Silence is golden, so may we present the best noise-cancelling headphones, whether your priority is audio quality, sound suppression on the go, or you just want the most stylish option out there.
Best for the long haul
JBL Live Beam 3
Two days is a long time to be listening to music, but that's exactly what the JBL Live Beam 3 offers. What's more, the way it reproduces sound makes two whole days and nights fly by. On top of impressive battery life and endlessly engaging sound, JBL has included a nifty touchscreen charging case, so you don't even need to open the JBL control app to access volume, playback, or ANC modes. From ±R3 800, jbl.com
Cambridge Audio Melomania P100
Rely on Cambridge Audio to go to town when designing and specifying a new pair of wireless over-ear noise-cancellers. Yes, the Melomania P100 look good, feel good and even smell pretty good straight from the box —but more importantly they sound great and cancel noise splendidly. And even more important for the power users among us is the epic battery life: 100 hours with ANC switched off and 60 hours of blissful noise-free listening is easily achievable. From ±R7 000, cambridgeaudio.com
Cleer Audio Enduro ANC
To be fair, it's possible to buy on-ear headphones that are a little more comfortable than the Cleer Audio Enduro ANC — but what's much harder to come by at this sort of money is similarly chunky sound quality, a comparable control app, or battery life that comes anywhere close. If you need to enjoy top-quality isolation for 60 hours at a stretch, the aptly named Enduro have you covered. They're small but have some very big numbers attached. From ±R6 000, focal. com
Best for audiophiles
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8
The new Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 are the best-sounding true wireless in-ear headphones you can buy, and they are exceptional noise-cancellers at the same time, which shouldn't come as any surprise. What's a little unexpected about these brilliant earbuds is the agricultural appearance of previous Bowers Er Wilkins models is gone, replaced by a sleek and understated design that even David Beckham doesn't mind having in his ears. Just because you're an audio geek doesn't mean you don't want to look good... From ±R7 000, bowerswilkins.com
Focal Bathys
Nothing's perfect, of course, and in truth the Focal Bathys are in the 'very good' rather than 'great' category when it comes to noise-cancellation. But the sound they produce makes up for it, in spades - this is a superb-sounding pair of headphones, so good that you'll find yourself checking they're not hard-wired to a source of music. Add in great looks, luxurious build and impeccable finish, and you'll take 'very good' noise-cancelling all day long - guaranteed. From ±R20 000, focal.com
Marshall Monitor III ANC
The third generation of Marshall's Monitor ANC wireless on-ear noise-cancellers is its best yet - and that's saying something. Unmistakable looks combine with huge battery life, the sort of active noise-cancellation that makes every journey serene, an audio quality that combines the usual Marshall virtues of punch and drive with a slightly less predictable helping of insight and refinement —so in every respect, these are brilliantly capable headphones. From ±R6 000, marshall.com
Best for style
Apple AirPods Max
This isn't the first Apple audio product to have the 'style' thing covered, but it's the one that backs it up with the most substance. The AirPods Max sound uncomplicatedly excellent, they cancel noise with something approaching fanaticism, and the way they're specified, designed and finished is basically shorthand for 'look at me, I'm a very discerning and sophisticated individual'. Not every pair of wireless headphones can do this, of course, and even fewer can do it with quite such panache. From ±R10 000, apple.com
Final Audio UX3000
The Final Audio UX3000 make their modest price look like a misprint. Here's a compact, elegant, nicely styled and interestingly finished little pair of wireless on-ear headphones, light and comfortable, with specification out of all proportion to the asking price. Add in some very effective noise-cancellation and confident, articulate and convincing sound, and the combination of positives adds up quickly. If 'style' is interchangeable with 'understatement', you won't go wrong here. From ±R2 800, snext-final.com
Montblanc MTB03
The casual six-pointed star that adorns each of these small, understated true wireless earbuds is more commonly found gracing some of the most luxuriously upmarket luggage, pens, watches, sunglasses and what-have-you that [lots and lots of] money can buy. But the MTB03 are no mere frippery —these are serious earbuds that sound superb and cancel external noise with determination. So, it's the same with the MTB03 as with every other Montblanc product. From ±R8 300, montblanc.com
Best for your budget
Audio Technica ATH-CKS30TW+
Audio Technica is no stranger to value-for-money true wireless earbuds, but with the ATH-CKS30TW+ it may have surpassed itself. No matter which aspect of the 30+ you consider: sound quality, ANC performance, battery life, build quality, standard of control app, you name it - the Audio Technica are among the very best pound-for-pound performers out there. These earbuds look, feel and sound way more expensive than they actually are —which makes them one of the biggest bargains around. From ±R1 300, audio-technica.com
Sony WH-CH720N
Sony remains the absolute king of this sort of thing. For comfortably less than £100 it will happily sell you a pair of properly made, expertly finished and attractive wireless over-ear headphones that look and sound the part - and that have noise-cancellation chops good enough to embarrass any number of more expensive alternatives from other brands. Where value for money is concerned, you'll find it hard to do any better than the WH-CH720N. From ±R2 000, sony.com
JBL Tune 670NC
If the Sony WH-CH720N are on the bulky side for your purposes [and if you fancy one of several different colours], then meet the JBL Tune 670NC. They're smaller and lighter than the norm, have impressive battery life [up to 70 hours if you're careful about volume levels] and feature very effective noise-cancellation along with eminently listenable sound. The fact that they're compatible with one of the best control apps around is the cherry on an already quite tasty cake. From ±R1 800, jbl.com
Best for travel
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones
If you often find yourself on a plane or a train, you know that effective noise-cancellation is a must if you're going to ignore the drone of the vehicle [and of its passengers]. And there's no two ways about it: the best noise-cancellation in the business has the word 'Bose' attached. With the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, the company has added 'excellent sound quality' to 'predictably brilliant ANC' to deliver the only pair of over-ear headphones a frequent flyer will ever need. From ±R3 8OO, jbl.com
Anker Soundcore Space One Pro
Anker's noise-cancelling option represents supreme value, with excellent pound-for-pound performance, cracking battery life and supreme portability. These headphones will last for over 110 hours on a single charge, and that's with ANC switched on —turn it off and it's over 60 hours. Their super-foldable design takes up very little of your baggage allowance. And the active noise-cancellation is so effective that any kind of background sound is taken out of the equation. From ±R4 000, soundcore.com
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds
You can go ahead and assume that everything written above about the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones applies to the Ultra Earbuds too — great sound, ace noise-cancellation and more. Which would be enough to make the Ultra Earbuds a no-brainer if they had nothing else going for them - but these earbuds are among the lightest, most comfortable and most discreet around. Which means your fellow passengers might not even notice that you're ignoring them entirely. From ±R9 000, bose.com
Best for luxury
Yamaha YH-E700B
First things first: the Yamaha YH-E700B are either on-ear or over-ear wireless headphones - it really depends on how big your head is, because they're pretty small by over-ear standards and quite large by on-ear standards. No matter the size of your head, though, it will feel the benefit of being inside a pair of these —the sound they make is excellent, the way they cancel ambient sound can't be argued with, and they're luxurious enough where materials and finish are concerned to back up their discreet good looks. From ±R6 000, yamaha.com
Devialet Gemini II
French maximalist Devialet is more commonly known for its bonkers range of madly high-performance wireless loudspeakers, but it's similarly uncompromising when it comes to true wireless in-ear headphones. You might think a product as necessarily small as this can't offer the chance of authentic luxury, but the Gemini II look and feel as good as they sound. And you can get an 'Opera de Paris' version that's finished in 211-carat 'moon gold' for just R12 000... From ±R10 000, devialet.com
Bowers & Wilkins PX8
It's one thing to enjoy high-quality sound and top-notch active noise-cancellation, it's quite another to have your other senses indulged at the same time. This is what makes the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 such a treat for the eyes, the nose and the fingertips as well as the ears —the quality of the materials used here, from the leather to the burnished aluminium, is almost enough to provoke sensory overload. And you can't say that about any old pair of wireless over-ear headphones. From ±R13 000, bowerswilkins.com
By: Simon Lucas
Photography by: Shutterstock/Alamy/Getty
Text courtesy of Tech magazine
