Shure Aonic 40 Review

For decades, Shure has cemented itself as a household name in consumer audio products. Earlier this year, they released the follow-up to their Aonic 50 headphones, the Aonic 40. The A40s run for $250, though are often on sale for $199, and promise to deliver “studio-quality audio in a portable design.” With a slew of high-end features and a reasonable price, I want to see if the Aonic 40s live up to its promises.

What’s in the Box

• Shure Aonic 40 Noise Cancelling Headphones
• Carrying Case
• USB-C to USB-A Charging Cable
• 2m 2.5mm to 3.5mm Analog Cable
• Quick Start Guide

Look and Feel

The Headphones feel well-constructed and are very comfortable. Balancing user-friendliness and advanced features can be difficult, and Shure pulls it off gracefully. All the buttons feel distinct and easy to learn, the start guide is clear and to the point, and Shure makes use of graphics to ensure proper use/care. The right and left are very clearly labeled, which I appreciate immensely. For a headphone that boasts so many features, I found myself mastering them quickly.

Design

The Aonic 40 boasts an impressive number of features and customization options. It has both Bluetooth and analog input, up to 24 hours of battery life, and intuitive button controls for ease of use. The A40 has active noise cancellation, which allows you to toggle the level of environmental noise let into the headphones with the push of a button. The mic and call quality is much clearer than I expected, and I was able to figure out its controls in no time. ShurePlus Play, Shure’s universal app for Bluetooth devices, is simple to use and adds more detailed customization options for all of the Aonic 40’s features; such as user EQ presets, noise cancellation levels, and button macro customization. These headphones allowed me to customize my listening experience right out of the box.

The Aonic 40 has a frequency response of 20 Hz – 20 kHz and an impedance of 31 Ohms.

For the following sections, I’m referring to the factory default EQ settings unless stated otherwise.

Soundstage

I was impressed by the Aonic 40’s soundstage. While it isn’t the deepest stereo field, I never felt the mix getting crowded and everything came through that needed to. For Bluetooth headphones, it outperformed a lot of similarly-priced models on the market. That’s not to say these need an absurdly deep stereo field to sound good, these sound great on their own and rarely fell flat for me.

Lows

The Lows on the Aonic 40s were smooth and present. On the flat EQ setting, and even on the “Bass Boost” setting, I didn’t feel like I was drowning out the rest of the mix but bringing out grit and punch that was already there. The subs and kicks can be felt subtly as well, which is a nice touch.

Mids

The midrange on the A40s is solid and can be tamed using EQ, however, they occasionally fell flat for me. At times, lead instruments lost emphasis in the mix and felt slightly dull. That being said, they were clean and rarely brought out harsh resonances, which is an impressive feat.

Highs

The high range takes a backseat role and often doesn’t add as much as they normally would in the mix. That’s not to say that they aren’t there, but I did feel that more emphasis on the highs would add more depth to the soundstage of the mix. I was able to alleviate this with the EQ settings, and the highs sounded clear without having that “boosted” harshness that so many other headphone EQ settings add, which was impressive.

Overall

Overall, the Aonic 40s are impressive headphones that make full use of their many features. They’re easy to use, versatile, and are highly customizable to your own tastes. For Bluetooth headphones at this price point, the A40s are a solid choice for anybody who wants a seamless on-the-go listening experience. Shure never ceases to impress me.

You can buy the Shure Aonic 40s at Audio46