The Best Bluetooth Noise-cancelling Headsets Reviewed and Compared

Bluetooth headset design

Circum-aural or supra-aural headphones?

• Circum aural: The headset’s earcups surround your ears. This provides good passive noise isolation.
• Supra aural: The headset’s earcups sit on top of your ears. This design is more breathable but it filters out less ambient noise and places pressure on your ear cartilage, which can be uncomfortable over long sessions.

Leather, leatherette, or fabric?

• Leather, leatherette, or silicone: These materials are less breathable. Sweat can accumulate and become a nuisance.
• Fabric: A more breathable material, but gets dirty easily. You’ll need to clean or replace the pads regularly, as they absorb your sweat.

Foldable or rigid headband?

• Foldable: Easier to transport but the hinges may squeak or make noise when you handle the headband.
• Rigid: More elegant design, but less portable. At the very least, make sure you can lay the earcups flat, so you can wear the headset around your neck.

Bluetooth headset audio quality

Hi-Res certified?

Not a true standard. Corresponds to the resolution of an audio file. There are file formats with higher or lower resolution. Hi-Res formats (FLAC, ALAC) have better resolution, and therefore better quality, than non-Hi-Res formats (MP3, AAC). There are 3 elements to consider.

• Bit depth
• Sample rate
• Bit rate

Hi-Res refers to anything with higher values than “CD quality”. The higher these values, the less compressed the sound and the better its resolution or quality. However, the file will be larger. Hence, you need a good codec to avoid loss of detail when broadcasting via Bluetooth.

Bluetooth codec

Frequency response

The range of frequencies that headphones can reproduce. 20 to 20,000 Hz on average, which corresponds to what the human ear can perceive. The wider the frequency response, the more room you have to correct the sound via the equalizer and perceive some of the more subtle sounds in your tracks.

Sound signature of Bluetooth headphones

A track can be broken down into three main types of frequency: bass, midrange, and treble. Depending on the type of frequency highlighted or not by the headset, a curve will emerge. This curve corresponds to the sound signature of the Bluetooth headset.

Ideally, a headset with the most neutral signature (flat curve) will produce the most faithful sound reproduction. However, you can’t totally “erase” a character trait with an equalizer. The essence of the musical message lies in the midrange (instruments, vocals).

Bluetooth headset with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)

The headset picks up ambient noise via microphones and transmits it to the ears by inverting it (known as phase inversion). ANC compensates for the noise, so you no longer hear it.

The more microphones the headset has, the more effective ANC is likely to be. Manually adjustable noise cancellation is also preferable to purely automatic ANC.

There’s also a transparency mode. This amplifies ambient noise to keep you aware of your surroundings. The important thing here is the naturalness of the amplified noises. There is often a hissing effect and distortion that can be unpleasant.

Bluetooth headset features

This list is arbitrary and subjective:

• Bluetooth multipoint connectivity: The ability to pair your headset with at least two devices simultaneously.
• Wear detection: The headset detects when you put it on and take it off your head, letting it pause the music or put itself to sleep automatically, thus conserving battery power.
• IP rating: Choose a water- and dust-resistant headset with at least IPX4 rating.
• Equalizer: A five-band equalizer is rarely ideal. At the very least, it allows you to personalize your audio experience.
• Microphone quality: You’re likely to use your Bluetooth headset to make calls, so the quality can be an important factor to consider.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 is THE flagship of Sony consumer headphones. Its predecessor, the Sony WH-1000XM4, and its predecessor before that, the WH-1000XM3, were considered the best references on the market.

The Bluetooth headset relies heavily on sound quality, thanks to Sony’s LDAC codec, but also on the effectiveness of its Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). The Sony WH-1000XM5 also marked a breakthrough in terms of design, with a more refined, streamlined look.

However, I don’t think Sony is offering much in the way of innovation compared with the Sony WH-1000XM4. Where Sony really stood out, in my opinion, was the quality of its microphones for calls and certain “comfort” features such as wear detecion and touch controls, which less expensive models often lack.

This is the less premium version of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (review). It costs $249 now and you only lose 360° audio and the aptX Adaptive codec.

Audio quality is less advanced than on the Sony WH-1000XM5, but is equivalent to that of the AirPods Max. It also lacks a wear detection sensor.

However, Bose’s ANC is excellent, and it’s also the most comfortable headset to wear in this selection. The design is highly portable since the headset’s earcups can be folded away. These two very good points compensate for the shortcomings I mentioned above.

If you want a no-fuss, plug-and-play, premium headset to stream MP3s over Spotify, this is an excellent choice.

These mid-range headphones retail for $99 a pop. It unquestionably has the best battery life of all the models nextpit has reviewed to date. It can last 60 hours with ANC enabled. Without ANC, its battery life hits an amazing 90 hours! With normal use, you can use them for two or even three weeks without recharging.

The audio quality of these headphones is also very good, better than the competition in this price range. Its design, though a little austere, is extremely comfortable.

However, Audio-Technica had to sacrifice a number of features here. There’s no application support and hence, misses out on an equalizer. The physical controls are not customizable. Only basic SBC and AAC codecs are supported. Multipoint connectivity is available though. It’s a simple headset, easy to use, not too expensive, and above all, indestructible.

The Apple AirPods Max is the most expensive wireless headphones in this selection. That doesn’t mean it’s the best model. If you’re not into the Apple ecosystem, you’ll have to give it a pass. Apple’s headphones is too limited in functionality when paired with a non-Apple device.

If you have an iPhone, an iPad, and a MacBook Pro, then the AirPods Max remains a very good choice in 2024, even almost four years after its debut.

Its ANC is excellent, perhaps better than that of Sony and Bose. The design is elegant and uncluttered. Audio quality is decent, although the headphones doesn’t support lossless audio over Bluetooth.

Battery life is rated at 20 hours, but it’s not possible to switch the headphones off completely. The absence of an IP rating is also a rather negative point for a model costing $549.

The Bose QC Ultra is a very good pair of wireless headphones with ANC. It’s very comfortable to wear, all the features are there (except audio via USB-C), there’s an HD codec, IPX4 rating, a comprehensive app, and excellent battery life.

Immersive sound is a bit of a gimmick, but it’s easy to use and works well enough. We’re still a long way from the quality of Apple’s spatial sound, however.

At $429, these are very expensive headphones, and a good alternative to the AirPods Max for Apple fans. If price is no object for you, I’d recommend the Bose QC Ultra if you value the ANC quality and wearing comfort. ANC is great with these headphones. If audio quality is your priority, the Sony WH-1000XM5 would still be my favorite.

If you want a good pair of headphones but don’t have $300 to $400 to drop, the Soundcore Space Q45 is for you. The successor to the convincing Life Q35 shares its strengths, while improving on its shortcomings such as the weak ANC. Priced at just under $150, the Space Q45 boasts a well-balanced specification sheet that makes it the perfect headset for the average user.

The design is lovely, battery life is excellent, and the efficient ANC is pleasant to use daily. The Space Q45 also impressed with its well-thought-out companion application and features such as multipoint connectivity, in addition to LDAC and Bluetooth 5.3 support. All in all, Soundcore succeeded in creating a pair of headphones with very good value for money, whose only shortcoming is its sound quality as it doesn’t match the performance of models it targets.

The Sennheiser Accentum Wireless is obviously not as good as the Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4, which sells for $380, nor is it a flagship killer. It’s simply a very good, coherent mid-range headset.

ANC is more than adequate. Battery life is excellent. Audio quality doesn’t break any records, but it does a fine job of earning its keep if you’re listening to MP3s on Spotify, and you’ve got an HD audio codec with aptX HD. You’ve even got multipoint Bluetooth connectivity, and the Smart Control companion app is very comprehensive.

Its only real shortcomings are its non-foldable form factor, the absence of a carrying case, and the missing wear detection. The headphone’s physical controls aren’t super intuitive, either. The Sennheiser Accentum also lacks an IP rating for water and dust resistance.

If you’re looking for the most affordable Bluetooth headset possible, you should take a look at the Soundcore Life Q35 on Amazon. The successor to the Soundcore Life QC 30, which we also reviewed, is now available for $129 a pop. The Life QC35 offers decent ANC performance, good sound quality, and above all, an excellent application.