Some brands are known for certain things. In audio, Shure is known for iconic microphones and iems. AS well as headphones to a lesser extent. This headphone, the Aonic 50; is their first Bluetooth overear headphone with active noise canceling.The box is unique in that it is mostly round, the case is big, but is well built and has room for cables, and a DAP if you want to use the headphones with something other than your smartphone. AS far as cables go, shure includes a good length USB-C cable, as well as an analog cable with a 2.5 MM plug for the headphones, and a 3.5 MM plug for the end that connects to your phone, laptop etc. If you own a headphone that doesn't have a headphone jack and you want to stream wired, the Aonic 50 can also be used for listening via USB-C. It can charge while being used for audio via USB-C as well.The headphones took 4 hours to charge, and you get 23 hours while using ANC. Will be longer battery life in passive mode, but volume level of course will affect how long they last before needing a charge.For bluetooth they support SBC, AAC, APTX, APTX-LL, APTX-HD and LDAC. APTX-LL helps reduce or illiminate the lag of audio while watching video, but only on compatible devices from brands such as LG, Google and Samsung.The headphones also have a companion app, the shure play app found in the play store and app store.Through the app you can adjust noise canceling and transparent hearing levels, e.G. by default the ANC mode is set at maximum, but in the app you can change the default to the lower setting if you want, and it's easy to switch between the 2. That default you choose is saved to the headphones as well. Through the same app you can create playlists with your existing music files stored on your device or SD card, as well as use various sound presets or create your own custom sound. Sadly, shure made the curious decision of only allowing the sound to be changed while playing music in the app. Several people have asked if this will be changed in a future update, which will be helpful if you want to change the sound but stream music through a service like Amazon music HD, Spotify etc. Fortunately the headphones really do sound fantastic out of the box however.These are objectively, the most neutral bluetooth headphones i've ever listened to. While i haven't listened to every bluetooth headphone out there, i've owned or auditioned many of the top models from Bose, Sony, Sennheiser, B & W, PSB, NAD, Beyerdynamic AudioTechnica etc. neutral means different things to different people, and that isn't a bad thing, but in each varrying opinion of neutral there is some level of balance relative to what you hear, and the amount of it. E.G. how much bass you might hear, proportionate to the mids and treble.In the case of the Aonic 50, the mids are smooth but precise, occasionally that precision does reveal slight spikes in upper mids and treble, but this doesn't happen often and is the exception. more often however, you get a clinical representation of your music, which takes the experience of listening to these headphones to a special place.AT times i wish that bass drums had just a bit more fullness to them, but they certainly don't sound thin. Bass is present when called upon, and you always hear and feel the lowest notes in a way that is impressive.listening via the analog cable even while hooked up to a pocket HD radio is amazing.Noise canceling blocks out low rumbles well and some mid sounds but voices come through but at a level that isn't a distraction. And with music on you'd be hard pressed to hear much of anything going on around you.Shure also provides the option to listen to what i around you, via what they refer to as 'Environment mode.' This setting is very natural sounding on the headphones and while it can be adjusted, is at a perfect level for my use.The buttons are on the right earcup, as well as the charing and analog ports.The power button is on the bottom, and powers the headphones after being held for 2 seconds. By default the Aonic 50 is in pairing mode, but if you need to connect to a 2nd device to take advantage of the multipoint connectivity shure has included, then press and hold the power button for 6 seconds till you hear pairing mode. 2 quick taps of the power button gives an estimate of the battery level at high, medium and low.the next button is the volume down, the volume up is 2 buttons above it. inbetween these 2 is a small but distinct multifunction button. pressing and holding for 2 seconds while listening to audio or when music is paused activates your assistent. 1 press for play-pause, 2 for next track, 3 for previous track. For calls 1 press to answer and end, a press and hold for 2 seconds rejects the call. people i spoke with said that i sounded clear, even while doing tasks around the house or walking around. The last button is set in the middle by default, which is pasive mode. one flick down activates ANC and 1 flick up from default position activates environement mode.shure really hit it out of the park with this headphone. This was a well thought out, comfortable, well designed stylish headphone that tries to do everything and does it well.