[RamGuy]

I'm giving up on my B&O BeoPlay H9i's. I'm sad to say it, but B&O blew it with the new and slimmer design on the earpads/cups. Why did they have to change it? The BeoPlay H7 and H9 feels like pillows, they are extremely comfortable to wear. I might get some fatigue on the top of my head do to the headband being somewhat stiff and the overall weight of the headphones are rather high. But it's rather seldom this becomes a issue. But these new and slimmer earpads are just awful. I can't use them for more than ten minutes before they become uncomfortable to wear. And the stupidity doesn't stop there, they had to change the brackets so you can't simply put the earpads from the H7/H9 onto the H9i? Why, B&O, why??

These are the best balance of sound quality, ANC and everything. I have been using the Beats Studio3 Wireless, Bose QC35, Sony WH-1000XM3, BeoPlay H7, H8 (awful..), H9 and bunch of others and these strikes the best balance. And better yet, they are one of shockingly few that will work in sub 0 degrees celsius temperatures. But this discomfort makes them awful to use. What a shame, especially considering how comfortable the previous models are.... I don't even have big ears or a large head, but these are one of extremely few headphones that gives me huge discomfort during use.

I ended up preferring the Beats Studio3 Wireless because of this. But guess what? They just turn themselves off when used in sub 0 degrees celsius..... Tried the Sony WH-1000XM2, guess what? The Touch Controls goes haywire and makes them useless in sub 0 degrees.... Seems like it's impossible to get a pair of wireless headphones that doesn't feature at least one major flaw.

 

[Krisboo]

Hi guys, I’m doing some research for my new headphone and came across h8i and h9i. Can anyone please tell me the difference in sound quality between the two if we put aside the fact that one is on-ear and one is over-ear? I also note that the battery in h8i is irreplaceable. Does it mean once its die then it’s game over. I can’t even take it to the store and ask a technician to replace it for me?

 

[Tsukuyomi]

Hi guys, i'm a fan of B&O and own their H6(2nd gen) i'm wondering how the sound is for the H9i ?
and if its worth the upgrade or not. impressions if someone could or has compared both.

 

[Tsukuyomi]

I'm giving up on my B&O BeoPlay H9i's. I'm sad to say it, but B&O blew it with the new and slimmer design on the earpads/cups. Why did they have to change it? The BeoPlay H7 and H9 feels like pillows, they are extremely comfortable to wear. I might get some fatigue on the top of my head do to the headband being somewhat stiff and the overall weight of the headphones are rather high. But it's rather seldom this becomes a issue. But these new and slimmer earpads are just awful. I can't use them for more than ten minutes before they become uncomfortable to wear. And the stupidity doesn't stop there, they had to change the brackets so you can't simply put the earpads from the H7/H9 onto the H9i? Why, B&O, why??

These are the best balance of sound quality, ANC and everything. I have been using the Beats Studio3 Wireless, Bose QC35, Sony WH-1000XM3, BeoPlay H7, H8 (awful..), H9 and bunch of others and these strikes the best balance. And better yet, they are one of shockingly few that will work in sub 0 degrees celsius temperatures. But this discomfort makes them awful to use. What a shame, especially considering how comfortable the previous models are.... I don't even have big ears or a large head, but these are one of extremely few headphones that gives me huge discomfort during use.

I ended up preferring the Beats Studio3 Wireless because of this. But guess what? They just turn themselves off when used in sub 0 degrees celsius..... Tried the Sony WH-1000XM2, guess what? The Touch Controls goes haywire and makes them useless in sub 0 degrees.... Seems like it's impossible to get a pair of wireless headphones that doesn't feature at least one major flaw.

are the new slimmer pads for the H9i along the lines of the H6(2nd gen) ? or are they even thinner than that?

 

[acroyear]

Had to find out for myself about the h9i and whether or not it's an improvement over the h9. Wow. It's a total downgrade. Shame on B&O. I owned it for a couple hours, and I have a new appreciation for my H9's. The bass on the H9i is the biggest let down, next is the harsh highs, not to mention the loss of aptx.. The proximity sensor worked at first, but then stopped working. The earcups aren't bad, but they aren't as comfortable as the H9, and the ANC? Ehh.. slightly more effective but it changes the sound considerably. The H9 ANC is fine. I most wanted the supposed increased volume of the H9i. Turns out it's not actually more powerful, it just has more boosted highs. I went to the EQ on my dap, boosted the highs a bit, and presto! My H9's are just as loud as the H9i but with better bass! H9i's are a waste. Love my H9's.

(and yes I downloaded the latest firmware update)

 

[hifi80sman]

Had to find out for myself about the h9i and whether or not it's an improvement over the h9. Wow. It's a total downgrade. Shame on B&O. I owned it for a couple hours, and I have a new appreciation for my H9's. The bass on the H9i is the biggest let down, next is the harsh highs, not to mention the loss of aptx.. The proximity sensor worked at first, but then stopped working. The earcups aren't bad, but they aren't as comfortable as the H9, and the ANC? Ehh.. slightly more effective but it changes the sound considerably. The H9 ANC is fine. I most wanted the supposed increased volume of the H9i. Turns out it's not actually more powerful, it just has more boosted highs. I went to the EQ on my dap, boosted the highs a bit, and presto! My H9's are just as loud as the H9i but with better bass! H9i's are a waste. Love my H9's.

(and yes I downloaded the latest firmware update)

Indeed. If you like shrill sounding headphones that will pierce your eardrums, the H9i are the way to go. I also felt touch controls on the H9 were more responsive than the H9i. The H9i feels like a cost cutting move wrapped in sheep's clothing marketed as an "upgrade". Nice corporate move.

 

[acroyear]

Indeed. If you like shrill sounding headphones that will pierce your eardrums, the H9i are the way to go. I also felt touch controls on the H9 were more responsive than the H9i. The H9i feels like a cost cutting move wrapped in sheep's clothing marketed as an "upgrade". Nice corporate move.

That's EXACTLY what it is. And it's sad. Everything is worse, and it makes no sense except to an executive trying to cut costs and fool the consumer. It's not a pleasant sound. The H9 may not be for everyone, but they've got a well balanced sound with serious bass presence that pleases a lot of people.

 

[thecrow]

I don’t get any issues with highs on my h9i

(I only recently bought them about 6 weeks ago and have not heard the h9 to compare)

 

[Aischilos]

Hi everyone! Have been trying to update my H9s but although I follow the instructions given by the app, I fail everytime. It says that I should plug the USB on the pc, turn on and hold the button to the other extreme until it lights blinking red (says to hold it for around 12 seconds) and then release it and press "continue" on the app. However it does not proceed with the update. Any suggestions?

 

[Cyrfer]

I'm giving up on my B&O BeoPlay H9i's. I'm sad to say it, but B&O blew it with the new and slimmer design on the earpads/cups. Why did they have to change it? The BeoPlay H7 and H9 feels like pillows, they are extremely comfortable to wear. I might get some fatigue on the top of my head do to the headband being somewhat stiff and the overall weight of the headphones are rather high. But it's rather seldom this becomes a issue. But these new and slimmer earpads are just awful. I can't use them for more than ten minutes before they become uncomfortable to wear. And the stupidity doesn't stop there, they had to change the brackets so you can't simply put the earpads from the H7/H9 onto the H9i? Why, B&O, why??

These are the best balance of sound quality, ANC and everything. I have been using the Beats Studio3 Wireless, Bose QC35, Sony WH-1000XM3, BeoPlay H7, H8 (awful..), H9 and bunch of others and these strikes the best balance. And better yet, they are one of shockingly few that will work in sub 0 degrees celsius temperatures. But this discomfort makes them awful to use. What a shame, especially considering how comfortable the previous models are.... I don't even have big ears or a large head, but these are one of extremely few headphones that gives me huge discomfort during use.

I ended up preferring the Beats Studio3 Wireless because of this. But guess what? They just turn themselves off when used in sub 0 degrees celsius..... Tried the Sony WH-1000XM2, guess what? The Touch Controls goes haywire and makes them useless in sub 0 degrees.... Seems like it's impossible to get a pair of wireless headphones that doesn't feature at least one major flaw.

You can use the H7/H9 earpads on the H9i. Though they do have different brackets, a tiny bit of force is enough to make the H7/H9 pads fit. Don´t worry, nothing gets broken.
I encountered the same issue as you did, and tried it myself. Have been using the H9i with H7/H9 pads for months now.

 

[UoKTeN]

Had to find out for myself about the h9i and whether or not it's an improvement over the h9. Wow. It's a total downgrade. Shame on B&O. I owned it for a couple hours, and I have a new appreciation for my H9's. The bass on the H9i is the biggest let down, next is the harsh highs, not to mention the loss of aptx.. The proximity sensor worked at first, but then stopped working. The earcups aren't bad, but they aren't as comfortable as the H9, and the ANC? Ehh.. slightly more effective but it changes the sound considerably. The H9 ANC is fine. I most wanted the supposed increased volume of the H9i. Turns out it's not actually more powerful, it just has more boosted highs. I went to the EQ on my dap, boosted the highs a bit, and presto! My H9's are just as loud as the H9i but with better bass! H9i's are a waste. Love my H9's.

(and yes I downloaded the latest firmware update)

I completely disagree with this post. No offense but I find it rather misleading to many people who are considering buying H9i on this thread. I think due to you being an H9 owner you are only trying to convince yourself that you should not upgrade. That is why in your post when H9 is better at something you used phrases like 'biggest let down on H9i' or 'total downgrade' or 'H9i's are a waste'. On the other hand when H9i is better at something you only say they are 'slightly' better.

You only wrote this after trying H9i for a couple of hours after all. I owned an H9 for a year and an H9i for 11 months now. Here are my comments compared to yours.

The bass on the H9i is the biggest let down - I think H9i's bass is just fine. H9 has too much bass. It's almost like Beats level. Ruins the details on many songs. This comment should be the other way around imho.

Next is the harsh highs - Agreed, can be fixed with EQ. I couldn't fix the 'too much bass' issue on H9 with the EQ though.

Not to mention the loss of aptx - Agreed, a lot of people neither care about it nor can tell the difference but I see your point.

Proximity sensor - Most unnecessary feature in my opinion, it is just a gimmick, my colleague has H9i and he says it works perfectly fine, worst comes to worse you can easily turn it off, I turned mine off 11 months ago never needed to turn it back on.

Earcups - Different on everybody's ears, I find H9 'slightly' more comfortable too but they make my ears sweat more too. I can wear both headphones for 6 hours easily.

ANC - This part must be a joke, SLIGHTLY more effective? I think it is WAY MORE effective. I used to turn ANC on and off a few times on my H9 to be able to tell if it was actually on. It was that bad. ANC on H9i does alter the sound, but you cannot name one top level ANC headphone whose sound is not altered by the ANC. If you want better ANC, you gotta accept that. Plus, It's good to have it when things get noisy on a plane or office. I rather hear "slightly" worse SQ and less office chatter than 'not affected by ANC due to almost non-existent ANC' sound and a lot of chatter in the office.

H9s are as loud as H9i's with a little trick - I disagree, I listened to them back to back and H9i's are definitely louder. On my iPhone I never listen to my H9i at max volume, whereas I've always maxed out the volume on my H9 when I'm outside. Plus, much better ANC on H9i means you don't need as much as volume as you'd need with H9, hence making the H9i's sound louder even if they technically had same amount of volume.

Also, you forgot to mention a few things:

- H9i has transparency mode, H9 doesn't. This is a super handy function for office/flight use when someone wants to ask you a question or when you're trying to hear an announcement.
- H9i has 18 hours of battery life, H9 has 14. That means about 30% more battery life.
- H9i has more padding on the headband to avoid creating hot spots on your head/hair.
- You can connect H9i's to your laptop using the USB cable ONLY. It supports audio through USB cable. You don't need an extra 3.5 mm cable for a wired connection. Plus, it charges at the same time.
- H9i has a USB-C port, H9 has micro-USB. H9i is more future proof. I can charge my Android phone, my H9i and my Macbook with the same cable.
- H9i can connect to my laptop and my phone at the same time. H9 cannot do that. I can easily switch between the two and I don't even have to press any buttons to do that.
- H9i has AMAZING microphones and call quality. I can easily take phone calls while listening to music on my phone.
- H9i has wider soundstage and more detail. I find H9s more muddy due to too much bass.

Now, how is that a 'total' downgrade?

 

[Michaelc136]

I think due to you being an H9 owner you are only trying to convince yourself that you should not upgrade.

This. Didn’t want to say anything... but this is so true. People do this all the time in every industry.

His comment about the bass caught me off guard the most. The H9i has more bass ports than the H9, letting in more air allowing for a deeper cleaner bass than the H9.

It’s like the guy just wanted to justify keeping his H9.

 

[acroyear]

Why would I need to justify keeping my h9's? I could have returned either one. I returned the h9i's. I prefer the sound of the h9's.

 

[bjornw]

I agree with most things you write, but I gotta say I love the proximity sensor. I tend to put my headphones on and off a lot at work and this function is very convenient. I also never have any issues with it being over sensitive. But it needs to calibrate every time the earphones are turned on or goes back from standby, and during that time they need to be placed on a flat surface or it won’t calibrate correctly.

I completely disagree with this post. No offense but I find it rather misleading to many people who are considering buying H9i on this thread. I think due to you being an H9 owner you are only trying to convince yourself that you should not upgrade. That is why in your post when H9 is better at something you used phrases like 'biggest let down on H9i' or 'total downgrade' or 'H9i's are a waste'. On the other hand when H9i is better at something you only say they are 'slightly' better.

You only wrote this after trying H9i for a couple of hours after all. I owned an H9 for a year and an H9i for 11 months now. Here are my comments compared to yours.

The bass on the H9i is the biggest let down - I think H9i's bass is just fine. H9 has too much bass. It's almost like Beats level. Ruins the details on many songs. This comment should be the other way around imho.

Next is the harsh highs - Agreed, can be fixed with EQ. I couldn't fix the 'too much bass' issue on H9 with the EQ though.

Not to mention the loss of aptx - Agreed, a lot of people neither care about it nor can tell the difference but I see your point.

Proximity sensor - Most unnecessary feature in my opinion, it is just a gimmick, my colleague has H9i and he says it works perfectly fine, worst comes to worse you can easily turn it off, I turned mine off 11 months ago never needed to turn it back on.

Earcups - Different on everybody's ears, I find H9 'slightly' more comfortable too but they make my ears sweat more too. I can wear both headphones for 6 hours easily.

ANC - This part must be a joke, SLIGHTLY more effective? I think it is WAY MORE effective. I used to turn ANC on and off a few times on my H9 to be able to tell if it was actually on. It was that bad. ANC on H9i does alter the sound, but you cannot name one top level ANC headphone whose sound is not altered by the ANC. If you want better ANC, you gotta accept that. Plus, It's good to have it when things get noisy on a plane or office. I rather hear "slightly" worse SQ and less office chatter than 'not affected by ANC due to almost non-existent ANC' sound and a lot of chatter in the office.

H9s are as loud as H9i's with a little trick - I disagree, I listened to them back to back and H9i's are definitely louder. On my iPhone I never listen to my H9i at max volume, whereas I've always maxed out the volume on my H9 when I'm outside. Plus, much better ANC on H9i means you don't need as much as volume as you'd need with H9, hence making the H9i's sound louder even if they technically had same amount of volume.

Also, you forgot to mention a few things:

- H9i has transparency mode, H9 doesn't. This is a super handy function for office/flight use when someone wants to ask you a question or when you're trying to hear an announcement.
- H9i has 18 hours of battery life, H9 has 14. That means about 30% more battery life.
- H9i has more padding on the headband to avoid creating hot spots on your head/hair.
- You can connect H9i's to your laptop using the USB cable ONLY. It supports audio through USB cable. You don't need an extra 3.5 mm cable for a wired connection. Plus, it charges at the same time.
- H9i has a USB-C port, H9 has micro-USB. H9i is more future proof. I can charge my Android phone, my H9i and my Macbook with the same cable.
- H9i can connect to my laptop and my phone at the same time. H9 cannot do that. I can easily switch between the two and I don't even have to press any buttons to do that.
- H9i has AMAZING microphones and call quality. I can easily take phone calls while listening to music on my phone.
- H9i has wider soundstage and more detail. I find H9s more muddy due to too much bass.

Now, how is that a 'total' downgrade?

 

[norbert.mikolajczyk]

I also never have any issues with it being over sensitive. But it needs to calibrate every time the earphones are turned on or goes back from standby, and during that time they need to be placed on a flat surface or it won’t calibrate correctly.

Hi, how exactly do you calibrate them? Thanks