Shure Aonic 40: Strong ANC and solid audio performance

You can crank up the Shure Aonic 40's effective active noise cancellation in noisy environments and ease off it for the best audio quality

- JAMES BARBER

The Shure brand might have you thinking of pro audio gear more than consumer electronics, but the Shure Aonic 40 noise-cancelling headphones deserve to be compared to what market leaders Bose and Sony have to offer. And considering that Shure started out building innovative microphones starting in 1925, these headphones do a great job with phone calls.

The Shure Aonic 40 is a closed-back, over-ear set of headphones with 40mm dynamic drivers. Those drivers utilize neodymium magnets and have a frequency response range of 20Hz to 22kHz.

The headphones feature a sleek and stylish design, with a matte-black finish and chrome accents. The earpads are plush and comfortable, and they create a good seal around the ears, which helps block out external noise even before you turn on ANC. The headphones also feature an adjustable headband with rubber padding that goes over the top of your head.

Aside from the silver aluminum posts that connect the earcups to the headband and the patent leather of the earpads, the body of the Aonic 40 is plastic. It's a high-quality plastic that tends to retain fingerprints, but its overall construction is similar to that of the Sony WM-1000XM5 we reviewed in 2022 (fave.co/3k4la1E).

DOES THE SHURE AONIC 40 OFFER LONG BATTERY LIFE?

The Shure Aonic 40 has a battery life of up to 20 hours with Bluetooth and ANC turned on, and up to 32 hours with ANC turned off. The headphones also feature a quick-charge function that provides up to 2.5 hours of playback time with just 15 minutes of charging.