These Fender headphones rivaled my Sony WH-1000XM6 in ways I wasnt expecting

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There’s a new headphone brand in town. You’ve seen it before, but probably on a guitar amp or strewn across your favorite rock legend. Fender is the latest player in the consumer audio game, and its new Mix headphones are no lightweight competitor.

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If you’re looking for affordable headphones with several connectivity options, solid audio, good noise-canceling, and a marathon battery, the Fender Mix headphones are a worthy option.

Don’t get me wrong; they’re a solid first try, but Fender has a few kinks to iron out.

Right off the bat, I can say the Fender Mix don’t compare to Sony or Bose’s flagship headphones in audio or noise cancellation performance. Still, they offer a better experience than those companies’ budget options within the $200 price range.

The Mix can achieve up to 96kHz/24-bit audio quality in Lossless Mode, latency as low as 20ms in Low Latency Mode, and are compatible with Auracast, wired, and USB-C audio transmission. Behind the removable left earcup is a wireless transmitter, which helps improve the Mix’s audio quality and latency without being tethered to a wire.

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I connected the Mix to my iPhone 17 over a standard Bluetooth connection and noticed a very bass-heavy, imbalanced audio response. It sounded like the left speaker channel handled more bass and lower-mids than the right, which was disorienting to listen to. I plugged the USB-C wireless transmitter into my phone and reconnected the headphones, and the difference was night and day.

Listening this way, the Mix sounded significantly more balanced, making their audio response on par with similarly priced options from JBL or Beats. A major drawback is that the Mix don’t have a dedicated companion app, so there’s no way to toggle EQ settings aside from pressing a multifunction button to cycle through “Music,” “Voice,” and “Entertainment” presets.

Without an app, all of the Mix’s settings are controlled by two multifunction buttons on the right earcup: a joystick-like button handles power, device connection, volume, play/pause, and track skips, while the other handles noise cancellation modes and EQ modes.

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I adore a multifunction button, especially one that behaves like a joystick, but there’s too much riding on this one little control feature. Without a visual component to control the Mix headphones, you’ll need to listen for chimes that indicate feature changes, or remember the colors and flashing patterns of the LED indicators to know which feature you’ve engaged.

Noise cancellation is decent and on par with Sennheiser or JBL. In quiet to moderately noisy environments, such as an office, the Mix dampens minimally irritating external noises, but in noisier environments, they falter.

I took the Mix to the gym and connected them to my phone via the USB-C dongle. Their noise cancellation struggled to quiet overhead music and machinery noise, and increasing the volume greatly mangled their audio response, overboosting the bass and muddying vocals and instruments. A companion app could have mitigated this issue, but I don’t recommend wearing over-ear headphones to the gym anyway.

Another reason I wouldn’t bring these to the gym is their modular nature. The earpads are removable for stylistic preferences, and the battery behind the right ear cup is easily accessible for self-repair. Thus, you don’t want to get these headphones wet, as it can easily reach and damage vital components.

ZDNET’s buying advice

The Fender Mix headphones are a solid choice for users who want headphones that get the job done and offer several methods to stay connected. The USB-C dongle is most valuable to people who want headphones that perform well in an office or study room and deliver low latency for low-stakes on-the-go gaming while traveling or between meetings or classes.

If more reliable audio and noise-canceling performance, plus a companion app for customization, are important to you, I’d skip the Fender Mix. Instead, consider the Bose QuietComfort Headphones or the JBL Live 770NC.