How to choose noise-cancelling headphones: fit, codecs, multipoint and calls

Start with the noise you want gone

Active noise cancelling is very good at some sounds and fairly poor at others, so the first question is not which brand but which noise. RTINGS, which publishes its headphone test methods in detail, explains the split clearly. Low, rumbling sounds such as bus and plane engines, traffic and construction are hard to block with padding alone because long wavelengths pass through material easily. That is where ANC does its best work; RTINGS says some of the best noise cancelling headphones can reduce noise in the bass range by more than 15 dB.

Higher sounds behave differently. RTINGS notes that closed-back headphones and earbuds already block a lot of treble, such as clinking dishes and whiny fans, passively, while ANC struggles there because the wavelengths are so short that timing the anti-noise is difficult. Voices sit in the middle. Padding and seal handle part of that range, and ANC adds a smaller gain the higher the pitch goes. In practice, that means a pair that makes a flight cabin almost silent may still let a colleague's conversation through. If chatter is your main problem, a good seal and some background music will matter as much as the cancellation itself.

This is also why scores can mislead. RTINGS now uses pink noise plus recorded airplane, office and street scenarios, and gives adaptive systems a few seconds to settle before measuring, because some headphones take time to reach full strength. Look at the scenario closest to your commute or workspace rather than a single overall number.

Fit and seal decide how well any of it works

Passive isolation is the foundation ANC builds on. Dense pads on over-ear headphones and well-fitted tips on earbuds do the first layer of blocking, and anything that breaks the seal lets low-frequency sound leak in. RTINGS reseats headphones between each measurement for exactly this reason: small changes in position change the result. Glasses arms, thick hair and worn pads can all create gaps. For earbuds, trying every tip size in the box is the cheapest upgrade you can make.

Comfort is personal in ways a spec sheet cannot settle. Headband clamp, pad depth, weight and the shape of your ears all affect whether a pair is still comfortable after two hours. If strong ANC has ever left your ears feeling uncomfortable or blocked, buy from a retailer with a reasonable return window and wear the headphones for a long session before the deadline. Pressure that persists after you take them off, or any pain, is a question for a doctor rather than a settings menu.

Wind deserves its own mention for anyone who walks or waits outdoors. RTINGS explains that wind hitting the external ANC microphones looks like noise to the processor, so the headphones can generate more sound than they remove. Many models now include a wind-reduction mode; on a blustery winter platform it is worth knowing where that setting lives.

Codecs: what LDAC, aptX and AAC really change

Bluetooth codec logos dominate the packaging, but they matter less than most buyers expect. RTINGS points out that ordinary Bluetooth listening is not lossless. LDAC carries more data than the basic SBC codec, yet despite its name it is still lossy. Apple devices top out at AAC, which RTINGS describes as a lossy connection of about 320 kbps at best.

The closest thing to lossless Bluetooth today is aptX Lossless, which RTINGS says can deliver CD-quality audio under ideal conditions, but only when both the headphones and the playback device have a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip of the required generation (Gen 2 or newer, per RTINGS). RTINGS also notes that Samsung and Apple phones did not support it at the time of writing, and many of the compatible devices are not widely sold in North America.

The practical rule is simple. Check which codecs your phone supports before paying extra for one the headphones advertise. An iPhone owner will use AAC regardless. An Android owner may gain LDAC or aptX Adaptive, sometimes at the cost of battery life or connection stability, and should check whether the higher-quality mode stays available when other features, such as multipoint, are switched on. If maximum quality matters, a wired or USB connection is the more reliable route, and not every wireless headphone supports listening over its USB port.

Multipoint and device switching

Multipoint lets one headphone stay connected to two devices at once, typically a phone and a laptop, so a call can come through while you are watching a video on the computer. Implementations differ in the details. Sony's official help guide for the WH-1000XM4, for example, says the headset can hold two connections when the option is enabled in its app, that LDAC cannot be used in that mode and the codec drops to AAC or SBC, and that to switch music sources you stop playback on one device before starting it on the other. Some later models and firmware have changed these limits, so check the current help guide for the exact model you are considering.

Apple takes a different approach. Its support pages say AirPods 2 and later, every AirPods Pro and every AirPods Max can switch automatically between an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro signed in to the same Apple Account with two-factor authentication. It is seamless within Apple's world, but it does not replace true multipoint with a Windows laptop or an Android phone. If your day mixes platforms, put standard multipoint on the must-have list.

Calls: microphones are a separate purchase decision

Great noise cancelling for your ears says little about how you sound to others. RTINGS tests call quality separately and explains why: the closer a microphone is to the mouth, the better it separates speech from background noise, which is why boom microphones tend to score best. Headphones without a boom rely on beamforming and processing to pick your voice out of traffic or a busy office, with varying success. RTINGS treats a speech-to-noise ratio above 24 dB as a good result and considers 3 dB a noticeable difference.

If you take many calls in loud places, read microphone results and listen to published recordings where reviewers provide them. For heavy desk use, a cheap wired headset or a separate microphone can outperform any premium wireless pair.

Narrowing the shortlist

Write down your main noise, your devices, how long you wear headphones at a stretch and whether you need a cable fallback. Then compare a small group. Our research reviews cover the Sony WH-1000XM6 (Sony WH-1000XM6 review) and WH-1000XM5 (Sony WH-1000XM5 review), the Bose QuietComfort Ultra (Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2023) review), the long-battery Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless (Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless review) and, for in-ear buyers, the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C (Apple AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C) review), including which of its hearing features are and are not offered in Canada.

From a tech standpoint

Buy for your noise and your head before your codec. Engine rumble favours strong ANC, office chatter favours a tight seal, and frequent calls need good microphones that ANC scores will not tell you about. Confirm how multipoint behaves with your own devices, and keep the receipt until you have worn the pair for a full day.