How to choose the best over-ear headphones

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Over-ear headphones are known for delivering impressive audio performance. But the best over-ear headphones provide more than just great sound. Top models also deliver comfy designs and handy features like noise canceling, wireless connectivity, and long-lasting battery life to be your sonic companion in virtually any scenario.

After countless hours testing dozens of models, our experts have selected the eight best over-ear headphones you can buy. Our top pick is the Sony WH-1000XM5, which offer a well-rounded assortment of features and top-notch performance. On the budget side, the Soundcore Life Q30 serve up serious value for just under $80. And if you’re an Apple fan, the AirPods Max are an ideal fit to pair with an iPhone, especially with this $100 discount on Amazon. 

Our picks span the spectrum, from wired audiophile headphones to comfy travel cans with powerful noise-cancellation tech. Whatever you’re looking for, you’ll find the right pair for your needs below, as well as some helpful information to guide you in your search.

Our top picks for the best over-ear headphones

Best overall: Sony WF-1000XM5 – See at Amazon

Best on a budget: Soundcore by Anker Life Q30 – See at Amazon

Best for noise canceling: Bose QuietComfort Ultra – See at Amazon

Best premium model: Master & Dynamic MW75 – See at Amazon

Best for a comfy fit: Sonos Ace – See at Amazon

Best wired option for audiophiles: Sennheiser/Drop HD6XX – See at Drop

Best for Apple devices: Apple AirPods Max – See at Amazon

Best for gaming: SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless – See at Amazon

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Best overall

Sony WH-1000XM5 Headphones

The WH-1000XM5 are Sony’s flagship over-ear headphones. They boast excellent noise-canceling performance along with great audio quality and a truckload of convenient features.

Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headphones have it all: Fantastic sound quality, top-notch noise canceling, great controls, a barrel of features, and lots of customization options, all wrapped in a sleek and comfortable chassis. These headphones aren’t cheap, but they’re primed to be your ultimate sonic companion from the office to the sky and everywhere in between.

Sitting a step above Sony’s WH-1000XM4, the XM5s are built on a foundation of clear and balanced sound that’s as accessible as it is engaging. Bass is slightly ramped up by default, but Sony’s Headphones Connect app packs many ways to customize it, including a multi-band EQ. The stereo image is spacious and expansive, with palpable dynamics to accentuate the action and isolate quiet moments. Details rush to the surface across your song catalog, letting you find new moments in old tracks.

Active noise-canceling (ANC) performance is equally accomplished, combined with the headphones’ great passive noise isolation to let you detach from your environment and fall into your music and videos. They’re particularly excellent for traveling, where they’re able to whisk away engine drones while still putting a serious damper on voices and other sounds. This is powerful ANC, firmly and unrelentingly squashing annoyances without adding any audible white noise. Perhaps that’s why battery life, which is still quite good at 30 hours with ANC, can’t push toward the 50+ hours of some competitors.

The XM5s pair great performance with a slick, minimalist design accented by plush padding along the earcups and headband to make them comfortable for hours. Our only real complaint is that the headband doesn’t fold, making these harder to pack than some rivals. Controls are simple and responsive, with swipes for volume and song skip and quick taps for playback. The auto-pause sensors work perfectly, so you’ll never miss a moment of your show or podcast, while Sony’s Quick Attention feature lets you hold the right earcup to snap between noise canceling and transparency mode for conversations.

Speaking of conversations, the headphones work well for calls and include multipoint pairing to swap between devices quickly. The app unlocks many other options that let you tailor nearly everything to your preference. There are almost too many features for novices, but the design makes it easy to wade into these options at your own pace. You can still find Sony’s older WH-1000XM4 model for less money, but if you want the best over-ear headphones, the WH-1000XM5 are the pair to buy.

Check out our Sony WH-1000XM5 review. 

Best on a budget

Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Headphones

Anker’s Soundcore Life Q30 headphones offer noise-canceling performance that’s much better than it should be for the money, alongside solid sound quality and massive battery life.

Soundcore’s Life Q30 are our favorite pair of over-ear headphones for under $100. They offer a quality experience with performance that strikes well above their price point. It all starts with accessible sound, marked by clean and tight bass, a warm and full midrange, and a clear upper register that seems to lean into virtually everything you play. These things just sound great, making you wonder how Soundcore keeps their cost so low.

That vibe continues with the noise canceling, which performs better than most headphones we’ve heard at this price and even some well above it. The noise canceling here isn’t as powerful as what you’d get with top Bose and Sony options, but it worked great on a recent cross-country flight, allowing us to block out distractions as we dived into our favorite music and movies.

The Life Q30 also come loaded with extras. They evoke Bose’s older QuietComfort headphones with their understated look, simplified control keys, and pill-box hard case — a rarity at this price. You’ll find an EQ and adjustable ambient audio modes within Soundcore’s accompanying app, and you can expect up to 40 hours of playback time with noise canceling or a whopping 60 hours without it.

The headphones are also quite comfy, cradling your head with thick, puffy pads that hold up long into a flight or work session. But after a few uses, we have found some cracks in the armor. Namely, the not-so-premium plastic on the earcups and headband, which is prone to scratches. We also noticed the tap command on the right earcup (used to switch between noise canceling and transparency modes) is prone to misfires, which is somewhat annoying, but far from a dealbreaker. 

If you’re looking for more features and slightly improved noise canceling, you could step up to Soundcore’s fancier Space One (though they don’t come with a hard case). But for those seeking serious performance at well under $100, the Life Q30 are tough to beat.

Best for noise-canceling

For noise-canceling performance that makes you feel more like you’re floating through the vacuum of space than trudging through your daily dog walk, nothing beats Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra. These are simply the best noise-canceling headphones we’ve tested, able to detach you from noisy environments and set you in a sanguine zone of sonic reserve.

ANC isn’t the only reason to spend up for this model. They have an elegant design that feels posh from the moment you unzip their pill-shaped case, and they wear comfortably for hours. A mix of touch and tactile controls, including a clever slide-action volume strip, make it easy to move through your library. The app packs plenty of features, including some options previous Bose models lacked, like a three-band EQ, as well as adjustable ambient audio, and even a limiter to reduce sudden loud noises when using the Aware mode.

Sound quality is also impressive, with a taut and refined midrange, a zippy treble register, and boomy bass that, after a few tweaks, punches with authoritative musicality. Instruments are detailed and crisp, with plenty of space within the soundstage to flourish. Calls are similarly clean and clear on both ends, with excellent wind-buffering for outdoor settings. 

If you want to try some spatial audio fun, Bose’s system will virtualize any stereo recording, with the ability to use head-tracking so you feel like you’re pinned in a 3D space. It’s not our favorite way to listen to most content, and we generally prefer stereo sound, but it’s there if you’re so inclined. We also wish battery life matched a bit better with the competition, but at 24 hours with ANC, it’s still plenty for almost any use case.

With a price point that outspends even our favorite Sony pair, the QuietComfort headphones are a high-end investment that won’t be for everyone. But when it comes to uncompromised silence, Bose’s top model is king.

Best premium model

Master & Dynamic MW75 Headphones

The pricey MW75 wireless headphones serve up crystal-clear sound, great accessories, and a design that’s as stylish as it is luxurious.

Nothing makes you feel like part of the glitterati like a pair of headphones that actually glitter. Master & Dynamic’s expensive MW75 offer audio performance befitting of their price point and some solid features as well. But what really makes them special is their premium design, which is equal parts stunning style and luxurious fit.

With earcups etched from sparkling aluminum and tempered glass, the headphones feel cool and sleek to the touch. Their simplified control system uses tactile aluminum keys along the right and left earcups for volume and playback commands. The cushy headband and earpads are cloaked in gorgeous lambskin, which looks especially lovely in cognac brown. They feel as soft as a law firm’s couch, and though they get a little warm after a few hours, it’s frankly hard to find much fault with anything that looks this cool. The earcups are also removable and replaceable.

There’s substance beneath that glam exterior, too. The headphones sound excellent, with the kind of pristine clarity and taut punch we’ve come to expect from Master & Dynamic, elevated to its finest form. The instrumental separation and soundstage are clean and spacious, respectively, and bass booms big from the 40mm beryllium drivers.

Within the M&D Control app, you’ll find a minimalist layout of features, including auto-pause sensors and timers, EQ presets (but no multi-band control), and adjustable ANC and transparency modes. The noise canceling on offer isn’t as good as the Sony and Bose options we recommend, and you’ll hear some soft white noise when it’s activated, but it does the trick. Accessories include a sleek and durable hard case loaded with multiple adapters and USB-C cables for charging and audio playback.

These aren’t ultimate, do-everything cans, and they’ll cost you a pretty penny. But if you’re after a plush pair that looks and feels as good as it sounds, these are the wireless over-ear headphones to grab.

Best for a comfy fit

Sonos Ace Headphones

The Sonos Ace are the comfiest headphones we’ve reviewed. They also offer great noise-canceling and audio quality that rival top models from the competition. On the downside, they lack full integration with other Sonos products, and we ran into some software bugs. However, we expect Sonos will iron out those glitches in future firmware.

The Sonos Ace are the most comfortable over-ear headphones we’ve reviewed, besting other top picks like the Sony WH-1000XM5 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra. They also boast all the essential features we look for in a pair of wireless cans, even if some of those features were a tad glitchy during our evaluation.

We spent a week trying out the Ace and wore them every day. Through hours of testing, the headphones remained a joy to wear. Despite their relative heft (313 grams), the Ace headphones’ soft vegan-leather earpads and headband deliver a cushy yet stable fit that nearly disappears on your head. 

And fantastic comfort isn’t the only impressive thing about the Ace. These are Sonos’ first pair of headphones, and the brand’s debut delivers audio quality that stacks up well against the competition. They’re not quite as lively as the Bose QuietComfort, but their mellow sound profile results in an expansive experience that highlights lush details and precise separation. Bass is also balanced well, even at the default settings, but you can make EQ adjustments in the Sonos app if you’d like.

Noise-canceling and transparency modes are top-notch as well, with ANC that nearly rivals Bose’s QuietComfort. But while incredibly natural sounding, we did run into a slight hiccup with subtle signal noise in the right earcup when using transparency mode. However, this issue was only audible in certain situations and is likely something Sonos will fix with a firmware update.

A bit more frustrating was a glitch we ran into when trying to test the Ace’s TV Swap feature. The Ace are supposed to support pairing with a Sonos Arc soundbar to wirelessly send audio from the speaker to the headphones for private listening. Unfortunately, we could not get this mode to work with our setup. Sonos says we encountered a rare bug that its team is working to fix. 

Still, despite a few setbacks, the Ace are an impressive pair of wireless over-ear headphones and an especially great option for people who prioritize a comfy fit.

Check out our Sonos Ace review.

Best wired option for audiophiles

The term audiophile gets thrown around a lot in the headphones world, but the HD 6XX live up to that lofty moniker at a price that is unheard of in this class. Pound for pound (or should we say ounce for ounce?) these wired open-back headphones offer some of the best sound quality on the market.

Performance is king for the HD 6XX. If you’re new to the audiophile set, you’re likely to be blown away by what you hear — and what you’ve never heard before. You’ll find a warm and full midrange, ultra-clear treble, and spacey depth in the soundstage, letting instruments interweave and expand. You won’t just hear the tone and timbre of a guitar, but the texture of the wood, the brassy sparkle of the strings, and the long sustain of each note. Vocals come alive, exposing every breath and even every tiny movement between the singer and the microphone.

It’s an aural feast for the senses that brings you closer to your favorite music than anything we’ve heard at this price point and even well above. The HD 6XX’s one sonic drawback, if you can call it that, is that the bass is more resigned for a flatter, less accentuated punch. Those used to the heavier bass signatures of most wireless headphones may find it lacking, but it’s enough to hold down the foundation and let the rest of the music flourish.

When it comes to wires, these are plug-in only, connecting with a six-foot cable. They’ll work with everything from a PC to a phone (with an adapter), but they sound best if you drive them with a dedicated headphone amp. Perhaps most important to note is that, while their plush earcups make them comfortable for hours, their open-back design means that nothing you listen to is for you alone. Your music will spill out into the world and vice versa.

The HD 6XX don’t come with a hard case, but then again, their exposed exterior means you’ll likely want to listen mostly at home anyway. You won’t get nearly the same versatility here as what’s offered by our top pick or other wireless headphones. But if sound quality and comfort are your primary objectives, you simply won’t find a better pair at this price.

Best for Apple devices

Apple AirPods Max Headphones

Apple’s over-ear AirPods Max boast a convenient selection of Apple-first features, impressive performance, and premium build quality at an equally premium price.

Apple’s space-age metal headphones made a big splash when they hit the market in 2020, and they’re still making waves as the best over-ear headphones for those who want the full Apple experience. Thanks to the brand’s H1 chip, the Max work brilliantly with Apple gear. You can connect, share audio, and swap between iCloud devices with ease, while Always-on Siri lets you quickly chat with Apple’s agreeable digital assistant hands-free. They’re definitely expensive, but you can snag them on sale right now for $100 off. 

Apple says the AirPods Max’s computational power is key to their impressive noise canceling. The headphones’ transparency mode is also among the most natural on the market. Their Adaptive EQ adjusts the sound to your exact fit, with crystal clarity across registers and a big, open soundstage that gives just the right space to instruments and effects in movies and TV shows. The Max also support Apple’s spatial audio feature, which is among the best version we’ve tried when paired with Dolby Atmos mixes from compatible sources like Netflix and Disney Plus. 

Their metal chassis is impressively well made, with a simple control system via a digital crown for precise volume adjustment. Thanks to robust base materials like aluminum and steel, the headphones look and feel premium, and they’re available in multiple colors. They’re also comfortable, though quite heavy, which can wear on your head over time, even with their forgiving canopy headband.

Apart from their heft, the AirPods Max’s unique design has some limitations. They don’t include a case, per se, instead using a sort of wrap that gives little protection for travel. We recommend visiting our guide to the best AirPods Max accessories for better storage options. The headphones can’t ever really turn off either, staying in standby mode when in their wrap or laid down, which slow-drains the battery over time. That’s particularly notable since their 20-hour battery life is among the worst in class. And though their premium build helps justify their high cost, they’re only optimized for those deep in the Apple ecosystem, which makes them less versatile than competitors.

There are plenty of more affordable alternatives on our list, not to mention compact earbuds like Apple’s AirPods Pro, that offer similar features for a lot less money. That said, the Max are a good choice for those after premium over-ears that play nicely with all things Apple.

Check out our AirPods Max review.

Check out our guide to the best Apple AirPods.

Best for gaming

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless

The Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is a high-end gaming headset with multi-platform support, a wireless control hub, active noise cancellation, and leatherette ear cushions.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is our pick for the best gaming headset you can buy. Unlike our other over-ear headphone recommendations, the Nova Pro features a retractable boom microphone that’s designed for online multiplayer chat. 

The flexible mic even features background noise cancellation, so it picks up fewer ambient sounds. It also has a voice monitoring function that lets you hear how you sound to your friends. Traditional ANC and transparency modes are included, too, to block out or let in outside noise when you game. Noise-canceling performance isn’t in the same league as options from Bose, Sony, and Sonos, but it’s still a nice to perk have in a gaming headset. 

The headset’s audio profile veers toward a bass-heavy sound, which is common for gaming headphones. This gives action titles a bit more kick, with deep presence in explosions and gunshots. The Nova Pro Wireless also work well with various 3D audio formats on consoles and PCs, including DTS:X, Windows Sonic, and Sony’s Tempest 3D. When engaged, these formats provide a surround sound effect that delivers a more immersive sense of space and dimension. SteelSeries’ Sonar audio software can be used to tweak surround sound playback and EQ.

We also love the headset’s dedicated wireless transmitter, which acts like a control hub with a small OLED display for adjusting settings. The transmitter also works as a charger for the Nova Pro’s battery. The headset includes two batteries that can each last for around 20 hours. You can keep one battery charging in the transmitter so you always have a spare to swap in.

Like most wireless over-ear headphones, the Nova Pro supports Bluetooth pairing with a phone or computer. But unlike our other wireless picks, it also supports a 2.4GHz connection, which enables it to connect with consoles like the PS5 and Xbox without any perceptible lag.  

SteelSeries sells different versions of the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless, but the model we recommend here offers full wireless multi-platform support for Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC. 

Check out our SteelSeries Nova Pro Wireless review.

How we test over-ear headphones

To select the best over-ear headphones, our experts tested dozens of models in and outside the office to find our top eight picks. We use reproducible methods whenever possible, including a curated list of well-known testing materials across musical genres, video samples, and podcasts. We also use test videos like airplane drone sounds and voice chatter with professional monitors in a treated room to evaluate features like noise canceling in simulated real-world scenarios.

Whenever possible, we take headphones out into the real world, too. For this guide, that process included a cross-country flight testing multiple pairs and taking the headphones outdoors in windy environments to decipher features like call quality and transparency mode. We evaluate over-ear headphones over several days to measure battery life claims, as well as use features like multipoint pairing to determine their effectiveness.

What to look for in a pair of over-ear headphones

Many over-ear headphones sold today are wireless, which means you should look out for features like long battery life (at least 20 hours or more), noise canceling and transparency modes to block or let in the world around you, and multipoint pairing to swap between playback devices easily. The best over-ear headphones with wireless support should include an app to control settings, most notably an EQ (or equalizer) to adjust the sound. You’ll also want to check the Bluetooth version used. We recommend 5.0 or higher to ensure a seamless wireless connection.

The above features aren’t applicable if you’re shopping for a wired pair of over-ear headphones, but whether you go wireless or wired, comfort is king. You’ll want to ensure your pair isn’t overly heavy and offers ample padding along the earcups and headband. Other important factors include the ability to fold for travel and accessories like a hard case, making it easier to take your headphones on the go. For audiophile options, you may need to decide between open-back models, which generally offer a more airy soundstage but let in environmental noise, or closed-back models, which sound more static but are more versatile.

Most of all, your guiding force should be sound quality. Your headphones can have all the features in the world, but if they don’t sound good, you won’t want to use them. For help there, you can look at critical reviews, user reviews, and guides like this. You can generally trust top brands like Sony, Sennheiser, Bose, and Apple or, on the budget side, Soundcore. Sound is subjective, so whenever possible, we recommend trying a pair of headphones for yourself before you buy.

Over-ear headphones FAQs

Are over-ear headphones better than on-ear and in-ear headphones?

Determining what type of headphones are best is ultimately subjective and comes down to what you need and how you use them. But in general, most audio professionals agree that over-ear headphones, which fit around your ears rather than wedging into your ear canals, offer the best overall audio performance. This is partly due to basic physics; their larger drivers and acoustic chambers are ostensibly able to reproduce sound frequencies more faithfully than smaller on-ear headphones or earbuds. The best over-ear headphones may also have an advantage in fit and comfort since their larger earcups can offer more padding and will adapt to a larger group of users.

That said, thanks to new technology advancements, there are in-ear headphones that can outperform some of their over-ear counterparts. Moreover, in-ear headphones are more compact and much easier to bring along, which makes them arguably more convenient as your sonic daily driver. Check out our guide to the best wireless earbuds for some of our top in-ear headphone picks.

On-ear headphones, which are harder to find nowadays, are the odd man out. They can’t create a seal as tight as over-ear or in-ear headphones, which puts them at a disadvantage in performance and comfort. But for some users, on-ear headphones are preferable since their fit is less dependent on a person’s ear or head shape. 

What is noise canceling?

Active noise canceling (ANC) utilizes onboard microphones and processing to capture the sound around you and reverse the frequencies, helping to block exterior sounds from reaching your ears. Noise-canceling headphones can’t suppress all sounds, often struggling with high-frequency noises like sirens, dog barks, and loud voices, especially when attempting to block other sounds like plane engines simultaneously. But top noise-canceling headphones from brands like Bose and Sony do a good job of minimizing ambient sounds.

What is transparency mode? 

Transparency mode is essentially the opposite of noise canceling, using the same microphones meant to block sounds around you to accentuate those sounds instead. This is done to help keep you aware of your surroundings and/or communicate while wearing over-ear headphones and earbuds. The best over-ear headphones can provide a natural-sounding transparency mode, while some even add features like compression or limiting to keep sudden loud sounds from blasting your ear drums.

What is a multipoint connection?

Multipoint connection enables Bluetooth headphones to pair with two or more devices simultaneously, letting you quickly switch between them. This is most useful when multitasking, letting you transition from listening to music on your phone to hearing a video call on your laptop without the need to disconnect/reconnect devices.

What are open-back headphones? 

As the name implies, open-back headphones have open or vented earcups. This open design is most common on wired audiophile headphones to create a more airy sound unconstrained by traditional headphones’ confined acoustics. While this can improve sound quality for performance that’s more like speakers, it means whatever you’re listening to may be audible to those around you, and vice versa.

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