Which noise reducing headphones

The sonic profile of the Studio Buds is the characteristic hyped Beats sound with extra emphasis in the highs and lows that can make consonants and basslines pop a touch more forcefully in the mix , which many people will find exciting, especially for hip-hop and electronic pop. The control buttons are well designed—they are generally easy to find by feel and press without painfully mashing the earbuds into your ear canal. But they lack volume control.

The microphone quality is perfectly acceptable, but lacks some detail and wind resistance. These headphones are great for frequent flyers who primarily use in-flight entertainment and devices with headphone jacks. However, wearing this pair is an unusual experience. That means one specific part of airplane noise will be almost completely cut out, like a donut hole of quiet surrounded by muffed noise.

Plus, the Bose charging case is the size of a guest-bathroom bar of soap—definitely not pocket size. There are no volume controls, and the hear-through feature is activated by removing one earbud, which in our opinion defeats the point. All in all, this pair had too many flaws and odd design choices for us to overlook. Both look elegant and are made of high-quality materials. The PI7 has adaptive noise cancellation and a case that doubles as a Bluetooth transmitter—but the audio quality via the case transmitter was poor.

The onboard controls are touch-based, have the tendency to misfire, and lack volume capabilities. In order to use the hear-through feature, you need to access the app on your phone, which is more cumbersome than taking an earbud out.

We were disappointed that such promising earbuds could be ultimately derailed by poor user-interface choices. Our panelist Brent Butterworth agrees. Cleer Ally Plus : This pair has solid active noise cancellation slightly better than that of the 1More True Wireless but not as good as that of the Bose NC and an impressive hour battery life, but in our tests the design and fit made these earbuds trickier to keep in place for both larger and smaller ear canals.

The sound quality was only decent—a little bloated in the bass, with a somewhat lispy aspect to consonants. The Ally Plus also lacks track controls. If you want a true wireless pair for long-haul flights and you find that most earbuds fit you easily, the Ally Plus will probably work for you. But folks with trickier-to-fit ears may want to look at other options.

Cowin Apex Elite : Good active noise cancellation but poor isolation means this pair sounds bizarre in use. The lack of track and volume controls may not be an issue for some, but the sensitive touch controls that can annoyingly misfire while adjusting the earbuds may be a dealbreaker for many.

Earfun Air Pro : The noise cancellation and hear-through on this pair are great, especially for the price. The biggest concern we have is the fit. Most of our panelists could get a seal, but we felt the urge to continually push the earbuds in to make sure they stayed put. For smaller ears, the stemmed earbud design that relies on the silicone tips to stay in place could make the Air Pro trickier to keep in your ears.

Earfun Free Pro : If the most important feature of your budget earbuds is that they are fantastic for phone calls, the Earfun Free Pro might be your match.

The microphones reduce background noise very well when you take a call. These true wireless earbuds have stabilizing wings that help to keep them in place, each earbud works independently, and the charging case is easy to fit in a jeans pocket. The battery life ranges from hours per charge, depending on volume levels, if you have the active noise cancellation on, and whether you take frequent calls.

The IPX5 rating means you can get caught in a drizzle and not worry about your earbuds getting ruined. On the downside, the active noise cancelling is only average, bass notes sound formless and too loud, and the touch controls can be fussy. We liked the large amount of included color-coded tips, which make getting a proper fit a breeze. The case has a Kitt from KnightRider vibe, with a ping-ponging red light. The microphones are clear on calls, but in windy conditions the signal processing makes your voice bizarrely bass-like.

And we were sad to see that you can choose only two controls per earbud, which really limits what you can adjust. But we did appreciate that you can adjust the touch-control sensitivity in the Edifier app. The sound is boosted in the low frequencies in a way that can muddy male voices, but it has lovely mids and highs on less bass-heavy songs.

Our voices sounded clear over phone calls, though the right earbud picked up wind noise in blustery conditions. Also, the textured coating means the stem that extends from the earbuds can transfer some noise if you have long or thick hair that brushes against them, and this can be especially pronounced in hear-through mode.

Listening time extends to five hours when ANC is deactivated. We were impressed with the number of features included on this pair for the price, but the performance was less exciting. The hear-through mode sounded muffled, the controls are limited, and these lack the ability to power down without the case. EnacFire A9 : The included tips run small, so folks with larger ear canals may struggle to get a seal.

The sonic tuning is bloated in the upper lows, so acoustic guitar sounds like it has reverb on it, yet songs with a deep bassline lose their oomph. The tap-based controls require an uncomfortable amount of force to activate, and they respond inconsistently. Additionally, in our tests the active noise cancellation was extremely minimal, and the overall sound quality was muffled. Jabra Elite 85t : There is a lot to like about these earbuds.

If the tips were a standard shape, we might not call this a dealbreaker, but the sound tube and tips are an unusual oblong shape that may make it difficult to find larger replacement tips. However, in other ways these are good true wireless earbuds.

Our panelists found the earbuds to be lightweight and comfortable. The tap-based controls lack volume toggling, which is a bummer. Five pairs of included tips and two stabilizing winglets also help hold the buds in place. This pair performs excellently all around.

The tap-based controls are less prone to fussiness and less likely to be inadvertently bumped. JLab Epic Air ANC : This pair fits pretty comfortably and comes with six pairs of ear tips, which should help most folks get a good seal.

We were also impressed with the hour battery life. The noise cancellation is successful enough to be useful in reducing air-conditioner or airplane noise, but otherwise the Epic Air ANCs offer a middle-of-the-road experience.

The ambient awareness feature is louder in the left ear, which is distracting during a conversation. Though the EQ can be adjusted in the app, the adjustments are tricky—and the sound quality still has a coarse quality to high frequencies, even after making EQ adjustments. JLab Epic Executive : We got pretty good noise cancelling from this set, but the sound was a little too soft for our taste, and the microphone sounded quiet and muffled over phone calls.

The active noise cancellation is mild, but it cuts down the sound of low hums like that of an air conditioner. The sound quality on the primary EQ setting is bass heavy, but not terribly so. You can still hear male vocals clearly enough on bass-intense songs. The app has EQ that can balance out the lows if you take the time to adjust it. The claimed 11 to 15 hours of battery life is quite impressive.

The only real issue we had was with the tap-based controls, which are rather fussy. For example, when we meant to adjust the volume, we instead paused the music. In the middle of a workout, this type of thing could be very frustrating. The fit is comfortable for all but the most diminutive ears, with small, smooth earbuds that fit securely. The single-button controls are intuitive to use, and they handle playback, track-forward, volume, calls, and digital assistant. But the noise cancellation is mild.

Koss QZ Buds : Although the noise cancelling was good, turning it on brought the midrange down too much for our taste. The battery life of 10 hours per charge is impressive, as is the fast-charge feature that powers both the earbuds and case from 0 to 50 percent capacity after just 15 minutes plugged in.

The earbuds are IPX5 rated, so they can handle some rain or sweat. The physical buttons are easy to understand and activate, though folks with large fingers may struggle a bit with the teeny volume toggle. While the microphones handle calls clearly and reduce background noise and wind noise well, we prefer some side-tone to avoid the urge to speak too loudly. Panasonic RZ-SW : These true wireless noise cancellers are decently effective at reducing background noise, and we liked that they came with five pairs of tips in various sizes to get a good fit.

Though this set paired to our phones easily, we experienced more than the usual stutters in the connection. The ANC is mildly effective, the volume buttons are a bit tricky to find by feel, and the microphone is quiet so your caller may struggle to hear you without turning up their volume. The sound quality has indistinct lows, and the highs have a coarse edge.

Raycon The Work Earbuds : These are middle-of-the-road. The touch controls can be a little fussy, and it requires four presses to call up your digital assistant, which can feel a tad excessive. If that bothers you, Raycon includes three pairs of foam tips, which are more effective. The microphone is not wind resistant and is not as clear as your phone handset, but it works well enough in a quiet room.

But the earbuds themselves are so thick that only those who have the largest of ears will find them to be comfortable. Two of our panelists found their ears aching after only a brief listening session. Additionally the touch controls are sensitive, so adjusting the fit will often cause you to play or pause your music. There are EQ settings available through the app, but all of them were too extreme to be pleasant. Samsung Galaxy Buds Live : These unsealed earbuds with active noise cancelling are designed for use with Samsung phones.

The microphone quality is impressively clear, even in wind. The sound quality is enjoyable, though a touch on the bass-heavy side. The ambient awareness mode can be triggered by speaking, but if you stop talking to listen to your conversation partner, it shuts off after 15 seconds, which is mildly annoying.

Both the case and earbuds are very small, but the included tips run on the smaller size, so folks with large ear canals may have to buy third-party tips to get a seal. Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 : These earbuds feature the signature Sennheiser sound, producing mildly boosted bass with more intense and slightly sibilant highs that over emphasize consonants.

Music will sound very bass forward, even if you do the app-based hearing test that adjusts the EQ for you. The noise cancellation is effective enough to be helpful but is outshined by the performance of our top picks. Sony WFX : These true wireless earbuds offered very little noise cancelling.

We found the pieces large and fatiguing to wear, and the active noise cancellation was barely effective. Sony WF-SPN : The 9-hour battery life is impressive, but the earbud size is large and can feel a bit unstable, especially if you plan to wear them for their intended use: while working out.

The sound out of the box is quite good and the noise cancelling is useful for reducing loud fan-like noises, but the interface and fit were enough to give us pause in making this pair a pick. Sony WIX : These collar-style earbuds are expensive, yet they offer subpar noise cancelling. Soundcore Life P3 : This pair is a mix of pros and cons. Out of the box, the highs are sibilant, but that can be adjusted using the equalizer tool in the Soundcore app.

However, the limited controls are a bummer. The microphones handle wind noise relatively well, but your voice will sound compressed to your conversation partner. Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro : These are fantastic if the earbuds fit you properly, which can be a challenge for folks with larger or deeper ear canals. The fit issues are not because of the sizes of tips included which is an impressive eight pairs but because the stem and short sound tube design make it impossible to push the earbuds deeper into your ear to get more stability or an improved seal.

If you do get a good fit, the Air 2 Pro offers up a lot of bells and whistles for a competitive price: a hearing test that adjusts the EQ, an audio-based fit test, multiple noise-cancelling modes, and a background-noise-reducing microphone for calls. The sound quality is quite good and can be adjusted manually. Overall, folks looking for an alternative to the AirPods Pro will be happy with these earbuds TaoTronics SoundLiberty 94 : The sound tubes go deeper than most into your ear canal, which may feel invasive to some folks.

Though the noise cancellation is decent, the sound quality is dull, with smeared bass notes. At a very low price, we may be able to get past the sound quality, but the controls are incredibly finicky. Our testers quickly became frustrated as attempts to pause the music changed the volume levels, or vice versa. We liked the sound, which has a little extra emphasis in the low and high notes, but not in a heavy-handed way.

The S pair is very enjoyable to use. And noise-cancelling? Nor are they the most elegant, or the most stamina-packed. Pros: Superb noise-cancelling; chunky, full-scale, detailed sound Cons: Physically quite big; battery life is nothing special. Wireless: No Battery life: 20h Weight: 40g Cable: 1. For instance, the H3s are beautifully constructed from brushed aluminium.

Pros: Premium looks and feel; easy to fit; deft noise-cancelling Cons: Not the most vigorous-sounding headphones you ever heard. Wireless: Yes Battery life: Up to 20h Bluetooth: 5. If the Sonys are too big and the Microsofts are too They're not the absolute last word in wireless sound, hence why they didn't take our top spot, despite the hype, but the s are comfortable and perfectly polished with brilliant, reworked noise-cancelling tech.

This isn't to say Bose's new cans sound bad, far from it. They produce a zippy, punchy sound with plenty of clarity and dynamism. It falls down only at the top end and when it comes to detail, and only when compared to the very best of the competition.

Touch control on the right earcup works like a charm - best in category, in fact - and the 20 hours or so of battery life isn't the very best, but it's still more than respectable. Ultimately, there's two real reasons to go for Bose. First, they're perhaps more commute-friendly than the Sony XM3s above with a more compact, fashion-oriented profile. The finish is lovely. Second, you won't find fault with the noise cancelling, which uses six mics at the lower front of the earcups and has 11 levels, starting with 'negligible, external noise apparent' all the way up to total isolation.

Noise cancelling headphones are for the most part a net positive for your aural health, particularly if you have a work commute via public transport. They remove the need to increase the volume of your music or podcasts in noisy environments and dramatically reduce the stress of loud places, which some will find hugely beneficial. It feels a bit like the atmospheric changes experienced in an airplane cabin.

We get to feel the symptom without the cause, because our brains mistakenly flag the effects of ANC as a change in pressure. ANC headphones use microphones on the cups or earpieces to analyse outside noise. This can be expressed as a waveform, the wiggly line used to represent sound in a visual form. If you generate a sound wave that looks like this waveform but inverted, flipped over, the two end up cancelling each other out.

This is highly effective at tackling low-frequency noise, which is why these headphones were originally seen as pairs for rich business travellers. Apple's most recent true wireless earbuds come with active noise cancellation, as well as a better fit and sound than their predecessors, the Apple AirPods.

Apparently, there's a new AirPods model on the horizon to join the original buds and the newer Pros. The AirPods Pro 2 are rumored to be a new, cheaper variant of the company's popular true wireless earbuds, and they could be released this year.

Read more: Apple AirPods Pro review. With sophisticated noise cancellation, brilliant sound quality, and a honed aesthetic, the PX7 could give any of the headphones on this list a run for their money. Plus, they're packing aptX Adaptive for improved stability and latency between the headphones and your device, as well as high-quality bit streaming aptX HD brought to the table. The Apple AirPods Max were the most hotly-anticipated headphones for quite some time, having been the subject of rumor and speculation for two years, and come with active noise cancellation, superb audio quality, and a design that sets them apart from most noise-cancelling headphones on the market.

While their exceptional audio performance and class-leading ANC impresses, they're let down by their eye-watering price, baffling carrying case, and lack of support for Hi-Res Audio codecs. For Android users, the AirPods Max are simply a high-performance pair of noise-cancelling headphones with an unusual design, as fantastic as they may sound — and for these users, we can't see how the high price is justified.

But, if you've already bought into the Apple ecosystem, you have a lot of money to burn, and you don't care about Hi-Res Audio, you won't find headphones that sound better or are easier to use than the AirPods Max.

Read more: Apple AirPods Max review. In terms of sheer sound quality, the Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless headphones sound brilliant, with high levels of detail, warm bass, and natural-sounding highs.

Read more: Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless review. JBL is a popular name in the world of headphones and Bluetooth speakers , and rightly so. Solidly dependable, consumers know what to expect from the brand — decent sound quality for a decent price. Read more: Microsoft Surface Headphones 2 review. The sound quality, battery life, and design of the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 are truly brilliant — and they're a really good alternative to the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, particularly if you prefer a more flashy design to adorn your ears.

We did find that those with smaller ears sometimes find them a little uncomfortable, however, and their high price just stops them from taking the top spot of this round up.

Sennheiser has pretty much knocked it out of the park with these buds, offering great noise cancellation alongside smart looks and stunning sound.

Read more: Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 review. Read more: Urbanista Miami review. On their own merits, the Earfun Air Pro buds are accomplished, but against the competition at this price point they shine.

Amid a sea of similarly priced efforts on Amazon, they stand out thanks to their superior design and excellent audio chops, and show a high level of competence in almost all other areas.

As it stands, these wireless earbuds are an excellent choice for most, offering a blend of useful features and strong performance that should make them popular with commuters in particular. Read more: Earfun Air Pro review.

While more traditional over-ear headphones do a better job offering useful features at a reasonable price, the Nuraphone will appeal to the more experimental audio crowd looking to be on the bleeding-edge of the next big thing. Read more: Nuraphone Headphones review. Noise-cancelling headphones use analogue and electronic methods to block out the environmental sound around you, allowing you to listen to your music in peace without distraction.

Most noise-cancelling headphones make use of the following two approaches:. Passive noise cancellation: this is when the headphones physically block outside sound from reaching your ears, and this can be achieved in a number of ways. Noise-cancelling over-ear headphones typically have heavily padded earcups to achieve this, while in-ear headphones need to fit snugly in your ear to create a tight seal, stopping environmental sounds from entering.

Active noise cancellation: this method uses inbuilt microphones to analyze environmental noise and create 'anti-noise' frequencies that are mixed in with your music playback. This effectively cancels out the sound of your surroundings using analogue or digital filters. Design is hugely important, as a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones need to be comfortable for long listening sessions — look out for padded earcups and headbands in materials like memory foam for ultimate comfort.

Padded earcups also help with passive noise cancellation — in other words, they physically block sound from entering your ears.

This works in tandem with active noise cancellation, with the best noise-cancelling headphones using a combination of the two methods to get rid of outside noise. Not a fan of over-ear headphones?

Nowadays, you can even find true wireless earbuds with noise cancellation built-in, so there really is an option for everyone. As with any pair of headphones, the sound quality needs to be good, even if your focus is blocking out the world around you. How you define good sound quality depends on your personal taste.

Bluetooth: Yes. Battery life: 8 hours 24 hours with charging case. Finishes: 2. Sony WFXM3. Great noise-cancelling in-ear headphones, now available for a discount. Battery life: 6hr 24hr with charging case. Apple AirPods Max. Battery life: 20hr. Reasons to avoid - Near-pointless case - Audio cable not included - Practically Apple-only. Sony WHXM3. These Sonys remain a great pair of noise-cancelling headphones. Reasons to avoid - Nothing significant.

Panasonic RZ-SW. The Panasonic RZ-SW make for a classy debut as the company's first noise-cancelling true wireless earbuds. Battery life: 6. Reasons to avoid - Fit could be an issue. Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless. Battery life: 17hr. Reasons to avoid - Uncompetitive battery life. Earfun Air Pro. Earfun adds noise-cancelling to its successful budget true wireless earbuds recipe. Reasons to avoid - Harsh upper midrange.

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2. Pricey, but these noise-cancelling earbuds boast a seriously refined sound. Battery life: 7 hours 28 hours with charging case. Lindy BNX Battery life: 15hr. Charging: Micro USB. Reasons to avoid - Treble a little muffled in standard mode. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds. Fantastic true wireless earbuds with brilliant noise-cancelling tech. Battery life: 6hrs 18hrs with charging case. Reasons to avoid - No volume controls - Average battery life.

Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones Reasons to avoid - Lack class-leading insight - Rivals have better battery life - Expensive. Apple AirPods Pro. The noise-cancelling new AirPods can be beaten for sound, but are a joy to live with and use all day, every day.

Charging: Lightning. Reasons to avoid - Noise-cancelling impacts timing - Sony rival sounds more engaging. Bose QuietComfort The QC45 have solid noise cancellation, but they're bettered in sound quality by the class leaders. Battery life: 24hr. Reasons to avoid - Sparsely featured comparatively - Beaten for dynamics and timing - No aptX Bluetooth. Charging: USB micro. Reasons to avoid - Sound lacks dynamism. Shure Aonic Reasons to avoid - Ridiculous carry case - Noise-cancelling is a mixed bag - Not as engaging as class-leaders.

KEF Mu3. Reasons to avoid - Beaten for dynamics and expression - Call quality could be better. Sennheiser HD BT. Battery life: 25hr. Reasons to avoid - Inarticulate low-frequency response - One-note noise-cancelling. Tom Parsons.

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