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Updated April 11, 2024·
If you prioritize wireless connectivity and active noise cancelling for a quiet listening experience, particularly during air travel, the Sennheiser 450BT is the suitable choice; they also have better overall build quality and microphone performance, suitable for TV and video with low latency, and come with a foldable design for portability. However, if you're on a budget and primarily need earbuds for music and portable use, the Sony MDREX15AP, while wired and lacking noise cancellation, are more affordable and offer good comfort and sound quality for their price, but they might not be the best for calls or high-durability needs. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Sennheiser 450BT
Very good for gaming
Excellent for air travel
Good for podcasts and audiobooks
Advantages of the Sony MDREX15AP
Very good for music
Excellent for TV and video
Key differences
Music
6.2/10
8.3/10
The Sony MDREX15AP is very good for music, while the Sennheiser 450BT is only fair.
Gaming
8.8/10
6.7/10
The Sennheiser 450BT is very good for gaming, while the Sony MDREX15AP is only fair.
Phone Calls
6.9/10
3.5/10
The Sennheiser 450BT is only fair for phone calls, while the Sony MDREX15AP is poor.
Podcasts and Audiobooks
7.9/10
5.4/10
The Sennheiser 450BT is good for podcasts and audiobooks, while the Sony MDREX15AP is poor.
TV and Video
8.1/10
9.3/10
The Sony MDREX15AP is excellent for TV and video, while the Sennheiser 450BT is very good.
Noise Reduction
9.1/10
7.0/10
The Sennheiser 450BT is excellent for noise reduction, while the Sony MDREX15AP is good.
Battery
27.5 Hours
N/A
The Sennheiser 450BT has 27.5 hours of battery life. The Sony MDREX15AP does not have a battery.
Cost
$90
$20
$0
$50
$100
$150
$200
The Sennheiser 450BT has a price of $90 and the Sony MDREX15AP costs $20.
"The Sennheiser HD 450BT is a very good pair of headphones for the price, noise canceling is good and sound quality is great—quite rare at this price point. Like any product, this headset isn’t without its faults."
"At the ultra budget $10 price-point (and we’ve seen the no-mic version go for as cheap as $7), I’d say these are a decent option if you’re looking for a passable pair of earbuds for basic use that’s as cheap as possible. I wouldn’t say they feel or sound as good as some of the ultra-budget alternatives out there – of which there are a few at this point – but some might disagree. I will say though that the cable is a little bit nicer than those of that same competition."
Get a great deal on the Sennheiser 450BT or the Sony MDREX15AP
About Sennheiser
A family-owned company, Sennheiser is a German, high fidelity, audio equipment manufacturer founded in 1945. Their consumer audio division is now owned by the Swiss hearing aid and cochlear implant manufacturer Sonova. Sennheiser offers a wide variety of, very high quality, audio equipment solutions, from headphones to earbuds, full sets of monitoring speakers, amplifiers and microphones. They also make what is widely regarded as the best, and most expensive, headphones in existence, the HE-1 Orpheus, costing a whopping $59,000 dollars.
About Sony
Sony is a multinational corporation, based out of Japan, with over 75 years of experience in the consumer electronics industry. In the audio market, Sony has been a trendsetter several times throughout its history. In 1979 they released the first-ever portable music player, the Sony Walkman, followed by the Discman 20 years later. Today, Sony is one of the leaders in the wireless headphone and earbud market, especially in terms of Active Noise Cancellation technology.
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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec earbuds & headphones team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest earbuds or headphones information and makes it digestible for you.
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About the Earbuds or Headphones team
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CEO and Earbuds and Headphones Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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