or you’ll need to turn the headphones off and turn them on while continuing to hold the power button until it enters pairing mode. With the W820NB, you just have to hold down the Bluetooth button for a few seconds to enter Bluetooth pairing mode.
Switching sound modes
There are two more minor gripes that I have, and they have to do with switching the sound modes (ANC, ambient, and normal). Firstly, when you’re switching between the modes, you’ll cycle between them. so, you have to wait for the voice to announce what mode you’re on before you can pick the next one. It’s a bit cumbersome if you have to switch modes on the fly.
It’d be nice if the company added a button that was dedicated to just switching modes. Maybe one that you can tap to enable ANC, double-press to enable ambient mode, and hold down to get to normal mode. This means each mode would be one gesture away.
The second gripe is one that I’ve had with other Edifier wearable audio gear. When you enable a mode, you will hear the voice announce the mode. This mutes the content that you’re hearing to speak, which is a bit annoying. You can mute the voice prompts from the Edifier Connect app, and that makes it less annoying. Your content is muted for a split second while it switches modes.
The issue with that is that you won’t be able to hear the other indicators like the low battery or Bluetooth pairing indicator. So, there’s a bit of a trade-off. I think that being able to just disable the voice prompts so that they don’t mute your audio while keeping the other sounds would be nice.
Edifier W820NB Review: Noise cancelation
Edifier’s devices typically come with great noise cancelation, and these headphones are no different. The ANC does a great job of filtering a wide range of ambient noise. It’s definitely a lot better than what the price would suggest.
AC units, traffic, and other noises are pretty much muted when I turn on the mode. Honestly, I was surprised at how good the ANC is on these headphones, as they’re a cheaper pair. I’d put them on par with some of Edifier’s more expensive devices.
The only issue I have is that they’re not great at filtering the wind. I know that the wind is extremely hard to filter. However, I think that these headphones are behind in that regard.
Edifier W820NB Review: Audio
Now, let’s move on to the actual sound that you hear from these headphones. Being a cheaper set of headphones, my expectations for the sound weren’t particularly high. However, this is the Edifier we’re talking about. This company is definitely not a company to be overlooked. Let’s get into it.
Loudness
There’s always the chance that you run into headphones with an underpowered sound. However, the Edifier W820NB get plenty loud. I didn’t have any issues listening to music or podcasts while outside. Each time you press the volume up/down button, it will raise/lower the volume by about 6.5% each time, so you have 16 volume levels in all. That’s about standard for most Bluetooth devices.
Space
The Edifier W820NB actually have a pretty spacious sound. I was impressed, actually. When I’m using them, it really sounds like I’m in an open space with the instruments and singers around me. Each instrument and singer has their place in the sound space. In fact, I think that the space is one of the best aspects of the sound.
There are other headphones with such a cluttered sound with extremely saturated bass that it really bogs down the audio. This tires out the ears much faster, making you either take them off or, heaven forbid, switch to another set of headphones.
Low-end
Edifier’s speakers typically pique my interest because of their excellent balance of high-end and low-end. They avoid overdoing it on the bass leading to a muddy sound. Their speakers incorporate just the right amount of bass to give depth and character to the sound.
In the case of the Edifier W820NB, I can’t quite say that this is the case. The sound isn’t low and muddy; it’s actually the opposite. It tends to lean toward the high-end. There’s a fair amount of bass to keep the sound tasty, but I hear the high-end more than anything else.
The overall sound doesn’t go as far as to sound shrill. However, if you’re looking to listen to more bass-heavy music, you’ll find yourself wanting just a bit more low-end.
High-end
What these headphones lack in low-end, they make up for in a pleasant boost to the high-end. Vocals sing nicely over the music, high hats pop, and pianos get a nice lift. The thing is that these headphones sound nice regardless of whatever genre you’re listening to, but they shine in certain genres of music. I’ll go over which genres I found them to sound better in just a bit.
A great thing about the high-end is that it’s restrained. The higher tones get a nice boost, but it stops short of being too much. As I said, the sound doesn’t become shrill.
Edifier W820NB Review: Listening to different genres
Different headphones shine while listening to different genres of music, and the Edifier W820NB definitely have their standouts. I listened to different types of music with these headphones; some of them are genres that I listen to all the time and others are for the review.
Classical
With classical, the pleasantly spacious audio and lighter bass work in these headphone’s favor. They make for a crisp and clear sound. With classical, all of the ranges are equally important, as each instrument has a role to play. So, you’ll want to make sure that you have a detailed sound.
Several headphones and other audio equipment tend to lean on the bassy side of things. That’s good for more modern bass-heavy music, but it makes classical and other instrumental music sound muddy.
When it comes to the low end, it’s diminished, but it’s just enough to give the lower instruments enough attention. There’s just a bit of warmth added to the sound, and it keeps from going overboard. Listening to classical music is a treat with these headphones.
Cinematic
Both classical and cinematic music use orchestral instruments, but cinematic music focuses on the low end more than classical. This actually balances out the headphones’ weaker low-end performance to create an absolutely tasty sound. The impactful hit of the bass drums backed up by bombastic synth just sings perfectly with the Edifier W820NB. The bass is well-represented with these headphones, but the sound still remains spacious and open.
70s pop
The spacious sound works well for this music. Moving from large orchestral studios with classical to smaller personal studios, we get a more intimate sound. The open and clear sound means that I can hear every note of every instrument.
That’s nice, but I feel the lack of bass more with 70s pop than classical. The electric basses in a lot of the 70s pop I listened to are usually pretty warm. However, the low-end just didn’t sing through as I’d like. The songs sound nice, but there just wasn’t too much depth to the sound.
On the upside, and this goes for all of the other genres, the vocals sounded crisp and clean.
80s pop
In terms of immersion, I think that 80s pop might be a weak point for these headphones. With a lot of 80s music, there seems to be this emphasis on the higher tones. A lot of the electric basses were brighter, and we heard a lot of higher synth. Because of this, the audio will sound rather thin compared to 70s pop.
This is something to think about if you’re going to be listening to a lot of 80s music. It won’t sound bad, but some added low-end would help out the sound a lot.
90s Hip-hop/R&B
Jumping up another decade, the sound warmed up quite a bit. A lot of the 90s R&B focused on deep smothering bass. Thus, we have the same effect that we had with the cinematic music. The added warmth with the bass helps to balance out the low-end performance of the headphones. This is especially true with mid-90s hip-hop and R&B.
Admittedly, it will still be light compared to a pair of headphones designed to be bassy. However, it’s still pleasant nonetheless.
Early 2000s pop
I found that listening to early 2000s pop strikes a balance between 80s pop and 90s R&B. The music is pretty warm with the synthetic bass. The sound is notably warm while being slightly less immersive than 90s R&B. I would say that this is about standard.
Edifier W820NB Review: App experience
If you use other Edifier wearables, then you should know about the powerful Edifier Connect app. This is an incredibly feature-rich app interface that you can use to control your devices. If you need to change the listening mode, customize the controls, adjust the sound, or power off the device, it’s a one-stop shop to do so.
The thing is that, depending on what device you’re using, the functionality will vary. Unfortunately, the Edifier W820NB don’t allow you to use the app to its fullest extent. If you saw our Edifier NeoBuds review or the Edifier WH950NB review, you’d know about the in-depth EQ that you could use to tailor the sound to your tastes.
Well, with the Edifier W820NB, you don’t get that feature. That’s unfortunate, as I would have been able to dial in a bit more low-end or make other changes.
Fortunately, most of the other functionality is present in the app. You can still toggle the Game Mode. This will reduce the latency of the sound so that you can use them to play games. There’s always a delay between the moment something happens on your phone and you hear it. This mode helps reduce that latency. You can also change the audio modes, control your media from the app, and power your headphones off in the app.
Edifier W820NB Review: Battery and charging
This is a pair of headphones that is hard to kill in a sitting. I listened to music using these headphones non-stop, and I was able to make it just shy of 40 hours. That’s great battery life, and it will survive through pretty much anything that you’re doing. If you use these for work, then they will last you through multiple shifts before they die on you.
As for charging, it takes about two hours to charge these headphones from 0% to 100%. What’s neat is that they can get you about two hours of playback on just a 10-minute charge. So, if these do give up the ghost, you won’t need to charge it for too long to get through the day.
You should get these headphones if:
The Edifier W820NB are for you if you are light on cash but want to experience some of the premium features featured in premium headphones. You want to know what ANC, transparency mode, and game mode are all about. Most cheaper headphones don’t have those features or an app interface to control them with. Well, at just $80, you can have this experience.
The Edifier W820NB are also for you if you want a lighter sound when listening to music. You want a nice, spacious, and well-balanced sound to relax to.
Next, you should get these headphones if you like to listen to music that doesn’t require loud and thumping bass. There are other headphones that are made to accent the bass a ton, but these are more balanced. These are for you if you like to venture into other genres of music.
Lastly, you should get these headphones if you want to use headphones for extended periods of time. The Edifier W820NB can go the long run on a single charge, so you won’t have to worry about them dying on you. Also, they’re so lightweight, your head won’t feel weighed down after a while.
You shouldn’t get these headphones if:
The Edifier W820NB are great, but they’re not for everyone. You shouldn’t get these headphones if you are looking for a more premium pair of headphones. The Edifier W820NB give you some premium features, but they’re far from premium.
Also, if you want headphones with better build quality, then you’ll want to pass these up. These headphones are all plastic and they creak when you adjust them.
Lastly, you’ll want to avoid these headphones if you’re into more bass-heavy music. These just don’t give you that same rumble in the low end.
Final verdict
There are devices out there that give you premium features for a lower price. Some of those devices are worth it and others aren’t. In my opinion, while these headphones are affordable, they feel a bit cheaper than they actually are. However, if you’re only going by the build quality, then you’re missing out on the best features.
The sound coming out of these headphones is incredibly spacious and balanced. It makes listening to several genres like classical, cinematic, 70s pop, and 90s R&B a treat. This is especially true if you’re looking to relax.
What they lack in premium build quality, they make up for with great sound quality. I have no problem recommending the Edifier W820NB.