The best over-ear headphones are those that completely immerse you in sound. Their increased physical size compared to the best wireless earbuds means they can make use of larger speaker drivers, which are able to deliver sound packed with detail and definition.
And, while it could be entirely subjective, we believe over-ear headphones have the capacity to be more comfortable than earbuds, thanks to plush materials used on the headband and ear cups. This isn't always the case, of course, which is why we make sure to rate each and every pair we test on their comfort.
A good proportion of over-ear headphones also make use of active noise cancellation, which is only boosted by the snug fit and encapsulating ear cups. This combination of comfort, sound and noise-cancellation make over-ear headphones ideal for travelling, allowing you to switch off from those around you on long-haul flights, for example.
And, you may not have considered it, but over-ear headphones are also generally better for your hearing health, as they aren’t pressing up into your ears like earbuds or compressing your ears like on-ear headphones will.
The list below has remained largely unchanged for some time, owing to the quality of the pairs we've selected. The Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 are fully deserving of a spot, as are the Dali IO-8. But both pairs can be tricky to come by in Australia and, in the case of the Dalis, rather expensive, which are the only reasons they're omitted. If you can get your hands on either pair, however, you won't regret it.
The quick list
Below you'll find a quick roundup of our choices for the best over-ear headphones in Australia. You can click to read more in-depth reviews of each pair and view the latest deals using our price comparison tool.
The best over-ear headphones overall
The WH-1000XM4s are a flawlessly designed pair of over-ear headphones that, despite having an established successor, continue to remain at the top of our list for their premium features and increasingly better price.
The best budget over-ear headphones
A great-sounding pair of affordable over-ear headphones with a very impressive 100 hours of battery life to boot. They also offer customisable audio, solid noise cancellation and a comfortable fit. They're astoundingly good value.
The best premium over-ear headphones
Outstanding sound, stellar battery life, effective ANC that keeps up with the big players and a gorgeous look and build, the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 over-ears are the very epitome of premium headphones.
The best mid-range over-ear headphones
Serving up sound, ANC and comfort in a delightfully affordable package, these Sonys are a terrific purchase.
The best over-ear headphones for sound
Cheap these are not, but thanks to their planar magnetic drivers, they sound unbelievably good. There's no ANC, but otherwise are well-specced.
The best over-ear headphones for ANC
We thought it could never be done, but Sony has dethroned Bose as the best over-ear headphones for noise cancellation abilities. A remarkable feat that proves just how good they are.
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The best looking over-ear headphones
Who said over-ear headphones had to be all substance, no style? Clearly not Bowers & Wilkins. The PX8 make use of aluminum detailing encased by Nappa leather, raising the bar of high-end.
The best open-back over-ear headphones
An open-back design helps facilitate a wider, more expansive soundstage, and the wired HD-660S2 are made to bring mixing booth level quality to everyday listening. They just might not be great for the commute due to sound leakage.
The best over-ears for movie audio
The Sonos Ace aren't the most talented with music – but for movie watching, they're unrivalled. They can support Dolby Atmos spatial audio from any Bluetooth device and the ANC is great too.
The best Apple over-ear headphones
For sheer convenience, sound quality and ANC, the Apple AirPods Max certainly impress. Hi-Res Audio support and a better carry case would have been nice, but where music is concerned, they're simply outstanding.
June 5, 2025 Replaced the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless with the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 as the 'best premium' headphone pick. Replaced the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones with the Sony WH-1000XM6 as the 'best over-ears for ANC' based on our recent testing.
The best over-ear headphones in Australia for 2025
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Below you can find more in-depth reviews of each choice for our favourite pairs of over-ear headphones. You can then choose to click through to the full review of each, written by TechRadar's team of audio and headphone experts.
The best over-ear headphones for most people
The Sony WH-1000XM4 over-ear headphones are getting a bit old now, and they've been replaced by the WH-1000XM5, but we still rate this solid set of cans as being the best for most people. They deliver a thoroughly impressive and enjoyable sound and a string of useful features, all wrapped up in package that is now a lot more affordable.
Other pairs of headphones may trump the XM4s in individual areas, but as an all-rounder, this pair from Sony is sensational – plus, you'd need to spend a lot more on those other pairs. We usually see the Sony WH-1000XM4 hover around the AU$350 mark, and they're regularly discounted during major peak trading shopping events.
Along with their clear, detailed and deep sound, they also offer effective noise cancellation. We do think the Bose QuietComfort Ultra at #6 on this list are more accomplished ANC performers, but we reckon most people will be satisfied by what this Sony pair can achieve.
The XM4s boast an impressive number of features such as multipoint pairing, DSEE Extreme upscaling, conversational awareness and auto-play/pause using a built-in sensor, and stand out as heavyweights when it comes to overall value. They're also incredibly comfortable and can fold away better than a lot of newcomers, making them well-suited to travel.
To save money on Sony products, check out our Sony coupon codes.
Read our full Sony WH-1000XM4 review
The best budget over-ear headphones
If you want great over-ear headphones without spending a fortune, the 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 are hard to beat, and are our top budget pick. They pack in a lot for the price, including solid active noise cancellation, a whopping 100 hours of battery life, and surprisingly decent sound.
The 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 go big on features. You get ANC and a transparency mode, LDAC support for higher-quality Bluetooth streaming, and up to 100 hours of battery life – that’s if you turn off LDAC and ANC, but there’s still an impressive 65 hours with ANC on. In our testing, we found that ANC performance is better than expected for the price, easily clamping down on background chatter, traffic and general noise. The passthrough mode does a good job of helping you to stay aware of your surroundings.
Sound quality is seriously respectable here. While they don’t match more premium pairs of headphones we've tested, the audio is clear and pleasingly bassy. You can adjust the EQ through the companion app if you’d prefer a more balanced profile, and this had good results too. In general, there's an energy and dynamism to them that's easily lost in cheaper headphones – especially if the budget has gone on supporting lots of other features too. There's no feeling of being short-changed here on sound.
We found them comfortable enough to wear for long sessions, thanks to soft padding and a lightweight frame. They also look pretty slick, with a matte finish and sleek forward-tilted design. The build is where you feel the price a little – the buttons and headband are more plasticky than more premium headphones – but they’re still perfectly durable for everyday use.
For under AU$200, you’re getting a strong all-rounder here. These over-ears are comfy, capable, long-lasting, and good-looking. If you’re after an affordable pair of headphones with premium features, the Sonoflow Pro HQ51 are a standout budget pick.
Read our full 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 review
The best premium over-ear headphones
If you have the cash to splash and you want a pair of headphones that exudes luxury and a premium feel, but with the sound quality and ANC performance to match, we don't think there's anything better on the market right now than the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3.
B&W has always made a valiant effort with its Px7 series of headphones, but while they've always had 'it' when it comes to sound, they tended to lack in other areas. The Bowers engineers have clearly taken previous feedback onboard because this S3 model is nothing short of perfection. Not only do they continue to improve where overall audio performance is concerned, to the point where they're unrivalled at this level, but their ANC capabilities are vastly improved. While they might still just be beaten by the likes of Bose and Sony, it's a much closer fight than ever before.
They cost the same as the Sony XM6s here in Australia at AU$699, and while that might get you the very best ANC from the Sony pair, we think the Px7 S3 look and feel like a AU$699 pair of headphones (the Sonys feel decidedly cheaper in comparison). Brushed metal accents, some of the softest leather your ears are ever likely to feel and an overall build quality that just screams "I'm expensive", you'll feel proud to walk down the high street with them on.
Features-wise, they're stacked, including such niceties as Bluetooth 5.3, aptX Lossless support, multipoint pairing, and 30 hours of battery life. Our only real niggle is that they can be susceptible to wind noise, but if you're fortunate to avoid the invisible evil, you'll revel in pure audio luxury.
Read our full Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review
The best mid-range over-ear headphones
Not content with dominating the more premium end of the headphone market, Sony proves it's also capable of owning the more affordable end with pairs such as the WH-CH720N. Naturally, there are some drawbacks compared to its more expensive offerings, but for the price you're paying (which has dropped considerably since their initial launch) we can't imagine many will find much to fault.
They deliver a wonderful, detailed sound to your ears, with no one frequency range overpowering another, resulting in a balanced presentation that suits most genres. Just be sure to have a tinker with the EQ settings in the companion app once you take them out of their box. Noise cancellation performance is strong too, just don't go expecting best-in-class.
Thanks to their lighter build, they remain comfortable for longer listening sessions too, and we love the fact Sony has integrated physical buttons on the earcups for controlling playback of your music, rather than relying on fiddly swipe gestures.
Read our full Sony WH-CH720N review
The best over-ear headphones for sound
For the casual listener, planar magnetic headphones might not be a common phrase. But for the audiophiles out there, this type of design is highly sought after and very rarely comes in wireless (or reasonably affordable) forms – but the Edifier does both. Planar magnetic refers to the drivers, which have a larger, flat and super-thin diaphragm in a magnetic field in each earcup, with offers more exciting and distortion-free sound.
And following hours of testing, we rate Edifier’s Stax Spirit S5 as the best planar magnetic headphones you can buy right now. We said in our review that "it doesn’t matter if you’ve listened to a recording plenty of times before now – I’m confident the Edifier Stax Spirit S5 will find some tiny aspect of it or detail within it that you’ve never heard (or, at least, noticed) before." High praise indeed.
We do need to point out that you're not getting active noise cancellation here, which could be a deal breaker for some (especially given their price). However, Edifier stresses the way the S5 is built and how it sits on your head provides plenty of passive noise isolation – and we have to agree. They're well-specced elsewhere, it should be said, with support for all three major high-res wireless codecs: aptX Lossless, LDAC and LHDC.
With a price tag of AU$549, they're not cheap, are are placed right in the firing line of stellar sets from the likes of Bose, Sony and Sennheiser...even Bowers & Wilkins can be picked up for similar money. But they offer sound quality that exceeds this price, and are positively affordable by planar magnetic standards. For hardcore music lovers, we actually think they're incredible value – but obviously it's a steep price regardless.
Read our full Edifier Stax Spirit S5 review
The best over-ear headphones for ANC
Sony’s WH-1000XM6 headphones have done what many thought was unthinkable and knocked the Bose QuietComfort Ultra off their perch as the best over-ear headphones where noise cancellation is concerned.
The company has bestowed no fewer than 12 mics on its latest set of cans to help combat external sounds and the results are nothing short of sensational. If you want to truly silence the world around you, these are the headphones to get.
Fortunately, they're talented in all others areas. From an audio perspective, the redesigned 30mm drivers deliver an expressive, balanced profile with rich mids, lively treble, and a satisfying low end. The soundstage feels wide and nuanced – great for both casual listening and critical tracks. Call quality is also excellent, with all those mics pulling double duty for voice clarity.
Battery life still sits at 30 hours as with the previous XM5s, which is a bit disappointing considering some other, cheaper pairs offer at least double. But, a three-minute charge will gain you three hours of playback time, which is handy. And, if you're so inclined, you can also use Bluetooth while charging now, which is nice. The companion app has always been a solid area for Sony, and once again here it's well-designed and feature-packed, offering EQ adjustments, adaptive sound, and high-res audio support via LDAC, which DSEE Extreme upscaling of lower-quality streams to make them sound better.
Comfort is clearly a priority, too. They’re lightweight with a more ergonomic fit and a wider headband. The hinges feel more robust, and the styling is even more polished than before. The case is also smaller.
The WH-1000XM6 headphones are undeniably pricey, with a cost that climbs above previous models. But for the combination of high-end sound, unbeatable ANC, and thoughtful design improvements, they easily justify their premium price tag.
Read our full Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones review
The best over-ear headphones for design
If the only factor to be taken into consideration when determining the best headphones was sonic quality, the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 would land much, much higher up this list. But then there's the price. While they're technically not the cheapest pair on this list, they're certainly pricey when it comes to more lifestyle-orientated pairs. But Bowers & Wilkins is a premium audio brand with prestigious heritage, so we're not exactly shocked.
Nevertheless, the PX8's price of north of AU$1,000 is more expensive than a vast majority of consumers would or should ever consider for a pair of new headphones. Still, the price tag isn't necessarily without its justifications. A new carbon cone 40mm drive unit replaces the bio-cellulose driver in the (slightly) more affordable Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 and the die-cast aluminium arms, diamond-cut bright metal detailing and Nappa leather trim elevates the build to high-end territory.
And the sound quality is simply exceptional, with agile, dynamic sound coming through crystal clear and at a performance level that is simply top of the class. You also get a generous 30 hours of battery life, which is impressive when considering how much is packed into the headphones that could elsewhere be used as justification for a more modest juice cycle.
If money is no object and sound performance is what matters most to you, these are among the best headphones you can buy. It's just that the asking price is so far beyond what many could reasonably consider spending which lands the PX8's further down this list.
Read our full Bowers & Wilkins PX8 review
The best open-back over-ear headphones
If you love a wide, open sound, then a pair of wired open-back headphones are the way to go and the Sennheiser HD-660S2s are the best you can buy right now. These boast an immensely impressive and expansive soundstage, but being open-back means they don't block out the outside world, so they need to be used in quiet spaces.
Made for the mixing booth, the HD-660S2s have an air of superiority to them. But Sennheiser has made these for general listening too. They feature brilliant sound recreation, premium ear cup cushioning and a durable headband to prevent vibration. Just remember that the open-back design does mean sound will inevitably leak from them, so they're not as well-suited to being worn in crowded areas.
Given their focus on delivering audiophile level sound, these headphones aren't wireless but they come with a variety of cable connections. Compared to their predecessors (the HD-660S), the HD-660S2s have a more fleshed out bass. These are bound to delight anyone looking to have the delights of open-backed cans.
Read our full Sennheiser HD-660S2 review
The best over-ear headphones for movies
Sonos' first headphones were highly anticipated, although a little disappointing: they don't work with the overall Sonos Wi-Fi multi-room system despite supporting Wi-Fi, and we feel their music quality doesn't necessarily marry up with their high-end price.
But, when used to watch movies, the Sonos Ace are incredibly talented. They support head-tracked Dolby Atmos spatial audio from any device that supports Atmos over Bluetooth – which includes iPhones, iPads and Samsung phones, so no shortage – and it's absolutely fantastic. It's weighty, it's convincingly directional and doesn't sound like the audio is being pushed right into your ears, and dialogue is elevated super-clearly out of the mix while still feeling natural. Having directly compared it to the spatial audio on the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones and AirPods Max, the Sonos were the standout peformer.
And they do have a Sonos ecosystem trick: if you have a Sonos soundbar (Arc, Beam (both generations) or Ray, you can connect the headphones to them over Wi-Fi, and use a button on the headphones to instantly switch from listening over Bluetooth to streaming the sound from your soundbar instead – so you can listen to anything that plays on your TV with privacy, and zero latency.
It all worked fantastically well for us, and the headphones also offer very strong active noise cancellation, wired listening over USB-C (lossless) or 3.5mm jack, and a 30-hour battery life over Bluetooth with ANC on – though when listening to sound from your soundbar, this battery life dropped to around 10 hours based on our testing.
For music lovers wanting premium ANC headphones, we would steer you towards the Bose Ultra or the B&W PX8. But if you want something heavily focused on provided a personal home theatre experience, we really recommend these.
Read our full Sonos Ace review
The best over-ear headphones for Apple fans
The Apple AirPods Max were the most hotly-anticipated set of cans for quite some time leading up to their launch, having been the subject of rumour and speculation for at least two years. And there's little doubt that they're impressive, even if they don't quite justify their exceptionally high price.
What they do offer is effective active noise cancellation, superb audio quality, and a design that sets them apart from most noise-cancelling headphones on the market. And Apple fans in particular will (obviously) find a lot to love. But while their exceptional audio performance and class-leading ANC manages to impress, they're let down by their eye-watering price (in terms of consumer-level headphones), horrible carrying case and their lack of support for Hi-Res Audio codecs.
Apple knows its audience, and these headphones are strictly designed and manufactured with this audience in mind, packing in a variety of nifty features for iOS users and boasting the kind of sleek, futuristic design that Apple is known for.
That does make the AirPods Max an undoubtedly excellent option for those hoping to pair their new headphones with their existing Apple devices, however, some may find them too expensive to be a viable option.
Read our full Apple AirPods Max review
How to choose the best over-ear headphones
If you're looking at buying over-ear headphones, there are three key factors that will determine what will be the best over-ear headphones for you. The first factor, particularly nowadays, will be your budget. As you'd expect, the over-ear options with premium sound quality and performance features tend to come with premium price tags attached. But there are some notable exceptions, with some of the above options available at prices friendlier to most budgets without many (or any) compromises.
Naturally, the second factor in helping you determine the best over-ear headphones for you will be sound quality. How do they sound? Do you prefer a more neutral sound profile, or are you more searching for richer bass levels first and foremost? There are a number of elements that go into sound performance when it comes to headphones, so doing your research to determine which pair appeals most to you with its sound profile and performance quality is a must.
The third key factor when it comes to discovering the best over-ear headphones will be based on your needs. Do you need headphones with more battery life for long trips? Do you need the highest quality noise-cancelling to block out a noisy train carriage? Do you need to take your headphones exercising with you and therefore want headphones that are (at least) water resistant?
Knowing what your needs are is crucial to being able to find the best over-ear headphones that will meet those needs.
How we test the best over-ear headphones
If you're looking for a pair of the best over-ear headphones, this guide focuses on sound quality above all else.
You'll find cans we'd recommend for audiophiles and those working in professional roles through to the best over-ear options for those who simply want to focus at work or enjoy their favorite tunes at home.
To help you compare these headphones, we've recommended other models if we think that they might be better-suited in terms of price, sound and performance.
We have tested all of the headphones in this guide extensively, spending lots of time analyzing the sound, fit, design, specs, and value for money.
FAQ
What are the best over-ear headphones?
As we hinted above, the answer to what the best over-ear headphones are will vary from person to person depending on a number of factors.
Topping this list as our pick for the best all-rounders are the Sony WH-1000XM4, which combine stellar sound with active noise cancellation, wireless connectivity, audio upscaling, and a sleek design that's truly portable.
When it comes to the best over-ear headphones on a budget, we've picked out the Sony WH-C720N as our pick based on price, performance and particularly their versatility. Capable of offering as much with music as with gaming, these are a well-designed, eye-catching option that are hard to beat at the price.
When it comes to sheer sound quality alone, however, the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 might take the title with the less expensive and better balanced overall Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless nipping at its heels.
How much should I spend on over-ear headphones?
At a minimum, if you're looking to find headphones without significant compromises on performance and overall quality, you might struggle to find any options below AU$100. However, there are some exceptional options in the AU$100-AU$150 price range that will occasionally be discounted below AU$100 if you know where to look.
Meanwhile, if you have a stretchier budget and you're looking for premium quality headphones, you're going to be looking at around AU$300-AU$450 for top quality over-ear headphones.
Is it worth getting over-ear headphones?
Choosing over-ear headphones over earbuds or on-ear headphones is a personal choice, but generally over-ear headphones do provide on-average better battery life and improved sound quality than on-ear headphones or earbuds.
Thanks to being larger, they can pack in a larger battery along with more advanced features like superior drivers. By their very nature, they tend to provide excellent noise cancellation too as they cover your ears more comprehensively than earbuds.
They also are typically more comfortable to wear for longer periods than on-ear headphones and less fiddly than earbuds, but it does come down to your preference and needs to determine which options are the best fit for you.
