With the elimination of headphone jacks from phones, wireless headphones are surging in popularity, and noise-canceling is a must-have feature for anyone who spends a lot of time in loud environments like airplanes, coffee shops, and busy streets. Though once a premium feature found only in extremely expensive headphones, these days noise-canceling is available in Bluetooth headphones of all price ranges and form factors.
Best overall
Sony WH1000XM3
Staff pick
The mark of a great pair of noise-canceling headphones is not having to give up on sound quality for isolation, and Sony has achieved a great balance. On top of offering class-eating noise cancelation, the 1000XM3s have intuitive gesture controls and a great sound signature. Plus, battery life is excellent, and there’s one-touch access to Google Assistant that works wonders on Android phones.
$348 at Amazon
Runner-up
Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700
$399 at Amazon
Bose took everything it learned from the QC line and upped its game with the NCH 700s. They’re lightweight and incredibly comfortable but have a sturdier metal frame (that unfortunately doesn’t fold up). They sound better than the QC 35 IIs, with more accurate mids, smoother highs and a bit thumpier bass, but the real attraction is the noise cancellation. With 11 settings, wearing these with ANC turned on blocks out almost all surrounding noise.
Incredible sound
Bowers & Wilkins PX
The Bowers & Wilkins PX headphones deliver a more neutral, transparent sound than the QC35 IIs or 1000XM3s, and offer three adjustable ANC modes — office, city, and flight. They’ll even pause your music automatically when you take them off of your ears, and resume once the proximity sensors detect that they’re back on. Sweetening the deal, they charge and carry audio through USB-C.
$350 at Amazon
Incredible battery life
Jabra Elite 85h
Jabra’s a relatively new entrant into the over-the-ear headphone game, but its Elite 85h are incredibly comfortable, great-sounding and versatile cans for the price. The ANC isn’t quite as good as the best from Sony or Bose, but the intuitive design, tactile controls, well-designed app, and absurdly good 30+ hour battery life make these an awesome choice.
$299 at Amazon
Like wearing nothing at all
Bose QC35 II
Building on the success of its wired QC25s, the Bose QC35 IIs are lightweight and well-built and offer an excellent blend of pleasing mids, strong but not overwhelming bass, and highs that don’t fatigue. Sound quality isn’t quite up to par with the 1000XM3s, but the QC35s are smaller, more comfortable, and last just as long on a single charge. Other highlights include NFC pairing on Android phones, an easy-to-use app to control EQ, and dual microphones for clear phone calls.
$299 at Amazon
Another great option
Panasonic RP-HD605N
While not as well-established in the headphones game as Sony or Bose, Panasonic’s HD605Ns offer similarly great sound quality and impressive noise-canceling for significantly less money. Like Sony’s 1000XM3s, you can funnel ambient sound back into these headphones by placing your hand over the right earcup, a huge convenience that’s great to see on a pair of headphones at this price.
$184 at Amazon
Sony for less
Sony WH-CH700N
The CH700Ns aren’t as high-end as Sony’s1000XM3s, but for over a hundred less, you’re getting similarly great sound that you can customize to your liking through the same Sony | Headphones Connect app, along with passive noise canceling. These headphones last up to 35 hours on a single charge, and they pair quickly to your phone with NFC. Not a bad deal at all in the price range.
$198 at Amazon
Budget over-the-ear headphones
COWIN E7
The COWIN E7s offer a lot of the same features as the much more expensive options in this list for much less. They still have active noise-canceling, along with quick NFC pairing, a built-in microphone for phone calls, and a 30-hour battery. The earcups rotate by 90° for easier stowing, and the E7s work just as well with a wired connection as they do over Bluetooth.
$60 at Amazon
Best value over-the-ear headphones
TaoTronics Active Noise-Canceling Bluetooth Headphones
TaoTronics isn’t a particularly well-known brand, but the company’s well-made over-the-ear Bluetooth headphones offer incredible value. With lush sound and deep (though not quite accurate) bass, TaoTronics’ Bluetooth headphones provide around 70% of active noise cancellation of the Bose QC35 for less than a quarter the price. Better yet, they last up to 25 hours on a single charge.
$58 at Amazon
Best noise-canceling earbuds
Sony WF-1000XM3
Sony’s better known for its over-the-ear headphones, but the WF-1000XM3s are putting them on the map for true wireless earbuds, too. These are built using the same incredible tech as their bigger brother and feature awesome sound, decent 6-hour battery life (with another 18 hours in the charging case) and intuitive (if a bit finicky) touch controls.
$230 at Amazon
Best noise-canceling neckbuds
Bose QC30
Like the QC35s, the Bose QC30 offers the best noise-canceling experience in its form factor. With small directional tips that are comfortable to wear for hours, the beauty of the QC30 is how it allows you to raise and lower the active noise cancellation depending on the environment. While you’re not going to get the same level of bass as the larger over-the-ear headphones, the QC30 is more versatile and comfortable, and the headphones can be remanded to the neck when not in use thanks to the neckband base.
$299 at Amazon
Best value noise-canceling earbuds
Phiaton BT 100 NC
Phiaton is a well-known name in the budget headphone space, and the BT 100 NCs are the best noise-canceling earbuds for anyone on a budget. Like the QC30s, the BT 100 NC come in neckbud form, with earbuds that effortlessly extrude from a cable. Neither the sound quality nor the ANC is as good as the QC30, but for at this price, you’re not going to find a better compromise in this form factor.
$80 at Amazon
Out of all the recommendations…
If you can afford them, Sony’s WH1000XM3s are the best noise-canceling headphones on the market, with handy gesture controls, great sound, deafening noise-canceling, and long battery life. You’ll also love the slightly more comfortable Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, though they are a bit more expensive.
If they’re too rich for your blood, though, you won’t go wrong with any of the alternatives — Panasonic’s HD605Ns are arguably a much better value, and the Phiaton BT 100 NCs come in a more convenient form factor.
How to choose the best noise-canceling headphones
Contrary to popular belief, active noise cancelation isn’t just for commuting and flying. They’re also great in office environments and even as daily purpose headphones if you simply need to ignore everyone around you.
Choosing the right set of noise canceling headphones can be hard as it’s more than just ANC you’re looking at. For example, comfort, whether or not the ANC negatively effects the sound quality, and battery life are huge factors when choosing the right noise canceling headphone.
Sound Quality
When it comes to audio equipment, sound quality should be in your list of top three most important things. If you don’t like the way it sounds, it won’t matter if it’s super comfortable or if the battery lasts forever.
In terms of sound quality, the Sony WF-1000XM3 takes the cake, easily. They’re truly wireless, and the ANC performance is exceptional. They’re a bit big, but the sound quality destroys with a sound signature that sticks to being relatively neutral and flat. Not only that, but the companion smartphone app lets you customize the sound even further if you’d like more bass, mids, or treble.
The Bose NCH 700s are a runner up but they’re an over-ear headphone. In a similar fashion, they offer a relatively flat and neutral sound signature. However, the NCH 700s have no way of customizing the sound. So, if you don’t like them you’re out of luck here.
Bowers & Wilkins’ PX make the list purely because of its incredible soundstage and dynamic range for a closed-back headphone.
Best active noise canceling headphones, ranked by sound quality
Sony WF-1000XM3
Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700
Bowers & Wilkins PX
Sony WH-1000XM3
Jabra Elite 85h
Comfort
Comfort is also equally as important because if your headphones sounds great but hurt your ears or your head after 20 minutes, what’s the point in having them?
Unsurprisingly, the Bose NCH 700s take the top spot. Bose is notoriously known for having really great comfort in its noise-canceling headphones and the latest addition is no exception. With the Bose NCH 700s you can easily wear them for 10 hours or more without any discomfort. The same goes for the QC35 IIs as well.
Despite being earbuds, the Sony WF-1000XM3 are equally as great. The earbuds come with multiple tip sizes, which will help tremendously with finding a level of comfort. Combine that with the compact size of a truly wireless earbud and Sony has hit a home run here
Sony had a lot to do when making the WH-1000XM3 and that includes comfort. Its previous ANC headphone, the WH-1000XM2, wasn’t all that great when it came to comfort. Fortunately, Sony put in the R&D and the WH-1000XM3 are surprisingly comfortable now. The ear cups and headband are super soft and there’s not much exposed plastic that touches your head. These are other headphones that you can easily wear for 10 hours or more at any given time.
Best noise canceling headphones, ranked by comfort
Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700
Sony WF-1000XM3
Bose QC35 II
Sony WH-1000XM3
TaoTronics Active Noise-Canceling Bluetooth Headphones
Noise isolation
It sounds kind of silly to rank noise isolation on a post about noise isolating headphones so we’ll keep this short and sweet.
The top three on this list are all really solid. The WH-1000XM3 remains king with its class-leading ANC and if you want the best ANC, you go WH-1000XM3, period. Runner up is the Bose NCH 700s. While not as good as the WH-1000XM3, they’re pretty close. Whichever you decide to go with is totally up to you and depends on which sound signature you like better.
The WF-1000XM3 are the truly wireless option from Sony and have the same great ANC you get from their over-ear brother the WH-1000XM3. Obviously, there are differences as the WF-1000XM3 have slightly less ANC then the WH-1000XM3. This is mostly due to it being a truly wireless earbud versus an over-ear option.
While the QC35 IIs are a bit old, they’re still a good option here, too. You’ll still hear some humming and voices will sound muffled versus completely disappearing, especially on flights. However, with that being said, most engine noise will disappear almost completely and that’s what matters most when it comes to a pair of ANC headphones.
Best noise canceling headphones, ranked by noise isolation
Sony WH-1000XM3
Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700
Sony WF-1000XM3
Bose QC35 II
Bowers & Wilkins PX
Smart Features
There’s not much you can do when it comes to over-ear headphones and smart features. The most over-ear headphones typically do is bundle in a digital assistant of sorts whether it be Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, or both.
However, the three that stick out are the Bowers & Wilkins PX, Jabra Elite 85h, and Sony WF-1000XM3. These headphones feature an auto-play/pause feature, which is rare among noise canceling headphones, let alone over-ear ones. The Sony WF-1000XM3 are basically required to have this feature as they are a set of truly wireless earbuds.
The Bose QC30 are awesome as well. They’re neckbuds, but the ANC adapts to the environment around you. Combine that with the versatility thanks to being a neckbud and the QC30 actually become one of the most portable ANC earbuds on the market.
Lastly, if you’re looking for an ANC headphone that does the bare minimum when it comes to smart features, the COWIN E7 are it. They don’t have any auto-play/pause features, digital assistant support, or adaptive ANC, but they do feature NFC pairing. If you have an Android smartphone, this makes pairing the headphone to your smartphone super easy.
Best noise canceling headphones, ranked by smart features
Bowers & Wilkins PX
Jabra Elite 85h
Sony WF-1000XM3
Bose QC30
COWIN E7
Battery Life
Battery life is something that gets wired headphone lovers heated. That’s because with a set of wired headphones you don’t have to worry about “another thing to charge.” However, if you have long battery life you basically forget that you even have to charge the thing in the first place.
The older Sony WH-CH7000N actually take the cake here. At a ridiculously low price, the WH-CH7000N get an incredible 35 hours of battery life on a single charge, the best we’ve seen on noise-canceling headphones.
The next three on our list all get the same roughly 30 hours of battery life on the single charge. If you’re looking at battery life specifically, the Jabra Elite 85h, Sony WH-1000XM3 and COWIN E7 all perform excellent in this regard. You’ll probably want to look at other potential features between these three headphones.
Best noise canceling headphones, ranked by battery life
Sony WH-CH7000N
Jabra Elite 85h
Sony WH-1000XM3
COWIN E7
TaoTronics Active Noise-Canceling Bluetooth Headphones
Microphone Quality
If we’re being honest here, microphone quality when it comes to noise canceling headphones kind of suck. Most companies focus on having great microphone quality for the ANC itself or an ambient sound mode, but when it comes to the actual microphone you use to make calls, ANC headphones are decent at best.
That being said, the Bose NCH 700s, Bose QC35 IIs and the Bose QC30 top this list. Again, the bar is relatively low here but they top our list when it comes to microphone quality. They’re okay when it comes to blocking out environmental noise and isolating your voice, but the person on the other end might have some issues hearing you in louder environments.
The Jabra Elite 85h make this list because they’re not half bad when it comes to isolating your voice and reducing the environmental noise. They perform similarly to all of the Bose headphones but maybe one notch worse.
All other noise canceling headphones on this list struggle quite a bit when it comes to microphone quality unfortunately. You’re probably better off taking off your headphones and using your phone’s built-in microphone and speakers to take calls with everything else on this list.
Best true wireless earbuds, ranked by Microphone Quality
Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700
Bose QC35 II
Bose QC30
Jabra Elite 85h
Panasonic RP-HD605N
