Over-ear headphones may not be as popular as they once were but they still have a place in the market. They’re great for when you want the best sound quality you can get from a headphone. Portable and especially wireless (Bluetooth) headphones have exploded over the past decade and that’s why the Sony WH-1000XM3 have taken our top spot as the best overall headphone you can buy right now.
Best Overall: Sony WH-1000XM3
No surprise here. Sony remains the king of active noise-canceling (ANC) headphones, and Bluetooth headphones in general, with the WH-1000XM3. Not only do the headphones feature class-leading ANC, but they also have just about every other feature you could want while retaining a great 30 hours of battery life on a single charge. When the WH-1000XM3 are dead, you can plug the included USB-C cable in and get a quick charge. Ten minutes of charge nets you five hours of listening time. Unfortunately, during that time you won’t be able to actually use your headphones as audio playback (both wired and wireless) are disabled when charging.
Sound quality is decent out of the box if you’re a fan of a ton of bass. However, that won’t matter much since the companion smartphone (available on both Android and iOS) has a built-in EQ that allows you to adjust how they sound.
You can also enable an ambient sound mode by using your palm to cover the right ear cup. This lets you hear the environment around you without having to remove your headphones. Arguably this could be implemented better since holding your hand over the right ear cup for more than 15 seconds can get exhausting, fast.
The WH-1000XM3 are also comfortable. It’s not optimal (personally I get a pain on the crown of my head after several hours), but definitely better than most other headphones I’ve tried. The ear cups and headband are super soft and the headband extends far for those who have bigger heads.
Pros:
- Great battery life
- Customizable sound
- Solid comfortable
- Ambient sound mode
- Great app for both iOS and Android
Cons:
- Can’t charge and listen simultaneously
- Ambient sound mode could be better
- Expensive
Best Overall
Sony WH-1000XM3
- $348 from Amazon $350 from Best Buy
Class-leading wireless ANCs
These are the best ANC headphone on the market. The WH-1000XM3 pack a strong punch that is currently unmatched.
Best Open-Back: Sennheiser HD600/650
Without a doubt, if you’re looking for the best over-ear headphones around with an open back, you’ll want to check out the Sennheiser HD600 or HD650. They’re both similar in form factor, with the only real differentiator being the slightly tweaked sound signature.
Let’s first discuss comfort. Both these headphones are probably the most comfortable headphones on the market. The ear cups and headband feel like absolute pillows. Since they’re open-back you don’t have to worry about your ear getting warm either.
If I had to have a gold standard for sound quality, the HD600 take the cake. The soundstage is super wide thanks to the open-back design. The low bass is a bit lacking due to the aforementioned open-back design but is still present. The rest of the sound signature is balanced and natural. Nothing is elevated or overpowering. The HD650 are a slightly different story. They bring more low bass in and punch much harder than the HD600.
There are two major downsides here. The open-back design means your audio will leak no matter what environment you’re in, so, you’ll probably want to use them at home. The other major downside is both these headphones require an amp to get the most out of them. You can try plugging them into your phone but you’ll most likely need to max out the volume to even get any sort of sound out. Fortunately, the HD600 and HD650 don’t need that much amplification so most, if not all, amps will work. They also use a proprietary cable on the headphone end. This is almost as bad as having a new-detachable cable. Fortunately, the cable is detachable and Sennheiser seems to be good at keeping the cable in stock.
Pros:
- Great sound quality
- Super comfortable
- Excellent soundstage
- The HD650 have more bass
Cons:
- Sound leakage
- Requires an amp
- Proprietary cable
- Expensive
Best Open-Back
Sennheiser HD600/650
- $299 from Amazon – $400 from Sennheiser
Comfy excellent sound
Open-back headphones are the way to go if you’re looking for the best at-home audio. The Sennheiser HD600/650 don’t disappoint.
Best Value: Mixcder E9 Wireless
If you’re looking for the best bang for your buck, look no further than the Mixcder E9 Wireless. First and foremost, the E9 Wireless are super comfortable. The ear cup and headband design resemble the Bose QC35 II quite a bit and this means in terms of comfort the E9 Wireless are only a smidge worse than the QC35 II.
In terms of sound, the E9 performs quite well here, especially for the price. The bass and midrange response is balanced and neutral, while the treble is only slightly recessed. Though, most won’t hear thee slight recession.
Battery life is equally as great with up to 30 hours of battery life on a single charge with ANC enabled. The headphones charge over Micro-USB, and the ANC feature can be used even when wired, which is a bonus. The ANC performance on the E9 Wireless is okay at best. It does a great job at reducing sound all across the board but doesn’t particularly block out any one sound. For example, it’ll reduce the sound of an engine but you’ll still be able to hear it. However, it’s great for what you typically get in this price range.
Pros:
- Excellent comfort
- ANC included
- Superb sound
- Long battery life
- Great value
Cons:
- Micro-USB for charging
- ANC could be better
Best Value
Mixcder E9 Wireless
- $76 from Amazon – $130 from Newegg
Superb sound and comfort
For its price, the E9 Wireless from Mixcder is an absolute steal with great comfort, sound and battery life.
Best Wireless: Nuraphones by Nura
The Nuraphones differentiate themselves from other headphones by using medical-grade sensors to measure how you perceive sound. During the setup process, they play an assortment of sounds, which helps to measure how your ears are responding to the sounds. They then record feedback from your ear. This all customizes how you hear with them on.
Aside from the super awesome personalization features, the Nuraphones are both an over-ear and in-ear headphone. The over-ear portion is used to produce bass, while the in-ear portion is used to play everything else. This allows the Nuraphones to have a super wide soundstage despite being a closed-back headphone.
The app gives you a handful of other customization features beyond analyzing your ears. There’s an immersion mode slider, which is just an over-glorified bass low-bass booster. It increases the amount of thump and rumble in your bass, and due to the in-ear/over-ear design (Inova as Nura calls it), this won’t cause any distortion in your music. Battery life is also great. The official number is “more than 20 hours” but I’ve been able to get 30-35 hours on a single charge in my testing.
There are some downside to the Nuraphones, however. Firstly, there’s no on/off switch. The headphone uses a sensor in the right ear cup to detect whether or not they’re on your ears. This introduces a strange problem where the headphone takes several seconds to wake up and connect, sometimes up to 6-8 seconds. The reverse is true as well. When you’re done with the Nuraphones, they take up to a minute to power off, which can be annoying if you’re trying to preserve battery life.
Pros:
- Great sound quality
- Medical-grade hearing sensing & test
- Long battery life
Cons:
- Can be uncomfortable for some
- Proprietary port for wired listening
- Slow to wake/sleep
- Expensive
Best Wireless
Nuraphones by Nura
- $399 from Amazon -$399 from Nura
Truly innovative cans
A solid first attempt from Nura. The Nuraphones have a lot to offer but some minor annoyances can be dealbreakers for some.
Best Sound: Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3
The Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3 offers some of the best sound with a Bluetooth headphone to date. While it won’t compare to wired options, the Momentum Wireless 3 feature boosted bass overall, a slightly recessed but balanced midrange, and a balanced treble overall. The soundstage is excellent for a closed-back Bluetooth headphone, and dynamic range is equally as great.
Comfort is good here, too, with big, soft ear cups, and an equally as soft headband. The ear cups are attached to a sliding mechanism on each side and extend far enough to that even people with big heads will fit them just fine. You won’t have an issue with discomfort or fatiguing and you’ll easily be able to wear them for extended periods of time.
The biggest weakness of the Momentum Wireless 3 is their battery life. They are only capable of up to 17 hours on a single charge with ANC enabled. This is much less than even the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700, which get up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge, and much less than the Sony WH-1000XM3, which feature 30 hours. Fortunately, the Momentum Wireless 3 charge over USB-C, however, they do not feature fast charging of any sort. This means you’ll be waiting around two hours for them to charge it the headphone dies at all.
ANC performance is superb. It’s not on the level of the Sony WH-1000XM3, but it’s good enough. If we had to rank headphones by ANC performance, the Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3 would comfortably be in third place behind the WH-1000XM3 and Bose NCH 700.
Pros:
- Great, bass-boosted sound
- Excellent comfort
- USB-C charging
- Superb ANC performance
- Sliding mechanism ensures great fit
Cons:
- Battery life could be longer
- No fast charging capabilities
- Expensive
Best Sound
Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3
- $350 from Amazon $350 from Best Buy
Super comfy
These are super comfortable headphones with great ANC and sound. However, battery life could be better.
Best Budget Wireless: Tribit XFree Tune
Want wireless headphones with really long battery life? If you answered yes, the Tribit XFree Tune are the right headphones for you. They last up to 40 hours on a single charge, which will get most people through the week without needing to recharge. Sure, they charge over Micro-USB, which is outdated at this point, but this isn’t a huge deal if you have a ton of older gadgets around.
In terms of sound quality, the XFree Tune perform well. The bass is elevated but isn’t too overwhelming. The midrange is balanced and smooth, and the treble has an emphasis, making some tracks sound overly bright. Overall, they bring a fantastic, consumer-friendly sound to the table.
For comfort, the XFree Tune are excellent. There’s no ear fatigue and the headphones are relatively light, so there shouldn’t be any issues with the headband crushing your head. The ear cups and headband are made out of leather as well, which gives you a nice cushion.
Pros:
- Fun, consumer-friendly sound
- Good comfort
- Strong battery life
- Great price
Cons:
- Micro-USB for charging
Best Budget Wireless
Tribit XFree Tune
- $30 from Amazon – $53 at Newegg
They basically last forever
You get excellent sound and great comfort for ridiculously long listening sessions at a low price.
Best Budget Noise Canceling: Mpow H10
The Mpow H10 are the best budget pair of wireless over-ear headphones with ANC around, especially for the price.
In terms of sound quality, the H10 are above-average. The bass overall is balanced and natural. The midrange is only slightly recessed but balanced overall. The treble is okay as well. They may sound sibilant, piercing, and sharp for some users.
Battery life is excellent with up to 30 hours of usage on a single charge. Usually, headphones at this price range get somewhere between 10-15 hours of usage on a single charge, and this is with ANC enabled. Yes, the Mpow H10 have ANC and, fortunately, the ANC doesn’t affect the sound quality in any major way so you can just keep it on 24/7. The ANC itself is good for its price — great for commutes and office environments, although they struggle a bit while flying.
Comfort is surprisingly good here, too. There are no issues with fatigue, pain, or any sort of soreness over several hours of usage. The ear cups use a pleather material, which is fine. Otherwise, the H10 are made of mostly plastic. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The plastic allows the H10 to be super light which makes them even more comfortable.
Pros:
- Great battery life
- Comfortable and light
- Solid ANC
- Above-average sound quality
Cons:
- Sound is a bit sharp
- ANC while flying could use improvement
Best Budget Noise Canceling
Mpow H10
- $50 from Amazon – $90 from Newegg
Inexpensive tunes
For the price, the Mpow H10 are unbeatable thanks to great comfort, battery life, and ANC.
Best Budget Open-Back: Philips SHP9500
Open-back headphones are great for at-home use, and you don’t have to pay a lot to get some. Enter the Philips SHP9500, a budget-friendly set of open-back headphones that make almost no compromises.
Comfort wise, the ear cups and headband are large enough for most ears and heads. You won’t have any issues with comfort, fatigue, or your ears getting warm thanks to the open-back design. Of course, they are wired so need to worry about Bluetooth latency or charging. The included cable is detachable and thankfully Philips uses a standard 3.5mm jack so you can plug in any 3.5mm cable and it’ll work (including ones with microphones).
The sound quality is excellent as expected. You won’t need an amp due to its lower ohm-impedance, but having an amp will make them sound better. The overall sound is good with a balanced and natural sound signature with little modifications here and there that most people won’t hear. And because they are open-back headphones, the soundstage is wide.
Some of the downsides are the same downsides you could mention with any open-back headphones. They’re designed to be used at home, in a relatively quiet environment. They also leak sound like crazy, but that’s by design. On the bright side? You don’t need an ambient sound mode because you’ll hear everything around you no matter what.
Pros:
- Excellent sound quality
- Wide soundstage
- Great comfort
Cons:
- Sound leakage
- Meant to be used at home
- Wired only
Best Budget Open-Back
Philips SHP9500
- $74 from Amazon – $86 from Newegg
Critical listening on a budget
Budget headphones don’t have to be bad. The Philips SHP9500 are a great example of that with excellent sound and soundstage.
Best Planar Magnetic: HiFiMan Ananda
Most headphones available on the market use dynamic drivers and that’s for good reason. They’re easy to manufacture, sound good, and can be used in anything as small as truly wireless earbuds up to large stadium speakers. However, there are other driver types out there, including planar magnetic. This is where the HiFiMan Ananda comes in — a set of planar magnetic headphones meant for people who care deeply about sound quality.
The sound quality here is good. The bass is balanced and natural, while the mids are relatively even with some marginal dips and elevation below and above neutral, respectively. The treble is where they fall short. The treble is fairly uneven with big dips and elevation throughout the entire range making the treble sound a bit odd. This is normal for planar magnetic headphones, since they’re typically great at reproducing bass and mids, but suffer quite substantially with the treble.
Comfort is decent. The ear cups and headband are fairly large. If you have a smaller head, the ear cups may extend past your jaw, making them super uncomfortable for those with smaller heads. Aside from the ear cups, the headphones themselves are fairly heavy thanks to the planar magnetic driver.
Surprisingly, the Ananda don’t require any sort of amplification. The company promotes the idea of using them with your mobile device. This is thanks to the 25 impedance, which is relatively low. You probably won’t want to use these much in public though as they are open-back and quite a bit of sound, naturally.
Pros:
- Good sound quality
- Big ear cups
- No amp required
Cons:
- Heavy
- Ear cups may be too big for some
- Treble response isn’t the greatest
Best Planar Magnetic
HiFiMan Ananda
- $699 from Amazon -$826 from Newegg
Planar at its finest
Planar makes your headphones substantially heavier. If you can get over that, the HiFiMan Ananda deserves your attention.
Bottom line
Over-ear headphones are getting smaller, more compact, and wireless. If that’s what you’re looking for, look no further than the Sony WH-1000XM3, which are the pinnacle of wireless headphone innovation. Stand out features include great portability for an over-ear headphone, excellent comfort, and ridiculously long battery life at 30 hours.
The WH-1000XM3 also currently offers the best active noise cancelation (ANC) performance of any headphone by a mile. If you need ANC headphones, go with the WH-1000XM3. However, the biggest downside with them is that you can’t charge and listen to them at the same time. Yes, they do feature quick charging, but as soon as you plug them in to charge, audio playback gets disabled whether you want to use them over Bluetooth or through the wired 3.5mm connection.
How to choose the best over-ear headphones
While many people are ditching their over-ear headphones for more portable ones, they still play an important role in the headphone market, especially if you care about sound quality. You have to consider comfort as well. These headphones will be over your ear, on your head, and possibly squishing the top of your head for several hours at a time.
Of course, there’s also impedance. While it’s not that important when it comes to portable or wireless headphones, it’s crucial when looking at high-end headphones. This is amplified when looking at open-back headphones.
Sound Quality
I’m going to be honest here. If the sound quality wasn’t great, headphones wouldn’t have made our list, period. The number one thing that attracts people to over-ear headphones is sound quality. Nobody would knowingly choose to use over-ear headphones that sound like garbage. While we have a numerical list here, all of them sound good and you can’t go wrong with any of them.
Our top three picks, the Sennheiser HD600, Philips SHP9500, and the HiFiMan Ananda, are all solid for those who want the most accurate sound you can get. All three sets can essentially replicate a balanced and natural sound without much issue and if there are any inconsistencies can easily be EQ’d to fix any minor variations in sound.
Best active over-ear headphones, ranked by sound quality
Sennheiser HD600
Philips SHP9500
HiFiMan Ananda
Mixcder E9 Wireless
Nuraphones by Nura
Comfort
Comfort is easily the second most important thing when it comes to over-ear headphones. If they’re not comfortable and you can’t wear them for long periods, why have them in the first place?
Easily the number one pick for over-ear headphone comfort are the Sennheiser HD600/650. Those things feel like absolute pillows on your ears and your head. The clamping force isn’t too strong so they don’t add a ton of pressure on your head either.
The next best is, unsurprisingly, the Sony WH-1000XM3. While not as comfortable as the HD600 or the HD650, they’re comfortable enough and that’s super important in the case that you need to use them for extended periods of time, perhaps while flying. When it comes to traveling, you’d want the most comfortable headphones you can find.
Best over-ear headphones, ranked by comfort
Sennheiser HD600/650
Sony WH-1000XM3
Philips SHP9500
Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3
Mixcder E9 Wireless
Impedance
In an attempt to not get overly technical, impedance indicates how much power a headphone may require. The higher the impedance, the more power your headphone requires and the more likely you’ll need an amp. Generally speaking, the lower the impedance the better.
The magical number for mobile devices is typically 32 or lower. Anything higher means you’ll probably need an amp of some sort to drive your headphones. That number isn’t universal, however, as smartphones such as the LG V30 can theoretically drive headphones with an impedance of roughly 600.
It’s not like plugging in high-impedance headphones into a low-impedance device will result in no sound, either. That combination will likely work. However, you’ll likely need to max out your phone’s volume level to get some sound out of it, if at all.
To nobody’s surprise, the Mpow H10 are our top pick in this regard. They’re relatively inexpensive headphones designed for portable use. The Sony WH-1000XM3, Nuraphones By Nura, Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3 and Mixcder E9 Wireless are our next obvious choices since they were all designed for wireless use.
And while the Philips SHP9500 are not on the list, they are worth mentioning as they have a relatively low impedance despite being an open-back headphone. The SHP9500 are one of the few open-back headphones that you can simply just plug into your smartphone and listen without an amplifier.
Mpow H10
Sony WH-1000XM3
Nuraphones by Nura
Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3
Mixcder E9 Wireless
Credits — The team that worked on this guide
Peter Cao has a deep love for sound, specifically in headphones. In his free time, he plays a ton of video games.
