Everyone deserves an extra bit of peace and quiet now and then, so it might be time that you finally invested in a pair of noise-cancelling earbuds. These in-ear headphones will fit neatly in your back pocket and let you let you mute the world, so you can focus on your favourite music without interruption.
To help you say goodbye to distractingly loud environments, we’ve compiled a list of the best wireless earbuds to give you top-quality audio performance and active noise cancellation (ANC).
The best noise-cancelling earbuds according to Gizmodo Australia
Jabra Elite Elite 4 Wireless Noise-Cancelling Earbuds
If you’re on a strict budget, the Jabra Elite 4 are a solid option for earbuds. In our review of the lightweight earbuds, we noted that the quality of its audio and noise cancellation were pretty good for the price you’re paying:
“[C]onsidering the price point, the active noise-cancellation is pretty impressive and the audio quality is decent. If you’re after a pair of earbuds that sound good that you can casually wear at home, at the office or out and about, I don’t think you’d be disappointed with these.”
The Elite 4 are limited when it comes to customisation options, but the companion app will also let you tinker with the earbud’s equaliser and change sound modes. The earbuds have a battery life of 5.5 hours, with another 16.5 hours available in the charging case. You get what you pay for with these headphones, but even so, you’ll still get your money’s worth.
You can read Gizmodo Australia’s review of the Jabra Elite 4 earbuds here.
Where to buy Jabra Elite 4 noise-cancelling earbuds:
Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC Earbuds
If you’re after an affordable pair of wireless noise-cancelling earbuds that sound more expensive than they are, then grab yourself a pair of the Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC. In our review of the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, we were particularly impressed by how good these sounded, despite being a pair of sub-$200 earbuds:
“To say I’m impressed by the quality of these earbuds would be an understatement. Even with just using the default mix settings, everything I listened to sounded so crisp and balanced – from the jangly pop-rock of R.E.M. to the crushing industrial menace of Nine Inch Nails.
Even on more densely-layered albums like DJ Shadow’s Entroducing or Bjork’s Post, the earbuds manage to maintain a richness of depth across the highs, mids and lows. The bass in particular sounds very robust, especially as you wade into those deeper tones. I could feel the 808 drums in ‘Brass Monkey’ by the Beastie Boys turning my brain into jelly.”
Depending on your preference, the Liberty 4 offers Adaptive and manual Active Noise Cancelling – both of which are excellent. Other features include customisable touch controls, on-ear detection and a battery life of around 10 hours, with a further 40 available through the charging case.
You can read Gizmodo Australia’s review of the Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC earbuds here.
Where to buy Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC earbuds:
Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 Noise-Cancelling Earbuds
The Momentum True Wireless 2 were already a pretty excellent pair of noise-cancelling earbuds, but Sennheiser somehow found a way to improve them with the Momentum 3.
Sennheiser has a pretty good rep when it comes to having high-quality headphones and audio, and the Momentum 3 earbuds are no different. Here’s what we had to say in our review of the earbuds:
“The sound quality of the Momentum 3 is absolutely fantastic, while the earbuds are lightweight and comfortable. The combination of the ear tips and fins really go a long way when it comes to finding a good fit. The battery life is a bit on the average side of things, the charging case keeps its playback time afloat well.”
With 7mm dynamic drivers and a fully customisable EQ, the Sennheiser Momentum 3 earbuds sound great. Their playback is crisp and well-balanced, with a very punchy bass.
The earbuds have a seven-hour battery life with ANC on and an additional 21 available via the charging case. It uses adaptive ANC, so the earbuds will monitor your surrounding environment and will automatically adjust the levels of noise cancellation to help prolong battery life. While an interesting feature, this adaptive ANC didn’t fully land with us while we were road-testing the Momentum 3 earbuds. The ANC isn’t terrible or a reason not to buy these earbuds, but it can be inconsistent.
You can read Gizmodo Australia’s review of the Sennheiser Momentum 3 earbuds here.
Where to buy Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 earbuds:
Sony WF-1000XM5 Noise-Cancelling Earbuds
No list of noise-cancelling earbuds would be complete without including something from Sony. Here at Gizmodo Australia, we’ve gone on about how much we love its over-the-ear headphones, and that love extends to Sony’s earbuds too.
In our review of the WF-1000XM5, we were pretty taken by the earbuds’ incredible noise-cancellation and sound quality:
“The [WF-1000XM5] are brilliant at cancelling noise, and even better at delivering sound into your eardrums. They have a tonne of features, an app that allows you to completely customise your experience, and they offer head-tracking, 360 audio, etc – I could go on for another 1,000 words about them.”
To achieve that high-quality sound and noise cancellation, the WF-1000XM5 uses the combined power of two new processors for higher-precision performance, along with a dynamic new driver that offers a wide frequency reproduction. It even comes with a great battery life of eight hours, with an additional 16 hours from the charging case.
You can read Gizmodo Australia’s review of the Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds here.
Where to buy Sony WF-1000XM5 noise-cancelling earbuds:
Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen)
Depending on who you ask, the first generation of the Apple AirPods Pro is either one of the best or the most over-hyped earbuds ever. If you’re looking for a new pair of wireless earbuds and are worried about paying more for the Apple brand name instead of the quality, take it from us, the AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) live up to that hype.
In Gizmodo Australia’s review of the second generation of AirPod Pro, we praised the improved audio over the previous iteration, with adaptive EQ and Personalised Spatial Audio creating a rich listening experience. If you’re someone who values the sound of silence, its noise-cancelling abilities have also been improved and are now strong enough to cancel out the thunder of a metal gig.
However, we did note that these earbuds are more geared towards people who primarily live within Apple’s walled garden:
“If you’re an iPhone owner in the market for noise-cancelling in-ear buds that sound good, have more smarts than you could imagine and come in at under $400, I couldn’t tell you these wouldn’t be worth your consideration.”
The AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) has a battery life of around six hours with ANC on, with a total of up to 30 hours available from the charging case. Just don’t accidentally put them through the wash.
You can read Gizmodo Australia’s review of the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) here.
Where to buy Apple AirPods Pro:
Bose QuietComfort Noise-Cancelling Earbuds
The Bose QuietComfort noise-cancelling earbuds do exactly as they say on the box. With 11 levels of active noise cancellation and a soft silicone design, these earbuds will help you drown out any external noise so you can focus 100% on your music while sitting comfortably in your ears for its 6-hour playback life.
The Bose QuietComfort are easy-to-use earbuds with some of the best audio quality out there. If you want crisp audio that maintains a deep bass, along with a solid user experience, these are the earbuds you want.
While there are new models for Bose earbuds on the market, the upside here is that it’s not hard to find a pair of this iteration of the QuietComfort on sale. For the price range, you can’t do much better than these.
You can read Gizmodo Australia’s review of the Bose QuietComfort earbuds here.
Where to buy Bose QuietComfort noise-cancelling earbuds:
Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro Noise-Cancelling Earbuds
With a reduced and more comfortable design, the Galaxy Buds2 Pro are worthy successors to Samsung’s previous wireless earbuds.
The Buds2 Pro uses Samsung’s end-to-end 24-bit Hi-Fi processing to create a clear and crisp audio experience, including an immersive 360 Audio feature. Its active noise cancellation uses three high signal-to-noise microphones to detect and reduce ambient sound to improve your listening experience. The Buds2 Pro has a battery life of around 5 hours with ANC on and up to hours total via the charging case.
Where to buy Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro:
If you prefer over-the-ear headphones instead of earbuds, you can find Gizmodo Australia’s favourite noise-cancelling pairs here.
Image: Jabra/Sennheiser