The Philips Fidelio X2HR headphones have widely been regarded as being a great value pair of open-backed headphones. They come in at a moderate price of $100-$150 depending on whether you find them on Amazon, or Philip’s website. In the box they come with a nicely braided, ten foot long 3.5mm cable, a cable management clip, and a 3.5mm to 0.5” inch jack converter.

These headphones are built like an absolute tank, with an all-metal headband that’s wrapped in leather, and very thick plastic on the earcups. They feature a thick, self-adjusting headband that’s completely wrapped in a breathable mesh. They come in at a relatively heavy 380 grams, compared to the Beyerdynamic counterpart which weighs only 250 grams. Despite this however, they are surprisingly comfortable to wear for long sessions.

The ear cups are wrapped in a velour material, and are very deep. A lot of headphones I’ve used in the past would rest against my ears, but these don’t come close. The velour does attract dust of all kinds, but they’re removable so it isn’t that big of a hassle to clean them.

The X2HRs have a very strong low end, given that they’re open-backed, as well as loud but clear highs. The soundstage is incredibly wide, and it makes it feel like the music surrounds you. 

Given the low resistance of these headphones, you can drive them even with a phone jack. You could use an amplifier to give them more power, but it doesn’t improve the sound quality by much.

These aren’t the most professional sounding headphones, but they have a very fun sound curve, and they excel at producing clear vocals while still pushing out a very strong low end. 

For only $150, the Fidelio X2HRs are an amazing choice for anyone wanting to get into high quality audio without breaking the bank. At the price point, there really aren’t any headphones that are better, but it depends on what features you’re looking for.