Almost exactly one year and one month ago today, New York City-based premium personal audio brand Master & Dynamic announced its first-ever true wireless earbuds. They blew us away. The MW07 cord-free earphones bested leading rivals like the Apple AirPods in every way, offering a sleeker and more comfortable design as well as much better sound isolation. Most importantly, of course, they sounded amazing. Now, just over one year later, Master & Dynamic is back with a massive upgrade that improves everything from the sound quality and battery life to the industrial design, the case design, and more. On top of all that, the new MW07 Plus true wireless earphones also add active noise cancellation (ANC) as well as an ambient listening mode.
Once again, Master & Dynamic has blown us away with its new premium earbuds, but the company didn’t stop there. In addition to improving the high-end MW07 and pushing even farther ahead of rivals, the company also added the new MW07 Go earphones to its lineup, offering users a less expensive option that still retains much of what makes the MW07 Plus earphones so impressive.
First, let’s discuss everything that’s new with the MW07 Plus earphones compared to the original MW07 model because there’s a lot to cover.
The MW07 Plus earbuds feature Bluetooth 5 and connections at distances up to 100 feet, which is a big upgrade from Bluetooth 4.2 on last year’s model. The new wireless tech is also far more stable, eliminating the occasional momentary dropouts that we experienced with the MW07 earbuds. The microphone count on the MW07 Plus climbs to four separate mics compared to just one on the original earbuds, and that leads us to the biggest feature additions on this year’s upgrade.
Master & Dynamic’s MW07 Plus earphones feature feed-forward active noise cancelling as well as an ambient listening mode that lets in sound so the wearer is more aware of his or her surroundings. Additionally, since there are now microphones on both earbuds instead of just one, the MW07 Plus headphones can be configured to use just the right or left earbuds for phone calls or even for music playback.
The next big upgrade pertains to battery life, and it’s a huge one. While the original MW07 earbuds lasted for about 3.5 hours per charge and added another 10.5 hours with the charging case, the new MW07 Plus earphones last for an impressive 10 hours per charge or 8 hours with ANC enabled. On top of that, the case now adds an additional 30 hours of playback, and it recharges the buds from empty to 50% in just 15 minutes.
Master & Dynamic’s 10mm beryllium drivers, 20-20kHz frequency range, and 320hm impedance all remain unchanged, but we did find that overall sound quality seems to have been improved on the new Plus model. Sound seems a bit warmer overall now, which is great, and there’s less breakup at high volumes.
In addition to the MW07 Plus earphones, Master & Dynamic is also launching its new MW07 Go earbuds for $100 less. They’re smaller and lighter than the original MW07 and the new Plus model, but they still feature killer sound quality and 10-hour battery life. The MW07 Go earbuds have a more compact cloth case instead of the shiny stainless steel one that comes with the Plus earphones, and the case adds an additional 12 hours of playback instead of 30 hours. Master & Dynamic’s less expensive earphones also lose premium features like ANC, ambient listening, and the optical sensors that pause and resume playback automatically, but they have better IPX6 water-resistance compared to IPX5 for the MW07 Plus and IPX4 for the originals.
The new MW07 Plus and MW07 Go earphones are both available on the Master & Dynamic website starting today, and they’ll also be sold by Best Buy beginning this Sunday, October 20th. The $299 MW07 Plus earphones come in Tortoiseshell, White Marble, Steel Blue, and Black Quartz, while the $199 MW07 Go model is available in Jet Black, Stone Grey, Flame Red, and Electric Blue.
