The best wireless noise-cancelling headphones of 2024

The Sony WH-1000XM5 represent the top tier of their headphone range – and not just in looks, build and sheer audio quality. Packing new audio drivers, these deliver sound that will be a delight to all listeners across all genres of music. In our Sony WH-1000XM5 review, we tested these to death – and they handled everything admirably.

Rather expectedly, the noise-cancellation here is the clincher. It expertly filters out distractions from the outside world without compromising on its well-defined beautiful and isolated audio.

Additional features include an array of microphones for clear voice calling, a responsive touchpad for easy control, speak-to-chat, smart assistant support, and Spotify Quick-Access. With a 30-hour battery life and quick charging via USB, these will never let you down. In fact, these are the best Sony headphones available.

Read our full Sony WH-1000XM5 review.

No one wants to be limited by a short battery life, which is why we're recommending the Anker Soundcore Space One Pro and its fantastic playtime. If you disable the noise cancellation, it can last upwards of 60 hours, but even with it turned on, you still get about 40 hours, well above what many other headphones can manage. It even charges fast too.

One of our tech writers, Kyle Purves, reviewed the Space One Pro and had this to say – "The potential playtime of the Space One Pro is practically unmatched for its price. A total of 40 hours is already very impressive and outperforms its peers by a few hours, but it can reach upwards of 60 once ANC is turned off. To put that into perspective, you could listen to music with it for eight hours a day for a whole week and still have a bit of charge left. That's fantastic, and considering that you can give it a few bursts of charge here and there, it's not unrealistic to keep it from running flat for a very long time.

"The Pro's brilliance in battery life makes it a solid pick for portability and use when travelling. Coupled with the Bluetooth connection, which proved to be consistent and very reliable during my time with it, I see myself taking these headphones with me just about everywhere."

The Huawei FreeBuds Studio does have a lot of strengths for headphones of this type. Getting a well-balanced and clean sound, plus reliable ANC can be quite a challenge - even in this price bracket, which is middling for wireless ANC that has any quality to it. The FreeBuds Studio achieves a lot here - including some very useful modes and intuitive touch controls. We have a lot more to say about the FreeBuds Studio, so head over to our full Huawei FreeBuds Studio review for more details.

Read our full Huawei FreeBuds Studio headphones review.

Sennheiser is a name synonymous with listening gear, and the Momentum 4 headphones harness all of the audio giant's learnings. Stylish, light, and comfortable, the Momentum 4 features the sound most have come to expect from Sennheiser products - full-bodied and accurate, with bass, mid-range, and treble delivered with detail.

There are three active noise cancellation settings, allowing you to pick which works best for the situation, and a Transparent Hearing feature, which allows you to hear fully the world around you. They're truly lovely and come at a price - but worth it for the 60 hours (ANC) listening time on one charge inside that signature Sennheiser design.

Samsung is no newcomer to personal audio - and it shows. Where its larger-than-most audio drivers are concerned, the Buds2 Pro really goes to town. If you want amazing performance and top-notch ANC, you’ll get the best-performing wireless earbuds you can buy. 

In our review of the Galaxy Buds2 Pro, we found that they delivered excellent range, with deeper bass from extra woofers. Stylish and reliable, there’s a microphone for your voice calls and accurate touch controls. Worth every penny.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro earbuds review.

The Evolve2 85 cut a mean silhouette on the head of any serious gamer. Refined but chunky, they look like they can stand up to anything your game will throw at them, and they can. As you'd expect, they have an excellent sonic range and very low latency. The flexible mic will keep your voice clear for that in-game chat. It'll also support two device connections for easy switching if you both game and work or just have two gaming systems.

They carry a natural and powerful audio warmth, and the ANC works well enough to keep the majority of outside noise at bay. Jabra claims up to 54 per cent of that noise is done away with. There are ten mics in-built too, providing extra clarity for chat and voice commands.

The Lindy BNX-60 offers an energetic yet balanced audio experience. Active noise cancellation is more than respectable, particularly when partnered with its long 30-hour battery life. Sure, the onboard controls feel a little clunky compared to others here, but there's no reason to avoid these cans if you're on a budget. As such the BNX-60s are still some of the best headphones you can get for less than £100 right now.

Bowers & Wilkins is a well-known and perhaps slightly niche brand - but we think these PX7s deliver the sort of excellence you'd normally see reserved for audiophiles. Many such music lovers avoid wireless altogether, opting for wires that carry no latency or compression. However, Bowers & Wilkins have managed to cram a stunning and responsive soundstage into these slightly weighty yet comfortable PX7s; thanks in part to custom 40mm drivers.

They deliver music with strong authoritative bass, and nuanced middles and highs. Backed by six microphones and fully customisable using an app, the key benefit here is the adaptive active noise cancelling. It brilliantly preserves your music while working hard to erase any intrusions. Add to that up to 25 hours of playback on one charge, and you have the freedom to enjoy all that audio purity wherever you go.

The Nothing Ear (stick) earbuds are extremely lightweight - each bud is just 4.4g. As you'd expect for its category here, these are all about vocal clarity. Nothing’s Clear Voice technology and three high-definition mics isolate your voice. They'll protect your calls from your surroundings, so wave goodbye to crowd noise and wind. They're excellent all-rounders too, with decent performance with all types of music.

The 12.6mm drivers in these are an impressive size for this class of headphones, and that means they can render some subtleties that other earbuds can’t. They’ll even automatically boost the bass for maximum impact if your wearing position changes.

A punishing environment for any set of headphones, going to the gym means your kit needs to put up with a wide range of movements, as well as resist sweat. These hardy in-ear cans have a special grippy coating to keep them in place, and a more than respectable battery life between charges.

But, don't forget that there’s a range of ambient noises and audio-annoyances to deal with, like clanking weights, the whirr of a treadmill, or that guy who grunts doing squats. When we reviewed the Jabra Elite 7 Active earbuds, they turned out to be a game-changer - tackling all of these issues with ease.

Read our full Jabra Elite 7 Active earbuds review.

The Bose QC45 II provide a class-leading listening experience, with toggleable ANC with various modes to allow some outside sounds through if you choose. They're super-light for their size and the build is reassuringly solid - typically Bose here.

The 45s noise cancelling capabilities are tunable through the Bose Music app, further reinforced by an AR noise-rejecting microphone system which kills background noise as you speak. They also work with Amazon Alexa. Battery life is impressive, although not as high as some on this list. Still, 20 hours of wireless listening with this level of noise cancellation is more than commendable. If you want the ideal mix of incredibly accurate audio with the best ANC that you can buy, this is it.