Up for review today are the Lagoon ANC Traveller headphones from Beyerdnyamic. Priced about $250, you can get your hands on them today.
How do they sound? Are they comfortable? What about the app experience? Read on to learn what we thought about these headphones.
Design
At first glance, there isn’t anything too special about the Beyerdynamic Lagoon ANC Traveller headphones. They are mainly made of plastic with accents of artificial leather on the padded earcups and headband.
However, once you turn them on the light show begins with hidden lights inside of the earcups. The ring of light inside each earcup is activated by a sensor when removed and helps the Lagoon ANC Traveller headphones truly stand out. It is unfortunate that you rarely get to enjoy this splash of light though, because most of the time it will be completely hidden while you are wearing them.
Not only do the lights look cool, but they also serve a purpose. Taking off the headphones and glancing at the color informs you of the current battery level, Bluetooth connection, and even which side is left or right.
Beyerdynamic has included rotating earcups that swivel on the Lagoon ANC Traveller headphones. This design helps make them fold up into a compact shape to fit in the included case, as well as making them more comfortable to wear on your head or around your neck when not in use.
Comfort
The Lagoon ANC Traveller headphones use memory foam on the headband and the earpads, and unfortunately, both are inadequate in my opinion. The sparse level of padding on the headband is most apparent due to the heft of the headphones. You can really start to feel it on the top of your head after extended periods of time. The cushioning on the ear cups also left a bit to be desired. During my listening sessions, I could feel the inside of the headphones grazing up against my ears, which lead to some early-onset ear fatigue.
I wouldn’t classify the Lagoon ANC Traveller headphones as uncomfortable by any means–but a little extra cushioning would have made a massive difference–especially if you plan on wearing these for long periods of time.
User Experience
The Lagoon ANC Traveller headphones incorporate touch-sensitive controls on the right earpad. Touch-sensitive controls have never been one of my favorites, but they work extremely well here. The most common commands include double-tapping to play/pause music and swipes to skip songs or adjust the volume. I found myself using these gestures often, especially the swipes, because of how convenient and reliable they are to use.
One issue I ran into while using the Lagoon ANC Traveller headphones, was that they wouldn’t consistently power on and connect when sliding the power button. This happened more than a handful of times and required me to slide the switch back to off and back to Bluetooth up to one or two more times before it would connect. Perhaps this was user error, but I feel headphones should not be this difficult to power on.
Another minor gripe of mine, is that in order to update the firmware on the headphones, it required using a computer. This is the first time I’ve ever had to update headphones that didn’t utilize the app on the phone, and it seemed like a bit of an oversight to not include this capability. Especially when Beyerdynamic has a well-designed app for the Lagoon ANC Traveller headphones.
App
The MIY app helps enhance your experience with the Lagoon ANC Traveller headphones by allowing you to change the color of the light in the earcups, adjust the sensitivity of the touch controls, personalize the audio for your ears, and more.
In order to tailor fit the sound signature to your ears, the MIY app uses a hearing test. Beyerdynamic is not the first to try this, and my experience with these types of customizations has been mixed in the past. As far as the test itself, I found it to be more similar to playing a game, where your reaction time was being tested more than your hearing. I’d love for Beyerdynamic to tweak this to make it easier to take the test more accurately.
Regardless, the results from the MOSAYC sound personalization were actually positive in my experience. I found the adjustment elevated the mids and added a bit more depth to the sound overall. That’s far better than I can say for some others I’ve tried, so good job Beyerdynamic.
Unfortunately, the MIY app does come up short on a couple of features. For starters, there is no way to control active noise cancellation. That means, you cannot enable or disable it from the app, nor can you adjust the level of cancellation being used. This is a very common setting for headphones that include ANC, and I was disappointed to find it missing here.
Another feature I would have loved to see is an equalizer. Sure, you can rely on the hearing test to adjust the audio automatically, but some of us like to tweak the equalizer manually for our own preferences.
One unique feature from the MIY app that I’ve never seen before, is a way to monitor how much strain you’ve put on your ears for the day. I assume this is in an effort to protect your hearing, because it gives you statistics based on how long you’ve been listening and at how loud of a volume. It then provides you with tips such as, “Feel free to turn the volume up a bit.” I can’t say I would make much use of this feature, but if you’re someone concerned about your hearing, this may be useful for you.
Sound Quality
Overall, I was impressed with the sound quality of the Lagoon ANC Traveller headphones. There was plenty of detail in the highs, although they were a little reserved so you won’t get an overly bright or crisp sound.
The soundstage was fairly wide, giving plenty of space for the instruments to breathe and provide separation, making it possible to hear all the layers in each track.
Finally, the bass was strong without being overpowering. As someone who enjoys a little extra kick of bass, I really enjoyed this. It may not be enough for bass heads, but if you prefer a little more in the low-end then these headphones won’t disappoint.
ANC
The Lagoon ANC Traveller headphones do a decent job at muting noise with active noise cancellation turned on. It’s not quite as good as flagship models from Bose and Sony, but it’s good enough. As long as you have the volume set to 40% or above, it should be enough to drown out repetitive noises in the background between the passive and active noise cancellation it provides.
Battery Life
Beyerdynamic rates the Lagoon ANC Traveller headphones for a whopping 45 hours of playback time without ANC and 24.5 hours with ANC enabled. The majority of the time I was using them with ANC off and the battery life measures up to Beyerdynamic’s claims.
When it came time to charge them up, I was pleased to see that the Lagoon ANC Traveller headphones went with USB-C over micro USB. This has become more common in recent years, but I’m still thrilled when I don’t have to dig out a micro USB cable when a new gadget comes in.
If you ever do run out of juice on the go, don’t worry, because there is a 3.5mm headphone jack you can use as a back up. That is assuming your phone still has a jack, or that you didn’t forget or lose your dongle.
Final Thoughts
This was my first time with a pair of Beyerdynamic headphones, and overall, I have to say I was impressed. There is a lot of competition in this price range, and Beyerdynamic has done a fantastic job of combining stellar audio quality, smart features, and a long-lasting battery.
At the same time, they were also able to undercut other major players like Sony and Bose with a price of only $249. If you’re looking for a high-quality pair of ANC over the ear headphones that won’t break the bank, then I’d have no hesitation recommending the Lagoon ANC Traveller from Beyerdynamic.
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