Shure Aonic 215

The special feature of this model, which is available in four colours, is their design that uses an over-ear hook, something that is more familiar from the kind of equipment used on stage. The high-quality interchangeable in-ear fittings are held in position with this system and the controls are located behind the ear. In fact, the so-called “True Wireless Secure Fit Adapter” actually makes up the Bluetooth 5.0 receiver. In principle it is compatible with all Shure SE models and can therefore be purchased separately: You can swap headphones as well as buy the adapter for wired systems – a nice touch!

Each set of Aonic 215 come with three pairs of silicone and foam earplugs. In addition, there is a somewhat oversized transport case which also functions as a charging station thanks to its integrated rechargeable battery.

Wearing comfort

The concept of the over-ear hooks comes from the professional sector. These offer advantages to wearing comfort as well as safety. At the same time, these qualities come at a price: it takes some practice and considerably more time than with typical True-Wireless headphones to get these positioned correctly in your ears. However once you’ve fitted them, they fit securely and comfortably stay in position for a long time. These features also qualify the Aonic 215 for use by athletes. However, whether or not you like the design remains a matter of taste. The system for inserting and charging the earphones in the carrying case also takes a bit of getting used to.

Controls

The system is operated with two mechanical buttons, which are located behind the ears as part of the ear hook and therefore do not affect the fit or introduce noise into the ear canal when in use. Firstly, the headphones can be switched on and off independently. Pairing can also be initiated here – but restoring a previous connection after switching on takes longer than it would do with some competing brands.

Other functions that can be accessed via short, long and multiple clicks include starting and pausing music playback, making phone calls and calling a voice assistant in your Smartphone. Unfortunately you cannot use this button to jump tracks or to fast forward and backward through a track, nor does it control volume.

The Aonic 215 has excellent passive reduction of ambient noise, according to the manufacturer up to 37 dB. This means that with the right earplugs you are always well shielded from outside noise. To facilitate communication with the outside world, the so-called “environment mode” can be activated by double-clicking. In this mode, external noise is transmitted to the headphones via the microphones.

Additional functions are available via the free “Shure Plus Play” app (for iOS, and Android): Here, in addition to making firmware updates, you can adjust the intensity of the environment mode through ten levels. A convenient media player is available for this purpose as well as a storable EQ with four freely configurable parametric ranges – including graphic visualization. Here, existing presets can be called up, but also your own curves can be stored. The player itself is capable of handling high-resolution audio files. This may be an advantage when using with cables, which are available as accessories, but in True Wireless mode, it uses Bluetooth 5.0 which supports the codecs SBC, AAC and aptX. Given the price, I would have liked to have seen compatibility with aptX HD and LDAC. But this system scores points with the stability of its wireless link, which extends over several rooms.

Finally, the remarkable battery life of the Aonic 215 is to be praised. These headphones can be used for up to eight hours, and the transport case increases the playing time to up to 32 hours total due to the integrated battery, before you have to bother making a USB-C connection to your computer or a power supply.

Sound

In spite of the sophisticated ear hooks, you still have the responsibility of choosing the right earplugs. Once you have found them, the Aonic 215 reward you with a wonderfully balanced, powerful and open sound. The dynamic driver with an explicitly low impedance of 17 Ohm convincingly covers the entire frequency spectrum from low bass to treble.

The rich bass is tightly controlled up to high levels, allowing an evaluation of dynamics and tonality at the lowest level. In the midrange, voices and acoustic instruments are reproduced realistically, with the necessary agility or intimacy. With this honest tuning, these headphones master genres such as jazz or classical music as confidently as pop and rock. For example, distorted guitars have the right mix of fullness and bite. Even the snare in Rammstein’s “Mein Herz Brennt” sounds impressive.

In the highs, the Aonic 215 shows itself to be detailed and transparent without slipping into sharpness. Warm productions such as Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” are reproduced authentically, with limited harshness. The device we tested generated a wide stereo panorama with precise tracking of movement. For an in-ear system in this price range, they detected room ambience and reverb effects unusually well.