5 Best noise-cancelling headphones in the market
1 – Sony WH-1000XM3
Sony WH-1000XM3 is the third generation of noise-canceling headphones which came out in 2018 August is still the best noise-canceling headphones that can be found in the market. It’s quite similar to the previous model WH-1000XM2 but with some improvements such as using USB-C, including softer padding to the ear cups and changing the headband shape and including a cushion to make it more comfortable.
Noise cancellation
From the noise cancellation perspective, this can be considered as the best option in the market. It gives you much better isolation. Sound leakage is minimal, and you can be sure that the sound from your headset will not be leaked to outside.
Battery life
This has a great battery life of 27 hours, and even with 10 minutes charge, it can be used for 5 hours playback time. In the supporting app, there is an auto-off option that can be set to optimize the battery life as well.
Sound Quality
Sounds much better at higher volume levels (80%). If you like more Bass in the headset, Sony WH-1000XM3 is the device for you. They have nailed it when it comes to the bass sounds in the headphones. Another good news for music lovers, It has aptX HD, which enhances the music quality when you listen to it using Bluetooth.
- Weight: 254 g
- Cable length: 3.94 ft
- Battery life: 27 hours
- NFC: Yes
- Bluetooth : 4.0
 Pros |  Cons |
|---|---|
| Best noise cancellation | No huge difference with 1000XM2 |
| Good battery life (30 hours) | Not the best for phone calls |
| Good supporting app | |
2 – Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700
Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 is the new kid in town, which was released in 2019, June. It’s the successor of the long-lived QuietComfort series. There are few improvements they have made to the 700 series when comparing with QuietComfort 35 II. They have upgraded to USB-C and included a touchpad where you can control the volume, play & pause, etc.
Noise-canceling
Noise cancellation has improved, and its much better than QuietComfort 35 II. Once you put ANC ( Active noise canceling) to the maximum level, you can barely hear what’s happening around you. Even in the GYM or inside a train, you will barely hear the noises around you. From the ANC perspective, this beats out many devices in the market.
Battery life
This has a battery life of 20 hours, and with the inclusion of USB-c, it allows fast charge, where a 10 minutes charge will give you a 2.5 hours playback time.
Sound Quality
It sounds much better in the upper mid-range (70% volume level). Bass is much deeper than the earlier models, and it’s just the right amount, and if you are a person who prefers more Bass, then you might feel it’s only right on the fence.
This model is more comfortable than Sony WH-1000XM3, even though the noise cancellation is slightly better in Sony WH-1000XM3.
- Weight: 254g
- Battery life: 20 hours
- NFC: Yes
- Bluetooth 5.0
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Very good quality on calls | Expensive |
| Nice design | Heavier than QuietComfort 35 II |
| Can pair multiple devices | |
3 – Bose QuietComfort 35 II
QuietComfort 35 II was released in June 2018 with some minor changes to its earlier model QuietComfort 35. One noticeable inclusion is the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support. In general, these are very durable and have an amazing built quality.
Unlike Sony WH-1000XM3, this does not have any touch controls on the earpieces, but the buttons work perfectly fine.
Noise-canceling
Unlike in the previous model, you can control the ANC level with this. Which is a quite useful feature. Overall QuietComfort 35 II has a pretty decent noise-canceling and with the new model Bose 700, they have certainly improved a lot.
Battery life
This has 20 hours of battery life. It has some fast recharge mechanism built-in, where you can get 2.5 hours of playback time by just charging for 15 minutes.
Sound quality
Sound quality is pretty similar to the earlier model. No significant changes. It provides clean bass sounds, which is just the right amount. Then again, if you prefer more Bass on the device, you will feel its little bit under the correct levels.They have optimized the sound leakage but not as good as Sony WH-1000XM3.
- Weight: 235g
- Cable length: 3.94 feet
- Battery life: 20+ hours
- NFC: Yes
- Bluetooth : 4.0
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Good noise cancellation | Same as earlier model |
| Lightweight | |
| Comfortable |
4 – Jabra Elite 85h
Jabra Elite 85h was released on April 30, 2019. With this new model, Jabra is giving a good competition for the market giants Sony and bose. This is a waterproof headphone set, which is not so common in the other devices in the market. You can wear it to the GYM and sweat on it without any problems.
Noise-canceling
Jabra is claiming that they have the best noise cancellation technology in the market with this device by challenging Sony and bose. I cannot fully agree on that, but they have made it expertly and quite close to what you can get in sony and Bose.
Battery life
When it comes to battery life, this beats sony and bose hands down. This has 36 hours of battery life, even with the noise cancellation on. The fast charging mechanism is incredible here, where you can get 5 hrs of playback time with just 15 mins of charging.
Sound quality
Sound quality is good in general, and we can see similar characteristics to other competitive products. It performed really good in the mid-volume range (60%); also, we did not notice any weird audio fluctuation in the higher levels. Bass levels are a bit higher than Bose devices but less than Sony.
When it comes to the sound leaking, this has decent protection as well. Its better than Bose but cannot beat the levels of Sony.
- Weight: 298 g
- Battery life: 36 hours
- NFC: N/A
- Bluetooth : 5.0
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Excellent app features | Expensive |
| Good battery life |
5 – Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9I
B&O H9i headphones came to the market at the end of 2018, and these are premium quality headphones which priced slightly above the average headphones market price. This has an amazing built quality and tempting set of features.
Noise-canceling
The level of noise-canceling is quite similar to bose QuietComfort 35 II but cannot beat the level of Sony WH-1000XM3. There is an option to activate or cancel the ANC feature on the device.
Battery life
This device has a decent battery life of 18 hours.
Sound quality
Good sound quality overall. It performs really well with high mid-value levels (70%) and can be listened to it comfortably. Bass is clear even in the higher volume levels.
- Weight: 285 g
- Battery life: 18 hours
- NFC: N/A
- Bluetooth : 4.2
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Depth Bass sounds | Expensive |
| Fairly good noise cancellation |
