Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal - Comfortable Wireless Noise Cancelling Gaming Headphones for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One

I ordered the PC/PS version which might be important as I suspect it is a more refined product, having been released a year or so later. Thought I'd write a review because all seemed focused on xbox and some of the common complaints don't apply.I was looking for headphones to us in PC VR gaming and had several requirements: (1) Low latency 2.4 ghz wireless PC connection; (2) Noise cancellation including good transparency effect; (3) Good sound quality; and (4) a decent mic. These fit all my requirements where no other headset out there did. These are not perfect, but they are perfect for my use case - so 5 stars relative to what I wanted.Pros:- Very well made. Feel very high quality/premium.- My wife thinks they look good. I like the silver/grey color.- I have owned plenty of headphones but don't claim audiophile expertise. My reference point for sound quality is the Bose 700 headset I have been using (wired to my quest 2 headset). Different sound signatures, but these are at least as good and better as it pertains specifically to gaming.- ANC is good enough to be worthwhile and useful. Not as effective as my Bose 700 or my Bose QC Earbuds, but different use case really. Where I take my Bose with me outside, these I use only inside. ANC is more than sufficient to block out the annoying fans on our AC/heating units while at home. Not sure it would work on the subway or NYC streets.- Transparency mode is good. This is important to me as I like to be able to keep on and hold a conversation. Feels natural and close enough to my Bose, which are very good. This is the first time a non-bose ANC transparency mode has worked well for me.......have jabra headphones and Samsung buds where transparency feels very artificial.- Wireless connection to PC dongle has been rock solid. No issues as all on this version where some other reviews noted issues for the Xbox version.- The setup is pretty easy. You do need to use the phone app, but it worked well for me. Computer could be viewed as plug and play, but worth installing the Dolby access software. If you want to make changes to sound profile on PC without your phone, you need the Dolby software.- The mic works pretty well even without a boom arm. It's certainly good enough for gaming purposes, and generally better than I expected. I would at least say that the quality is good enough that I would have no interest in a headset with a boom arm even if there were some mic quality benefits.- Mic background noise suppression surprisingly good. I have been using RTX voice to accomplish this anyway, but that is now arguably superfluous.- Handles dual wireless connections really well.- Comfortable to wear.Cons:- If you are looking for the best ANC out there, turn to Bose or Sony. The ANC feature is helpful on these and I am definitely glad to have it, but it's definitely not the best out there. I think they have leaned toward subtlety, which is the right move - limited effectiveness but it is never irritating or in the way. My Samsung Galaxy buds ANC can be really distracting, you notice it both when with ANC on and when using transparency mode.- The controls are pretty good but not necessarily intuitive out of the gate. For instance some buttons change depending on what wireless connections you have. Ultimately this benefits utility, but can be confusing upfront.- Transparency mode works differently with mic on vs mic off. It sorta intermixes ANC with sidetone functionality which is confusing. Not a big deal, but I would prefer these be separate functions.- I wish headphone makers would focus on making them less wide. I don't operate in the apple ecosystem, but airpods max look great with lower profile. These are pretty wide which hurts the aesthetics in my view (maybe cause my head more oval than round), though not much worse than Bose 700 in this regard. Of course I am also using them at home when wearing a VR headset......I already look ridiculous so no consequence to me for how I use. Also as noted above, my wife actually likes the way these look, so taste may vary.- Some of the on headset controls would benefit from voice notification rather than beeps. Sometimes hard to tell if I landed on the right setting. Bose 700 has this and it really helps.

FIRST THE GOOD:- Sound quality is amazing.- The ability to listen to a bluetooth source AND your gaming PC sound mixed together at the same time is amazing.- Battery life is pretty decent.- Noise cancellation is quite good.- The product looks very pretty in my opinion.- Wearing comfort is only so-so - it's not terrible, it's not great, it's good enough I would say, but not amazing.- I have the playstation version, the dongle works just fine in my gaming PC, and the dolby atmos software installed and works.NOW FOR THE BAD- I am NOT impressed by the bluetooth range. The playstation dongle's range I have not tested extensively but it seems to work well enough for living room gaming and doesn't seem to get affected by disconnects and interference problems (xbox version of the headset might have a different experience).- I don't love the touch controls, and the software seems to limit your ability to change the control gestures and what they map to - most of it appears to be locked.- Honestly I am not a fan of touch controls, and even though it is supposed to take a double tap to pause/play, I sometimes have my listening paused when I adjust my headset or accidently touch it.I managed to buy these at a good price, so I am not sad, it is my first B&O pair, but I own about 8 headsets in total.

Updated review:Originally I wrote a very negative review because my initial experience was very frustrating.But I've been alternating between these B&O and my Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 (2nd gen px7). I have also had theSony WH-1000XM5, and previously the Bose 700.And I have to say I enjoy the B&O the most. So I'm comparing against those three.The B&O sound the "best". That is, I enjoy music the most on them. I don't know if it's because the of how much you can find tune the sound in the app. It has a nice intuitive circular slider adjust sound and save presets. It's the first time I've ever actually enabled and used an equalizer and found it did anything positive.The app is fantastic imo. Compared to the others. When I bought the beoplay portal 6 months ago, the app was a little buggy. And I thought it was ridiculous headphone manufacturers are doing apps at all. But I get it now. And the B&O is the only one that has a decent app. Effective layout without ads or upsells, and useful features.They fit great. The perfectly round ear cups are all odd at first, but it works. Not sure if big eared people would have issues since headphones are usually more elongated. My ears pretty average size.It was kind of annoying they did not come with a case though. But since I alternate between my desk and Xbox, I haven't had a need. Kind of regret spending money on a third-party case.XBOX. One of the big draws for me was to the idea I could easily go back and forth between my desk and Xbox at a touch of a button. It was kind of a pain to get both my phone and Xbox paired. Pro-top, don't use the app. Just enable pairing on Xbox, power on your headphones, and press the Xbox button (very happy they have a dedicated button). So when I'm going to play Xbox, I just turn on headphones, and press the Xbox button on them. It turns on the Xbox which then turns everything else on. Fantastic.The quality has some issues.... They were bad at first. So bad I really didnt use them for Xbox for a long time. Bad defined as audio glitches and dropouts.Nowadays however, its much more stabe- not perfect - but I frequently play glitch/artifact free. The actual sound quality is definitely flatter/compressed compared to my phone. Idk why but for some reason I assumed Xboxs proprietary wireless would be awesome. The convenience and functionality is fantastic for me though and outweighs those things. I still often think about just getting a Bluetooth transmitter for my reciever to enjoy better quality, but really would hate to bounce around like that.So. All that said. Very happy with them, even with Xbox issues. They beat out my B&W px7 s2, and Sony XM5(returned the Sony's terribly underwhelming and cheap feeling).