The best noise cancelling headphones 2024, tested by our audio experts for all budgets

The best noise-cancelling headphones will completely elevate your audio experience, delivering immersive sound anywhere. Whether you’re commuting, working in a noisy office or flying long-distance, these headphones act as a barrier between you and unwanted extraenous noise.

We’ve reviewed countless active noise-cancelling (often abbreviated to ANC) headphones, assessing battery life, comfort, sound quality, features, and noise reduction in a range of real-life situations. But to be extra thorough, we also set up proper ANC tests in our dedicated testing facility. Our goal? To provide all the info you need to get the best value for your money. The top over-ear noise-cancelling headphones within this guide are all based on our rigorous testing, and nothing else. Prefer a more compact design? Check out our guide to the best noise cancelling earbuds.

Leading our list are the Sony WH-1000XM4 over-ears. Yes, they’ve been on the market for some time, but they're just that good – and their price has dropped, making them an excellent choice against newer, more expensive models. This guide includes options for every budget, from affordable to premium too, so there’s something here for everyone.

The quick list

Want to cut to the chase and find out which noise cancelling headphones are the best? Below, you’ll find a roundup of our choices. You can also jump to a more detailed review of every pick, along with our price comparison tool to help you find the best deals.

Written by

Written by

Becky Scarrott

I've reviewed over 150 audio products since becoming a tech journalist, ranging from super-budget earbuds to high-end Hi-Res Audio music players. Before joining TechRadar, I spent three years at What Hi-Fi? testing everything the world of audio had to offer; before that, I was a professional dancer. I've test noise cancelling headphones of all stripes in all kinds of conditions, from trains to offices to planes.

The best noise-cancelling headphones 2024

Below you'll find full write-ups for each of the best noise cancelling headphones in our list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.

The best noise cancelling headphones overall

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The Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones deliver strong noise cancellation and rich sound quality in a lightweight, comfortable design. Although these are an older model – now superseded by the Sony WH-1000XM5 – a price cut means that they're still our top pick because they're regularly available for such a good price. They're still packed with great features including multipoint pairing, DSEE Extreme upscaling, conversational awareness ,and auto-play/pause – they're all the noise-cancelling headphone we think most people will need.

In every department, the Sony WH-1000XM4 are a superb pair of wireless noise cancelling headphones. They can be beaten in any particular category, but not in every category at the same price. They deliver all-round satisfaction, and most importantly they offer there are no complaints about the sound. In our tests we listened to Janelle Monae’s absolute banger Make Me Feel. It sounded supremely powerful on the WH-1000XM4 headphones, from the bop of the percussion to the wall of sound that accompanies the pre-chorus.

On top of all this, the Sony WH-1000XM4 support Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format that enables spatial audio, plus the LDAC codec that can support CD-quality audio from compatible phones. It's a shame there's no aptX support, and you'll get far better audio quality and battery life from the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 at #5 in this list – while the Sony WH-1000XM5 and newer Bose headphones (see #3 on this list) beat it for sound quality. But those are generally all notably more expensive than this model, especially during sales events, where these are always available for bargain prices.

Read our full Sony WH-1000XM4 review

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The best budget noise cancelling headphones

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The 1More Sonoflow over-ear headphones prove that you can get great ANC for well under $100/£100, which is why they're our top pick if you're on a budget but still want to experience immersive sound – and drown out the world while you're at it. The 1More app is easy-to-use but sparse when it comes to features. But you can turn ANC on and off and there's an EQ with presets. The 1More Sonoflow headphones boast a huge 70 hours of battery life with ANC off and a still amazing 50 hours with ANC on – a five minute charge can also deliver more than 4.5 hours of extra listening.

These aren’t the best noise cancelling headphones you can buy, but for the price you’re getting a great experience and we think most people would be impressed by how well they perform. Sound isn't high-end, but during our testing we were impressed with the powerful bass and detailed, crisp highs on offer here – thanks to the Sonoflow’s dual 40mm drivers. There’s support for Sony’s LDAC higher-res audio format too, but you need a device that supports it as well as audio that offers a hi-res bit rate.

These headphones have a simple design, quality hinges and there’s a matte-like finish to the plastic casing. The cups themselves are adjustable and are made from a super soft memory foam, which were comfortable to wear and lightweight at only 250g. You'll find buttons on the earcups. It's a shame you can't control them but if you like physical buttons over capacitive on-ear touch controls you're in luck.

The 1More Sonoflow over-ear headphones are great value for money. We highly rated the battery life and comfort levels. They feel more high-end than they should, which is thanks to their matt finish, sturdy case and minimal design. You'll find better ANC and sound but, crucially, not for this price.

Read our full 1More Sonoflow review

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The best premium noise cancelling headphones

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If you're looking for simply the best active noise cancellation you can get, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones offer it. And not only that, it's combined with easily Bose's best sound quality to date, which we called "electrifying" in our full review. These are not cheap headphones (though they're much less expensive than the Focal and Bowers & Wilkins options in this list), but as our review also says "from the moment you start using them, they feel worth every penny." If you're looking to save some money, however, be sure to check out our Bose discount codes.

We tested them in as many different noisy environments as we could manage, ranging from international flights, to local buses, to walking around a busy city, to in the TechRadar office and at home. In all cases, they stamp down on sound more effectively than anything else we've used to date – if what you want is silence and focus, we cannot recommend these strongly enough. One thing we will say, though, is that the cheaper Bose QuietComfort Headphones are basically as good for this element.

However, as we've already said, the music quality is just fantastic in these headphones, even with noise cancellation turned on – a clear cut above the sound from Bose's other headphones, or Sony's offerings. Our review said that they "deliver some of the most alive, exciting, textured, finely resolved, deeply engaging music I've ever heard from a pair of wireless headphones."

There are two somewhat disappointing aspects to them, though: the 24-hour battery life is below average (you get 30 hours pretty typically, including from Sony's headphones, while you get 60 hours from the Sennheiser at #5 on this list); and they only support Snapdragon Sound for higher-quality audio. There's no regular aptX or LDAC support, and there's no USB-C audio input for fully Hi-Res Audio, which you get from the Sennheisers and Focal in this list.

If these don't sound like dealbreakers, then know that the Bose Ultra really live up to their name.

Read our full Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones review

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The best mid-range noise cancelling headphones

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