The Sennheiser RS 195 are decently comfortable home theater headphones that unfortunately do not improve much on previous designs. They perform worse overall than the RS 165 but have a slightly better sound than the RS 175. They also have a greater wireless range but the highest latency of the RS series. This makes their asking price a bit unjustified, especially when compared to the previous models.
Our Verdict
The RS 195 looks like the RS 165 but with a better build quality. Unfortunately, they might not be worth the upgrade as they perform slightly worse in sound, isolation, and latency. It's not a big difference but it's notable enough that the price gap doesn't feel justified. On the upside, they a slightly better wireless range and a few more features on the stand that are not available on the previous models.
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Decent sound quality.
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Low latency connection.
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Poor noise isolation.
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Limited range and usability.
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Bass delivery varies significantly across users. Sensitive to glasses.
Average for neutral listening. They have a lot more bass than the previous models which may make some movies a bit more exciting but it's not ideal for neutral listeners. They have a great mid-range and thanks to the "personal hearing" profiles you can somewhat alter the bass to better suit your listening preferences. But overall, due to their bass-oriented sound and subpar Soundstage they're not as good as the RS 165 or the RS 185 for neutral listening.
Mediocre for commuting and traveling. The fact that you must have the transmitter in range means they won't be the ideal headphones to use anywhere but at home or at the office in front of your TV or PC.
Not intended for sports. They have a fixed transmitter, they're bulky and a bit unstable which is not ideal for running or working out.
Average for office use. They have a decent line-of-sight range, and they're comfortable and easy-to-use. However, they're a bit leaky and don't isolate enough for particularly noisy office environments.
- 5.6 Mixed Usage
- 6.6 Neutral Sound
- 5.6 Commute/Travel
- 4.4 Sports/Fitness
- 6.1 Office
- 5.8 Wireless Gaming
- 4.4 Wired Gaming
- 2.1 Phone Call
- Updated Dec 22, 2022: We've added a comparison between these headphones and the Insignia Digital Wireless Headphones in Portability.
- Updated Sep 14, 2022: We've added a comparison to the Avantree HT5009 Wireless in the 'Controls' test.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Feb 16, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Aug 10, 2017: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
- Updated Jun 23, 2017: Review published.
- Updated Jun 21, 2017: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
- Updated Jun 21, 2017: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Jun 19, 2017: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
Compared To Other Headphones
The Sennheiser RS 195 RF Wireless are better TV headphones than the Avantree HT5009 Wireless. The Sennheiser headphones are more comfortable, better built, and have a more neutral sound profile, which some users may prefer. However, the Avantree are Bluetooth headphones with better battery life and lower latency. They have a mic, so you answer calls while watching TV.
The Sennheiser RS 195 RF Wireless are better TV headphones than the Insignia Digital Wireless Headphones. The Sennheiser are more comfortable and better built. Their sound profile is more neutral, which some users may prefer, they have controls like music and speech modes to help customize their performance, and their continuous battery life is a bit longer too. That said, the Insignia have lower non-Bluetooth wireless latency.
Test Results
The RS 195 look practically identical to the RS 165. They don't have the textured back of RS 175 and they're not open like the 185. The biggest difference comes with their stand which has two dials; one for balance and another to switch between personal hearing profiles. They feel a bit more premium than the RS 165 thanks to some minor finishing touches and their much heavier build. Overall, like the rest of the RS series, they're kind of bulky headphones not meant for outdoor use.
The RS 195 are the heaviest headphones in the RS series. They also use the same padding as that of the RS 165 and 175 which s not as soft as that of the RS 185. However, they're still comfortable headphones with spacious ear cups that should fit comfortably around most listeners ears. Unfortunately, they have the same issue of poor pressure distribution which causes a bit of soreness between your ear lobes and your jaw. It's not painfully uncomfortable, but it's not ideal either.
The Sennheiser RS 195 have an efficient controls scheme, but it's slightly limited. Like the rest of the RS series, they can't take calls or play/pause your music, so if you're looking for these commands from TV headphones, you should consider the Avantree HT5009 Wireless instead. However, the buttons provided are responsive and offer functionality for volume control, and toggling between music and speech modes. They also have two dials on their stand that control balance and switching "personal hearing" profiles, A-G and normal hearing.
The RS series are not portable headphones. Like most TV headphones such as the Insignia Digital Wireless Headphones, they're quite large, they don't fold, and you need the stand for them actually to work. You most likely won't be carrying them around on your person.
The RS 195 look identical to the RS 165 but their build quality feels a bit more premium. The ear cups are heavier and feel a bit denser. Like the previous models, the headband is decently flexible and reinforced with a thin metal frame. Their build quality feels solid enough that they won't get easily damaged by accidental drops but when compared to other headphones in their price range, they do not feel as sturdy, or durable.
The RS 195 are not stable headphones. They're notably heavier than all the other models and while they're a bit tighter than the RS 185 they still sway too much during physical activity to be stable headphones for sports. Also, they need to be in range to their charging dock so sports in general with these headphones is impractical.
- Sennheiser RS 195 Headphones
- TR 195 transmitter
- Audio cable
- Optical cable
- (EU) power adapter
- (UK) power adapter
- (AU) power adapter
- (US) power adapter
- 2 AAA NiMH rechargeable batteries
- Manual
Poor Consistency. Like the closed-back RS 165 and RS 175, the RS 195 shows a big variance in their Bass performance. The maximum amount of variance in the Bass Range at 20Hz is about 18dB. The red line shows one of our humans subjects that wears glasses. The Treble Range consistency however, is good.
Decent Bass Range performance. Low-bass and bass are overemphasized by as much as 6dB, which adds extra kick and rumble to the sound. High-bass shows about 3dB of underemphasis, which could make the body of vocals/leads a bit thin. Also, their bass delivery varies significantly across users, and is sensitive to the quality of fit, seal, and whether you wear glasses. The response here represents the average bass response and your experience may vary.
Very good Mid Range performance. The underemphasis in low-mid and mid, which is the continuation of the high-bass dip, takes some of the body away from vocals/leads and pushes them slightly to the back of the mix. High-mid is mostly neutral, but a bit inconsistent.
Mediocre Treble Range performance. The overall response is rather inconsistent. Low-treble shows a relatively narrow 5dB peak at 3KHz which is going to push the higher harmonics of vocals/leads to the front by adding extra presence. However, due to the narrow peak the effects will be subtle. The dip around 5KHz tend to have a negative effect on the detail and articulation of the instruments. Additionally, the 10KHz peak suggests that these headphones could sound a bit sharp on certain tracks.
Poor Isolation. Like most other Over-Ear non-noise cancelling headphones, the RS 195 doesn't block any noise in the Bass Range. In the Mid Range they achieve 12dB of isolation which is above average. They also reduce the Treble noise by about 30dB which is good. However, the RS 195 has one of the highest amount of self-noise we have measured so far, which may be noticeable on quieter tracks/movies.
Average Leakage performance. The significant portion of the leakage sits between 400Hz and 4KHz which is an average range considering the Over-Ear design of these headphones. The overall level of leakage is also not too loud and above average.
The RS 195, like the rest of the RS series, have a good battery life. They lasted about 19 hours which is a bit shorter than the previous models but should be sufficient for most extended listening sessions. They also use rechargeable AAA batteries that can be charged with the stand. Unfortunately, it takes more than 8 hours for a full charge which is very limiting, but the charge time is heavily dependent on the capacity, age and wear of the rechargeable batteries. On the upside, you can always just swap out the AAA with new non-rechargeable batteries which may be less cost effective but has 0 charge time.
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