I have a problem focusing. I’ve worked from home my entire career, but between the distractions of being at home and the lack of sleep due to having a baby, I’ve recently struggled to get as much done as I should every day could do a few years ago. But we have health-tracking gadgets for our hearts – why not for our brains? That’s the promise of the new Master & Dynamic MW75 Neuro headphones, which promise to use EEG sensors built into the earcups to help you improve your focus by tracking and making recommendations as you listen to your favorite songs listens.
I have to admit, I was a little skeptical when I first heard about these headphones. I’m a big fan of consumer health tracking gadgets in general. An Apple Watch was the first confirmation I received that I had atrial fibrillation, which ultimately led to me having an AFib ablation procedure at age 28. But really: headphones that can read your data brain waves?
Do they work? Well, sort of – and they certainly make a compelling case for the technology in general. But I’m not entirely convinced it’s ready for primetime yet.
The good
The Master & Dynamic MW75 Neuro headphones were born from a collaboration between Master & Dynamic, who built the underlying MW75 headphones, and Neurable, the company behind the EEG-based focus-tracking technology.
We’re going to focus mainly on the focus-tracking technology here, but it’s still worth mentioning how the headphones perform. I’ve been a fan of Master & Dynamic for a while, and these headphones are a good representation of why. They’re watching super cool, with a unique and premium design overall. However, this version of the headphones is not the most comfortable: they are relatively heavy and put a lot of pressure on the top of the head, while exerting a lot of clamping force. That said, they sound great, offer good bass response and plenty of treble clarity – but if you just want great-sounding headphones, there are probably even better options in this price range.
The headphones work with the Master & Dynamic app for adjusting settings related to audio, but they also work with the Neurable app, which allows you to monitor your focus sessions. The app is relatively well designed and it’s easy to track your focus when the headphones are properly connected.
During a session you simply continue with your day. You might assume that these are really only useful for work, but you can select what kind of activities you plan to do during a session, including ‘work’, ‘entertainment’, ‘study’ and more. However, I mainly used the headphones while working.
After a session, you can view data about your focus over the time you tracked. It divides time based on the ‘quality’ focus, including ‘High’, ‘Medium’ and ‘Low’. You’ll also get information about your best attention span, such as how long that time was. And while you’re working, you’ll receive notifications suggesting you take a break, which the headphones think will help your concentration. It is well presented and easy to understand. After each session you also collect so-called ‘focus points’, which contribute to a daily number of points.
The bad
Overall it’s a cool idea, but after using these headphones for a while I’m still not entirely sure if the technology is worth the money. The MW75 Neuro headphones cost $700, which is $100 more than the regular MW75 headphones, which are expensive to begin with.
I don’t really think most who want to spend that money will actually get their money’s worth. The point is: the best health technology works in the background, without you really have to do everything. That’s why using a device like an Apple Watch works so well. All you have to do is wear the watch and it will track all kinds of different data, including your sleep.
That’s not the case with the MW75 Neuro headphones, which require you to be prepared to wear headphones for much of the day, open the app, select what type of activity you’re doing, start a session and have the app active keep it in the background and end a session when you’re done. At the time of writing this article, the headphones also didn’t support Bluetooth Multipoint, so you’ll need to use them with your phone and not a computer.
If you are willing to do so, you can notice trends in your data. For example, on days when you sleep poorly, your focus is likely to be worse. But here’s the problem: if you sleep poorly, al know that your focus is worse, and the app simply telling you that it’s worse doesn’t really help anything. The guidance that the app provides regarding taking breaks power be helpful sometimes – but I don’t know many people who work that well. When I’m working on an article, there’s no point in taking a break and forgetting my train of thought, even if I’m having trouble concentrating.
Plus, you can’t really track your data in real time. The display essentially only shows you that you are technically tracking, and not where your focus is at any given moment. That makes sense: your focus is going to change when you check data in an app, and like I said, the best health tech works in the background. But it would still be nice to at least see how your focus session has gone so far.
All this can be summed up in one sentence: the Master & Dynamic MW75 Neuro headphones are heavy, expensive and not very useful.
The future
That is, they are not really that useful yet. The technology is generally pretty neat and I have high hopes for it. Who wouldn’t want to be able to monitor the health of their brain, just like you can with your heart?
In the long term, that seems to be the goal for Neurable, which has big plans to use these headphones to monitor medical conditions and better help with things like focus. Even if work-based applications were the end goal, the product could be useful in preventing burnout and maximizing productivity by alerting you when it’s best to focus. In addition, it can help with issues such as epilepsy, PTSD, sleep disorders and more. Non-invasive EEGs can have enormous implications for brain health.
It’s a pretty nice idea overall. After all, the brain is one of the least followed parts of our body right now, not to mention perhaps the least understood. Broader tracking can only be a good thing: helping consumers better understand their own minds, and companies better developing brain-tracking technology.
But it’s not there yet. One day it may be so – and perhaps it will help unravel the mysteries of the brain.
Conclusions
The Master & Dynamic MW75 Neuro headphones are a cool concept, and I found them interesting to use, but not really useful. The headphones are a bit uncomfortable overall, focus tracking requires too much interaction, and the stats tracked aren’t really useful. But the technology in general is very exciting – and democratizing access to EEG technology will be a good thing. If you’re interested in playing with the technology and have money to spend, then you’ll like the headphones on offer here. Just expect a first-generation experience.
Should I buy the Master & Dynamic MW75 Neuro?
No. Widespread EEG access is exciting, but in this iteration it’s too expensive and not that useful.
