The Best Noise-Cancelling Headphones and Ear Buds So You Can Concentrate While Working From Home
Block out unnecessary distractions
WFH is really challenging, especially since you won't be the only one at home. With distractions from pets or other family members, it's imperative that noise level can be kept at a minimum in order to maintain the same amount of efficiency that comes easily when you're in the office. Here are our recommendations for wireless noise-cancellation headphones and ear buds, to help you block out unnecessary distractions. You can also enjoy these tunes from the Spotify playlist curated by the BAZAAR team.
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The Airpods Max features 20 hours of battery life and is the ultimate Zoom flex with its multi-colour options and price tag. Each ear cup features three outward-facing microphones to detect environmental noise, while one microphone inside the ear cup monitors the sound reaching the listener’s ear. This helps the AirPods Max deliver immersive sound through Active Noise Cancellation. At the same time, the microphones also help with Transparency mode so that you can simultaneously listen to music while hearing the environment around you — ensuring everything, including your own voice, sounds natural while the audio plays perfectly.
The design of the 700s is a break away from the classic Bose Quiet Comfort (or QC) series. Its sleeker design definitely makes this a pair of headphones that wants to be seen. It can last up to 20-hours on a single charge, with a four-microphone system that detects ambient sound and isolates it from your own voice, even in a noisy environment. Definitely a good choice if you're in a crowded household.
The Jabra Elite 85h boasts 36 hours of battery life and uses six out of its eight built-in microphones to call quality, block out noise and background distractions. It's also supported by Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri and Google's Assistant, so you can use your voice commands while using the Jabra Elite 85h.
This pair of headphones offer 30 hours of playtime with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) activated and 45 hours without. Its ergonomic design ensures a comfortable fit while still staying true to the Marshall aesthetics. However, its voice command is only optimised for Google Assistant, so you might want to take note of that if you're an Apple Siri user.
All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal not only delivers rich audio with an outstanding microphone, Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation, and Transparency mode—come night time (or whenever you end work), the Beoplay Portal becomes an excellent gaming headphone. Developed specifically for Xbox Series X, S and Xbox One, the Beoplay Portal connects wirelessly to offer an immersive gaming experience with low latency.
Often considered the best noise-cancelling headphones in the market right now, the Sony WH-1000XM4 cuts out noise with its Ambient Sound Control. While it is usually designed for cutting out travel noises (think airplane cabin), it is also able to block out voices, which is great if you have another family member on a Zoom call. It boasts a long battery life to 30 hours, and a new HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN1 to blur our ambient noise.