We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-10-03 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
If you want a wired, open-back home headphone built for long, comfortable listening sessions at a desk, choose beyerdynamic Amiron home high-end; if you need wireless freedom with adaptive noise cancellation for travel, commuting and noisy rooms, choose Bowers & Wilkins FP39691.
• beyerdynamic Amiron home high-end — biggest strength: an open-back, over-ear wired design with a 250-ohm impedance and a very wide 5–40,000 Hz frequency range, made for stationary hi-fi listening at home.
• beyerdynamic Amiron home high-end — biggest trade-off: it's wired only, has no noise cancellation, and the open design leaks sound both ways, so it's a poor fit for planes, offices or noisy commutes.
• Bowers & Wilkins FP39691 — biggest strength: wireless Bluetooth with adaptive noise cancellation and smart power management, giving up to 22 hours with Bluetooth and ANC, up to 29 hours with Bluetooth and no ANC, up to 33 hours wired with ANC, and up to 50 hours wired without ANC.
• Bowers & Wilkins FP39691 — biggest trade-off: its tuning and feature set are built around portable, wireless use rather than a dedicated home hi-fi chain, and it relies on the companion app and firmware updates to get the most from it.
• Pick the beyerdynamic if you listen mostly at home, want an open, spacious presentation and value velvety microfiber and Microvelour padding for marathon sessions.
• Pick the Bowers & Wilkins if you want one pair for planes, streets and the office, with noise cancelling and a battery that keeps going all day.
The Amiron home is a wired, over-ear, open-back headphone with a 250-ohm impedance and a claimed frequency range of 5–40,000 Hz. In plain terms, that impedance tells you it's happiest plugged into a proper hi-fi system or a headphone amp rather than a phone dongle. The open design is the whole point of the tuning: it's meant to produce a spacious, natural sound where you can hear into the music rather than feel closed in by it. If you've ever wanted your desk to feel like a small concert hall, that's the design brief here.
Who should skip it? Anyone who needs to move around. There's no active noise cancellation, no wireless mode worth relying on for daily use, and the open design means your music leaks out and the room leaks in. On a plane or in a shared office, this is the wrong tool. It's also not the pick if you want app-based EQ and touch controls — the control method here is a simple remote. Buy it as a dedicated home listening headphone and it makes sense; buy it as your everything headphone and you'll be disappointed.
Bowers & Wilkins FP39691: Who It's For
The FP39691 is a wireless, over-ear headphone with adaptive noise cancellation, Bluetooth 4.1 with aptX-HD for hi-res streaming, and a 22-ohm passive impedance with a 20 Hz–20 kHz range. It uses 40 mm full-range dynamic drivers, and the drivers are subtly angled to give a more natural stereo perspective. The spec sheet notes the drive units come from the same lineage as the brand's P9 Signature headphones, which tells you the acoustic intent is serious even though the feature set is portable-first.
The smart features are what set it apart. Lift an ear cup and playback pauses; put the headphones down and they go to sleep; pick them up and they resume. That sounds like a gimmick until you actually live with it — it removes the constant reaching for your phone. Battery figures are genuinely useful: up to 22 hours Bluetooth with ANC, up to 29 hours Bluetooth without ANC, up to 33 hours wired with ANC, and up to 50 hours wired with no ANC. In other words, even if the battery runs dry you can plug in the included 3.5 mm cable and keep listening, with noise cancelling still working.
The trade-offs are real. This is a Bluetooth 4.1 headphone, which is an older wireless generation than what you'll find on newer gear. It depends on the Bowers & Wilkins Headphones app for firmware updates, and the spec sheet is explicit that installing the latest firmware is how you get the best from it — so a phone-averse buyer should factor that in. It's also a closed, ANC-focused design, so the presentation is a different animal from an open-back home headphone. It ships with a headphone cable, a protective case and a USB-C cable, plus a two-year warranty.
Who should buy it? Anyone who wants one headphone to cover a plane, a street and an office, and who values adaptive noise cancellation they can customize to their preference. Who should skip it? The purist who only ever listens at a desk, never wants an app, and would rather spend their money on a wired home setup.
• Best for home hi-fi listening → beyerdynamic Amiron home high-end. 250-ohm impedance and an open design point straight at a stationary system.
• Best for travel and commuting → Bowers & Wilkins FP39691. Adaptive noise cancellation plus up to 22 hours of Bluetooth with ANC.
• Best for long listening comfort → beyerdynamic Amiron home high-end, on paper. Alcan Tara microfiber and Microvelour padding are specified for multi-hour wear.
• Best for battery life → Bowers & Wilkins FP39691, and it's not close. Up to 50 hours wired with no ANC, and up to 33 hours wired with ANC.
• Best for wide frequency range → beyerdynamic Amiron home high-end. Its stated 5–40,000 Hz range is far broader than the FP39691's 20 Hz–20 kHz.
• Best for hands-free convenience → Bowers & Wilkins FP39691. Lift an ear cup to pause, set it down to sleep, pick it up to resume.
• Best for a quiet room with no app or firmware fuss → beyerdynamic Amiron home high-end. Wired, detachable cable, no software dependency.
• Best for flexible sources → Bowers & Wilkins FP39691. Bluetooth plus a 3.5 mm jack means it works with phones, laptops and in-flight systems.
In my opinion, these two aren't really competing for the same buyer — they're competing for the same slot on your head. If you sit at a desk in a reasonably quiet room and want the open, spacious presentation that only an open-back wired headphone with a 250-ohm impedance can give, I'd buy the beyerdynamic Amiron home high-end. The Microvelour padding and detachable cable make it a genuine long-session home headphone, not a compromise.
If, on the other hand, your listening happens on planes, trains and in shared spaces, I'd buy the Bowers & Wilkins FP39691. Adaptive ANC, up to 22 hours wireless with ANC, and smarter power behavior make it the more useful object day to day. Check the current price on Amazon before deciding, since the gap between a wired home headphone and a wireless ANC headphone often decides the call for people on the fence.
No. It's a wired headphone with a 3.5 mm jack and a detachable cable. The spec sheet lists Bluetooth under connectivity, but the design, the 250-ohm impedance and the open-back build all point to a stationary hi-fi setup rather than wireless everyday use.
Yes — adaptive active noise cancellation that the spec sheet says is customizable to your exact preference. That's the core difference from the beyerdynamic, which lists no noise control at all.
The Bowers & Wilkins FP39691, by a wide margin, because it's the only one of the two designed around a battery. It's rated up to 22 hours Bluetooth with ANC, up to 29 hours Bluetooth without ANC, up to 33 hours wired with ANC, and up to 50 hours wired with no ANC. The beyerdynamic is a wired headphone and doesn't rely on a battery.
Yes. It includes a 3.5 mm jack and a headphone cable, so you can run it wired — and per the spec sheet, noise cancelling still works in wired mode, which is useful on a long flight when the battery is low.
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