Monoprice 43251 SYNC-ANC Bluetooth Headphones 2023 REVIEW

Bluetooth headphones provide a high-quality listening experience at a fraction of the cost.

Headphones seem to come in all shapes and sizes these days. For me, they are an essential piece to my work-from-home lifestyle. It’s very helpful to have a headset with ANC but many wireless headphones with ANC can be very cost-prohibitive. I did a quick search on “over-ear Bluetooth headphones with ANC” and the first 10 items that were displayed after the sponsored devices had an average price of $149.

While I truly appreciate a high-quality set of cans for music and video consumption, I have to admit that sometimes I get concerned with taking my ultra-expensive headphones out of the house. So, it’s nice to have an alternate set of headphones that are good for worry-free traveling. This is where the Monoprice SYNC-ANC Bluetooth Headphones with ANC come into the picture. These budget-friendly headphones check off all the major boxes for me when it comes to audio enjoyment.

About the Monoprice SYNC-ANC Bluetooth Headphones with ANC

The Monoprice SYNC-ANC Bluetooth Headphones are designed to provide a premium audio listening experience while still being reasonable cost-wise. The headphones are perfect for enjoying audio streaming and avoiding distractions. They come equipped with Bluetooth 5 and have support for AAC, SBC, Qualcomm® aptX, and Qualcomm aptX Low Latency audio codecs.

The SYNC-ANC Bluetooth Headphones have hybrid active noise canceling built-in, which helps to block unwanted ambient noise and the Qualcomm cVc Echo Cancelling and Noise Suppression ensure a crystal-clear, noise-free voice for phone calls. Users have the option to pair two source devices simultaneously and switch back and forth between them. The headphones have an average of 20 hours of audio playback/talk time.

Main Features

• P/N: 43251
• Bluetooth® Version: 5
• Bluetooth Chipset: Qualcomm® QCC3005
• Bluetooth Range: Up to 32 feet (10 meters)
• Supported Bluetooth Profiles: HSP, HFP, AVRCP, A2DP
• Bluetooth Pairing Name: MP43251
• Supported Audio Codecs: aptX™ Low Latency, aptX™, AAC, SBC
• Battery Type: 3.7V Lithium‑ion
• Battery Capacity: 400mAh
• Charging Time: About 2.5 hours
• Standby Time: About 400 hours
• Playback/Talk Time: About 20 hours (50% volume, ANC OFF, BT ON), About 10 hours (50% volume, ANC ON, BT ON), About 14 hours (50% volume, ANC ON, BT OFF)
• Dimensions: 8.3″ x 6.1″ x 3.3″ (210 x 155 x 83 mm)
• Weight: 9.5 oz. (269 g)

Pricing & Availability

The Monoprice SYNC-ANC Bluetooth Headphones have a list price of $59.99 and can be ordered from monoprice.com. As of publishing, the headphones are on sale and are currently offered for $44.99.

User Experience

The Monoprice SYNC-ANC Bluetooth Headphones come in a plain, Monoprice-branded box. The item is defined only by the printed name of the headphones on the front of the box. When you open the box, you’ll find the headphones resting in a plastic mold. Below that, you’ll find an audio cable and a Micro USB charging cable.

This is one thing that I feel could have been done better with the headphones’ design. In this day and age, I personally feel that Micro USB is outdated technology. I think it would have been better to use USB-C as the charging interface since it is much more commonplace these days.

Out of the box, the headphones had a 100% battery charge. As soon as I turned the headphones on, they went into pairing mode and they appeared in my iPhone’s Bluetooth menu. Within a few seconds, the headphones were connected and I was listening to music. I typically rate headphones on a few different areas — comfort, sound quality, and special features.

ANC

The ANC feature was above average. I found it to be very easy to activate (there is a switch on the left ear cup that you switch on and off as you need it. By nature, the over-ear headphone design provided some sound isolation without any ANC turned on. Here is how I would rank the sound isolation with and without the ANC feature (0 = sound isolation to 10 = all ambient sound muted).

• Bare ears = 0
• Headphones On = 2-3
• Headphones On + ANC On = 4-5
• Headphones On + ANC On + music playing = 6-7

As far as ANC goes and in comparison to other ANC headphones I have used, the function was very helpful. My fiancé tried them out while I was playing Call of Duty in another room in our house. Normally, she can hear some of my gaming activity but she said with these headphones that she could only barely hear me playing and talking to other players when no music was playing. She could, however, still hear herself crunching popcorn while using the headphones. I did notice that there is a faint humming/static sound that you can hear through the headphones when no music is playing. It can be a little distracting.

SOUND QUALITY

In order to test the sound quality of the headphones, I listened to a variety of music and watched some video clips. I used different audio/video streaming services (noted below). I have included the list below. All music was tested at 50% volume level while all videos were listened to between 50-75% volume level. All audio and video were in sync.

In general, the audio quality was above average. All the mixes were steady and even some very intricate sound effects were detected when they have been lost with some other headphone brands. The bass was rich but could have kicked a bit more. Extreme highs and lows were not lost and all the mixes — especially with the movie clips — were clear and well-balanced. I did definitely hear a nice ring/reverb in some tracks (Duel of the Fates) and when listening to Hamilton which was recorded in a Broadway theater, the bass was exceptional.

Audio Testing Playlist (all music streamed through Apple Music)

• Brother of Mine | Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe
• No Diggity (feat. Dr. Dre & Queen Pen) | Blackstreet
• World Championship Finale 2 | The Barden Bellas (Pitch Perfect 2)
• A Thousand Miles | Vanessa Carlton
• Duel of the Fates | John Williams & London Symphony Orchestra (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace)

Videos (all videos streamed using Disney+)

• Hamilton — Opening sequence and the first song
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 — The opening scene and credits sequence
• The Lion King (animated version) — The Circle of Life and Scar’s first scene

COMFORT/WEARABILITY

The headphones are very lightweight and the cushions are plush and soft. The headband is adjustable and since the headphones are foldable, they provide flexibility for the user and how they sit on their head. I did notice that my ears got a bit warm after about an hour of continuous use. I never noticed my ears sweating, but they were certainly warmer than usual. Overall, I would rate them at a 9 out of 10 for comfort and wearability.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

A couple of additional observations I made when using the headphones included —

• ANC has to be turned off separately. When I was turning the headphones off for the night, I flipped the power switch to ‘off’ and I noticed that the ANC indicator light was still illuminated. So, I flipped the ANC switch. This could be a battery-draining issue if the user doesn’t think about turning both functions off.
• Charges with Micro USB. As I noted earlier, these headphones charge with Micro USB rather than USB-C. This is not a problem per se, but it’s not a modern design feature that I have come to expect with my headphones and other peripherals. Micro USB is historically less expensive to implement than USB-C but as USB-C becomes more standardized, the cost is less of a factor for implementation.
• No storage case is provided. While it’s not 100% necessary for a quality customer experience, I think some sort of headphone case would be helpful for a product like this. Since I feel that these are great for traveling — so you don’t worry about the wear and tear on your more expensive headphones — a storage case would have been a great add-on. Monoprice doesn’t seem to offer storage cases separately but some decent options are available on Amazon.

Conclusion

The Monoprice SYNC-ANC Bluetooth Headphones provide a premium listening experience for users without breaking the bank. They are durable, comfortable to wear, and have above-average active noise-canceling for sound isolation. Even though these headphones are a good investment, there are some design improvements I think could be made. The ANC, while very functional does produce a slight humming sound when active and I feel that the headphones should charge USB-C rather than Micro USB. I still think the headphones are a good buy and I would recommend them, especially as a secondary set of headphones.

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