Product Review: Mixcder E9 Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones

We’ve tried our fair share of headphones to pass the time while working on projects, so we were looking forward to giving the new wireless Mixcder E9 a spin. Whether you’re listening to music while painting a room or listening to an audio book in your workshop, a good pair of headphones for use with DIY projects should feature solid active noise cancelling (ANC). This pair promises to deliver that and more for one of the lower ANC price points on the market.

On first inspection, the Mixcder E9 look like a nice, stylish pair of headphones. They have subtle design finishes to add some visual interest without going overboard, and they fold up nicely when travelling, or to store within the included hard case. The ear cups feature memory foam cushions for comfort, and rotate easily for a better fit. The headband slider is made from stainless steel for added support, and features lines and numbers so you can remember your favorite setting, a feature that should honestly be required for all headphones as it made it easy to pull out, adjust, and start listening. Some of us thought the fit was on the tighter side, but this wasn’t an opinion shared throughout the office, so it may depend on your personal preference.

The biggest component, the ANC, fared quite well. These headphones have an integrated HD noise-canceling processor combined with a CSR Bluetooth chip. The company claims it’s the best-in-class signal-to-noise ratio, and we will admit, it was impressive for this price range. We tested a range of scenarios and the headphones passed the test for the most common. The sound was crisp and we could immediately hear a difference when toggling the ANC switch.

With or without noise-cancelling, our music sounded well balanced and clear, with the bass being a big standout for us. While lacking the extreme audio detailing of top-of-the-line headphones, these headphones blew other mid-range models out of the water.

It is important to note that while the Mixcder E9 touts 94% low-frequency noise cancelling, it doesn’t handle high frequencies that well. In most circumstances this was fine, as ANC technology mixed with your music playlist will knock out most disturbing noises, but if you’re working on a project with a power tool, the high pitch of the motor will break through. If you want to fully cancel out all frequencies, that will definitely cost you. We had to use one of the top noise-canceling headphones on the market to come close to nullifying normal power tool use, so comparatively this pair performed admirably.

The wireless Bluetooth mode reaches up to 33 feet away from your audio source and lasts about 30 hours (24 hours when using ANC). We tested the battery with and without ANC and found this to be pretty accurate. However, the Mixcder E9 comes with an audio cable to switch to a powerless wired mode if you’ve depleted your battery. You can also still use ANC if there’s still some charge left, but it’s important to remember to turn off both the headphones’ main power (if you’re wireless) and the ANC when you’re done, otherwise you’ll be greeted with a dead battery the next time you want to use them. The headphones have a rechargeable 500mAh battery that fills up in a little over two hours, but can take longer if you want to use them during charging.

A smaller feature, but nifty when you’re in the middle of working, is the phone call option. The headphones have a noise-rejecting microphone to keep you sounding clear while talking in a noisy room. It separated our voice quite well, and the audio sounded strong on the other line. We were a little disappointed that we couldn’t summon our phone or computer’s smart assistant though. It would have been a nice perk with the microphone.

Overall the Mixcder E9 are an impressive pair of headphones. As of time of writing, they’re priced at $72.99, which is a lower price than we usually see for such well incorporated ANC technology. They’re also extremely light, weighing five ounces, much less than our top-of-the-line comparison headphones. They were extremely easy to set up as well, and we had no trouble pairing them with multiple device types. If you’re looking for a solid pair of ANC headphones that you don’t have to worry too hard about when you’re painting or have sawdust in the air, these well exceeded our expectations.