Following collaborations on the extraordinary Muon loudspeakers and the tasty Mu3 true wireless buds, high-end audio brand KEF has once again called on the creative talents of award-winning designer Ross Lovegrove for the gorgeous Mu7 wireless ANC headphones.
For this outing, Lovegrove has tapped into the timeless beauty of aluminum for an elegant and refined aesthetic, with a lightweight crescent headband that's designed to create a tight seal without pinching, helped along by the curvy earcups with plush leatherette memory foam cushions – which fold flat for between session transport.
KEF has selected 40-mm full-range dynamic drivers to deliver the audio, engineered and custom-tuned to bring out subtle nuances of the source music without adding any sonic coloring to the mix. Bluetooth 5.1 has been cooked in for pairing the headphones with a device, and Qualcomm's 24-bit/48-kHz aptX HD codec is onboard for high-resolution wireless playback.
Smart ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) wizardry employs numerous filters to monitor ambient noise, and then takes aim at individual frequencies with specialized algorithms to help listeners focus on the music. And Qualcomm makes another appearance to assist with call clarity, courtesy of its Clear Voice Capture tech. Volume and playback is controlled via the touch-enabled right earcup.
Users can expect up to 40 hours of per-charge wireless listening (with ANC enabled) from the 1,100-mAh battery, with a 15-minute fast charge providing 8 hours if you're in a hurry – though wired playback is also supported via the included audio cable ending in a 3.5-mm jack.
The Mu7 headphones are available now in silver gray or charcoal gray for US$399.99, which puts them in the same ANC wireless pricing arena as Bose and Sony (though the latter's excellent noise-canceling chops will take some beating), but much cheaper than Apple's AirPods Max.
Product page: Mu7