So imagine you’re on a plane, a nice relaxing ride. You have your complimentary bag of peanuts and everything is going great. Then all of a sudden, a couple rows back a baby starts crying. You can’t complain cause the mom is doing her best to calm the child down, but even still, you were wanting to take a nap and relax for the next hour or so. One of the best resolutions when it comes to a situation like this, is pulling out a pair of noise cancelling headphones.
One thing to remember when it comes to noise cancelling headphones is that there is a big difference between cancelling and dampening. A noise dampening pair of headphones normally surrounds the ear providing a passive barrier between you and the noises of the outside world. There is no noise “cancelling” properties to it. But with noise cancelling headphones, there is an active part to the noise cancellation. In headphones like the Sennheiser HD 4.50 and the Samsung Level On Pro, there is an active sine wave that is produced. In the headphones are drivers that produce that sound that acts as a barrier to shield you from the noises outside the headphones. On its own it will do well, but the optimal use is generally while the headphones are playing a tv show or music to help with the masking and coverage of the noise.
Since the focus of this article is on noise cancelling headphones, the only ones in this list will have active noise cancellation components to them.
Table of Contents:
Best Headphones Under $200
Sony WH-CH700N
Price (before shipping)- $198.00
Sony is a name that I personally trust with most consumer audio products. Especially this pair of noise cancelling headphones which have a built in artificial intelligence that will analyze how much background noise there is and adjust to match for optimal comfort. On top of that, these do have bluetooth connectivity so you don’t ever have to worry about keeping track of a specific cable for these.
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Mic | Bluetooth | Wired | Phone Controls | Battery Life | Frequency Response | Case |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Up to 35 Hours | 20- 20 kHz |
X |
Sennheiser HD 4.50
Price (before shipping)- $149.00
Sennheiser’s ear cup style is unique and extremely comfortable since they do their best to create a form that wraps around your ear successfully without cramping of any kind. There is a power cable of sorts that you can connect for wired listening so that you can save your battery. Integrated into this as well, is a microphone so you may make calls as well.
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Mic | Bluetooth | Wired | Phone Controls | Battery Life | Frequency Response | Case |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | X | Up to 19 Hours | 18- 22 kHz |
X |
Samsung Level On Pro
Price (before shipping)- $164.95
These headphones come with a slightly smaller ear cup and may not fit around everyone’s ears completely. However they still are one of the better options for under $200 that you can find from a brand that has proven its trustworthiness.
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Mic | Bluetooth | Wired | Phone Controls | Battery Life | Frequency Response | Case |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 10 Hours Talk
10 Hours Play | ? |
X |
Best Headphones Under $400
Bose QuietComfort 35 Series II
Price (before shipping)- $349.00
Bose- QuietComfort 35 Series II
Bose is one of the greats when it comes to quality of sound and product. This is also the “Amazon Choice” for noise cancelling headphones. It comes with the ability for bluetooth or wired, as well as a microphone for phone calls. On top of that, it has Alexa-Enabled voice commands for music, information, or anything else that Alexa is associated with.
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Mic | Bluetooth | Wired | Phone Controls | Battery Life | Frequency Response | Case |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Up to 20 Hours | ? |
✓ |
Sony WH1000XM2
Price (before shipping)- $348.00
Another great Sony product making our list is the WH1000XM2, this one is more expensive but I assure you still worth the price. Similar to the previous Sony, this one has the ability to monitor the noise around you to adjust for the best cancellation effect. It also has many controls that can be used simply by touching the ear cups. If you cover the right one with your hand it automatically turns down whatever you are listening to to adjust for conversations; there is also a way to hook it up for your phones voice controls and activate it with one tap on the headphones.
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Mic | Bluetooth | Wired | Phone Controls | Battery Life | Frequency Response | Case |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Up to 30 Hours | 4 Hz-
40 kHz |
✓ |
Sennheiser PXC 550
Price (before shipping)- $228.50
I brought on another Sennheiser because honestly, I could not resist. I have so much respect for this company and I wanted to showcase a great product from them. It includes 3 microphones for the clearest audio possible for phone calls. The headphones listen to the room around to provide the best cancellation they can, and as I mentioned before, this company makes some of the most comfortable headphones I have worn.
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Mic | Bluetooth | Wired | Phone Controls | Battery Life | Frequency Response | Case |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Up to 30 Hours | 17Hz-
23 kHz |
✓ |
Related: read out post on Best Headphones for Drummers.