The best over-ear headphones of 2026: Expert tested and reviewed

The Bose QC Ultra headphones are great for people who spend a lot of time working at a desk or commuting. Their ANC does a great job of blocking out office chatter and the low hums of a plane, train, or car. The QC Ultra’s all-day comfort makes them perfect for watching videos, taking calls, and listening to music. 

Review: Bose QuietComfort Ultra

The Bose QC Ultra are fitted with plushy yet breathable polyurethane earcups for immense comfort and heat management. They have a sporty yet casual design, featuring aluminum headband extenders that fold at the hinges for enhanced portability. They deliver great sound with a prominent bass response and a 2.5mm jack for wired listening. 

Bose’s latest release puts the quiet in QuietComfort, as the QC Ultra headphones deliver best-in-class noise-canceling. There’s no hiss or hum; only loud conversations nearby will cut through the Ultra’s ANC. In the Bose app, you can toggle between ANC and transparency modes and access a three-band EQ for customizing your headphones’ lows, mids, and highs.

The Bose app also offers an easy way to manage your QC Ultra’s active audio streams. With Bluetooth 5.3, the QC Ultra have Bluetooth multipoint, and you can easily switch between devices.

The QC Ultra’s only shortcoming is its relatively short battery life. At 24 hours, the QC Ultra fall behind its competitors from Sony, Sonos, and Beats in this category. Still, they’re wonderful for frequent flyers, music enjoyers, and anyone who needs very strong noise-canceling throughout their day.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra tech specs: Form factor: Over-ear | Bluetooth: Yes (5.3) | Battery life: 24 hours (ANC off) | Driver size: 35mm dynamic | Noise cancellation: Yes | Wired option(s): 3.5mm headphone jack

The Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones are the company’s latest flagship and one of the most popular ones on the market. They deliver lots of practicality and utility, making them a solid option for people looking for a pair of premium everyday headphones.

Review: Sony WH-1000XM5

The XM5 headphones have Sony’s standard warm, bass-forward sound, and the Sony Connect app offers plenty of features like Speak to Chat, EQ settings, and Bluetooth multipoint device management. Additionally, the XM5 offer quick charging, supplying three hours of listening time after three minutes of charging.

Despite their impressive and extensive internal audio components, the XM5 over-ear headphones remain light and comfortable for long-term wear. The oversized earcups offer ample room for your ears during lengthy listening sessions.

The earcups also house touch controls; wearers can slide and tap their finger on the outside of the cup to control volume and track playback. Other features include access to Sony’s hi-res LDAC Bluetooth codec for higher-quality audio with compatible devices, and 360 reality audio when listening on a compatible streaming service.

The XM5 are a superb pair of practical, everyday premium headphones, offering users an impressive battery life, all-day comfort, and adequate noise-canceling properties.

Sony WH-1000XM5 tech specs: Form factor: Over-ear | Bluetooth: Yes (5.2) | Battery life: 40 hours (ANC off) | Driver size: 30mm dynamic | Noise cancellation: Yes | Wired option(s): 3.5mm headphone jack

The Sennheiser Momentum 4 are the perfect headphones for anyone who likes to take high-quality sound on the go. Not to mention, their 60-hour battery life means you’ll get through the week or through a days-long trek in and out of airports without needing to charge them.

Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 over-ear headphones are the best wireless option for listeners with a trained ear. Sennheiser is known for its professional-level audio equipment and implemented its higher-caliber audio technology into a pair of consumer headphones.

Review: Sennheiser Momentum 4

The Momentum 4 easily tops Apple, Bose, and Sony in the audio department but certainly falls behind all three in the noise-canceling category. For wireless headphones, the Momentum 4 delivers incredibly clear and detailed audio and offers highly specific EQ settings on a five-band equalizer.

I recommend these headphones for at-home wireless listening or for people who like to remain aware of their surroundings while they commute, travel, or work in public spaces. When I tested these headphones, I found the Momentum 4 was effective at blocking out the lower pitches of droning noises, like a lawn mower or a running refrigerator, but the higher pitches of these noises will get past these headphones. 

However, I also found that the ANC doesn’t degrade the Momentum 4’s sound quality, something that’s very common with other ANC-enabled headphones.

Sennheiser Momentum 4 tech specs: Weight: 10.3 oz (292 g) | Battery life: 60 hours | Bluetooth: Yes (5.2) | Multipoint: Yes

The Sonos Ace are the company’s first headphones, offering users a condensed version of the esteemed Sonos experience. These headphones are a first-gen product, which means they could use more refining in future generations. However, they’re worth it if you already have Sonos products and enjoy the company’s signature sound and user experience.

Review: Sonos Ace

The Ace offer thick, plushy ear pads equal to Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra regarding comfort. The headband extenders are made from stainless steel, a design accent that delivers a premium look and feel.

These headphones are primed for all-day wear, and it’s easy to keep them on for hours while watching TV, movies, or YouTube videos. The Sonos Ace are compatible with Dolby Atmos, and offer Sonos’ intelligent head-tracking technology, which is reliable, realistic, and adds a layer of immersion when watching TV or listening to music on a Dolby-compatible streaming platform.

If you have a compatible Sonos soundbar, you can engage the Ace headphones in TV Audio Swap, which swaps the audio from your soundbar to the headphones with the press of a button. If you live in small spaces or with someone you don’t want to disturb with the TV volume, these headphones won’t compromise your TV or movie audio.

The Sonos Ace are equipped with active noise cancellation and transparency mode, both of which are great but not as good as Bose or Sony’s premium headphones. 

Although the Sonos Ace aren’t as strong as its competitors in the noise-canceling department, these headphones have dynamic and exciting sound, reliable and impressive spatial audio compatibility, and immense comfort. They’re great headphones for travel or at-home listening.

Sonos Ace tech specs: Form factor: Over-ear | Bluetooth: Yes (5.4) | Battery life: 30 hours (ANC on) | Driver size: 40mm dynamic | Noise cancellation: Yes | Wired option(s): USB-C

The Apple AirPods Max are the best headphones for Apple fanatics. If your tablet, smartphone, TV, and every gadget in between are made by Apple, these are for you. Their seamless integration with Apple devices makes them easy to use, but their hardware and software limitations might frustrate non-Apple users.

If you are deeply committed to the Apple ecosystem and you want to keep it that way, you’ll want the AirPods Max. The sound quality is great, and Apple’s Transparency Mode is easily the best out of all the headphones on this list. The AirPods Max noise-canceling is superior to Sony’s XM5 over-ears and follows closely behind Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra.

Review: Apple AirPods Max

However, in terms of functionality, the AirPods Max are not the best you’ll find — unless you have mostly Apple devices. 

To start, AirPods Max don’t have any native EQ settings, and their almost five-year-old Apple H1 chip leaves them without the up-to-date software settings found in the AirPods Pro (2nd generation), like Conversation Awareness and Adaptive Sound Control.

You can seamlessly pair the AirPods Max to more than two devices, something Apple holds above other headphones with two-device multipoint connectivity. Still, seamless pairing won’t work with AirPods Max unless they’re connecting to other Apple devices. Should you connect AirPods Max to an Android or Windows device, you won’t get Spatial Audio, wear detection, or access a virtual assistant.

Hardware-wise, the AirPods Max doesn’t have a headphone jack or a USB-C port for wired listening. You’ll get the superior AAC codec when paired via Bluetooth to Apple devices and the standard SBC codec when paired with non-Apple devices. The lack of audio ports also means you’ll have to keep them charged up, especially if you’re likely to run down their short 20-hour battery life.

Apple AirPods Max tech specs: Weight: 13.6 oz (384.4 g) | Battery life: 20 hours | Bluetooth: Yes (5.0) | Multipoint: No, but connects to multiple Apple devices 

Review: EarFun Wave Pro

EarFun Wave Pro tech specs: Weight: 11.04 oz (313 g) | Battery life: 30 hours | Bluetooth: Yes (5.4) | Multipoint: Yes

The Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 are the best headphones for those who like an intense bass kick when they listen to music. I also recommend these to people who wear headphones to watch gaming streams or movies on the go. Their deep bass will get you fully immersed in whatever you’re watching.

Skullcandy’s Crusher ANC 2 is equipped with Skullcandy’s patented Crusher Bass technology that delivers bass you can hear and feel. If you like all things bass, you’re bound to find a lot of fun in the Crusher ANC 2. However, the Crusher Bass can be difficult to conquer, and it may be entirely too much for most people. 

Review: Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2

Amazon customers describe the Crusher ANC 2’s bass as “killer,” “crazy,” “intense,” and, sometimes, “unbearable.” I can agree; when I wore the Crusher ANC 2 headphones, I made the mistake of maxing out the Crusher Bass, which gave me an instant headache.

Despite that, the Crusher ANC 2 handles low-frequency sounds very well, and the overall sound quality is good. At high levels, Crusher Bass will muddle a song’s higher frequencies and will overwhelm you with songs that are already bass-heavy. You’ll have to find the sweet spot in the EQ settings to get the most out of these, so be prepared to play with the sound for a few minutes.

The Crusher ANC 2’s companion app is loaded with software, including Spotify Tap, voice assistants, and more. The only software feature Skullcandy omits from these headphones is wear detection.

Overall, Skullcandy’s Crusher ANC 2 are not your first choice if you’re looking for a practical pair of everyday headphones. Their build is bulky, and the bass can get out of hand. However, the Crusher Bass feature will make movie and video-watching more enjoyable than you can imagine.

Although I wouldn’t recommend working out in over-ear headphones (more on that below), I can see why people would want to work out in these. The Crusher ANC 2 can reach and beautifully reproduce low-frequency sounds, and their sound is perfect for motivating you to lift some heavy weight or go on an intense run.

Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 tech specs: Weight: 11.7 oz (332 g) | Battery life: 60 hours | Bluetooth: Yes (5.2) | Multipoint: Yes

If you enjoy a balanced and clear sound, you’ll enjoy Audio-Technica’s ATH-M50xBT2 headphones. For those who mix and master music, whether you’re learning about music production in college or running a business that requires you to focus on audio editing professionally, you should try these.

Audio-Technica’s ATH-M50xBT2 headphones are the most no-frills headphones you can find in a world full of confusing buttons, capacitive touch controls, and lengthy software updates. If you don’t believe me, you can stick to wired listening and never connect these headphones to your device’s Bluetooth and still get the most out of them. Very retro. 

Review: Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2

However, “BT” is in the product name, and their Bluetooth connectivity is easy and stable. Aside from modern button controls and Bluetooth capabilities, the BT2 headphones aren’t much different from their ATH-line of successors from the early 2000s. When I tested the BT2 headphones, I appreciated their simplicity.

These headphones’ 45mm dynamic drivers deliver a very balanced and clear sound, as they’re studio headphones made for mixing and mastering audio. The BT2 could definitely work as “baby’s first studio headphones” since their $200 price tag is reasonable for what you get. Amazon customers say the BT2 headphones deliver a flat, balanced, and neutral sound, making them ideal for critical listening and audio editing.

You’ll get AAC, LDAC, and standard SBC Bluetooth codecs, and you can listen losslessly with a 3.5mm headphone jack. You can also use the headphone jack if you’re low on battery, but the BT2 will stick around for 60 hours before the battery dies.

Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 tech specs: Weight: 10.6 oz (303 g) | Battery life: 60 hours | Bluetooth: Yes (5.0) | Multipoint: Yes

I recommend the Soundcore Space One headphones for anyone looking for a backup pair of headphones to take on their daily commute or on long traveling stretches. I’d also recommend them to anyone who wants an affordable pair of headphones that don’t skimp on the software features.

The Soundcore Space One headphones are a capable and comfortable pair of headphones that won’t break the bank. When it comes to sound, the Space One sound is great for its $100 price tag, but you shouldn’t expect out-of-this-world sound quality. Best Buy customers say these headphones are a great catch for their price, and some recommend these headphones for kids.

Review: Soundcore Space One

Despite that, their build quality is surprisingly well-made for their affordable price. You’ll appreciate their nice build because you don’t get a hardshell case to carry them in for storage and protection. The Space One’s plushy and thick headband and ear cup cushions offered me a great deal of comfort when I tested them, and their relaxed fit is optimal for hours-long wear. However, the shallow ear cups interfere with sound quality and can cause discomfort for some.

The Space One also has many of the same software features you’ll find in a pair of $400 headphones like the Sony XM5 over-ear headphones. Wear detection, conversation mode, EQ settings, software-to-hardware shortcuts, and ANC are included with the Space One. Their ANC, however, isn’t anything to write home about, as it has a harder time blocking out the lower pitches of sounds like a running refrigerator, AC unit, or plane engine.

Anker SoundCore Space One tech specs: Weight: 9.3 oz. | Battery life: 55 hours | Bluetooth: Yes | Multipoint: Yes