BEST HEADPHONES OVERALL
✅ You want the best sound: Balanced and smooth sound from the bottom of the frequency range to the very top, with good rhythmic expression to liberate the music.
✅ You want effective ANC: There’s no trace of the ANC circuitry working away and banishes pretty much all external sound to allow your music to do its thing.
✅ You want good battery life: They’re good for 30 hours between charges with ANC switched on, and that will rise to as much as 40 hours if you turn it off. Recharges take around 3.5 hours via the USB-C input on the right earcup.
❌ You want foldability: The revamped styling has done away with the popular foldable design of it’s predecessor, and is slightly less practical as a result.
❌ You like big and bold styling: Branding is understated on the XM5 with just a little ‘Sony’ logo on each hinge, and the earcups and headband are virtually featureless and entirely anonymous.
❌ You don’t like the price increase: Sony has added $50 to the price of its latest XM series headphones. This seems steep given that Sony’s exceedingly capable WH-1000XM4 predecessor is readily available, and can even be found discounted for considerably less.
The Sony WH-1000XM5 noise-canceling headphones demonstrate across-the-board expertise with great-sound, exceptional ANC performance and eco credentials.
What you need to know
The Sony WH-1000XM5 wireless active noise-canceling, over-ear headphones pick up where the popular Sony WH-1000XM4 left off. You get excellent sound quality in every respect, improved noise-cancellation and a very credible eco proposition that means they can be recycled at the end of their life. These cans are just as compelling as the model they replace.
Design: Sony has had a bit of a re-think where the XM5 design is concerned. They’re a more streamlined shape than their predecessor, with an aero dynamic design that improves the flow of air across the headphone frame to reduce wind noise. Branding is minimal, and are available in black or ecru (for which read ‘uninspiring beige’). The XM5 are a touch lighter than the model they replace, and are supplied with a usefully compact and collapsible carry-case.
Performance: In every respect, the XM5s are a confident, convincing and enjoyable listen. Throughout our review, tonality was neutral and natural, with only the slightest suggestion of the highs being rolled off. Low frequencies were muscular but agile, loaded with detail and texture, and delivered an ordered foundation without over shadowing the presentation further up the frequency range. And when it comes to ANC, the XM5 banish pretty much all external sound and deliver exceptional call quality, too.
Battery life: You’ll get 30 hours between charges if you keep active noise-cancelation switched on, and that will rise to as much as 40 hours if you turn it off. It takes a leisurely 3.5 hours to go from ‘flat’ to full when charging via the USB-C input on the right earcup, but can retain an hour’s-worth of power after 10 minutes or so, or you can get three hours of power after just three minutes via USB-PD (Power Delivery).
Read the full review: Sony WH-1000XM5
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $50 more than WH-1000XM4 | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | Anonymous aesthetic but impressive eco credentials | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | Articulate and engaging sound | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | Long battery life but not the market leader | ★★★★☆ |
THE BEST HEADPHONES FOR AUDIOPHILES
✅ You want the very best wireless sound quality: The Px7 S2 headphones are designed to deliver the best wireless sound this sort of money can buy, and they do.
✅ You’re looking for understated styling: They feel good, are beautifully constructed and are either good-looking in an understated way or a bit too understated for their own good — it depends on your taste.
✅ You like luxury sensibilities: Impeccably put together from a combination of textured fabric, memory-foam filled leather, the Px7 S2 are sophisticated headphones that exude a feeling of luxury.
❌ You want the very best ANC: The active noise-cancelation proves ‘good’ rather than ‘great’ — that’s to say, it will be perfectly acceptable to anyone who doesn’t insist on absolute silence.
❌ You like stacks of features: The Bowers & Wilkins Music control app may feel underpowered compared to some. It’s pretty useful as far as it goes, but just doesn’t go as far as some tour de force control apps.
❌ You want touch controls: No tapping an earcup to pause your music here. Instead, there’s a selection of physical ‘push/push’ control buttons.
The Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 are designed to deliver the best wireless sound money can buy, and they do. The entire frequency range hangs together well, with nothing overstated and nothing struggling for representation. Just don’t expect tons of features.
What you need to know
The Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 over-ear headphones are priced the same as the Sony WH-1000XM5. They feel good, are beautifully constructed and have active noise-cancelation and a control app — but ‘extended functionality’ is not their thing.
Design: Impeccably put together from a combination of textured fabric, memory-foam filled leather, flex-free plastic, with a discreetly logo-d section on the earcups, the Px7 S2 are understated and sophisticated lookers.
Performance: Detail levels are sky-high and treble sounds are bright but not coarse. In our review, vocals had complete expression, are thoroughly engrossing and easy to understand. The soundstage the Bowers & Wilkins generate is sizable, and superbly defined. ANC deals with external sounds decisively unless they’re very loud. There’s never any suggestion of the ANC at work, and it doesn’t alter the sonic characteristics of the headphones either.
Battery life: Best-case battery life runs to 30 hours — which is about average these days. Charging time runs from ‘flat’ to full’ in just 2 hours, which is better than the 3 hours the old model needed. A 15-minute charge is good for 7 hours of playback. Charging is via the USB port on the right earcup.
Read the full review: Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Worthwhile price for out-and-out sound quality | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | Understated and sophisticated | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | Top-notch wireless audio | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | Good but not the best | ★★★★☆ |
THE BEST ANC HEADPHONES OVERALL
✅ You want the very best noise canceling: The Bose 700 have unrivaled ANC performance with up to 11 levels of adjustable ANC that work equally well to neutralize noise across different frequencies.
✅ You want great audio quality on calls: The eight mics effectively silence outside noise while simultaneously allowing you to clearly be heard, whether you’re talking to someone on the phone or cueing up a digital assistant.
✅ You want high levels of comfort: Comfort levels are so good that our reviewer fell asleep wearing them. The headband and ear pads are made of memory foam wrapped in black leatherette and the earpads create a good seal.
❌ You want top-end features: We’d like to see Bose add a find-my-headphones function as well as a few equalizer presets for people who prefer to tune their own listening experience.
❌ You need better than 20-hours battery life: At just 20-hours of battery life, the Bose 700 are lagging behind the latest generations of ANC models like the Sony WH-1000XM5s.
❌ You listen for longer periods: During our testing, the earpads had a tendency to get a bit hot sticky when placed on the head for longer periods. You may wish to consider a design that uses a breathable material on the earpads.
The Bose 700 have been around for a while but continue to be the best active noise-canceling headphones out there. They don’t skimp on audio quality either, offering clean, balanced sound while the adjustable noise cancelation keeps things nice and quiet.
What you need to know
Although they’ve been around for a while, the Bose 700 continue to be the best noise-canceling headphones on ANC performance. Plus, you get a sexy design (compared to the QC45) and balanced, precise audio performance, 20 hours of battery life and support for both Alexa and Google Assistant.
Design: The 700s have a less utilitarian style than some Bose models, and are available in black or silver. The headband is made of sturdy stainless steel that bisects the middle of the plastic ear cups. The top and bottom of the band are made of a soft-touch plastic and is designed to evenly distribute weight, and results in a very comfortable fit.
Performance: The noise canceling is great on the Bose 700s, and sound quality is decent, too. The Bose don’t appear to be as loud as some, but they are precise and delivered a wide soundstage, with balanced highs, mids and lows during our testing. But the star of the show is Full Transparency mode, which essentially sounds like you’re not wearing headphones at all.
Battery life: Playback runs to 20 hours with ANC, which isn’t as great as the latest models but should be enough for a week or so of playback between top-ups. Charging is via USB-C and delivers an estimated 3.5 hours of charge in 15 minutes.
Read the full review: Bose 700
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Worthwhile for the best noise cancelling | ★★★★★ |
| Design | Neat styling and controls | ★★★★☆ |
| Performance | Most flexible ANC out there | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | Lags behind latest rivals | ★★★★☆ |
THE BEST LUXURY HEADPHONES
✅ You want specialist know-how: The Px8 are Bowers & Wilkins’ most advanced noise-canceling headphones to date, and are a confident addition to the luxury headphone market and use high quality material for the best sound.
✅ You want versatile connectivity: Wireless audio is via Bluetooth 5.2 with SBC, AAC, aptX HD and aptX Adaptive codec support when connected to compatible playback devices, and cables are supplied for wired headphone jack connections too.
✅ You enjoy hi-fi sound: A new driver material means bass is fast and agile, but it’s the mid frequencies where these flagship headphones excel, delivering an abundance of natural detail and midrange clarity to make every voice syllable sound convincingly realistic.
❌ You want adjustable ANC: Noise-canceling runs to ‘on’/’off’/’pass through’ modes, but that’s as far as it goes.
❌ You want touch controls on the earcups: The Px8 use a selection of physical control buttons to navigate playback and pairing instead of touch controls.
❌ You want EQ customization: There’s no multi-band EQ adjustment for personal customization, but there are bass and treble controls available.
The Bowers & Wilkins Px8 headphones balance design with audiophile credentials to impressive effect. ANC performance is satisfactory although not the market leader, but in terms of sound quality these are some of the most agile and engaging wireless headphones we’ve heard.
What you need to know
With bespoke 40mm Carbon Cone drive units for an even more detailed sound across all parts of the frequency range, and sumptuous materials to further aid comfort, the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 flagship go up against the top noise-canceling headphones from the likes of Sennheiser and Sony.
Design: The frame looks similar to the company’s Px7 S2 headphones, but earcups, memory-foam cushions and headband are all trimmed in Nappa leather to assert the Px8 as a premium product. The overall weight of the Px8 is a few ounces more than the Px7 S2, but it’s evenly distributed and lighter than some wireless rivals.
Performance: Bass sounds natural and rich without feeling overly emphasized. They have an agile performance and it’s easy to follow individual elements within the music and pick out different strands of the mix with ease. Mid frequencies deliver an abundance of natural detail and midrange clarity to make every syllable sound convincingly realistic.
Battery life: The Px8 runs to 30 hours of battery life and matches the Px7 S2, as well as its closest rival the Sony WH-1000XM5, but has some way to go to beat the 60-hour playback with ANC capabilities of the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless. A 15-minute quick recharge is sufficient for up to 7 hours listening time.
Read the full review: Bowers & Wilkins Px8
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Expensive compared to rivals | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | Luxury build and finish | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | Agile and insightful sound | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | Good but not the best | ★★★★☆ |
BEST VALUE HEADPHONES
✅ You want the best ANC battery life: The 60-hour battery life is a real crowd pleaser and make these the ones to beat when it comes to long listening times on the road with ANC enabled.
✅ You like Sennheiser’s sound: Sennheiser’s smooth house sound handles a wide range of music content, from pounding beats to more mellow tunes with aplomb.
✅ You seek great value: These Sennheisers undercut close ANC rivals from Sony and Bose, scoring high in terms of overall value.
❌ You prefer Sennheiser’s classic styling: Gone are the leather and stainless steel headband that integrated as a slider for adjusting the earcups, and the vintage cool that made the over-ear Momentum 3 Wireless so instantly recognizable and appealing.
❌ Want touch controls on the left: The touch controls are assigned to the right earcup only and can’t be switched to the left earcup.
❌ You’re not prepared for some frustrating behaviour with the smart app: The Smart Control app could be indecisive during our tests and would regularly say that it was’t connected to the headphones, despite playing music wirelessly from my phone via a music streaming app.
The Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless isn’t going to stand out from the crowd, but the 60-hour battery life majorly ups the standards for the sector and is the one to beat. Add in the easy-going Sennheiser sound and effective noise cancelling, and the Momentum 4 looks like the most practical wireless headphones we’ve seen.
What you need to know
Sennheiser has addressed the performance issues highlighted in our Momentum 3 Wireless review, and the restyled Momentum 4 ditched the classic styling of its predecessor and sets the battery life standard for wireless headphone makers everywhere to aim for.
Design: The Momentum 4 Wireless have been completely revamped, replacing the eye-catching classic design of the Momentum 3 Wireless with a more mainstream look and feel. Build quality is still high but they have a more anonymous look, which Sennheiser hopes will help give the latest model wider appeal.
Performance: Sennheiser’s sonic signature is geared towards a balanced sound across the entire frequency range, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t deliver big bass beats when it needs to. ANC is effective and doesn’t affect the overall sound quality or frequency balance so listeners stay utterly absorbed in whatever music they’re listening to.
Battery life: The headline feature of the Momentum 4 Wireless is the 60 hour battery life, which Sennheiser claims is achievable even with ANC fully enabled. This is exceptionally high for a headphone of its type, and by comparison outperforms the Sony WH-1000XM5 by some 30 hours. In fact, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless has the longest battery life of any pair of noise-canceling headphones we’ve ever encountered.
Read the full review: Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Brief brief brief brief brief brief brief | ★★★★★ |
| Design | Feels a bit anonymous | ★★★★☆ |
| Performance | Smooth sound and effective ANC | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | Best-ever ANC battery life | ★★★★★ |
BEST HIGH-END HEADPHONES
✅ You’re serious about sound quality: The Focal Bathys walk the line between critical audiophile listening at home, while also practical and conveniently wireless to enable owners to enjoy them on the go.
✅ You want premium build: The Focal Bathys use the same high-quality construction as the company’s flagship models but are 25% smaller and more lightweight.
✅ You want 24-bit/192kHz support: The onboard DAC is awesome for uncompromised 24-bit sound. Fidelity is increased and there’s a greater degree of tightness in the delivery.
❌ You want the best noise canceling: Rather than compete with heavyweights like Bose and Sony, Focal says it spent three years working on the technology to ensure the right balance of noise cancellation and sound.
❌ You want slick digital assistant support: Google Assistant was buggy, making us wait several seconds before the mics can register inquiries. Siri performance was even worse and didn’t register any of our words.
❌ You don’t like the high price: These are some of Focal’s most affordable headphones to date. By comparison, they cost at least twice as much as noise-canceling market leaders from Sony and Bose, and are even more expensive than the AirPods Max.
The Focal Bathys are a superb, high-performance headphone perfectly suited to audiophile listening at home, while also practical and conveniently wireless to enable owners to enjoy them on the go. The price may be high, but when you weigh up the top-tier audio performance, $799 is something of a bargain.
What you need to know
With Focal’s all-new Bathys, the French audio specialist not only makes the leap into the wireless audio space, but also active noise cancelation (ANC), and are their most ambitious headphone release to date.
Design: The Bathys wireless design share many of the same qualities as Focal’s wired siblings. We’re talking everything from elegant craftsmanship to audiophile-grade sound using proprietary ‘M’-shape aluminum/magnesium drivers, but these latest headphones also come equipped with adjustable EQ, aptX Adaptive codec support over Bluetooth, and elite sound features that includes a built-on DAC/amp.
Performance: The combination of Focal’s M-dome speaker drivers and support for Hi-Res Audio ensures the Bathys sound spectacular. ANC mode doesn’t compromise sound quality. Soft mode scales down the bass a bit, but Silent raises it to give music a punchier delivery. The onboard DAC is awesome for uncompromised 24-bit sound. Fidelity is increased and there’s a greater degree of tightness in the performance.
Battery life: ANC playtime is standard at 30 hours. There is no option for disabling the feature. You can extend playtime up to 35 hours when in audio jack mode and up to 42 hours in DAC mode. All three ratings were accurate during testing, resulting in a week and a half of moderate use (3 hours daily).
Read the full review: Focal Bathys
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Top-tier performance costs | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | Versatile | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | Top-notch audio quality | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | Battery life matches rivals | ★★★★☆ |
BEST APPLE HEADPHONES FOR SPATIAL AUDIO
✅ You’re into Apple’s eco system: These headphones round out Apple’s ecosystem with great features including spatial audio to work seamlessly with iOS devices.
✅ You want great ANC: There may only be one ANC mode, but it’s very effective at drowning out the sound of your surroundings. Conversely the AirPods Max offer only one level of transparency.
✅ You want balanced sound: Adaptive EQ delivers tailored listening that adjusts sound on the fly, for a high-quality listening experience.
❌ You want dedicated power on/off buttons: There’s isn’t a power button, which is odd no matter how you frame it. They kick into low-power mode when they’re stationary for several minutes or in the magnetic smart case, though.
❌ You want a secure and protective carry case: The AirPods Max Smart Case has been ridiculed as it doesn’t provide any sense of protection, so you may need to factor in one of the best AirPods Max cases.
❌ You don’t like the high price: The AirPods Max are cheaper than true audiophile headphones like the Focal Bathys, but they’ll still more costly than Sony or Bose ANC rivals.
The AirPods Max are the best Apple headphones, so it’s a shame they’re not in a more palatable price range. But these headphones round out Apple’s ecosystem, and the combination of cushy comfort, pristine audio quality and killer features like spatial audio is hard to beat.
What you need to know
At $549 the AirPods Max are certainly no impulse buy, but they look great, sound great, and they have enough bonus features to make it worth the premium.
Design: The AirPods Max come in a fun color range that lends itself well to a retro aesthetic. The pivoting ear cups are covered by oval pillows of memory foam that create a spongy, secure seal around the ears and are connected to a stainless steel frame with slim, telescoping arms that expand at the top for a mesh headband.
Performance: There’s something to appreciate about the AirPods Max’s soundstage across all kinds of musical genres, but our favorite aspect came from spatial audio. This game-changing listening feature worked is basically surround sound but for a headset, and uses built-in head tracking to make sound relative to what you’re seeing on screen while watching video on your iPhone or iPad. Lastly, although there’s only one level of noise cancellation, it’s excellent.
Battery life: We found the AirPods Max lived up to the 20 hours of battery life claim, which is one third of time Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 Wireless runs for, while Sony gives 10 hours more than the AirPods Max.
Read the full review: Apple AirPods Max
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | High price compared to ANC rivals | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | Perfect partner for iOS devices | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | Best for spatial audio content | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | Battery life is bettered elsewhere | ★★★☆☆ |
THE BEST APPLE EARBUDS
✅ You want great ANC: With music playing at a medium volume, the noise cancelation can overcome what we feel is 95% of household and office noise. You won’t be able to hear a person sitting next to you, even if you’re looking at them, and the dull hum of the office will fade into nothing.
✅ You want volume controls on the stem: The improved touch controls support swiping up and down on the stems to raise or lower the volume, which is very handy and means you won’t need to fumble with the level controls on your playback device.
✅ You’re into Apple’s ecosystem: These AirPods Pro 2 round out Apple’s ecosystem with great features including spatial audio that works seamlessly with iOS devices.
❌ Call quality is important: Calls via the AirPods Pro 2 sounded muffled compared to a call on speakerphone, and meant people still preferred us using the phone’s built-in speaker rather than the AirPods.
❌ You want clear charging indication: We found the charging case would only glow amber when charging for about 15 seconds, then shut off. A permanent indication of charging status would be welcomed.
❌ You don’t like white: The AirPods Pro 2 are only available in white. Other color options would surely widen appeal for many.
The Apple AirPods Pro 2 are absolutely worth it for first-time buyers and folks in need of a replacement. They amp up many of the features we loved about the original, and while they’re not perfect, they offer some of the best noise cancellation and spatial audio of any pair of earbuds available.
What you need to know
The Apple AirPods Pro 2, officially called the AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) take everything we loved about the Apple’s first noise-canceling earbuds to the next level. The AirPods Pro 2 promise 2x the noise canceling performance, and they deliver. In fact, it’s among the best we’ve yet to test, period.
Design: If you like the drop-stem styling of the original AirPods Pro, then you’ll enjoy the new version. Overall, while the design isn’t a major departure from the original AirPods Pro ― there are a number of subtle exterior and substantive interior improvements that set the two apart. We like the now volume controls built into the stems. But they’re still only available in white.
Performance: As one of the best noise-canceling earbuds, the AirPods Pro 2 have great sound and deliver some really nice details that you wouldn’t be able to hear as clearly with other earbuds. ANC is very effective, and we have to hand it to Apple on the way the new earbuds convey Dolby Atmos spatial audio, too. Compared to the competition, the AirPods are miles ahead with spatial audio technology and music simply transforms into a three-dimensional experience with these earbuds in.
Battery life: Instead of 24 hours of charge in the case with the original, you’re looking at 30 hours, and the earbuds last 6 hours on a single charge instead of 4. In our testing, we were able to verify those numbers — though we landed a little closer to 5 hours per charge and 26 hours with the case.
Read the full review: Apple AirPods Pro 2
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Same price as original | ★★★★★ |
| Design | Instantly recognizable | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | Apple’s best-performing earbuds | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | Better than original but still beaten by rivals | ★★★★☆ |