The Best Noise-Canceling Headphones to Escape Reality
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Best Overall
Bose QuietComfort Ultra
A Close Second
Sony WH-1000XM5
Best for the Office
Bose Noise Canceling 700
Shaking off the world and sinking into a new album can feel like a train ride through the countryside … unless you’re sharing that seat with two young toddlers. Or if your neighbor’s dog is barking. Come to think of it, there are a lot of sounds that can ruin a good song. That’s why we have headphones that isolate and cancel out noise. Below are the best noise-canceling headphones and earbuds you can buy, handpicked and tested by the Gear team here at WIRED.
Not seeing anything you like? Check out our other audio guides, like the Best Wireless Earbuds, Best Workout Earbuds, Best Cheap Headphones, and Best Wireless Headphones.
Updated September 2024: We added the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 and Dyson OnTrac.
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Best Overall
Bose QuietComfort Ultra
What Bose doesn’t know about active noise-canceling headphones isn’t worth knowing, frankly. With the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, the company has managed to improve on its own giddily high standards. These headphones do a simply remarkable job on external annoyances, leaving you in splendid isolation to enjoy the balanced, poised, and articulate sound they serve up. They’re on the pricey side when compared to their most obvious competitors, but with these Bose you get exactly what you’re paying for. Frequent fliers and the like should form an orderly queue. —Simon Lucas
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Photograph: Sony
A Close Second
Sony WH-1000XM5
Sony redesigned the exterior of its popular flagship headphones for the fifth generation (9/10, WIRED Recommends), making them a bit sleeker and more competitive with Apple and Bose in looks. What didn’t go away is the company’s excellent noise cancellation, super customizable sound, and fantastic battery life. They’re pricier than previous generations, but the sound is more absorbing, with a more energetic feel than the less dynamic models that came before.
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Photograph: Brenda Stolyar
Best for iOS
Apple AirPods Max
If you use an iPhone and you are willing to pay $550, Apple’s noise-canceling over-ears (8/10, WIRED Recommends) are a fantastic choice. They are probably among the best wireless headphones you’ll have ever heard, but astonishing fidelity isn’t the only reason to buy the company’s flagship cans. Excellent pairing and connection with Apple devices, top-notch noise reduction, and some of the finest build quality you’ll find this side of $1,000 make these a great pair for most people. The only thing not to like about the AirPods Max? The included soft case does very little to protect the headphones when they’re not on your head.
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Photograph: Bose
Best for the Office
Bose Noise Canceling 700
Bose’s Noise Canceling 700 offers excellent noise reduction that quiets clacky keyboards or chatty roommates; they also have great sound quality and battery life. But the real reason to buy the 700s is for call quality. They use advanced signal processing and four microphones to limit the sound of the world around you on phone calls. The person you’re calling will think you’re in a library, even when you’re in a rowdy living room.
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Photograph: Sony
Still Great
Sony WH-1000XM4
This isn’t the newest model, but Sony’s WH-1000X lineup has produced some of the best noise-canceling headphones for nearly a decade, and the previous-generation WH-1000XM4 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) are no exception. Sleek, businesslike looks and a 30-hour battery life match its successor, and this version sports better noise cancellation and audio upscaling than its predecessors, both of which contribute to a cleaner overall sound signature. The high-quality microphones don’t make you sound like you’re underwater in Zoom meetings, which is an essential upgrade in the post-Covid world. It periodically goes on sale for under $300, so avoid buying it at full price.
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Photograph: Focal
For Audiophiles
Focal Bathys
If money is no object, this pair from French hi-fi brand Focal (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best. The magnesium and aluminum headphones—with custom French-made drivers and super soft earcups and headband—offer listeners some of the best wireless audio I have ever heard. From deep lows to crisp highs, these resemble their more expensive, corded, brethren but allow you to listen in planes, trains, and automobiles without toting along an external digital-to-analog converter or special audio player.
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Best Earbuds
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds
It bears repeating: Bose is the absolute master of active noise-canceling technology. The QuietComfort Ultra earbuds are just the latest demonstration of the company’s expertise. Get these earbuds positioned just so, set them up to your satisfaction using the excellent control app, and the outside world need never bother you again. It almost goes without saying that the sound you’ll enjoy is big, bold, and vivid—which is something else Bose knows all about.—Simon Lucas
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Photograph: Sony
Best Backup Buds
Sony WF-1000XM5
Sony’s fifth-generation flagship earbuds slim down while stepping up. These buds are smaller and slicker (maybe too slick when it comes to grabbing them) than the previous XM4 buds, while still providing fabulous sound and noise canceling that outduels every pair of buds not made by Bose. In true Sony style, they serve up a truckload of adaptive features and EQ controls while retaining their battery bragging rights of up to eight hours of playback time with ANC and 12 hours without it. —Ryan Waniata
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Photograph: Apple
Also Great for Apple Devices
Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) With USB-C
AirPods are middling, but the AirPods Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends) are a different story. This is the second generation of the buds to come out, and have the same great fit and noise-canceling tech as the first generation, and better audio quality. This version also has an improved codec, in case you end up using it with your new Vision Pro headset, as well as USB-C charging.
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Photograph: Bowers & Wilkins
Business Class
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8
Higher-end earbuds from Bowers & Wilkins (8/10, WIRED Recommends) are perfect for folks who want premium audio quality, but who don’t want to have to lug around over-ear headphones everwhere. These are an excellent compromise, with sleek, comfortable design, solid (albeit not Bose-beating) noise canceling, and great sound. They’re fantastic for travel, thanks to the ability to plug a 3.5 mm or USB-C cable to the case and have the case transmit Bluetooth to the headphones—perfect for when you are on a plane without modern technology. Call quality is also excellent, which makes these perhaps the perfect business-class earbuds.
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Photograph: Bowers & Wilkins
The Most Comfortable
Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e
There didn’t seem to be much wrong with the Px7 S2 (9/10, WIRED Recommends), but Bowers & Wilkins has gone ahead and fixed them anyway. The Px7 S2e feature upgraded digital sound processing for greater sonic insight and engagement, and the result is a pair of headphones that sound as upmarket and sophisticated as they look. What the company hasn’t done, though, is alter the way they fit, or the materials from which they’re built—which means the Px7 S2e are supremely, almost indecently, comfortable to wear over the long haul. That’s just as well given that battery life is a big 30 hours (including seven hours of action from just a 15-minute charge). —Simon Lucas
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Photograph: Dyson
Customizable Looks
Dyson OnTrac
You might be skeptical about buying a pair of headphones from a brand best known for plastic vacuum cleaners, but the Dyson OnTrac are actually pretty excellent (8/10, WIRED Recommends). Apart from their 55 hours of battery life and solid noise canceling, the reason to buy these headphones is that you can customize the earcups and earpads to be hundreds of different color combinations. If you have a specific personal style and want to still get the same great sound that you’ll get from Bose, Sony, Apple, and others at a premium price, these are a good option. I also like that the app will tell you when the headphones have exceeded 85 decibels, which is the OSHA-recommended standard for 8 hours of exposure (read: you won’t get Tinnitus).
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Photograph: Ryan Waniata
Best Cheap Buds
Anker Soundcore Space A40
These sub-$100 earbuds from Anker (8/10, WIRED Recommends) have all the features you’d expect from a much more expensive pair. You get a wireless charging case, multipoint pairing, and decent overall sound, plus what WIRED contributor Ryan Waniata calls excellent noise canceling for the money. The buds even have 10 hours of battery life, with four full recharges in the case. One downside? They don’t have a sensor to auto-pause music when you pull a single one out of your ears. Not a bad compromise, given all the other features.
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Photograph: Amazon
Great Value
Sony WH-CH720N
Sony may rule the “premium wireless noise-cancelers” roost, but that doesn’t mean it’s ignored the less well-off among us. The WH-CH720 are sensational value for the money: properly built and finished, with accomplished active noise-canceling skills and big, burly sound quality. Yes, it would be nice if they folded up and/or came with a protective case, but you can’t expect everything when you’re paying such a competitive price. If you want more than a taste of the high end of the market without actually having to pay for it, you really can’t go wrong here. —Simon Lucas
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Photograph: Sony
Honorable Mentions
Other Noise Canceling Headphones We Like
Now that the majority of new headphones and earbuds offer at least a modicum of noise canceling, it’d be impossible (and unproductive) to list everything we like above. But if you haven’t yet found your fit, here are some more favorites worth considering.
Apple Beats Fit Pro for $199: The Beats Fit Pro are an aging but still knock-out pair of wireless buds, with great sound, easy-access physical buttons, and solid noise canceling to boot. Add to that six hours of battery life, spatial audio compatibility with Apple Music and other services, and you’ve got one of the best pairs of earbuds ever “designed in California.”
Sony WF-1000XM4 for $290: Sony’s WF-1000XM4 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) still have some of the best noise reduction we’ve heard from a pair of earbuds and offer the same super-customizable sound we love from Sony’s over-ear headphones. These are becoming harder to find, and they’re a bit too large for smaller ears but the extra size allows for fantastic battery life.
Amazon Echo Buds for $45: Amazon’s second-gen Echo Buds (8/10, WIRED Recommends) don’t provide quite the same silence as the top buds on our list, but they’re still a good low-cost option. Amazon’s built-in Alexa voice assistant lets you set timers, check the weather, and control your buds hands-free. The buds sound pretty good too, making them worthy of consideration several years on.
Epos/Sennheiser Adapt 660 for $152: Want excellent sound, a comfortable fit, and high-quality noise-canceling tech for less than what you’d pay for Sony or Bose headphones? Check out this collaboration between Epos and Sennheiser. The Epos/Sennheiser Adapt 660 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) sound fantastic, and are some of the lightest noise-canceling headphones I’ve ever worn. They also feature excellent microphones for great silence on calls and Zooms.
