In the market of true wireless headphones at a price of thousands of yuan, the competition is very fierce. This price point is the ceiling for ordinary audio consumers to buy headphones, and it is difficult for manufacturers to obtain consumer recognition if they do not have technical strength. Philips, as a brand that has been deeply involved in the audio field for many years, brought its flagship noise-cancelling headphone Fidelio T1 at the end of 2021. This time, Philips has brought a new type of Noise Reduction HeadphoneS T8506 of the European Wind Series. How does the T8506 perform in the fierce noise-cancelling headphone market? Let's uncover the secrets of this headset together.
Recognizable look and comfort
The T8506 feels like a scaled-down version of the Fidelio T1 at first glance, and the charging case is an oval cube shape like the Fidelio T1, but much smaller than the Fidelio T1. Due to the different positioning of the crowd, the T8506 does not have the heavy feeling of the Fidelio T1. The surface of the charging case is frosted, which makes the appearance more understated and elegant. I really like the touch of this scrub and play with it in my hand from time to time. Moreover, this frosted surface will not leave fingerprints, and it will not be stained with hand sweat for a long time, and the surface will not have that greasy feeling.
Since the popularity of true wireless headphones, people have been wearing headphones for longer and longer, and comfort has become one of the key factors that determine the quality of a headset. The T8506's headphones have a rounded appearance and a single earbud weighs 6.8 grams. The weight is not light, but the weight distribution of the T8506 is more reasonable. The headphones mainly rely on the ear screen and ear canal to support and fix, and there will be no uncomfortable feeling when wearing for a long time. Six pairs of different silicone earbuds and a pair of Compelle memory foam earbuds are also included with the headphones. Memory foam earbud sleeves are better closed and improve the sound quality significantly. However, memory foams have a stronger sense of foreign matter in the ear canal than silicone materials, but I think it is worth sacrificing some comfort in exchange for improved sound quality.
The ability to reduce noise by quieting the world
Noise reduction is already one of the most inseparable functions of my daily life, and I believe that more and more people need the sense of quiet brought by noise reduction. In everyday scenes, the T8506 can basically meet my noise reduction needs. It adopts the mainstream dual-wheat hybrid noise reduction technology, through the headphones to feed up and feed back two microphones, respectively, to pick up the external ambient noise and internal noise of the ear canal, and then through the headphone noise reduction chip these picked noise in real time filtering and canceling. When wearing headphones, the headphones will turn on the noise cancellation function by default, and the adaptive mode and ambient mode can be switched through gesture operation and APP.
Using the T8506 in my daily commute can help me block out the roar of the subway. When I'm in the company, wearing the T8506 can block out the sounds of colleagues talking, allowing me to work more efficiently in a quiet environment. Especially for people like me who like to go to the coffee shop on the weekend with the computer to write something, the T8506 can help me block the background sound playing in the coffee shop. Enjoy the comforts of a coffee shop without being disturbed by music.
Calls in the wind are also clear
Wind noise during calls has always been a nightmare for major headphone manufacturers. The requirements for headphone design and noise reduction algorithms are very high and challenging. Especially the position of the microphone on the headset, if it is not well avoided, it will form a greater secondary noise in the ear. The ENC anti-wind noise call noise reduction function of the T8506 adopts a 3-meter noise reduction scheme, in which the feed-forward microphone adopts an upward 45-degree angle design, which physically avoids the windward noise in the windy environment. Combined with the anti-wind noise physical structure on the outside of the earbud and the wind noise reduction function in the APP, the wind noise in the environment is effectively reduced.
Uncover the secrets of surging sound quality
Sound quality performance is a top priority for the T8506. Like the Fidelio T1, the T8506's box is printed with Hi-Res Audio Wireless's "little gold label." This requires the device applying for certification to support more than 96kHz/24bit in terms of decoding performance and Bluetooth encoding format, and support LDAC or LDHC Bluetooth encoding format in order to obtain the blessing of "small gold standard". In terms of other hardware, the T8506 uses a 13mm neodymium driver that supports AAC and SBC audio encoding. In addition, this headset also supports LDAC high-resolution audio encoding. Compared to the previous two audio encoding formats, LDAC can transmit audio files with up to 990Kbps bitrate, which is about 3 times that of SBC format. However, to experience the high-quality audio of LDAC, you need to play the device that also supports this encoding. Fortunately, many Android phones already support LDAC encoding, but if they are iPhone users, they can only listen to music in AAC's audio encoding format.
Acoustically, the T8506 gives me the feeling of a high degree of reduction to the human voice. As I listened to Charlotte Lawrence's Slow Motion, the empty inspiration for the vocals was faithfully restored on this headset. The soundstage of the headphones is very wide, and the line sense of the sound is also very clear. The three frequencies of this headset are more balanced, especially the bass part is very full of diving, not loose, and the performance is more powerful.
Philips Headphones connects with smart dual devices
With philips Headphones, you can also unlock more headphone experiences. In addition to viewing the headphone power, you can switch between different noise reduction modes and fine-tune the noise reduction control, ambient sound, and adaptive functions separately. Inside the app, Philips also has 4 different sound options built into the headphones, so you can choose one of the bass, turbidity, power or treble according to your preference. I personally prefer the high-pitched sound effects model, which is obviously enhanced by the vocal parts of pop music.
The T8506 uses the Bluetooth 5.2 connection standard, on the basis of which the headset realizes seamless switching between dual devices. For example, after the headset and the tablet are paired with the T8506, the b station video is being watched on the tablet, and if there is a phone on the mobile phone at this time, the headset will automatically switch to the mobile phone at the moment of answering. In other words, the headset automatically jumps between two paired devices, depending on the priority of use. This is very frequent for dual-device users like me, eliminating the need to re-pair when switching devices.
32 hours of battery life without battery anxiety
The T8506 continues Philips' consistently excellent battery life. When noise reduction mode is turned on, the use of a single earbud is 6 hours, and when the noise reduction mode is turned off, you can listen to music for 8 hours. The comprehensive battery life with the charging case can reach up to 32 hours, and the headphones can be charged once a week according to the calculation of 4.5 hours of use per day. In addition, this headset also supports wireless charging, if you have a wireless charging pad at home, you only need to put the T8506 on it to charge.
Summary Philips T8506
Over the course of two weeks, I was satisfied with the overall performance of the Philips T8506. As a noise-cancelling headset that focuses on sound quality performance, it has become my perfect companion for my daily commute. In my opinion, Philips T8506 is a headset with almost no shortcomings: it has a 32-hour long comprehensive endurance, IPX4 waterproof ability, excellent noise reduction ability and surging sound quality performance with the blessing of "small gold standard", which makes it extremely competitive at a price of about 1,000 yuan.