AKG Y50bt On-ear Bluetooth Headphones by Harman

4.54.5 out of 5 stars

61 product ratings

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52 reviews

by mightmagicsamuel21 Jan, 2019Most favourable review

AKG Y50/ Y50BT: a music lover's best friend.

Here I will be reviewing AKGY50BT. First I have the AKG Y50 and it is similar in sound characteristic, and features which I will discuss below, with the added bluetooth feature. Three reasons why I get the Y50BT:

1) I love the AKG Y50 in sound, noise isolation, usability, and comfort.
2) It still lasts from 2016
3) I purchased the Y50BT for $50 in 2019 while the Y50 for $100 in 2016.

I have attached the images showing the difference of Y50 (the blue) and Y50BT (the black) with head-band dial at 0.

One can see the Y50BT is bigger than the Y50. It has thicker top head-pad yet heavier than the Y50. I was lucky that the Y50 fits me well and I think people with big heads could have problem with the small-sized Y50. Big-headed people could get a good chance to fit with the Y50BT. I dialed at 8 for the Y50 while 4 for the Y50BT.

My main only complaint is that the headband dial on the Y50BT is barely visible that I need to look side way to read the numbering. In the attached picture pretty much you see nothing on the Y50BT!

In this review I use the cable instead - I never big fans of bluetooth because it is a hassle to set it up and gets too loud when using this feature.

Undeniably, AKGY50/ Y50BT it is the best headphone in my collection. It starts with the comfort because it is quite comfortable despite being on-ear headphone which may irritate / flatten my ears but the pads are soft and plushy. The pads are big enough that it covers and flushes over my whole ears. Yet the clamp force is adequate – not too strong like the old AKG K517 or Beyerdynamic DT770 pro nor too loose like Beyerdynamic T51. The force prevents the headphone from falling off my ears when I move around, especially at the gym or doing my house chores. The headphone does not fall either when I bang my head while listening to heavy metal. I applaud AKG for engineering this headphone that meet the balance between clamp force and comfort.

Secondly AKGY50BT/Y50 has excellent passive noise isolation and its isolation is comparable to in-ear earphones. The Y50/Y50BT has been my main choice headphone for going to gym because of the noise isolation. I got the Y50BT for uses in my room while the old Y50 for daily use in gym, work, and house chores. Yet I could drive around with the Y50 and not having to hear much noise. Despite not having a strong clamp force and not compromise comfort in favor to noise isolation, the AKG scores another star from me.

Lastly is the sound signature and I do love this kind of friendly and smooth signature. First thing I notice that this headphone is not sensitive which means does need more volume than any average headphones. In my Sony NWA45 I need a volume level about 20 for most headphones (10 for earphones) while the Y50/Y50BT needs around30-35 level. This is a good thing to prevent the headphone from being too loud that could harm my hearing.

AKGY50/Y50BT has friendly and smooth signature for extended listening session. It does not have any extremes on bass/trebles/ midrange/soundstage but it strikes with good balance while maintaining consumer-friendly sound. One will not be blown away by the sound but one will be impressed by its balance and smooth signature.

The bass quantity and quality are just perfect for me. It is bassy and pumpy but not overbearing that fatigues nor distracts my favorite songs. It is deep, full-bodied, and sub-woofer bass like that is dialed at about 5 out of 10. It has good details and mid-bass is not overly blown, just right amount to feel the depth of any songs and enough to feel the sub-bass. However bass-head would look for other option but causal listeners would definitely love the quantity and quality of the bass, together the friendly sound signature.

Midrange is quite natural. It is not overly scooped like the bass-heavy JVC’s HAFX101. It is not forward nor nasal sounding, nor boxy like the AKG’s Q460. It has a right amount that the listener feels adequate distance from the band. I have no complain with the female/male vocals either – they are maintained at good balance. I played classical piano tracks and they were presented adequately, though little distant sounding.

Yet the treble is also maintained at neutral level as well. No splashy cymbals, sibilance, nor overly attenuated. No annoying tissing nor sharp treble here. Though the treble is little dark, it still delivers good details without emphasizing the treble. However the soundstage feels average and its sized is more like about one’s head-size. One might not feel the excitement or airy sound from the Y50 but the treble level is excellent to prevent me from being fatigued in long-term listening session.

This is it. AKGY50 is my favorite headphone and I like it so much I got another one, the Y50BT, for good care and also, it was sold for $50. The friendly sound signature, good comfort and excellent noise isolation made Y50/Y50BT my to-go headphone. For $50 it was a steal for Y50BT.Read full review