Best over-ear headphones for 2020: Sony, Bose and more

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Sony’s WH-1000XM3, Sony’s third generation of excellent wireless noise canceling headphones, offers a more comfortable fit (the adjustable headband helps tremendously and the ear pads are very comfortable) and offers even better sound and music performance for headphones than its predecessor . Battery life is important, and with a long battery life, it is currently our top-rated audio headphones with noise cancellation, background noise, and the Bose models on some key points.

Read our Sony WH-1000XM3 review.

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Boses Noise Canceling Headphones 700, the long-awaited successor to its QuietComfort 35 II models, is not a quantum leap forward, but offers a slightly better sound, call and noise suppression quality for an optimal listening experience. Unfortunately, they cost $ 400, but they’re a powerful all-round audio performer with up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge. That’s a lot of battery life!

Read our Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 review.

Sarah Tew / CNET

The V-Moda M-200 is a wired headphone and one of the few wired over-ear headphones on this list. These clean and detailed-sounding over-ear headphones were released in late 2019 and offer great sound and bass reproduction. The comfortable ear cups make them comfortable to wear. With 50 mm drivers with neodymium magnets, CCAW voice coils and fine tuning of Roland Engineers – V-Moda is now owned by Roland – the M-200 is Hi-Res Audio certified by the Japan Audio Society. Other V-Moda earphones tend to squeeze the bass a bit, but this has the more neutral sound profile you’d expect from a studio monitor headphone. These studio-quality headphones come with two cables, one of which has a built-in microphone for making calls. It would be helpful if V-Moda offered Lightning or USB-C headphone cables for smartphone users.

Sarah Tew / CNET

For premium noise canceling headphones, Bose and Sony have been the dominant sound players in recent years. But now Sennheiser has appeared with his new one Momentum 3 wireless and it deserves some attention, especially from people who are fans of the momentum line. It is now available for $ 400 – the same price as the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700.

Not only does it offer improved noise cancellation features (goodbye, external noise) and excellent sound and audio for listening to music, it is also a great headset for making calls on your iPhone or Android. The noise cancellation and comfort level may not quite match the noise cancellation and comfort of the Sony WH-1000XM3, but the padded ear cups are covered with sheep leather, and I had no problems rocking them for a two-hour listening session, not to mention the battery life.

Read our Sennheiser Momentum 3 first.

Ideally under $ 200

JBL Live 650BTNC

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While noise cancellation and comfort aren’t quite comparable to those of Bose and Sony’s rival models, JBL’s Live 650BTNC can keep up with the sound – the best over-ear headphones if you don’t spend more than a few hundred want dollars. These over-ear headphones are worth considering if you don’t want to spend more than $ 300 on noise-canceling headphones. We like the sound of it.

Read our JBL Live 650BTNC test.

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I liked the original Bowers & Wilkins PX over-ear noise canceling headphones, but they lacked some comfort and noise cancellation. The company’s new PX7, which was released in fall 2019, improves on both fronts with excellent sound, four noise reduction settings (automatic, low, high and off) and a well-padded ear pad in a sturdy, eye-catching design. There is also an adjustable “transparency” mode for the environment that allows you to hear the outside world.

The headphones are a bit heavy at 304 grams, but the build quality is top-notch, and it’s better considering that they are a little expensive at $ 400. Bowers & Wilkins also makes a more compact on-ear model, the PX5, it costs $ 100 less and is also quite good. But this model sounds a little better.

The sound is rich and detailed with deep basses that remain well defined even at high volumes. These are fairly dynamic headphones with a hint of extra energy in the middle highs. It’s not as casual as the previous PX5 Wireless, and its most direct competitor is probably the Sennheiser Momentum 3 above. This Sennheiser may be superior to make calls, but this black and white is likely to win in design.

These Bluetooth headphones support AAC and aptX, use Bluetooth 5.0, are charged via USB-C and have a battery life of up to 30 hours at moderate volume. The noise cancellation is not quite the level of Bose or Sony, but is not far away – as I said, it has been improved over the noise cancellation of the original PX.

Sarah Tew / CNET

When Jabra first announced its new one Elite 85h With over-ear headphones ($ 300, $ 280), it was announced how it would be equipped with Amazon’s voice assistant controls (Alexa or Google Assistant). Unfortunately, this feature didn’t make it into the end product – apparently it affected battery life too much and battery life is critical – but the Elite 85h is still excellent noise canceling headphones that make music and other audio sound good. It is comfortable to wear and also works well as a headset for making calls – important for over-ear headphones.

Read our Jabra Elite 85h test.

Sarah Tew / CNET

The Sony MDR-7506 was introduced in 1991 and has long been a popular headphone for sound engineers and other sound professionals (yes, this is a wired headphone). The origins of its design go back even further since the MDR-7506 is indeed a refresh of the Sony MDR-V6 Both models were developed for the pro sound market, but are still very popular with consumers.

The two headphones have the same design and are very comfortable, but they don’t sound identical. Both offer a very balanced sound and excellent clarity for their modest prices – and both are great values ​​overall. But the V6 does a little bit more bass and sounds more relaxed and smooth, while the 7506 is slimmer and has an accented treble range that makes it a little crisper and more lively.

Read our Sony MDR 7506 review.

Sarah Tew

Another audiophile favorite, Grado’s Prestige SR325e series, has been around for some time. We already tested these over-ear headphones in 2014. Office environment), but it delivers some of the most open, detailed sounds you can find at this price.

Grado, based in Brooklyn, New York, and manufacturing most of its products there, has not changed the iconic exterior design of the headphones. Like its SR325 predecessor (the previous model was the SR325i), its model has the same company. cup-shaped foam pads that put a little more pressure on the outer edges of your ears than the simpler foam pads of the Step Down SR80e, which are probably more comfortable. The SR80e headphones are significantly lighter, but do not have the same build quality as the SR325e. Some people like the Grado ear pads (they can be replaced by the user), but overall, we would say that the comfort of this model does not match the level of its sound quality: comfort is good but not great.

Read our Grado Prestige Series SR325e review.

Amazon

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 isn’t mentioned much in the discussion about top noise canceling headphones, as it is a really expensive headphone at $ 500. The latest version of the third generation has been updated in a few key points that make it better than the previous H9i. The battery life for this version has improved to 25 hours compared to the previous version. There is now a special button for your voice assistant, the padding on the ear pads and headband is more comfortable and the touch controls have been optimized. The sound is still good.

Some people, especially weight lifters, like to exercise in large headphones, and the BackBeat Fit 6100 OverB-Fit 6100 wireless headphones are a very good choice for both the gym and everyday use. The adjustable Sport-Fit headband features a waterproof and sweat-proof IPX5 design, angled 40 mm drivers and noise-isolating ear cups with an “awareness” mode. The battery life is 24 hours. They sound pretty good and stay really safe on your head – you can adjust the tension in the headband, which is innovative and ideal for practice headphones.

They are a little expensive at their list price of $ 180, but Amazon has them for $ 130, and sometimes the price drops closer to $ 100. They are available in black, camo and gray.