DenonAH-C500W

Open-ear
Wireless

£81Typical price

Test score

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The Denon AH-C500W lacks noise-cancelling, but that’s the point with these open-ear headphones. They’re designed to sit on the ear opening, then blend what you’re listening to with sounds from the outside world. If that appeals to you, then find out if the Denon AH-C500W also gives you great sound quality, long battery life and a comfortable fit in our full review.

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cons

What's included?

What are they?
How do they sound?
What are they like to live with?
How long does the battery last?
Is there anything else I should know?
Should I buy them?

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KEY TEST RESULTS
Sound quality
Comfort

Jul 2025First reviewed by Which?
Apr 2025Released

The overall Which? test score is made up of the following star ratings, all determined by our rigorous lab tests.

A sound measurement setup featuring a mannequin wearing headphones, a microphone on a tripod, and a textured white wall.

How we test headphones

14 Oct 2026

Sound quality

Overall
Speech sound quality
Classical sound quality
Jazz sound quality
Rock sound quality

How we test sound quality

We rate sound quality using a professional panel of expert listeners with a range of ages and musical tastes. They listen to samples that cover a wide range of music and radio genres, giving a rating per recording and an overall verdict.

Microphone quality

How we test microphone quality

We test the quality of the speech picked up by the microphone on the product. We test it with and without background noise to come up with a verdict.

Comfort

How we test comfort

Our professional panel of listeners assess the comfort of the product.

Durability

How we test durability

Our lab professionals assess how well built the headphones are. We drop the products onto a stone floor from a height of 1.8 metres to test their robustness. We also put them through identical rain tests for five minutes to see if they are water resistant.

Battery life

How we test battery life

We play sounds continuously at a reasonable volume until the battery runs out. We replicate how you are likely to use the headphones, such as with noise cancelling enabled. Since wireless headphones are convenient, battery life doesn't affect our overall score for a pair of headphones (although anything particularly bad we'd make a Don't Buy).

General
Type	Open-ear
Powered from battery	Yes
Type of battery	Lithium Ion Built in Battery
Wireless or wired	Wireless
Weight	9g
Headphone controls	Yes
L and R present	Yes
Headphones fold	No
Battery life	379 mins

Features
Noise cancelling	No
Adaptive noise cancelling	No
Sports headphones	No
Latency	242

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DenonAH-C500W