Article updated on June 4, 2024 at 2:51 PM PDT
CNET has tested the best noise-canceling headphones on the market. Here are our current top picks for ANC headphones and earbuds. Professional Microphone
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I've been testing noise-canceling headphones for the last 15 years or so, and with so many great options, it's not easy to select one model as the best overall. However, some do stand out from the pack, including the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones and QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, as well as the Sony WH-1000XM5 and Apple's AirPods Pro 2. Sony's WF-1000XM5 earbuds are also top-notch, which is why they're near the top of this list. I recently added the Sonos Ace as a top high-end pick, the Sennheiser Accentum Plus as top midrange pick and the Earfun Wave Pro as a top budget pick.
While most of the picks on this list are full-size headphones, some are true-wireless earbuds. Regardless, they all have a few things in common: Not only do they offer excellent ambient noise-muffling capabilities, but they also boast a comfortable fit, good sound quality and strong voice-calling performance. Those are the key factors I evaluate when determining what products end up on this list. Pricing also comes into play, especially for value picks.
I've fully reviewed or had hands-on listening time with all the products on this best noise-canceling headphones list. If you're just looking for the best budget noise-canceling headphone picks, check out our best noise-canceling headphones under $100 list. And we also have a list of best noise-canceling true wireless earbuds for those just looking for top noise-canceling earbuds.
While Bose's new flagship QuietComfort Ultra Headphones may not be a huge upgrade over the company's Noise Cancelling 700 headphones, they feature a more premium design along with Bose's new Immersive Audio feature, which delivers some sound-quality enhancements. Along with excellent sound and great noise canceling, the QC Ultra Headphones are also superb for making calls, with top-notch background noise reduction. All that adds up to the best new noise-canceling headphones of 2024 and a worthy adversary to Sony's highly rated WH-1000XM5 and Apple's AirPods Max.
When you have a product that a lot of people love, change can be risky. Such is the case for Sony's WH-1000XM5, the fifth generation of the 1000X series headphones, which were first released in 2016 as the MDR-1000X Wireless and have become increasingly popular as they've improved with each generation. Over the years, Sony has made some tweaks to the design, but nothing as dramatic as what it's done with the WH-1000XM5. Other than the higher price tag, most of those changes are good, and Sony's made some dramatic improvements with voice-calling performance as well as even better noise canceling and more refined sound.
Several years in development, Sonos' new Ace headphones are finally available, and they're mostly very impressive, though they aren't without a few downsides, including a rather high price tag of $449 and some potential glitches with a key feature. But overall they're very well designed and also deliver top-notch sound quality, noise canceling and voice-calling performance.
Earfun has made some very solid budget earbuds, and now it's entered the full-size ANC headphone space with its new-for-2024 Wave Pro headphones. They list for $80, but click the $10 instant coupon on its product page and add the code EWPROCNET at checkout and the price drops to $56. While they may not sound as good as premium noise-canceling headphones from Bose or Sony, they're comfortable to wear, feature decent sound with punchy bass (they're a bit lacking in clarity and bass definition compared to more expensive models) and offer respectable noise-canceling (you can toggle between two levels of ANC) and voice-calling performance. I found them to be a step up from the Soundpeats Space headphones, which sometimes cost a little less.
They're rated for up to 80 hours of battery life with noise canceling off and 55 hours with it on and support multipoint Bluetooth pairing, as well as Sony's LDAC audio codec for Android smartphone and other devices that support that protocol. I also like that they come with a hard case and a cable for wired listening (noise canceling is disabled when you go wired, which is a bit of a bummer).
While the QC Ultra Earbuds aren't a major upgrade over Bose's excellent QC Earbuds 2 that were released in 2022, they're definitely a little better. They should fit most ears very well, and they feature superb noise canceling, arguably the best out there. And a natural-sounding transparency mode with a new ActiveSense feature kicks in some ANC should the sound get too loud around you (it's sort of similar to the AirPods Pro's Adaptive Audio feature). They also sound slightly better overall, with a touch more clarity, and their new Immersive Audio feature opens up the sound a bit.
When Sony's WF-1000XM4 earbuds came out in 2021, we awarded them a CNET Editors' Choice. And while they're excellent, we had some quibbles -- they're on the large side and aren't a good match for certain ears. Clearly, Sony took those gripes to heart when it set out to design its next-generation WF-1000XM5 flagship noise-canceling earbuds. Not only are the XM5s smaller, but they also offer improved performance pretty much across the board, with better noise canceling, sound and voice calling. Are the XM5s perfect? Not quite. And at $300 -- $20 more than their predecessor -- they're costly too. But overall they're really impressive -- easily among the very top earbuds on the market.
The AirPods Pro (2nd generation) are powered by Apple's new H2 chip, which delivers more processing power while being more energy efficient, according to Apple. The new chip, combined with new low-distortion drivers, allows for improved sound that offers better clarity and depth. The noise canceling is also improved -- Apple says the new AirPods have "double" the noise canceling of the original AirPods Pro. Additionally, the new AirPods add an extra hour of battery life, up from five to six hours with noise canceling on. Plus, a speaker in the case that emits a sound that helps locate your buds via Find My should they decide to hide from you.
Sony's improved entry-level noise canceling headphones, the CH-720Ns, have a bit of a plasticky budget vibe, but they're lightweight and very comfortable. Part of me was expecting them to sound pretty mediocre, but I was pleasantly surprised. No, they don't sound as good as the WH-1000XM5s. But they sound more premium than they look (and feel), and their overall performance is a step up from their predecessor, the CH-710Ns. Are they worth $150? Maybe -- or maybe not. But the good news is that, like the CH-710N and WH-XB910 before them, these should see significant discounts in the not-so-distant future, which is what you may want to wait for.
Microphone Isolation Shield The well-designed and comfortable JBL Live 770NC offers some modest improvements over its predecessor, including better battery life (up to 65 hours with ANC off and 50 hours with ANC on) and Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio (via a future firmware upgrade). Equipped with 40mm drivers, you get bold, nicely defined sound with powerful bass that's relatively tight. JBL's Ambient Aware and TalkThru features are on board along with multipoint Bluetooth pairing (the one feature that's missing is ear-detection