People complain about red eye flights a lot, but my least favorite time to board is at the crack of dawn. As a night owl, there’s nothing worse than finally falling asleep at midnight only to wake up at 3 a.m. to head to the airport. My alarm may as well be an air raid siren at that hour. I wake up in a cold sweat, with no idea of who or where I am, and no amount of caffeine can revive me. I zombie-shuffle my way through security and arrive at my destination utterly destroyed.
Despite knowing better, last week I took an early flight to save some cash. On this particular plane, a baby in the airplane felt as grumpy as I did. The poor critter may have screamed the entire way. I have no idea. After a few moments of it, I turned on Panasonic’s latest noise cancelling headphones, and threw a hoodie over my head. The baby faded to a faint whisper and I slept peacefully for two whole hours, which saved my day.
For a brand that’s struggled to regain the recognition it once had, Panasonic continues to make some stellar products. I still own one of the last-ever Panasonic plasma TVs, and its $9 earbuds are pretty darn nice for the dough. I’d put its new hi-res noise cancelling over-ear headphones right next to them in terms of value and surprising performance.
I wish Panasonic’s product naming czars had come up with a more inspiring moniker than “RP-HD605N-K.” Thankfully, they sound fantastic, with good bass and treble response, and a balanced sound signature thanks to the 40mm drivers that are certified for hi-res audio (LDAC and AptX HD supported for Bluetooth). I found them especially crisp and clear when used with the included 3.5mm audio cable, though a touch bright on some tracks.
The design is all-plastic with a faux leather headband and earcups. They look like a pair of your typical Bose headphones, though a hair more modern—the kind of headphones that no one will notice, or remember. They elicit neutral feelings from most people I’ve shown them to, which might be a positive or negative, depending on your fashion sense. For me, it was fine. I’m perfectly content with wearing drab headphones if they sound great.
The cushioning is comfortable and each cup slides out to fit different head sizes. I found them very soft, and particularly liked the 3D ball joint that lets the cups adjust for a tighter seal, though if you prefer deep padding, these might not satisfy you. They have about a centimeter and a half of give, which was enough for me.
That said, the leatherette earcups get too warm and sweaty during workouts, and tend to hug your neck when you take them off. Luckily, they can collapse, so you can stow them in a large pocket, or bag. If you don’t, the included semi-hard shell case is easily stuffed into a carry-on.
The real benefits are the 20-hour battery life, which should last a couple weeks between charges, and the adjustable active noise cancelling. Tap the NC button on the edge of the right earcup (you’ll figure out where it is—it’s smooshed up against the power control) and you can cycle through three levels of noise cancelling. I preferred the strongest, even though I could hear a faint hiss when music wasn’t playing.
Panasonic baked in a really helpful little trick, too. If you want to hear the world around you, put your right hand over the right earcup. The headphones will instantly enter Ambient Sound mode, which drastically lowers the volume of your audio and pipes in outside noise, so you can hear what someone’s telling you for a moment. Lift your palm and you’re back in listening land. It’s fun to do, and works really well in a crunch.
Above the NC button is a volume switch that also acts as a button to accept calls or speak with your phone’s voice assistant. Call quality was acceptably clear, though callers did tell me they could hear some background noise. Sadly, few headphones, even at this price, nail phone calls.
At $300, Panasonic has priced its cans a bit cheaper than the Bose QuietComfort 35 by $50. If you pressed me, I’d still push you to buy a pair of QC35s if you’re buying solely for noise cancelling, and the Plantronics BackBeat Pro 2 if you’re searching for a bargain. But the longer I wear these Panasonic headphones, the more my loyalties sway. Panasonic’s name might not have the cachet it used to, but it has a killer set of cans in the RP-HD605N-K.