It’s like M&D decided to combine the best parts of every product they’ve ever made into a single set of headphones
It’s always such a treat to unbox M&D’s products. You know you’re going to come across a generous amount of accessories. What’s more, the accessories are always high-end, well thought-out and sophisticated. I’ve reviewed a handful of M&D products and have looked forward to the chance to review the MW65 Wireless Headphones. Worth more than any other headphones in their entire product line; I knew it’d feel awesome just to hold these $499 Google-enabled beauties in my hands.
Breathtakingly Beautiful and As Light as a Feather — Quite a Rare Combo
The most common way to make headphones look high-quality is to include an abundance of metal. A plastic body is mostly critiqued as cheap and flimsy, while the inclusion of metal instantly turns it classy. However, there’s a major downside to this that’s often ignored: The product ends up being too heavy to be comfortable. Headphones should be one of the last products to compromise comfort for beauty. Even M&D’s MH40 Wireless were somewhat heavy and left me wishing for an equally elite but lighter body.
I picked the MW65 up and was literally taken aback by how light they were. Taking a good look at the amount of metal in their body, I was expecting them to be considerably heavier. But M&D came through with MW 65s. Design and looks-wise, the MW65 is as fine as its predecessors. Sporting an ultra minimal body with nothing but M&D’s signature aluminum grilles on the exterior of its earcups and just a small ‘M’ stamped in the middle of the grille, the cans are stunning. The metal is sturdy and expensive-looking, and offers plenty of give when its extenders are pulled all the way.
Insanely Comfortable Around the Ears but Missed Potential on the Head
MW65’s fit is definitely snugger than the MH40’s. The latter wouldn’t stop slipping off my extraordinarily small noggin. The former instantly sat perfectly on my head hugging it tight from every point of contact. The most interesting part is the generous leather padding on the earcups which provided considerable passive noise isolation as soon as I put them on. I hadn’t even put a song on and the rumble of my washing machine was completely muted.
I just wish the generosity displayed in the earcups could’ve been present in the headband. There was very little to almost no padding in the leather headband that sat against the apex of my skull. While I wasn’t uncomfortable per se, I wished that my head could have felt as cozy as my ears did. Moreover, the earcups were pure leatherette and, since that tends to get hot real quick; I just knew that longer gaming sessions with the MW65 would leave my cranial area sweaty.
Smart and Intuitive Layout
M&D has never disappointed me with their controls. They just know how to get the job done. The MW65 hosts the same intuitive layout with an equal number of controls divided on both earcups instead of all buttons clustered on one. Even within the earcups, the company has been mindful of dividing the buttons and ports on the inner and outer band of earcups, as a result of which, there is no band that hosts more than even one control or port. The same buttons perform multiple jobs such as the pause/play switch being capable of skipping tracks. There’s also a dedicated ANC button used for switching between various levels of ANC. The MW65 requires no lengthy tutorials and navigation can be mastered in a matter of a few minutes. Just two LED lights on the left cup updates you on the headphones’ battery and pairing status.
My Favorite Part of any M&D Product: The Accessories
I already mentioned how M&D is always hiding a surprise in their products. I was expecting the typical black cables and pouch but was quite pleased with its grey mixed-material leather and cloth pouch and cables of the same color but with glitter imbued on them. The pouch is quite spacious and features an extra pocket for carrying its cables on the go. It’s also zippered with a magnetized clasp providing an extra bit of security. However, honestly I would have preferred it padded like the Logitech Pro X Wireless’ case. Non-padded cases look like they get the job half done.
M&D has been kind enough to provide us with a flight adapter that’s an excellent but often ignored accessory to include. A 3.5mm jack has also been included so that you’re not required to take a break when it runs of out juice. There are alternatives for literally every situation in that box. Unfortunately the headset’s manual has no English section. It features around five languages but no English. Although there was no need of a guide to navigate a device as elegant as the MW65, I would’ve liked to have seen the second most spoken language in the world in the manual.
Audio: What the MH40 Couldn’t Achieve and More
When I reviewed the MH40, the only genre I said I wouldn’t enjoy on it was EDM. The MW65, on the other hand, turned out to be intensely bass-forward, causing me focus on the bass in songs that I honestly never knew had so much bass in. And when I put on the bass boosted version of an already bass-heavy song, it felt as if the skin of the earcups would explode from all the shaking. No matter how much I increased the bass, however, the cans retained absolute clarity.
The MW65’s sound was very controlled and neither extremely high nor extremely low frequencies impaired it. I listened to what should be the ultimate test of high frequency, Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus. At no point did I feel as if the sound had gotten out of control or muddy. I also binge-listened to Ritviz to get bead on the can’s midrange, and was rather impressed. The soundstage was the exact opposite of tinny and sounded warm and pleasant.
The best part about the MW65’s audio was obviously its ANC. The combination of the passive ANC through its leather earcups and active ANC technology came through muting everything around me. The ANC on the MW65 is extraordinarily good because it doesn’t just mute background noise; it isolated the audio so well that it felt as if it’s just me and the song in a large field. And that felt great.
Having both that treble and that thump in its sound, the MW65 also performed exceptionally well in my gaming sessions. It had loudness and clarity along with that low frequency required for explosions and certain environmental sounds.
Other Appreciated Features
There’s yet more cool stuff to the MW65. It provides Google Assistant Integration which translates to it reading out your notifications out loud if you hold the volume up button for a few seconds. It also provides aptX support which means it provides considerably better performance on Android devices with improved audio quality. Its 24-hour battery life is also a blessing and I only had to charge it after every three days. The steep price is totally justified but if your budget doesn’t allow it, the MH40 Wireless is a cheaper option that’s almost as good as this.
Overall, the MW65 is an all-rounder. It gives you a stunning design, easy navigation and superb sound. If you’re looking for a superb long-term solution, I’d highly recommend this. What’s more, M&D has recently released two new color variants of the MW65, the MW65 BAPE Collection. For an additional $49 only, you get two an option of choosing between the BAPE orange and the BAPE green camo. It doesn’t get better than this.
Is it Hardcore?
Definitely.
The MW65s are brilliant overall. They’re worth the high price tag, offering at once superior style, quality and functionality.