Wireless neckband headphones shootout: Plantronics BackBeat Go 410 vs. RHA MA390 Wireless vs. Sony WI-C600N

Note: This article was first published on 26th February 2019.

Wireless earbuds not your type? Check out these wireless neckbands!

Wireless neckband headphones have really come up in the market, with offerings from literally every brand now. They are gaining popularity mainly because they offer better battery life, more convenience, and the option for easy to access controls or packing features without adding bulk to the earphones themselves. For this roundup, we’ve gathered three of the latest neckband-style wireless headphones to see how they perform. Meet the Plantronics BackBeat Go 410, RHA MA390, and Sony WI-C600N!

All three are fairly modern in design and come with a microphone embedded within the in-line remote so you can use them to take calls from a paired smartphone without having to fish it out from your bag or pocket. They also all have magnets in their earbuds that keep the left and right buds together when not in use; handy for keeping everything neat and sorted.

Here’s a quick table to show how the three compare:-

Plantronics BackBeat Go 410

Much like the rest of the BackBeat Go family, the BackBeat Go 410 has an understated, utilitarian look to it, with the only bits of flash being the red accents behind each earbud. These come with dual-mode active noise-cancelling (ANC) that allow you to choose how much external noise to tune out. The earbuds themselves also have magnetic sensors within that keep them together when not in use; disabling ANC in the process. Unlatch the earbuds, and the ANC is automatically reactivated, ready to go when you are. It’s a nice thoughtful touch that also extends the battery life of the neckband headphones, so that’s most appreciated.

On that note, the BackBeat Go 410 uses Bluetooth 5.0 with Bluetooth Low Energy to connect to your media device, thus saving energy in the process (as long as the device you're connecting to supports such modern BT standards). This also allows the headphone Multipoint Connectivity so you can be connected to two different devices simultaneously. You still can only stream from one device, but you won’t have to disconnect from one to connect to the other, so switching sources is much faster.

The BackBeat Go 410 has a listening time of up to eight hours with ANC activated, and a fast charge feature that gets you one hour of listening time with just 15 minutes of charging. At just 35g, they’re also very light on the neck. The range of replaceable earbuds provided also make it easy to get a good secure fit too, so there’s nothing to complain here.

Finally, a sweat-resistant design means you can take it out with you on your workouts without fear. With a battery life of eight hours with ANC activated and 10 hours without, the BackBeat Go 410 certainly has enough juice to take you through a full day. A full charge takes just two hours.

Audio Performance

We kicked off our audio testing with an Eagles classic – the acoustic version of Hotel California from their Hell Freezes Over album. Listening to this on the BackBeat Go 410, we were pleasantly surprised by the headphones' performance. Highs were nicely rendered, and there was good clarity to the piece so you could easily identify individual instruments.

Lows were nicely fleshed out with this pair of headphones too, as it brought the best rendering of Rebecca Pidgeon’s Spanish Harlem of the three tested. This piece is anchored by a bass line right from the start, and with the BackBeat Go 410 you can actually feel it throughout. Add to that a nice warm rendering of Pidgeon’s vocals, and you’ve got a recipe for an immersive listening session.

Moving on to a faster-moving jazz piece in Maceo Parker’s Children’s World, we were again impressed by the headphones’ ability to reproduce the atmosphere of the live bar setting. You can pick out bits of chatter from the crowd, but once Parker’s saxophone gets going, it easily captures your attention as the piece buzzes with frantic energy.

Overall, a really good showing by the Plantronics BackBeat Go 410.

RHA MA390 Wireless

The RHA MA390 Wireless, on the other hand, is decidedly more minimalist, with the lightweight aluminum earbuds standing out as the main accents on the headphones. There’s a nice mix of silver on black here, so the headphones will fit nicely with whatever it is you choose to wear. This pair doesn't feature active noise canceling, but we found it easy to get a good seal with the selection of replaceable dual density silicon ear tips provided in the box, giving good passive noise isolation in its own right.

The fit also helps keep the headphones in your ears when you’re working out. And the headphones also have been tested to an IPX4 rating for resistance against sweat and water, making them ideal companions for your runs. No fast charging support here, but the MA390 offers up to eight hours of battery life, which should be plenty to take you through the day. It’s worth noting that RHA offers a three-year warranty with these headphones, a testament to their confidence in their build quality.

The MA390 Wireless uses Bluetooth 4.1 technology and supports aptX codecs for high-fidelity streaming. There are no specifics given as to the drivers used, but they’re said to cover a frequency range of 16Hz to 22kHz, easily the widest of the group. Coming in at just S$128, the RHA MA390 Wireless is also the cheapest wireless neckband headphones of the bunch, but that’s no indication of their quality at all.

It even comes with a three-button universal in-line microphone, but the buttons are a little stiff and so will take some effort to activate. The rounded sections on the neckband are also a little too fat, taking away from the sleekness of the entire design, but do seem to help hold the headphones in place. The headphones are listed as compatible with voice assistants like Siri, Cortana and Google Assistant.

Audio Performance

It seems the RHA MA390 Wireless is capable of recreating nice mids and impactful upper bass notes too. When listening to a recording of Knocking on Heaven’s Door by Guns N’ Roses, the headphone turned in a lively performance with full mids and nice upper bass performance.

Moving on to Like a G6 by Fareast Movement, the MA390 Wireless showed that it does well with faster moving tracks too, with plenty of energy in the delivery. The bass isn’t as wholesome as the BackBeat Go 410, but it’s still enough to be felt, so the track doesn’t fall flat. It also shows pretty good stereo imaging, which is key for more immersive listening.

We ended off our testing with The Eagles’ Hotel California, we felt the highs on the MA390 Wireless weren’t as crisp as we’d like, as the headphones produced a slightly darker rendition than expected. It does well to provide separation between the crowd, the main vocals, and the guitar work though, so the overall listening experience is still a good one.

Sony WI-C600N

Finally, we have the WI-C600N, which has the most futuristic look of the three. Like the BackBeat Go 410, this also has active noise canceling (ANC) capability. However, you can only adjust the level of noise-canceling via Sony's app on your phone by choosing one of two Ambient Sound modes. Ambient Sound Normal lets in more sound like traffic noise, while Ambient Sound Voice reduces ambient sound, but still letting you hear important announcements.

The WI-C600N differs from the others in terms of design because the headphones don’t end in the earbuds. Rather, the earbuds extend out from the rounded ends of the neckband. The rounded ends also hold the playback controls, so there’s nothing on the cables going to the earbuds. We found that this design wasn’t the most convenient to use, as the controls rest on what is essentially a blind spot when you're wearing them. This means you literally have to look down each time you want to activate something or yank it out enough to glance at what you should be activating – not the best way to enjoy your music when timing matters.

The headphones use Bluetooth 4.2 with support for SBC, AAC and aptX codecs for better streaming. They also come with Sony’s Digital Sound Enhancement Engine that’s meant to boost the quality of your compressed files, so even lower fidelity audio streaming sound better.

Like the BackBeat Go 410, the WI-C600N has a quick charge feature. This gives you 60 minutes of playback time from 15 minutes of charge. However, the WI-C600N’s battery only gives 6.5 hours of battery life – the shortest of the group.  The earbuds also have magnets in them, so they snap together neatly to help you avoid tangles.

If you like using voice assistants, you’ll probably like that the WI-C600N lets you assign the noise canceling button to call up Google Assistant directly. It’s also the only headphones of the three that has NFC for one-touch pairing.

Audio Performance

We started testing the Sony WI-C600N again with The Eagles’ Hotel California for consistency, and found that this pair of neckband headphones deliver very sweet mids and lower treble. Given how guitar work is prominently featured in this piece, that translates to an enjoyable listen on this headset pair. However, one negative was that the crowd sounded distant as the soundstage was presented slightly larger than accurate.

Moving on to the faster moving 24K Magic by Bruno Mars, we thought the headphones did a good job of delivering separation between Mars’ lead vocals from his backup singers and the backing instruments. There’s good energy to this piece, though we did feel that the Bass was a little too dry.

Ending off with a rock piece in Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N Roses, we thought the headphones did well to render the piece with enough separation between Axel Rose’s vocals and Slash’s guitar work so you could enjoy each in its own right. The drums here have good energy too, and the buildup before the main solo is suitably epic.

And the winner is....

The Plantronics BackBeat Go 410

This was a tougher decision than expected. On one hand, we have the RHA MA390 Wireless turning in a strong performance despite its much lower price tag, thus offering great value. On the other hand, the Plantronics BackBeat Go 410 was clearly a better performer across the audio spectrum, with even more full-bodied sound but for S$90 more - almost double RHA's cost.

Does the improved performance justify the large price difference? Well, in this case it does. Because when it comes down to it, the headphones we’d reach for if given a choice is the Plantronics BackBeat Go 410. You get pretty good noise-canceling and a handy quick charge feature to boot are simply icing on the top for a very good audio product.  And that’s why it’s the winner of this shootout.

Note: This outcome is also factoring in our assessment of 1More's Triple Driver BT, Beats X and Jabra Elite 45e in our HWM October 2018 issue.

	Click here for a rundown of pros/cons
	Click here for arundown of pros/cons
	Click here for arundown of pros/cons

Read Next: True wireless earbuds shootout!

Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.