I've used it to make calls while walking down busy arterial roads, and in supermarkets during the madness of the Christmas season, never struggling to make myself heard. So far, I've been impressed with the microphone on the PXC 550-II, which captures clear voice audio, even in the noisiest of environments. They should easily last even the longest of ultra-long-haul flights, like Qantas's arduous 17-hour flight from Heathrow to Perth. In my experience, that's probably a little bit generous, with the cans coming up short – but not by much. Sennheiser claims these headphones have a 30-hour battery life. This is particularly unforgivable, given the price-tag and the fact Sennheiser released these in 2019, when most firms in the segment have already switched to flip-friendly USB-C. One thing that didn't particularly impress was the inclusion of a microUSB port. This makes them comfortable to work for prolonged periods of time, and I have worn them throughout an entire 9-to-5 work shift without feeling irritated. The cups themselves are fairly wide, with a decent amount of room between your ear and the speaker piece. They felt intuitive, and I didn't need to pick up the instruction manual. I'm generally quite cynical about touch systems, but these were actually quite pleasant to use.

These headphones predominantly use a gesture-based touch mechanism to control things like audio playback and volume. Around the rim of each cup, there's a somewhat sparse array of buttons, which control things like noise cancellation. The Sennheiser PXC 550-II has a somewhat conservative design, clad almost entirely in black, with only a few embellishments. El Reg put them to use to see if they live up to the promise. And at £300, these cans are priced right at the top of its segment. Late this year, the iconic German audio firm unleashed its PXC 550-II closed-back wireless headphones, which it says were designed with 'the frequent traveller' in mind. Could their time at the top be coming to an end? This premium segment of the audio market is largely dominated by two players: Bose's QuietComfort II cans, and the Sony WH-1000XM3.

Review In airports and train stations, it's not unusual to encounter weary corporate warriors sporting headphones that cost upwards of £300.

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