Whether you are working from home, spending a lot of time on the plane, or just wanting to turn down the outside world, noise-canceling headphones are worth the investment.
Even the most valuable headphones, they feel lacking if they don’t have half of the noise cancellation. Also, there are so many headphones on the market (our test pool gets bigger in a month) that you have to pay hundreds of dollars to get Subpar ANC.
7 Best Earbuds to Buy from Bose, Apple and More in 2025
To help you introduce the best choices for brands like Apple, Beat, Bose, Sony, and Sonos, Mashable editors and reviewers tested dozens of headphones and earbuds. From flagship models to cheap buds, we picked out the best noise headphones for 2025.
How do noise-cancelling headphones actually work?
Even cheap headphones can block some noise from the outside world. And, you can always blast music loudly to drown out the nearby conversation and street noise and eliminate it with passive noise. But if you really want to lower the volume of the world to the limit, you need headphones with active noise.
Active noise-cancelling headphones electronically cover the sound of the surrounding environment. They use an internal microphone to listen to the world around you, then turn the noise and send it to the speakers. The idea is that both the output and the input will be cancelled, making you nearly driven. The best flow earphones also create a tight seal around the ear, providing additional passive sound blocking.
Test the Apple AirPods Max headset, which did not finalize the editing of this guide.
Credits: Zlata Ivleva / Mashable
Close to and personal with the Sony WH-1000XM5 noise-cancelling headphones.
Credits: Molly Flores / Mashable
If you have tried a pair of noise-cancelling headphones before and are not impressed, don’t be discouraged, as not all ANCs do well. For example, cheap ANC headphones may have a more noticeable hissing sound, which you will hear when the noise is turned on, which may distract some people.
Other headphones may block in a low-key way, but it is easier to make people utter high pitches. Typically, premium headphones will achieve better results everywhere, but our budget options are still below what we can still work solidly.
In the past, few wireless earbuds had active noise cancellation comparable to earphones, but new iterations like the AirPods Pro and Bose letimcomfort Ultra Earbuds have their own space in the ANC space. However, even these earbuds don’t get the same seal as the headphones (or fits many microphones), so stick with the headphones if you want to keep your silence to the greatest extent.
What are the best noise-cancelling headphones?
When it comes to noisy audio, Bose is usually the name of the name (and in our preferred choice), often guiding the industry to the best ANC.
That being said, this is not the only brand worth checking out. If you want top-notch ANC of high quality, Sony can make a great choice. On the other hand, people looking for more affordable options may attract Earfun, which brings great value to noise-reducing spaces. Essentially, making the best noise range for the headphones depends on the other features and price ranges you are looking for in a pair of headphones – our guide below lists the glow of each of our pickers.
Recent test updates
As of July 2025, we replaced the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones with their newer Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones.
We added the Earfun Air Pro 4 earbuds to our February 2025 test, as our favorite earbuds are available for under $100. We think they should have the Beats Studio Buds+ out of the list due to the excellent noise cancellation, battery life and value of the Air Pro (after Apple owned earbuds beat the newer Airpods 4). We also added the Sennheiser Momentum 4 headphones as another option for the best battery life headphones of March 2025.
In September 2024, we tried the JBL Live Beam 3 earbuds and we enjoyed their sound, unique design and touch screen case that makes it easy to check the headphones’ battery life and control the audio. However, their noise cancellation doesn’t hit the $200 earbuds. As the battery life command is impressive, we also added the Dyson OnTrac headset as the choice for optimal battery life.
In August 2024, we said goodbye to the Bose 700 headphones as our advice for the best noise headphones with adjustable ANC. It’s been a long time since these headphones have been technically discontinued since the release of the Bose QC Ultra headphones in September 2023, but are still available from other retailers outside of Bose. We will note any new model with the adjustable noise cancellation that these Bose headphones have ever offered.
