Senso Systems
Loewe has spent over a century making televisions, radios and speakers, and the leo is its first ever pair of over-ear headphones. Rather than treating it as a side project, Loewe has built it as a standalone hi-fi solution in its own right, with a DAC and amplifier built into the headphones themselves rather than leaning on whatever’s feeding them.
The launch came with two well-known faces attached, footballer Kylian Mbappé and DJ David Guetta, both signed on as global ambassadors under Loewe’s “Travel Beyond Sound” campaign. There’s also a genuinely eye-watering limited edition in the mix: ten “leo – bespoke edition” units made with jeweller Jacob & Co, each set with around 12 carats of gemstones and priced in six figures. That one’s not for the shop floor, but it says something about where Loewe is positioning the standard leo.
Each earcup houses a 50mm driver with an OCE (Olefin Composite Elastomer) diaphragm, chosen for being light but well damped, paired with a high-end DAC and a Texas Instruments amplifier built directly into the headphones. Loewe’s aim is clear vocals, detailed top end and controlled bass without depending on the source device to do the heavy lifting.
Hi-Res Audio Wireless is supported via the LC3+ codec at up to 96kHz/24-bit, alongside Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio for a wider soundstage on supported content, and Bluetooth LE Audio for the newer generation of wireless codecs. Two cables are included in the box, USB-C to USB-C and USB-C to 3.5mm, so wired listening is on the table too if you’d rather bypass Bluetooth altogether.
“The build quality hits you immediately. They've got real weight in the hand, and you can see straight away this is a genuinely premium product.”
Senso Team
Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation adjusts in real time to your surroundings, with a transparency mode to let ambient sound back in when needed. The Loewe app adds Mimi Sound Personalisation, which runs a short hearing test and tailors playback to your own hearing profile rather than a generic curve. There’s also multipoint connectivity for pairing to more than one device at once, plus a built-in voice assistant and real-time AI translation.
Control is split between a tactile rotary dial and touch-sensitive surfaces on the earcups, giving you both precise manual adjustment and quicker gesture control depending on what you’re doing.
The construction pairs anodised aluminium with genuine leather ear cushions, and Loewe has built the leo with repairability in mind, components are designed to be replaced and upgraded rather than the whole unit being disposable once something wears out. It folds flat for travel and comes with a protective case and an additional leather bag. Finishes are Midnight Blue and Moonlight Beige.
UK retail price is £1,499. Loewe’s launch announcement in September 2025 quoted £1,299 / €1,299, but that’s moved since, current UK pricing across retailers sits at £1,499.
Premium over-ear wireless headphones with built-in DAC and amplification.
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Loewe hasn’t gone at this half-heartedly. Building the DAC and amplifier into the headphones themselves, rather than treating them as a Bluetooth accessory, is the right instinct for a company that wants to be taken seriously in this space.
On the spec sheet alone, this is a genuinely well considered pair of headphones: a proper OCE driver and amp pairing, Hi-Res Wireless and wired listening both covered, and a Mimi Sound Personalisation system that goes further than most rivals bother to. It’s priced right up against serious competition, but the engineering behind it backs that price up rather than just riding on the Loewe name, and they look absolutely stunning in person.
