PROS
- Bass-heavy sound
- Great noise isolation
- Airy soundstage with good instrument separation
- 2-year warranty
CONS
- Easily affected by sweat and moisture
- Asymmetrical cable
- Cable is prone to tangling and twisting
VERDICT
Sennheiser CX 300 II are a somewhat problematic pair of earbuds. There is no denying that there is a lot to like about them. They provide an excellent level of sound isolation and bass-heavy sound that will please all lovers of hip-hop and electronic music. Sadly, their weak construction usually doesn’t last more than a year or two before something breaks. You can, of course, go above and beyond to protect them from any damage, but keep in mind that there are much less expensive earbuds with significantly better build-quality. As it is, CX 300 II are recommended with an extreme caution.
Some people consider Sennheiser to be a stuffy and less exciting headphone and earbud manufacturer out there. Sennheiser CX 300 II are a nice example of how versatile Sennheiser can be. Our review showcases everything there is to like about these earbuds and also reviews some problems that need to be addressed.
Design
These earbuds strongly resemble Creative EP-630 with their minimalistic designed and small case. They look quite good but probably won’t please those who see headphones and earbuds as fashion accessories and not just equipment.
You can choose from black or white version to match them nicely with your phone or mp3 player. Just be aware that the white version is much harder to find than the black one.
Build quality
Sennheiser CX 300 II would be an excellent, little earbuds if it wasn’t for their lousy build quality. Their bassy sound can easily entice people to use them in the gym or outdoors.
This often leads to a pair of broken earbuds and lots of angry comments. What happens is that the sweat and moisture manage to get inside the casing and onto the driver. Once this happens, there is nothing owners can do to make their earbuds work again.
Sennheiser has decided to use an asymmetrical cable and we have yet to find a single person who is happy about this decision. The problems are that this cable design makes it much more likely to cause the earbuds to fall out of ears and generally just doesn’t add anything useful.
To make the already bad cable even worse, Sennheiser used a thin wire coated with an unpleasant rubbery compound. This causes the cable to easily tangle and twist in all kinds of different ways. Hopefully, some future iteration of these headphones will fix all these issues.
Sound
Fortunately, the sound easily makes up for the horrible cable design. These earbuds are known for their excellent bass and great, wide soundstage. They don’t cause any fatigue and you can listen for hours and hours without discomfort.
With 30+ hours of burn-in time, the bass becomes very tight, accurate, and fast to respond. Despite the prominent bass, other frequencies are no less detailed. Vocals sound accurate and highs have a very pleasant sense of air and clearness to them.
What is in the box?
Sennheiser CX 300 II Precision Enhanced Bass Earbuds come with 3 different sizes of soft silicon ear tips and carrying pouch for handy storage.
