Fender Mix over-ear wireless headphones hands-on: Smooth sound with controlled bass

The Fender Mix delivers smooth, relaxed sound with controlled bass for music that can be enjoyed for hours without fatigue. A moderately high clamping force helps keep it secure during exercise.

However, this smooth tuning comes at the cost of fine detail and instrument separation, and its noise cancellation is only average compared to leading ANC models. Also, its tight fit on medium-sized heads may be too small for larger ones.

Nonetheless, the Fender Mix provides a satisfying choice for listeners who seek smooth music reproduction, especially with its wireless USB transmitter that supports lossless music, Auracast, and low-latency modes.

The Mix is available for $299.99 from Amazon in Skyscraper Black, and from BestBuy and Fender in Olympic White and Skyscraper Black. 

The Fender Mix delivers smooth sound reproduction with controlled bass, features user-replaceable parts, and comes with a lossless audio USB transmitter.

The package included a hard case, a 30 cm (11.8 in.) USB-C to USB-A cable, a 105 cm (41.3 in.) 3.5 mm cable, and a dual-mono 3.5 mm adapter.

The design features logo-adorned metal faceplates, removable magnetic earpads, and a matte plastic body.

The earcups swivel flat and are marked with 25 mm (0.75 in.) tall, faint R/L labels. The headband extends up to 3 cm (1.18 in.) across nine click stops.

The headphone fits snug, with moderately high clamping pressure on a 56 cm (22 in.) head. For comparison, the JBL E55BT was comfortable for about an hour, the Fender Mix for about three hours, and the OneOdio A6 Focus for around eight hours before a break was desired. The Mix did not fall off while jogging.

The user-replaceable magnetic earpads pull off easily to reveal the battery and USB transmitter.

The Mix uses a four-way joystick and mode button.

Depressing the joystick results in a noticeable click while powering it on with a guitar‑strum sound. Directional presses are quieter than some silent mice while changing volume, tracks, and surround sound mode.

The mode button has a muted click that falls between the two and cycles through noise cancelling and EQ modes, while a female voice confirms the mode.

The Mix supports the higher-quality LC3 and LHDC codecs, but it does not support the Hi-Res Audio LDAC codec nor a low-latency BT mode. LHDC is mostly featured on Chinese smartphones but is now integrated into Android 17.

The USB-C transmitter enables sub-20 ms low‑latency, Auracast, and 96 kHz, 24-bit lossless modes when connected to an audio source. The audio jack enables wired listening without relying on battery power.

Calls were decent with a TV in front and a window air conditioner to the left, both 1.0 m (3.3 ft) away. Voices were low in fidelity but intelligible, and background noise was reduced by roughly 20%. Interestingly, facing the air conditioner slightly improved noise suppression.

The Mix’s two‑mic ANC delivered fair noise‑cancellation with only slight ear pressure, but it fell short of top‑tier, 12‑mic competitors.

While walking in strong winds, ANC suppressed most high-frequency noises, but some wind-buffeting noise remained. During freeway commutes, volume could be lowered by 15–20% while keeping soft vocals audible in tracks like Chara’s Swallowtail Butterfly. Tire slap was reduced fairly well, but wind noise remained largely unchanged.

Ambient mode let surrounding speakers be heard, with speech sounding similar in volume and clarity to listening without headphones. Wind buffeting in this mode was louder than in other ANC modes.

In very quiet rooms in the dead of the night, only very faint white noise was audible with ANC enabled and no music playing, but the Mix occasionally amplified non‑voice sounds. For example, freeway noise in the far distance was amplified slightly in Ambient mode, though still quiet enough to avoid distraction without music playing and entirely unnoticeable with.

The Fender Mix has a smooth presentation, with a controlled bass that never becomes overwhelming, enabling hours of enjoyment without fatigue. Highs are toned down to prevent them from becoming shrill. The headphones are not designed to separate each instrument and voice with exacting detail, but rather to reproduce music energetically, as heard in a concert.

Three EQ modes are available along with virtual surround sound. Music mode places a touch more focus on the drums and guitars, pushing the vocals back slightly. Voice mode draws the vocals closer, with an increase in high-frequency details, while toning down the bass a touch. Entertainment mode tries to emphasize the vocals and bass at the same time.

The Mix sound quality varies depending on connection method.

Using Bluetooth, the Mix trades away some highs and buries analytical details to avoid fatigue, but handles bass well. The bass in Miliyah Kato’s Bad Chasing is handled well, while Rihanna’s Where Have You Been and Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso hit hard without smothering their vocals.

But even with LHDC enabled, the Mix is not ideal for female singers, especially in operas, arias, and ballads. The subtle highs of Filippa Giordano’s S’Apre Per Te Il Mio Cuor are missing, Che’Nelle’s Believe doesn’t fully crest, and Lola Young’s Messy lacks nuance.

With the USB transmitter in 96 kHz, 24-bit Lossless mode, the fine details missing in BT mode return, allowing high-resolution music to shine. Alternatively, switching to low-latency mode made it quite suitable for gaming and watching movies, with minimal noticeable lag.