Headphones reviews

Tempered glass, leather, aluminum, and a USB-C path that gets you genuine 24-bit lossless on Android or a Mac. Heavy, expensive, and the ANC mode switch has a baffling two-second pause.

A USB-C DAC inside the cups, magnesium and aluminum construction, and the most accurate tuning of any noise-cancelling over-ear I have heard. The noise cancellation itself is fine, not class-leading, and the price is steep.

Two hundred dollars buys you the neutral tuning the M50x has been famous for, plus LDAC, multipoint, and roughly sixty-five hours of playback. There is no noise cancellation, and that is the trade.

A surprisingly balanced tuning, USB-C lossless via an internal DAC, and Apple ecosystem perks at $349. The ear cups are small, the ANC is just okay, and a chunk of buyers will be uncomfortable before they hear it.

Nappa leather, brushed aluminum, forty hours of battery, and a tuning that swings hard toward bass. The build is the best in the category and the value is the worst.

Strong ANC, thirty-two hours of battery, and a TV Audio Swap feature that pulls audio off a Sonos Arc or Beam straight into the cups. Outside the Sonos ecosystem there are better headphones for the money.

Roughly sixty hours of ANC-on battery, the most accurate sound at the price, and forty-some dollars cheaper than the Sony and Bose flagships. The ANC and the microphone are the compromises.

The 2024 refresh swaps Lightning for USB-C and unlocks wired lossless from a Mac or iPhone. Everything else, including the weight and the case, is identical.

The best ANC I have measured in over-ear wireless, comfortable enough to wear all day, and at $430 priced exactly where you would expect. The Immersive Audio mode is still a gimmick.

The noise cancellation is the best in any true-wireless earbud I have used. The default tuning leans hard on bass, the app fights with you occasionally, and one bud sometimes drops out for reasons nobody has fully explained.

Class-leading ANC, all-day comfort, and a meaningful jump in call quality over the XM4. The lost folding hinge and the larger case are the price of the redesign.

Better fit, better noise cancellation, a heart-rate sensor that mostly works, and the same iPhone-only magic everyone else has spent four years trying to copy. Two hundred and fifty dollars, and the easy answer.