The Best Noise-Cancelling Headphones for Deep Work

Good noise cancelling does not make a room silent, but it takes the HVAC, the traffic and the colleague on a call three desks over and turns them into a soft hush you stop noticing. These five are the strongest options for offices, flights and noisy homes.

What we judged

Noise cancelling on voices. Low rumble is easy. Human speech is hard, and it is the thing that breaks concentration. We gave the most weight to how well each model handles office chatter.

Microphone quality. You will take calls on these. Plenty of headphones still make you sound like you are in a bathroom, and the picks here do not.

Comfort at hour four. Clamp force, weight and ear-cup depth. Several great-sounding headphones fail here.

Multipoint. Connected to a laptop and a phone at the same time, so you can take a call on either one without re-pairing.

#1 Best overall

Sony WH-1000XM6

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• Over-ear, folding design returns
• Twelve microphones for ANC and calls
• Around 30 hours battery with ANC
• Multipoint Bluetooth

Pros

• +Class-leading noise cancelling, especially voices
• +Folds flat for travel again
• +Call quality finally matches the ANC

Cons

• –Expensive
• –Touch controls are fiddly in cold weather
• –Sound is tuned warm out of the box

Sony’s sixth-generation flagship fixed the two complaints about the fifth: it folds again, and the call microphones are now as good as the noise cancelling. Reviewers agree that twelve mics and a new processor make it the best at suppressing voices. Owners report it stays comfortable through a working day.

The default sound is warm with a bass tilt. Spend two minutes in the app EQ and it is excellent. Touch controls on the cup work well indoors and poorly with gloves. It costs what a flagship costs.

#2 Most comfortable

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd gen)

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• Over-ear
• CustomTune adaptive ANC
• Around 30 hours
• Lossless over USB-C

Pros

• +Lightest clamp force of the premium set
• +ANC is nearly tied with Sony
• +Physical buttons

Cons

• –Battery trails Sony
• –App is cluttered
• –Case is bulky

Bose has the lightest clamp of any premium over-ear, and for people who get a headache from headphones by lunch, that alone decides it. The second generation added lossless audio over USB-C and tightened the adaptive ANC to within a hair of Sony. The buttons are real buttons, which we appreciate.

Battery is good but not Sony good. The case is big. The app wants your attention more than it should.

#3 Best earbuds

Apple AirPods Pro 3

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• In-ear with foam-infused tips
• Improved ANC over Pro 2
• Heart-rate sensor
• Live translation on iPhone

Pros

• +ANC in an earbud that rivals over-ears
• +Instant pairing across Apple devices
• +Hearing aid features cleared by regulators

Cons

• –Best features need an iPhone
• –Battery is a few hours per charge
• –Easy to lose

Earbuds used to be the compromise option for noise cancelling. On the third-generation AirPods Pro, the new foam-infused tips seal better, and the ANC is close enough to the over-ears that they are a realistic choice for flights. The hearing-health features are useful. Pairing across a Mac, iPad and iPhone is instant.

They make much less sense on Android, where the Apple-only features disappear; Android owners should look at the Sony WF-1000XM5 in our earbuds for work calls guide instead.

#4 Best for Mac users who want over-ears

Apple AirPods Max (USB-C)

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• Over-ear aluminium
• Spatial audio with head tracking
• Lossless over USB-C
• Around 20 hours

Pros

• +Build quality is a class above
• +Automatic switching between Mac and iPhone
• +Transparency mode sounds natural

Cons

• –Heavy
• –Case is famously bad
• –Battery is the shortest here

AirPods Max are heavy, the case is a joke, and the battery is the shortest here. Owners still like them because of how they fit into a Mac workflow: they appear on the laptop before you have sat down, transparency mode sounds like not wearing headphones, and the aluminium and mesh build makes everything else feel like plastic.

The USB-C revision added lossless and low-latency audio over the cable. If you edit video or audio on a Mac, that matters. If you are on Windows or Android, skip these.

#5 Best battery

Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless

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• Over-ear
• Around 60 hours with ANC
• Adaptive ANC
• Multipoint

Pros

• +Two full work weeks between charges
• +Balanced, detailed sound
• +Comfortable for long sessions

Cons

• –ANC a step behind Sony and Bose
• –Plain design
• –Touch controls

Sennheiser’s strength is battery life. Around 60 hours with noise cancelling on means two full work weeks between charges. The sound is the most balanced here, with clear detail in the mids where voices and acoustic instruments live.

The noise cancelling is a clear step behind Sony and Bose on voices. The design is anonymous. For a home office where the problem is a dishwasher rather than a colleague, that trade makes sense.

For calls on the move

This guide is about focus. If the job is being heard clearly on a windy platform, our earbuds for work calls guide puts microphones first.

Over-ear or earbuds?

Over-ears cancel more, last longer per charge, and are more comfortable for marathon sessions. Earbuds disappear into a pocket, work for a run at lunch, and do not flatten your hair before a client call. Many people own both and reach for the over-ears on a focus day.

The short version

• Best at making noise go away: Sony WH-1000XM6.
• Headphones give you headaches: Bose QC Ultra 2nd gen.
• Apple ecosystem, earbuds: AirPods Pro 3.
• Apple ecosystem, over-ears: AirPods Max USB-C.
• Charging is a chore: Sennheiser Momentum 4.