Verdict
The Beyerdynamic Aventho 100 headphones offer a stylish, compact design, superb battery life and all the features you’re likely to want. Unfortunately, I just found them quite uncomfortable to wear, and the default tuning required some EQ to sound its best. They’re a decent set of headphones, but they’re not my favourite
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Stylish design -
Compact and lightweight -
aptX Lossless support -
Excellent battery life
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Uncomfortable (for me) -
Narrow sound stage -
Wind noise with ANC/Transparency mode
Key Features
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Premium retro styling
The Beyerdynamic Aventho 100 headphones feel as good as they look, with cool metallic accents and plush leatherette trimmings -
Compact folding design
The small earcups, folding hinges and lightweight build of the Aventho 100 make them excellent for travel; you’ll barely notice them in your bag -
Amazing battery life
With up to 60 hours of battery life per charge (40 hours with ANC active), the Aventho 100 will last you all week long – and they charge very quickly, too
Introduction
Beyerdynamic’s latest headphones look like they’ve time-travelled straight from the 1970s, but there’s a twist. The Aventho 100 headphones come with all the modern conveniences that you’d expect from a set of commuter cans, like high-quality wireless audio and active noise cancellation.
They’re compact and foldable, perfect for tossing in your bag, and considering Beyerdynamic’s heritage, they should sound fantastic, too.
These headphones come in at £169, straddling the line between affordable and premium. I wanted to find out what they’re like to live with, and after about a week of listening, here’s what I think.
Design
- Retro 70’s-style design
- Foldable and lightweight
- Up to 60 hours of battery life
The Aventho 100 headphones make an immediate positive impression with their 70s-style retro looks, and I think that’s especially true for the Brown version that I have for testing.
This version features contrasting black earcups, with grey aluminium banding, and chocolate-brown leatherette padding throughout. There’s something a little aeronautical about the aesthetics, and I’m very fond of them.
The headphones are also available in a lighter Cream option or a more subtle Black variant, but all feature the same contrasting aluminium hinges. They all look fetching in their own right. I especially like the Cream version, but I think the Brown model is most likely to turn heads.
The Aventho 100 is an on-ear design, rather than over-ear, which makes the overall package more compact. The earcups can also fold inwards so they take up less space in your bag, and you get a basic drawstring cloth bag in the box to keep them scratch-free.
I found them very easy to travel with. They’re both lightweight and compact, the polar opposite of over-ear headphones like the AirPods Max.
This on-ear design is also, for me at least, one of the biggest downsides. I’ve never been a huge fan of on-ear headphones; they tend to be either uncomfortable to wear for long periods or so loose that they might fall off. These headphones, unfortunately, fall into the former category.
I’ve tried adjusting them in all kinds of ways, and they just create so much pressure on my ears that they feel sore after a couple of hours. Of course, everyone’s ears are different, and you may find them comfortable, but my head just isn’t very compatible. My only hope is that they loosen up over time (and not too much).
There’s also a 3.5mm socket, so you can listen to sources, and you get both a USB-A to USB-C cable and a 3.5mm aux cable included in the box.
In terms of physical controls, there’s a power button, volume up and down, and a multi-purpose button that can be configured using the Beyerdynamic app. By default, it’ll play/pause your music, and a double press will skip to the next track.
I’m a fan of physical buttons over touch controls, as I feel they’re much more reliable. These buttons have a decent click to them, but they’re made of plastic and aren’t going to impress with their tactility. It’s the surrounding material that made a bigger impression. The bare aluminium frame surrounding each earcup is cold to the touch and feels unmistakably premium, with a grippy, grooved texture the whole way round.
The headphones are IP53 rated, which means they’ll handle a touch of dust and some light sprays of water, but you’ll still need to remain somewhat careful if the weather gets too wild.
Features
- Beyerdynamic companion app
- Bluetooth Multipoint
To get the most from these headphones, you’ll want to pair them up with the Beyerdynamic app, which is available for both Android and iOS. This allows you to update the firmware, customise what the buttons do, access EQ settings and even disable the Bluetooth LED, if you want.
It’s a fairly simple app, but it does what it needs to, and setup is a breeze. These headphones benefit from Google Fast Pair, so they’ll pop up automatically on most Android devices, and you can simply tap “Pair” or bind them to your Google account for easy pairing with your other devices. As someone who reviews phones, I find that incredibly handy.
I also love that these headphones support Bluetooth Multipoint, which means I can keep them connected to both my phone and my MacBook, and seamlessly switch between the two without needing to unpair and reconnect.
The headphones charge up via USB-C, and it only takes an hour and a half to go from fully drained to fully charged. Beyerdynamic reckons just 15 minutes on the charger is good enough for 15 hours of music playback, impressive stuff.
The brand claims the Aventho 100 can last up to 60 hours on a charge, or up to 40 hours with ANC turned on. I’ve been listening to them at every opportunity for the past week, and I still have around 40% battery left, so these claims seem pretty accurate to me. If you take them with you on a week-long trip, it’s very unlikely that you’ll need to charge them.
Noise Cancellation
- Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode
The Aventho 100 have a great passive seal, so even without ANC turned on, you can block out most of your surroundings. Thankfully, there’s also a transparency mode available, which I find essential in the office.
The transparency mode is decent indoors, but I noticed a lot of wind sounds when I enabled it outdoors. Sadly, wind noise is also audible when ANC is active. Of course, indoors, this is no issue, and I usually only activate ANC on aeroplanes, trains and the like – but it’s worth noting.
As for the noise cancellation, it’s quite good. It’s especially adept at removing consistent background sounds like the hum of an engine or the whirring of PC fans, but it dulls sudden noises well, too. It’s just a shame that wind noise is so prevalent.
I was concerned that this would translate to poor call quality outdoors, but it turns out that’s not the case. I called my girlfriend from outside while it was particularly gusty, and while I could hear the wind interference, she said I sounded crystal clear.
Sound Quality
- 45mm dynamic drivers
- AAC, SBC, aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive support
- Wired and wireless connectivity
When I first listened to the Beyerdynamic Aventho 100 headphones, I must admit, I was a little disappointed. With Beyerdynamic’s pedigree in the high-end audio space, I was expecting something quite neutral and detailed, but that’s not what these cans deliver.
The default sound is quite bass-heavy, and the treble is a little dull. It’s not unpleasant, but I was craving more detail. I played with the preset EQ options in the app, and none quite hit the spot. Thankfully, there’s a custom 5-band EQ, and I found that a fairly significant boost to the upper frequencies brought these headphones to life.
Of course, everyone has different preferences and hearing capabilities, so your mileage may vary. What’s important is that you can dramatically change the way these headphones sound by playing with the custom EQ, and with enough tinkering, you can probably get the sound you desire.
I was very impressed with the sub-bass extension; the Aventho 100 can really capture that low-end rumble. Vocals are well presented, too, and (once I had played with the EQ) I was pleasantly surprised by the sound quality across all genres.
What’s less impressive is the soundstage. These headphones have a very closed and narrow staging, and as someone who tends to prefer using open-back headphones at home, this was quite jarring.
They support aptX Lossless playback, and they sounded superb paired with Spotify’s new lossless capabilities. I also tried them plugged in with the included 3.5mm cable, and while there was an audible improvement, it’s not as big a gap as you might expect.
Should you buy it?
You want a stylish pair of on-ear headphones with great battery life
These headphones look gorgeous, and the battery lasts for ages. There are plenty of over-ear styles out there, but compact premium on-ears are somewhat of a rarity
You like a wide soundstage
There’s no way around it, the Aventho 100 just has a pretty narrow staging. If you’re looking for spacious sound, you should look elsewhere
Final Thoughts
I love the styling of the Aventho 100, and that made me want to love the headphones, too. Unfortunately, they just don’t fit my head well, and they’re too uncomfortable for me to wear for long periods.
However, that might just be a me problem. I have never got on well with on-ear styles, usually preferring over-ear equivalents, and that hasn’t changed with this model. If you already know that you like on-ear headphones, then you might have a much better time.
As for the features and the build quality, I have no major complaints. These headphones feel very premium, and they do everything you’d ever need them to. The sound quality is very good, too, once you have the EQ dialled in.
At a price of £169, there’s no shortage of competing options, but with great battery life, unique, compact styling and a fairly robust feature set, the Aventho 100 might be perfect for you. Unfortunately, they’re not the ones for me.
How We Test
We test every pair of headphones we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry-standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find.
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Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
- Tested for a week
- Tested with real world use
FAQs
Yes, you can pair the Aventho 100 to two sources at once and seamlessly switch between them.
The Aventho 100 are IP53 rated. So, while they’re not fully waterproof, a few splashes will do not harm.
Full Specs
| Beyerdynamic Aventho 100 Review | |
|---|---|
| UK RRP | £169 |
| Manufacturer | Beyerdynamic |
| IP rating | IP53 |
| Battery Hours | 40 |
| Fast Charging | Yes |
| Weight | 220 G |
| Release Date | 2025 |
| Audio Resolution | AAC, SBC, aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive |
| Driver (s) | 45mm dynamic |
| Noise Cancellation? | Yes |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.4 |
| Colours | Black, Brown, Cream |
| Frequency Range | 20 22000 – Hz |
| Headphone Type | On-ear |
