Bang & Olufsen Cisco Bang & Olufsen 950 True Wireless Review

The Cisco Bang & Olufsen 950 True Wireless earbuds are built for IT-managed business use with Microsoft Teams certification. While they handle calls well, their sound and noise cancellation are average, and their $678 price is hard to justify for anyone not needing the specific enterprise features.

If you're an IT manager or a business user looking for a single set of earbuds that can handle your work calls and your music, the Cisco Bang & Olufsen 950 True Wireless is a unique option. It's a collaboration between a networking giant and a high-end audio brand, and it's built from the ground up for enterprise environments with Microsoft Teams certification and device management baked right in. That said, at a current price of $678, you're paying a serious premium for those business features, and our data shows you might be sacrificing some pure audio performance to get them.

Our testing puts these earbuds in a bit of a middle ground for performance. They scored a 9.7 out of 100 for music, which is decent, but their sound quality percentile sits at just the 47th mark compared to other wireless earbuds. That means while they sound good, they're not exactly top-tier for critical listening. The adaptive noise canceling lands in the 40th percentile, so it'll cut out some office drone, but don't expect the silent bubble you'd get from Sony or Bose. Where they're designed to shine is calls, with a score of 8.2/100 and six microphones on board. In practice, that means your voice comes through clearly on Teams calls, which is the whole point.

At $678, the value proposition is razor-thin unless your company is footing the bill specifically for its IT features. You can get significantly better sound, noise cancellation, and comfort from top consumer models like the Sony WF-1000XM5 or Bose QuietComfort Earbuds for hundreds of dollars less. The value here is entirely in the enterprise integration, not the raw audio hardware.

This is a niche product, so comparisons are tricky. The Sony WF-1000XM5 and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are the obvious benchmarks for pure audio and ANC quality, and they both handily outperform the B&O 950 in those areas for less money. If you need business features but still want good sound, the Jabra Elite series often strikes a better balance. For budget-conscious buyers, the Anker Soundcore P3i offers adaptive noise canceling for a fraction of the price, though without any of the corporate management tools. The Cisco B&O 950 is really in a class of its own, for better and for worse.

Skip these if you're buying for personal use. Music enthusiasts, frequent travelers, gym-goers, and anyone on a budget should look elsewhere. If you just want great-sounding earbuds with top noise cancellation, grab the Sony WF-1000XM5. If you need a business headset but also want good music quality, consider a Jabra Elite model. The Cisco B&O 950 is a specialized tool, not a general-purpose audio device.

Should you buy the Cisco Bang & Olufsen 950 True Wireless? Only if you're an IT department procuring managed headsets for a Microsoft Teams environment and you absolutely need the centralized device management. For everyone else—the individual buyer, the music lover, the commuter looking for peace and quiet—this is an easy skip. You're paying a massive premium for features you likely don't need, while getting mid-tier audio performance. There are simply too many better-sounding, more comfortable, and far more affordable options out there.