I purchased the eight most popular noise-cancelling wireless headphones to find the best one. Sadly, there isn't a single set that is clearly the "best," but I can help you choose your next pair wisely.
Seven of us tested all eight headphones, and I quickly learned that each person had totally different preferences. I'm afraid that I come away after three days of testing not even being totally happy with the headphones that are "best" for me personally.
Instead of ranking each set of headphones, I'm going to write the pros and cons of each. Due to your listening preferences and the shape of your head and ears, you're probably going to want to try a few of these yourself to find the best option.
Soundcore by Anker Life Q30
Pros
- By far the cheapest at just $79
- Louder, deeper bass than any other headphones tested
- Incredible sound quality overall, especially for the price
- Very comfortable, even for big ears
Cons
- Poor build quality
- Poor noise cancelation
- Horrible in windy environments
Bose QC 35 II
Pros
- Simple physical buttons
- Decent sound quality
- Best performance in windy environments
- Very comfortable even for big ears
Cons
- Noise cancellation is much worse than newer Bose models
Bose QC 45
Pros
- Simple physical buttons
- Decent sound quality
- Excellent noise cancelation
- Very comfortable even for big ears
Cons
- Horrible in windy environments
Bose 700
Pros
- Decent sound quality
- Excellent noise cancelation
- Very comfortable even for big ears
Cons
- Annoying touch controls that do not work with gloves
- Acceptable performance in the wind but could be better
Sony XM4
Pros
- Decent sound quality
- Excellent noise cancelation
Cons
- Moderately uncomfortable for those with big ears
- Annoying touch controls that do not work with gloves
- Horrible in windy environments
Sony XM5
Pros
- Decent sound quality, but most of us preferred the sound of the XM4
- The best noise cancellation we tested
- Second-best sound in windy environments
Cons
- Moderately uncomfortable for those with big ears
- Annoying touch controls that do not work with gloves
Beats Studio3
Pros
- None
Cons
- Worst-sounding headphones we tested
- Worst noise cancellation
- Most uncomfortable headphones
- Do not buy these
AirPods Max
Pros
- Most of us agreed these were the best sounding
- Most premium materials
- Excellent noise cancelation
- Incredible transparency mode
- Comfortable for those with big ears
Cons
- Ugly
- Heaviest headphones we tested
- Automatic on/off is annoying
- The strange "purse" carrying case is a monstrosity
- Acceptable but not great in windy environments
Conclusion
As someone who regularly uses my headphones outside while biking or skating, I chose to stick with my older Bose QC 35 II headphones because they perform the best in wind, and they have the biggest cups for my large ears. They don't have the best sound quality or the best noise cancellation, but I had to choose the best option for me. And like me, you're going to have to settle in some areas based on your use case.
I'll continue looking for the perfect set of wireless headphones, but as of 2022, I don't think they exist.
The biggest difference between people is hearing loss.
Compare the decibels at various level of frequencies, and different frequencies at various decibels. I would guess that none of the participants have the same Audiogram.
No frequency response graphs. No distortion graphs. No data on clamp force, earcup size and depth. No measurements on how many decibels the noise cancellation does.
This article is totally useless at determining or recommending what sounds good, what has the best sound quality, what’s comfortable, and what has good noise cancellation.
If the the Bose QC 35II are some of the best in the bunch I am screwed - My ears must be ginormous because they get so uncomfortable after a few hours, maybe it was related to the rubber strap of the facemask I had to always wear while flying but I couldn't stand the pain the caused me after a while - also I have had them for about 3 years now and as if it had an expiry date one day all of a sudden all the black faux leather on the inside peeled off, so anytime I'd wear them I'd have little sticky rests of black material all around my ears, neck and face... not really great.
I've got a pair of the old QC ones pre-bluetooth. I've replaced the ear cups (really easy) and the head strap (pain the ass, but worth the effort) several times over the years.
Thanks - I had not thought of replacing the ear cups, I guess I'll look into that...
Sennheiser HD250bt, cost £59, built the same way the legendary HD-25 DJ headphones are and you can use them to chat to people through your favourite conference app.
And being Sennheiser the sound punches way above it’s weight.
1) On Android at least there is the option to do equalisation per headphone, which tens to tune out personal deafness.
2) An iphone is a bad audio source, especially for bluetooth where they never had the best support. It would not even surprise me if they on the fly do things to the audio when they detect an Apple made headset or drop some of the quality on other brands because of "incompatibilities".
3) How was the initial choice made, what were the criteria? When it comes to audio quality at least their are really big names missing.