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The Shure AONIC 40 sits on a headphone stand in front of a window.

Shure AONIC 40 review

The Shure Aonic 40 strips out the premium materials of its more expensive predecessor, but keeps all the features.
By
January 31, 2022
7.9
Shure AONIC 40
The bottom line
The Shure AONIC 40 trims some of the excess of the AONIC 50, which makes for a reasonably priced, great-sounding pair of Bluetooth headphones. Mediocre and ANC and durability concerns notwithstanding, this is definitely one to consider.

Shure AONIC 40

The Shure AONIC 40 trims some of the excess of the AONIC 50, which makes for a reasonably priced, great-sounding pair of Bluetooth headphones. Mediocre and ANC and durability concerns notwithstanding, this is definitely one to consider.
Release date

January 4, 2022

Price

$249.99 USD

Dimensions

1.2m (cable)

Weight

310g

Model Number

SBH2240

Waterproof
What we like
Bluetooth 5.0; SBC, AAC, aptX, and wired
USB-C audio passthrough
Good app
Comfortable
Battery life
What we don't like
Expensive
So-so ANC
7.9
SoundGuys Rating
8.1
User Rating
Rating Metric
Our Rating
User Rating
Sound Quality
9.2
8.1
8.0
Bass
9.3
7.9
8.0
Midrange
9.8
8.4
8.0
Highs
8.3
8.9
9.0
Isolation / Attenuation
3.7
8.8
9.0
Active Noise Cancelling
5.5
7.7
8.0
Durability / Build Quality
6.5
7.7
8.0
Value
7.0
5.8
6.0
Design
7.0
8.2
8.0
Connectivity
9.0
8.1
8.0
Portability
7.3
8.0
8.0
Battery Life
9.8
9.3
9.0
Feature
9.0
8.4
8.0
Comfort
8.5
7.9
8.0

Since it came out, the Shure AONIC 50 has been a perennial mainstay on best lists and alternative options on our site. It’s a great pair of headphones, albeit a pretty expensive one. The new Shure AONIC 40 trims back a little of the design excess, in favor of something a little cheaper (and a little cheaper feeling).

This headset boasts pretty much all the same features as its older sibling did in 2020, but is that enough to stand out in 2022?

Editor’s note: This review was updated on January 31, 2022 to correct an error stating there was no quick charging feature for the Shure AONIC 40.

Who should get the Shure AONIC 40?

  • Commuters who want something comfortable with noise canceling for their bus or train rides into work.
  • Everyday listeners who like an accurate, slightly bass-heavy sound.
  • Audio tinkerers who want something that they can EQ.

What’s it like to use Shure AONIC 40?

The Shure AONIC 40 lays on an Apple MacBook Pro.
The matte exterior doesn’t collect dust or smudges, but it’s easy to scratch.

While there are some obvious corners cut compared to the Shure AONIC 50, the AONIC 40 is a largely delightful pair of Bluetooth headphones to use. Where its predecessor features a mostly metal frame and leather-covered cushions, the AONIC 40 moves to an all-plastic construction with collapsible hinges. It feels cheaper—because it is cheaper—but considering the lack of a collapsible frame has been one of our main complaints with the AONIC 50, it’s hard to knock here.

Start here: Ultimate headphone buying guide

The Shure AONIC 40 is very comfortable, with a caveat. These Bluetooth headphones sport thick, soft memory foam ear pads covered in leatherette, and a plastic headband cushion that takes a little getting used to—it’s harder than you’d expect, and almost feels air-filled, but it’s not uncomfortable. However, regardless of how comfortable it is, the headband also feels pretty cheap. It’s flimsy and adjusting it is rather noisy, especially when you’re wearing it. Long-term durability is definitely a concern here, and while the Shure AONIC 40 comes with a hard carrying case, it’s got an odd design that may end up putting more strain on the headphones if you’re not paying attention—you’re supposed to let the headband rest on one side of the case’s wall, rather nestled next to it (there are a handful of notices to show you how to do it).

The Shure AONIC 40 hangs in front of a window with its controls in full view.
The raised bump on the middle button makes controlling these headphones while you’re wearing them easy.

Actually using the Shure AONIC 40 is pretty easy. These Bluetooth headphones have a pretty standard array of on-ear controls. There’s a button on the left headphone for Bluetooth pairing, and on the right headphone there’s a button for toggling active noise canceling (ANC), a multifunction button, and buttons for raising and lowering volume. There’s no option to customize what the buttons do in the ShurePlus PLAY app (more on that in a few), but things are pretty well laid out, and you get a decent amount of straightforward options. Here’s what controls are available:

PRESSLONG PRESSDOUBLE PRESSTRIPLE PRESSHOLD
- BUTTON
PRESSLONG PRESSDOUBLE PRESSTRIPLE PRESS
Volume down
HOLD
N/A
CENTER BUTTON
PRESS
Play / Pause
LONG PRESS
N/A
DOUBLE PRESS
Next track
TRIPLE PRESS
Previous track
HOLD
Voice assistant
+ BUTTON
PRESSLONG PRESSDOUBLE PRESSTRIPLE PRESS
Volume up
HOLD
N/A
BOTTOM BUTTON
PRESS
ANC / Passthrough toggle
LONG PRESS
Bypass ANC (off)
DOUBLE PRESS
N/A
TRIPLE PRESS
N/A
HOLD
N/A
POWER/BLUETOOTH

PRESS
N/A
LONG PRESS
Bluetooth pair (from power off)
DOUBLE PRESS
Check battery
TRIPLE PRESS
N/A
HOLD
Power

Does the Shure AONIC 40 have good noise canceling?

The Shure AONIC 40 features pretty mediocre active noise canceling (ANC) given its pedigree—it doesn’t even come close to the best on the market. This could help if you’re looking for something to use on commutes to quiet the chatter of other people, or tune out the office sounds at work, but you’re almost certainly going to still hear plenty. The passive attenuation granted by the headphones’ isolation performance is decent, at least.

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Attenuation like this will cut down on some low-end sounds, but it probably won’t have much effect on things like engine rumble, which mostly occupies the sub-bass range. Sounds around 200Hz should come through about half as loud, though.

You definitely won’t forget where you are using the Shure AONIC 40. However, it may be just enough to keep you from cranking the volume in most environments, which is important for the health of your hearing.

See also: The best noise canceling headphones

Should you download ShurePlus PLAY app?

The ShurePlus PLAY app is Shure’s companion app for all its audio products, and it’s definitely something to download for the Shure AONIC 40. It’s well laid out and brings a number of useful features. There’s a guide to what the headphones’ on-ear controls do, though no option to customize it past toggling the option to mute a call when you double-press the ANC button.

The Shure AONIC 40 bluetooth headphones lay on a wooden table next to a Google Pixel 4a running the Shure Plus Play app and a copy of volume 1 of Capital by Karl Marx.
The ShurePlus PLAY app is responsive and easy to use across all Shure AONIC products like the AONIC Free and AONIC 215 Gen 2.

However, while the app doesn’t let you change much in the way of button controls, you can set whether you hear voice prompts to indicate a change in battery status, ANC, and Bluetooth connection, among other things. You can also set power-saving settings and whether the Shure AONIC 40 will charge whenever it’s plugged in, or just when it’s powered off and plugged in. The ShurePlus PLAY app brings some ANC customization, too—you can set the ANC level to Max, Normal, and Light (our measurements were conducted on the Max setting). You can also toggle between the ANC and transparency modes, just like when you use the on-ear controls.

Past those settings, the ShurePlus PLAY app also brings firmware updates and a wide range of EQ presets, as well as the ability to set your own EQ, which is great if you’re looking to pull the audio output a little closer to the SoundGuys house curve (not that you’d need to do much). There’s even a menu for managing locally saved music, though it feels a little unlikely anyone’s going to switch from Spotify or Apple Music to this.

What Bluetooth codecs does the Shure AONIC 40 support?

The Shure AONIC 40 lays on an Apple MacBook Pro.
The matte exterior doesn’t collect dust or smudges, but it’s easy to scratch.

The Shure AONIC 40 uses Bluetooth 5.0 to connect to your device of choice and supports the SBC, AAC, aptX, and aptX HD codecs. This means you’ve got a high-quality audio streaming option, regardless of whether you’re an Apple or Android user, which is really nice to see.

The AONIC 40 also supports Bluetooth multipoint, though it doesn’t advertise that for some reason. Multipoint works well here, reliably hopping back and forth between audio streaming from my Google Pixel 4a and my Apple MacBook Pro—simultaneous streaming isn’t an option, but it never is with multipoint.

How long does the battery last on the Shure AONIC 40?

The Shure AONIC 40 bluetooth headphones lay on a wooden table next to an Apple MacBook Pro running Spotify.
This is a great option for hopping between Apple and non-Apple devices.

Shure claims the AONIC 40 can last up to 25 hours on a single charge, but in our testing we found it well exceeds that. With ANC turned on, the Shure AONIC 40 lasted 36 hours, 31 minutes at a consistent 75dB(SPL) output—not the best on the market, but not far off. If you turn off ANC, performance will no doubt improve—but leaving something like multipoint active will drain things quicker.

The battery life is great, and the included quick charging feature will bring 5 hours of use after charging for only 15 minutes. There’s wireless charging to speak of, but you can always use it wired while it charges. The Shure AONIC 40 supports wired audio connections over 3.5mm and USB via the USB-C charging port.

How does the Shure AONIC 40 sound?

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The Shure AONIC 40’s frequency response stays somewhat close to our house curve, though there are some deviations worth hashing out. The headphones emphasize sound from 80-300Hz more than we generally like to see, which can make things sound a little less clear. The increased output above 4kHz can help with this by bringing forward more high-frequency detail, at the expense of a higher risk of grating sounds when there’s not much else going on in the song.

Lows, mids, and highs

Music of pretty much all genres should sound pretty nice coming out of the Shure AONIC 40. The gently emphasized bass and low mids mean that instruments like drums and bass guitar should offer a satisfying oomph, without drowning out vocals. The under-emphasis in high range sounds from 1-3kHz means that the sounds of some strings and cymbals may be a little harder to hear though.

In 1am Funk Dance Party by Scary Pockets, the drums and groovy bass really take center stage, driving the momentum of the song. However, while both these elements come through really prominently, they don’t overshadow the rhythm guitar strumming or the lead guitar. However, hi-hat hits and the sounds of the shakers get a little lost in the mix as the intensity of the song builds.

Can you use the Shure AONIC 40 for phone calls?

The Shure AONIC 40 sits on a rock outside, leaning on a SoundGuys branded YETI travel mug.
This is a great pair of headphones for a casual stroll with a cup of coffee.

The Shure AONIC 40 microphone is pretty standard fare for a pair of Bluetooth headphones. It’ll work in a pinch for a quick phone call, but like most embedded microphones, this one sounds pretty muffled. The volume isn’t bad, however, and it handles external noise well enough that if you’re walking on a sidewalk, traffic won’t be too much of a barrier to speech intelligibility. Listen for yourself:

Shure AONIC 40 microphone demo:

How does the microphone sound to you?

702 votes

Shure AONIC 40 vs Shure AONIC 50: What’s the difference?

A woman wearing the Shure AONIC 50 noise canceling headphones and using the Shure PlayPlus headphone app.
The metal build of the AONIC 50 is much sturdier.

The Shure AONIC 40 is a solid pair of Bluetooth headphones, but at the end of the day, it’s basically just the AONIC 50, only less so. The AONIC 40 is more collapsible, cheaper, and has almost all the same features, but it also feels comparatively flimsy. The AONIC 50 also has bigger audio drivers, and support for LDAC, in addition to all the same codecs the AONIC 40 has.

Both headsets feature great sound and good enough microphones, but if there’s one truly significant audio difference, it’s ANC performance. Even at maximum, the Shure AONIC 40’s ANC is pretty average. Conversely, when the AONIC 50 came out, its ANC was either the best available or close to it, and while it can’t keep up with the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM4 or the Apple AirPods Max, it’s still great.

Should you buy the Shure AONIC 40?

If you want a versatile, great-sounding pair of noise canceling Bluetooth headphones, you should consider the Shure AONIC 40.

The Shure AONIC 40 lays flat on a wooden surface by a window.
This is a great option for someone who wants a little bit of everything.

The Shure AONIC 40 does pretty much everything well. It sounds great. It has a lot of features. It’s comfortable. Battery life is great, and multipoint works really smoothly. Its microphone is decent enough, and its ANC, uh, exists. It’s pretty impressive you can get something this good all around, with both AAC and aptX HD support, for around $250 USD.

Shure AONIC 40Shure AONIC 40
Shure AONIC 40
Bluetooth 5.0 • USB-C audio passthrough • Custom EQ
MSRP: $249.00
The Shure Aonic 40 strips out the premium materials of its more expensive predecessor
The Shure AONIC 40 trims some of the excesses of the AONIC 50, which makes for a reasonably priced, great-sounding pair of Bluetooth headphones.

However, the flip side of taking a jack-of-all-trades approach at this price is that if you want something with best-in-class performance for ANC or sound quality, you don’t have to spend that much more to get it.

What should you get instead of the Shure AONIC 40?

The Sony WH-1000XM4 and Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones sit on a canvas bag next to eachother.
The Sony WH-1000XM3 (right) even sports some features its successor lacks.

If you’re looking for better ANC performance, there are lots of options to choose from—some cheaper, and some more expensive. The price jump to top-of-the-line options like the Sony WH-1000XM4 can be a bit steep, but the WH-1000XM3 still outperforms the Shure AONIC 40 and goes on sale for cheaper very often. If you don’t mind the less portable frame, the Shure AONIC 50 brings a nice slew of improvements for only $50 USD more, too.

The Bose QuietComfort 35 II is a few years old, and its successor has already come out, but that means you can find it pretty cheap these days—cheaper than the Shure AONIC 40, in fact. This has been a serious contender since it came out, and it still sounds just as accurate as the AONIC 40, plus its ANC is considerably better. However, it lacks aptX support, which means only Apple users will have access to anything approaching a high-quality codec.

See also: The best wireless headphones

Frequently asked questions about the Shure AONIC 40

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 3 Wireless is a few years older than the Shure AONIC 40 but it’s just as well built, if not a bit more premium. The ear cups don’t rotate to lay flat but you can compact them towards the genuine leather headband. Shure’s hard case is nicer than the cloth zippered case you get with the MOMENTUM 3 Wireless, though Sennheiser’s headset is 7g lighter than Shure’s.

If you want a better app experience with better battery life, we recommend the Shure AONIC 40 instead of the MOMENTUM 3 Wireless. You should get the MOMENTUM 3 Wireless, though, if you like how it’s built and prefer a bassier sound by default.