You’ll never truly know what a good pair of travel headphones can mean to you- until you sit down next to that screaming baby and press the button. We’re talking about the button that makes your ordinary headphones into noise cancelling headphones, drowning out any (and all) unwanted noises. As one might come to guess- this is priceless, so here are the best headphones for all budgets.
Top Of The Line: Bose QC35 Wireless Headphones
Pros: Extremely comfortable. Memory foam. Active noise cancelling. Airline plug in jack. Fast USB charging. Bluetooth capable. Sleek protective case. We use these ourselves (and paid for them).
Cons: Expensive. That’s about it…
Price: $349.
Medium High Line: AKG N60 NC Wireless Headphones
Pros: Solidly comfortable. Noise cancelling. Plug in options. Fast USB charging. Bluetooth capable. Small protective case. Great sound for price!
Cons: Noise cancelling is not as good (but still nice). Not quite as comfortable.
Price: $199.
Medium Low Line: Backbeat Pro Wireless Headphones
Pros: Soft ear cups. Pair multiple devices at once. Noise cancelling. Plug in options. Fast USB charging. Bluetooth capable. 24 hours of sound. Portable case.
Cons: Sound quality is solid but incomparable to top range. Wear down faster.
Price: $129.
Affordable Value Line: Cowin E7 Wireless Headphones
Pros: Decent Noise cancelling. Plug in adapters. Excellent battery life. Bluetooth capable. 30 hours of sound. Good sound quality for the price.
Cons: Padding not as soft as others. Sound not as rich. No carrying case.
Price: $39 (limited time deal).
Interesting tidbit: I was once a music producer.
What Are Your Favorite Travel Headphones? Leave A Comment!
I adore my new Sony MDR-1000s. I find their noise cancelling to be the equivalent at least of Bose, great sound quality, stable bluetooth connection and gestures are a nice touch.
Bowers & Wilkins Wireless P7s. Compact and active noise cancellation reduces plane noise to a whisper.
Sony mdr 1000X
Better than Bose in features and sound quality.
1. Bose is no doubt the famous name for NC as pilots use their headphone brands. But you might want to try Sony MDR-1000X for cheaper and same overall quality.
2. NC is a feature highly praised by frequent flyers as it negates engine and other constant background noise. But it comes at a price, reduced of sound quality (that little buzzing sound) or comfort (the little pressure you felt on your ear canal). You might want to try earbud with Noise Isolation which minimize (not negates) background noise and didn’t sacrifice sound quality. Try Shure or Etymotic.
3. Love earbud but hate cables? Try bose soundsport.
4. Want a cheap but very good sound quality with some noise isolation? ATH-M50
Hope those helps. Cheers
I absolutely love my ATH-ANC7B headphones. They are over the ear and fit comfortably, and run on a single AAA battery. When I am out and about (not on a plane), I use TaoTronics ANC earbuds for the same reason.
ANC7B: https://smile.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-ANC7B-QuietPoint-Noise-Cancelling-Closed-Back/dp/B002HWJT1A/
TaoTronic Earbuds: https://smile.amazon.com/TaoTronics-Cancelling-Headphones-Construction-Gold-plated/dp/B01L8OA2CC/
Love my Bang & Olsen Beoplay H4. Totally class sound; serious battery life; very c omfortable; no carry case but €15 solved that on eBay!
I have QC35 also. Just got off 9 hour BA flight. I’d say that they cut out 80% of the plane noise. Best thing I’ve bought in ages. Highly recommended.
I traded in (at Amazon for good resale value) my Bose wired NR headphones (that I loved) for the Bose wired earbuds (that I now love even more). Benefits: I’m always eliminating “stuff” from my flight bag to add newer “stuff.” Down-sizing from over-the-ear headphones to earbuds freed up a ton of space. Earbuds, with charger, splitter, and airplane adapter, fit in their standard soft pouch, which fits in a jacket pocket. Plus, I can (almost) comfortably leave the earbuds in when side-sleeping — not true of headphones. Still have older Sony NR buds for back-up — they take a AAA battery which can be handy. NR almost as good. Lastly, Bose has *world-class* customer service — a mgr gave me their tiny charger (from obsolete inventory) when they had none to sell — a totally unexpected move cementing a lifetime customer. Keeping the wire for now as the easiest way to insure connection to airplane entertainment.
Bose earbuds – nothing else comes close. Easy to carry, great battery life, good noise cancellation.
Can’t sleep with over the ear headphone and they are ridiculously bulky. Plus over-the-ear give me headaches.
I have these headphones and also use this. It is good for us.
I have to give the nod to the Bose noise cancelling headphones. I always scoffed a Bose speakers because regardless of what they claimed, the could never deliver low end frequencies from a small speaker. Being a classical musician, I am picky about sound. My wife bought these first. I listened to some heavy duty symphonic works through them and was instantly hooked. Thankfully Santa brought them last year! Thanks Santa!!
What about AXUM? finally, someone is making wireless headphones for RUNNERS!!!! and not just another gaming/Netflix earbuds… to be honest, I really doubt that there’s a better pair of this completely wireless earbuds – can’t wait to get mine https://goo.gl/2V1gUj
I bought the high end bose nc over ear headphones last September. Wore them four hours and just sold them on eBay. Just not comfortable over ear. All about the fit.