Master & Dynamic MW07 Plus: Review

We were big fans of the look and sound of the original Master & Dynamic MW07 when it came out, but it had a few flaws that prevented it from being our top selection. The battery life was below par, and the price was high for what you got. It was Master & Dynamic’s first effort at a genuinely wireless headset, and it was a success. A year later, a new model named the MW07 Plus has supposedly been released. After living with the headphones for a month, it was evident that the MW07 was a major improvement over previous models and not just an incremental tweak.

Master & Dynamic MW07 Plus Specs

Cost and Availability

The MW07 Plus comes in at $299 (£279, around AU$528) and is available to buy from October 2019 onward. Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless are the more budget-friendly option if you’re only concerned with sound quality, but they come with a shorter battery life, a less comfortable design, and an unpleasant energy drain while they’re in the case.

Design Of The Headphone

Although aesthetic preferences vary, we believe the Master & Dynamic MW07 Plus to be among the most aesthetically pleasing true wireless headphones currently available. Our review sample, created in collaboration with Kevin Durant and Studio 35, was clothed in black quartz, one of the headphones’ four distinct colour options. The headphones use the same design, where the left headphone houses the volume rocker and the right headphone houses the multifunction button. We found the MW07 Plus’s tactile controls on the earbud’s edge to be both convenient and natural. In contrast to other truly wireless headphones, they provide a satisfyingly haptic touch without requiring you to force the headphones deeper into your ears.

Performance

The MW07 Plus lives up to Master & Dynamic’s reputation for excellent audio reproduction by producing a full, detailed, and expansive soundstage. The bass is tight and deep, albeit not very powerful. The MW07 Plus features a pleasant tone due to its strong midrange and concentration on the midrange and midbass. The peaks are vivid and never grating.

While we think the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless are still the best-sounding true wireless headphones you can purchase, the MW07 Plus gets close enough and surpasses the Sennheiser in every other regard. While the advent of ANC seems thrilling, the actual functionality ends up being only adequate. Master & Dynamic chose a feedforward ANC solution, which takes samples from ambient microphones to generate an anti-noise filter. To reduce background noise as much as possible, several rivals pair exterior mics with internal ones. That’s why the MW07 Plus’s ANC isn’t great.

Powered-Up Time

The MW07 Plus’s most significant updates are ones that are unseen by the user. Firstly, and most crucially, a single charge may last for up to 10 hours of use. That’s more than double the dismal 3.5 hours of the MW07, and it’s really above average compared to the competition. In addition to the energy contained in the earphones themselves, the case may provide an additional three full charges.

You may expect to listen for a total of 40 hours, double the previous estimate of 14 hours. With a battery life of 10 hours, you can easily go through a whole workday. I’m willing to guess, though, that you’ll eventually dock these into the case, making battery life irrelevant. After a week and a half of what I would consider typical use—listening to music and podcasts for two to three hours a day and making a few brief calls in between—there is still enough battery life in the case to recharge the buds when I pause my listening.

Excellent Sound!

The sound quality of Master & Dynamic albums has never fluctuated. The brand opts for a more “natural” character rather than adjusting its headphones to enhance low-end tone or any other frequencies. You’ll need to be a fan of the “natural” sound the firm promotes because it doesn’t come with an app that lets you adjust the equalization or choose from a library of audio presets. If you’re like me and test a lot of headphones, you’ll appreciate the break that M&D’s tuning provides. It’s versatile enough to work with any style of music, thanks to its balanced tone. In addition, the sound is quite clear, allowing you to make out even the most delicate instruments, such as gritty textures of distortion, that might get lost on other earbuds.

What do you think?

The MW07 Plus’s high price tag of $299 places them squarely in the high-end category of wireless earbuds. There are lots of alternative flagship models, and there are superior all-around options available for substantially less. Sony’s WF-1000XM3 is still my favorite, and although they normally retail for $230, you may find them for less than $200 around the holidays.

These are simple to endorse because of their combination of excellent sound, potent adaptive ANC, and adaptability. The touch controls are restricted, and the earphones’ battery life is just average, but the benefits more than make up for these flaws. If you can get beyond the divisive design, the $249 AirPods Pro are a good choice to consider. The MW07 is still available from Master & Dynamic, but now at a $50 discount. It’s not worth it to sacrifice so much only to save $50.

Verdict

We think the pricing is reasonable, especially when compared to competitors like the Apple AirPods Pro, which are only $50 cheaper. Better battery life, sound, and construction are well worth the extra $50. While the AirPods’ user experience is undeniably smooth, their sound, build quality, and battery life fall well short of those of the Master and Dynamic. The Sony WF-1000XM3 are also fantastic headphones, but they cost a more reasonable $229 (£220, AU$400).