TECH BUYER’S GUIDE, December 2023 – Best headphones tested and compared on sound, price and build quality by the experts at Tech Magazine
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1. Sennheiser Momentum 4
We rate these the best overall headphone experience, for sheer sound quality. The listening experience is effortlessly flawless with all frequencies perfectly balanced across all music genres and the overall comfort with customisable noise cancelling and app support is top notch. R6 300
2. WINX VIBE Pure ANC Wireless
Being light and extremely comfortable, these quickly earned their place as our go-to headphones for all-day office work. They also offer a relaxed, but balanced, sound profile, with a surprisingly good soundstage and no-fuss one-button noise cancelling. The low price just sealed the deal. R1 200
3. Sony WF-C500
A downscaled version of Sony’s much more expensive buds. You give up the noise cancelling and some other high end feature, but these are easy to use, fit snugly and will delight music lovers and audiophiles on a budget. R1 000
4. Sennheiser CX TW
These are our first-choice buds for near audiophile-quality sound that’s rich, but balanced, and also affordable. There’s no frills, no fuss and no noise cancelling, but they are supremely comfortable. They’re also splashproof. R3 000
5. Xiaomi Mi TW Earbuds Basic 2
These buds were a delight, from the proper rumbling bass ending in a well balanced sound to the physical control buttons, which we prefer over touch sensors. For the price, these are truly an unbeatable budget buy. R300
BUYING GUIDE
How to buy noise canceling headphones:
To stay in the productivity zone, you need to be able to enjoy the silence. Active Noise Canceling (ANC) headphones enable you to block out the world and melt into your tunes, it feels like magic but how do they work? And what should you look for when buying a pair?
BATTERY POWER: ANC requires power. While this can be drawn from a USB or lightning cable, it’s not possible to supply enough juice through a 3.5 mm jack. Given that they already carry a battery, you’ll more commonly find ANC on wireless audio devices; if you’re looking at a wired solution, check to see where that battery is located. Even if you’re going wireless, bear in mind that activating the ANC engine will increase your device’s battery draw, and so cutting the between-charges lifespan of Bluetooth headphones.
CUP PADDING: When shopping, beware that ‘noise cancelling’ can also (somewhat deviously) be used to refer to the foam padding on over-ear headphones or the silicone rubber on the earbuds. Instead, be on the lookout for ‘active noise cancelling’.
ANC TECH: There are two main types of noise cancelling. Feedforward is the most common and uses a mic on the outside of the headphone cup to catch the sound of unwanted noise. Then, before that sound can reach your ear, the ANC engine creates the opposing wave to cancel it out, all in the milliseconds it takes the sound to get from the mic into your ear. Hybrid ANC uses a mic on the outside and the inside of the cups.
