How to choose noise-cancelling headphones for flights, calls, and a loud room

Two of these are Sony, one is Bose, and one is Soundcore. Fit, battery, and whether you can still hear the person next to you matter more than the model number.

Hours, weight, and price change. Read them on the listing the day you buy. This page is the list of questions to ask first.

What the name already says

The product name tells you this much. The rest is on the listing.

A higher number is not a score. The XM6 is not a better headphone because six is bigger than five. Ultra is the name Bose put on this model. It is not a measurement of how much sound disappears. ANC on the Soundcore title means that listing claims active cancelling. It does not say how strong the effect is.

What noise are you trying to turn down?

This kind of headphone is for a steady hum. A plane, a bus, an office vent, a hotel air conditioner that will not shut up. Voices, a dog, or someone saying your name are a different problem. Cancelling turns the hum down. It does not mute the room.

The electronic part uses small microphones and the speakers to push back on that hum. A thick pad is separate. The pad is just a seal, and it can take the edge off even when the battery is dead. If a listing only says "noise cancelling," see whether they mean the electronics, the pads, or both.

Need to hear a gate call, or the person beside you? Look for a transparency, aware, or ambient mode, and for a control you can hit without pulling the headphones off. If the listing never mentions one, do not count on a button being there.

All four are headphones, not earbuds. If you wanted something that disappears in a pocket, use the in-ear video further down.

If they hurt, you will take them off

You will not keep a pair on just because the cancelling looks good on the product page. A clamp that pinches after half an hour is a reason to send them back. So is a cup that misses your ear.

Write down the weight. Note the cup material, the headband, and whether they fold. Then picture the longest stretch you will actually wear them. A flight, a workday, or a commute.

Glasses can break the seal. The arms sit between the pad and your head, and the hum comes back. The photo will not show your frames. Try them on if you can. If you are ordering online, read the return window before you assume you will like the fit.

Check for a case in the box, too. A pair that will not fit the bag you already carry is the wrong pair.

Calls, two devices, and a dead battery

Music in a quiet room is the easy part. A phone call in a loud one is harder. "Built-in mic" means there is a microphone. It does not mean the other person will hear you clearly in a cafe.

If you switch between a phone and a laptop, look for multipoint, or any line that says two devices can stay connected. If it does not say that, plan to re-pair by hand.

Find the battery hours, then see what happens at zero. Some pairs still play through a cable. Some go quiet. Check that a cable is in the box, and which plug it uses. If the listing says USB-C, the USB-C cable guide separates a charge-only cable from one that also moves data. Do not guess the plug from the logo.

Compare them two at a time

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If you are choosing between the Sonys, open the WH-1000XM5 and the WH-1000XM6 together. Compare weight, battery, and price on the same day. Keep the one you can stand to wear.

Sony WH-1000XM5 wireless noise-cancelling headphones

Amazon

Weight, battery hours, and whether a cable is in the box.

Sony WH-1000XM6 wireless noise-cancelling headphones

Amazon

Put it next to the XM5. The newer number is not the decision by itself.

Add the Bose QuietComfort Ultra when you want another brand in the mix. The short title does not say noise cancelling, so read the product page before you treat it like the Sonys.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra wireless headphones

Amazon

The short title does not say noise cancelling. Read the product page.

Add the Soundcore Space One when you want a third price on the screen. A lower price does not make it the right pair. Check the hours and the cups the same way you checked the others.

Anker

Soundcore by Anker Space One ANC headphones

Amazon

Hours and price, next to the Sony and Bose listings.

Watch someone else handle a pair first

Elly Awesome unboxes the Sonos Ace Ultra. The clip is under two minutes. Sonos is a different brand from the four above, and an unboxing is not a week of flights. Watch it for a sense of the size, then come back to the listings. More from Elly Awesome.

If a cup over each ear is the wrong shape, watch Pratima Adhikari walk through wireless earbuds. It's a live session on in-ear pairs, not these over-ear headphones. More from Pratima Adhikari.

More on the audio shelf. A pair shows up in everyday picks when we list one.

Before you buy

• Steady hum, or voices and sudden noise?
• Do you need to hear announcements without taking them off?
• Weight, and the longest stretch you will actually wear them.
• Glasses, or anything else that sits under the pad.
• Do they fold, and is a case in the box?
• A microphone, if you take calls.
• One device, or two at the same time?
• Battery hours, and whether a cable still plays when the battery is dead.
• Which plug that cable uses.
• Today's price. Last month's screenshot is already old.