Hear how the best ANC headphones handle real world and lab tests

Active noise cancellation has come a long way since Bose’s first set of headphones.
But are we plateauing? What’s in the future for ANC and how much do we want to actually cancel out? We took a bunch of headphones to the test to find out. #technology #audio #headphones
0:00 Intro
1:11 What is Active Noise Cancellation?
2:28 Headphone Testing Lineup
2:59 Field Test
5:41 Impressions
6:16 Lab Tests
7:39 Lab Results
9:23 The Future
11:35 Conclusion
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[@TheVerge]

Regardless of the tech, what noise do you wish you could block out?

[@dariuskromoser8936]

lame engagement-baiting questions in YT comments, amiright folks?

[@Augfordpdoggie]

thumping bass driven music-techno, afro pop-its awful

[@mrblue2]

I was once setting in peace when my brother came and sat about three feet from me and proceeded talking about my future. I had my ANC on (AirPods Pro2). I heard about a quarter of the whole thing, I'm thankful for this technology.

[@ak_hoops]

The wind noise on a plain and the jet engine. easier said than done but if that sound can completely be gone I'm glad.

[@lurwas]

The constant nagging and craving attention talk of the Gen-Z generation.

[@adamgreenhill110]

I've always wanted to see a real, properly done comparison! I'm surprised the XM5 actually beat the Airpods Max, but that makes me happy as an XM5 owner!

[@luisprieto4589]

I'm not surprised at all. Sony is usually higher quality than apple. Apple capitalizes in great marketing and their os

[@JoseMartinez-oi6dy]

The maxes were more curated to human speech

[@christopherventura4975]

Considering the xm5 came out 2years after the maxes, it makes sense

[@adamgreenhill110]

@@christopherventura4975 True, but it's wayy cheaper than Airpods Max (was at launch too). Sony drops their prices over time, but Apple keeps them high

[@bfife22]

@@christopherventura4975 I keep forgetting how old the Maxes are! Would actually consider a mk2 version if they can fix the issues with gen 1

[@timvlogtv512]

The mic said "🗿"

[@watskeburten]

These focused topic videos are fantastic! With earbuds being so popular, it would be interesting to see a part two with in-ear headphones.

[@simon_eff]

I was thinking the same

[@caioantonio0001]

I am lovin my Huawey Freebuds 5i

[@zhbroder]

APP and APP2 definitely have better passive attenuation than the other over ear stuff which in my estimation makes them "quieter"

[@elliotmarks06]

Those are much harder to test, because the head isn't realistic enough to properly simulate the fit of in-ears

[@cratecruncher4974]

I got involved in ANC 30 years ago when it was just a cool idea. I became fascinated by it because I was a Noise/Vibration/Harshness engineer for a heavy truck manufacturer. We attempted a system using the stereo and speakers in the vehicle with some research help from Panasonic. We ultimately scrubbed the project because of high cost and limited (non-existent) improvement back then. Nice to see manufacturers are still trying. We also got involved with active suspension systems using impulse sensors to vary the damping fluid orifice. That one worked and resulted in a stack of patents for the team.

[@carlseiler]

Sounds fascinating

[@IrhashPH]

30 years ago? Wow, the technology goes way back. That's fascinating.

[@MainInternetUser]

Nice that's a really cool fact

[@bibianaguadalupeislasherre9880]

What a cool fun fact. 😮😮😮😮

[@TheFinalIllusion]

Sounds neat. Given the patent is only 13 years old.

[@fabipuello]

This was fun, more of this please!

[@Charles-kc2vt]

This is by far the best video on The Verge!! I hope they keep putting out high quality content like this.

[@Hobbles_]

This was an amazing video, thank you very much for spending the time and effort on this! This is the kind of thing I was already wanting to look into for a purchase soon, and you have made that decision much easier

[@amberrnickk1413]

This is by far the most helpful comparison I have come across. Understanding how ANC works really is a helpful tool. Thank you for all your insight!!

[@brownbuzz7]

bravo mate. this might be the best verge video i’ve ever seen. well thought out, insightful and fun! well done!

[@amrknu]

I think this is the best comparison video that i’ve ever seen, and i’ve seen a lot. Congrats to the Verge team for this high quality content!

[@DanielBaldioceda]

This is an awesome video, thanks so much for informing! Hope you can keep doing this kind of lab tests. Is there a way for you to show us how Apple's transparency mode sounds compared to other headphones? That would be very interesting for all non-Apple owners out there, because everyone keeps saying it's miles ahead of competition. Thanks!!

[@sheeeessh]

Just imagine having no earphones/headphones at all, but ever so slightly slightly muffled. It literally just sounds like that. Like there's nothing on your ear. It's really quite good.

[@liamsz]

Imagine what you hear right now, but slightly muffled Pretty much what you get

[@DaveMenkehorst]

I think it's the best

[@steveloco1170]

with the airpods pro 2 its like not having anything on your ears, you feel the headphones but everything else sounds the same

[@shashvatverma5673]

@@steveloco1170 agreed; one other benefit is, that it will filter out very loud noises. I wore them at a live music event recently, becuase it was too loud for me, so I got to hear everything in perfectly high volume, apart from the massive screeching bits. this is a new feature on the pro 2s, vs the 1s. you can tell the sound is artificial, but not easily. and especially not if you're not listening for it

[@FranciscoAreasGuimaraes]

Loved the video! Awesome getting some professionals to test the headphones. Loved the star wars posters in the back. I missed a bit not having Becca review them

[@JDelta87]

Entertaining and informative to me as someone in the market for over the ear headphones. Thanks, Verge for testing! I know earbuds will be more challenging because of the in-ear fit with a manikin head but, if possible, it would be cool to see in a similar format.

[@dn275]

Fantastic video. It’s great to see lab data for these headphones, especially interesting to have the QC1 in there!

[@gonnermaleggies]

Great video!! Thanks for putting it together and giving so much info!

[@ReXoRofc]

I actually live and work in the middle of a field and felt offended.

[@andrew_nguyen05]

This video is just incredible ! I have never watched any headphone comparision video as good as this ! Keep up the good work ❤

[@jacklhorton9]

I've had the Bose 700s now for 3ish years, I'm a construction worker and I put mine through hell all day every day, fantastic headphones. Built like a tank, sound great, damn good anc. Bit more would maybe be nice, but I do push them with metal grinders and the like!

[@offtheice]

that bose a30 aviation headset is impressive, understandable for the price but still incredibly quiet

[@aakashbhosale9140]

Awesome video. I think no one has tested the ANCs like you did. This will really help people for choosing the right headphones✌🏼

[@zedudli]

Great job with the editing of this 👍🏻

[@cristiandelfrate2219]

the effort is unreal, thanks from italy

[@lilwurstbrot8545]

Very high quality production, enjoyed every minute !

[@paternyao]

This is one of those very very good videos for which I follow The Verge. Please bring us more of this quality information. And Thank You!

[@xoxojadieeet]

Thank you so much! This is the video I wanted and needed. Perfect and enjoyable.

[@darthvader5321]

Needed a video like this for ages

[@joffwilliams5958]

I am piqued by the tabular presentation of each headphones. Kudos!

[@dano6306]

This was a lot of fun to watch. What a great way to demonstrate noise cancelation.

[@Devar]

I am still using a set of Bose QuietComfort 15 - I have replaced the foam pads once, and replaced the cable slot thing with a wireless plug-in bluetooth module. Still work pretty great, but they are ten years old at this point and I am mightily tempted to upgrade!

[@snop4k]

Awesome video! Hope to see a similar comparison video on ANC earphones as well

[@Mcrochev1994]

This was an excellently made video including of both real world and lab tested numerics.

[@vancityr6485]

I appreciate that you included the pilot headset. The first time I tried that, I was blown away. Good to see it in a comparison with the latest and greatest.

[@elazarkotkes]

Thanks for the great video! A video like this about in ear earbuds would be amazing!!

[@aokaaay]

bro this is so well made!!!

[@PokhrajRoy.]

As someone who is intrigued by Noise Cancelling Headphones, I love this video already!

[@user-un5gt1qc4z]

dude from tiss to verge you are everywhere. 😂

[@PokhrajRoy.]

@@user-un5gt1qc4z I’m EEAAO, haven’t you heard? 😂

[@modoustabel8491]

The thing that I find most important to me with anc headphones, is the feeling of pressure when anc was on. I don’t have a very wide experience, but I’ve tested xm4s and airpods maxes, and generally the feeling of pressure was way more uncomfortable for me with xm4s, this is something I wish there was more available statistics on since the extreme feeling of pressure is a deal breaker as someone with chronic migraines

[@theophanemayaud]

Reeeally nice video ! The side by sides are great !! Could you test the mic quality for calls in those noisy environments ? How well do they pick up my voice and filter out other noises ?

[@simyanliang]

Great video - love this. Could you do the in-ear ones such as the Airpods Pro 2 too?

[@user-sz7kn2gg8i]

How did I miss out this video. Great video. Just the video I'm looking for

[@tonythompson5950]

Excellent! Concise, packed with detail, an explanation of the topic and including a professional third-party analysis of the selected headphones - which would be on anyone's list of the best over ear wireless headphones on the market today. The best video on this topic I've seen. Thank you!

[@user-ec7cm7ze3d]

This was a GREAT vid! I'd love to see this done with a few earbuds if you guys have the time!

[@KindOldRaven]

I absolutely love AC for things like public transport. I also love having the transparancy option. For me it makes it possible to listen to a podcast, some music or a KZbin video without having to deafen myself with extreme loudness. Whilst flipping on transparency when needing to actually hear those people walking to close behind you in that dark allyway at night is pretty nice too. At least now I could hear them coming before they stole my headphones.

[@poromahawladar5391]

Great video guys . I'd love to see anc test of other budget headphones .

[@bracajp]

Excellent video. More Audio content please!

[@alanfromlondon]

REALLY interesting video. Loved it! 🙌 Will it ever be possible to do ANC with speakers, as in, projecting anti-noise into an environment to cancel out something you don't want to hear?

[@bokehdilla]

🙌🏽 nice, comprehensive & well balanced. kudos.

[@tacocattacocat7382]

I currently use the Sennheiser Momentum 3 and their Adaptive Noise cancellation earbuds are incredible in detecting noises that specifically around people talking to me.

[@shabasnellikaayf8373]

Nice work.. Good video.. Shout out for ur efforts.. 👍🏼

[@arkaguha111]

Great in depth video. Keep it up.

[@bardacha100]

This is so usefull !!! Many thx for this doc !

[@jasonhagan876]

very cool video thanks for putting this out!

[@kylehale2491]

As an acoustics researcher, this scratched an itch I’ve had for years. Thank you!

[@RadBunny2269]

This is amazing. More videos like this.

[@dupa333jelenia]

I would like to see this test done on the same device but between firmware updates. A lot of times we hear complaints after a brand updates their product, always saying ANC is worse with the update.

[@Koraka_ARandomGuy]

I have the Airpod PRo 1. And they saved literally my hearing. I was wearing them at the TRU Athlete Festival in London. For 3 days I was surrounded with 80-100 DB for 8-10 hrs a day. After the first 3 hrs of dramatic noises and already startet to feel my ears I plugged the drops in and it was amazing! I could hear normally, sure the Music where still there but it did not hurt me anymore, and the best! I could hear the people talking clearly and not always asking what?. It is incredible! Without drops, loud noises, music and acoustics and you do not understand a word of the other person. With the drops, no loud noises, music and acoustics are really silent and you hear every single word!! As well I tested them now in a really small and loud Latino Underground Bar, and I had so much more fun :D

[@johncleese4739]

They just cancel the noise but your ears still “hear” the loud noise? Correct me if I’m wrong they won’t save you from damaging your ears

[@g.4279]

@@johncleese4739 The sound is the waves moving throughout the air. They make inverse waves that cancel out that sound. So they do actually protect you from noise, however they cannot protect from super loud impact noises from firearms or explosives.

[@johncleese4739]

@@g.4279you are unfortunately incorrect. If you go to a loud concert wearing this airpods, it will still damage your ears. look it up

[@mahlovarand5223]

Note concerning WH1000XM5 high score : those headphones ANC works well if there is a lot of noise coming in, but due to their "adaptive" ANC, the noise cancellation with lower noises is pretty bad and you'll hear them easily. Just run some test with speakers at differents levels.

[@BsktImp]

Thanks for this! I'm struggling with neighbour's loud music especially the low frequencies from kick & bass and was considering ANC headphones including the WH. But if they are ineffective with this sort of noise then I'm glad I haven't wasted hundreds of pounds.

[@xxxxxx-vx5sz]

@@BsktImp ha

[@Maarioo007]

In General nc headphones work great with low frequency sounds and gets worse the higher the frequency gets Just order a pair and send them back if you don’t like them

[@junoperberry]

You can turn off the adaptive part

[@TonyThaHippo]

@@BsktImpa bit late, but you can turn off the adaptive part. Alongside you can control how much you want to hear on a scale of 1-10, you just have to use their app.

[@OnlyHacks-nh9em]

Love the way you guys are doing experiment gg keep it up

[@danielpaul7305]

amazing effort. Thanks

[@othmanetamagart1555]

I've tested Apple's headphones, Bose's QC45 and 700. I ended up purchasing the QC45 and note that I've tested all of them inside of a crowded mall on Saturday afternoon (it was as loud as a public in-door space could get) and the QC45 crushed it (with or without music).

[@mrmacneil]

Incredible video! I think getting some sort of set up to test this regularly would be incredible. Even if its not some hifi 8 speaker set up. Just something you can set the head up in and test all future ANC headphones on. Then when we get firmware updates that reduce or improve the ANC, see airpods pro gen 1, it can be tested to see if there is any change. Does the head work with earbuds or just over ears? I would love to see the results of earbuds.

[@danielmahathir4001]

what a mighty great video. verge never dissapoint

[@MikkoRantalainen]

Great video! To be able to selectively filter the sounds, you first need superb ANC, then you use microphones to record the sounds and play the selected sounds to your headphones. You could let the correct sounds through in theory but in practice you need to do some processing which requires some delay and that's why you have to start by removing all sound with ANC.

[@Ronin_XS]

This was honestly such an interesting video to watch.

[@mikemuponda1781]

Wow that was such an excellent video!

[@CollinScott]

Not *entirely* a fair fight for the QC1's; The quality of the seal against your head plays a big part in active noise cancellation, and clearly those earpads had seen better days. Plus, the better the seal, the stronger the passive attenuation, especially for higher frequencies. That said, they were also a purely analog implementation and only had a feedback mic on the inside of the ear cup (good for eliminating low frequencies) and no feedforward mic from the outside (good for eliminating high frequencies). Great video nonetheless! Love seeing how far tech has come.

[@EliasChao]

Agreed with the quality of the seal part. I've had a pair of Sony MDR-7506 since more than a decade, and before I knew any better, I was using them with an all worn out earpads because I didn't know I could swap them. I thought the drivers were damaged until I bought a new pair of earpads and swapped them, it was night and day. That day I learned how important are the pads; even for non-ANC headphones.

[@ludvig3242]

cope

[@dhruvsingh8944]

womp womp cry a river

[@chintothechillins]

Great informative video - way more useful and interesting than the basic product videos with little factual insight.

[@kimbell7702]

Dang linus tech tips has some competition. Great video!

[@aubreyplazafan]

this is a very helpful video thank you

[@ppputra]

NOW THATS A TEST THAT WERE TALKING, THANK YOU!

[@nathancalouro4037]

Outstanding video. Thanks!

[@wangjiaxi4097]

I was looking for some empirical objective data about how these headphones would fair in head to head ANC, great video

[@rjw705]

Excellent video! I'd love to see how my Sony WH-1000XM2 would hold up to the 5s. Or how earbuds like the Pixel Buds Pro, or Galaxy Buds Pro, would do.

[@zane___k7333]

I have sonys ANC. They do have adaptive ANC. BUT you have to turn them on in the app as they require location access so the headphones can learn how you use it. And what environment you're in. They also do ambiant mixing. Whete they mix the ambiant sounds with the music.

[@farhanbadru3671]

great and fun video!!! more videos like this

[@mlykke]

The real-world test is significantly different than the lab results. In the real world test the QC45 is better than the others. Several of the other pairs also have a significant hiss sound to them - almost like white noise. Owning multiple Bose QC's and the Sony XM5, NC is fairly close but overall better on the QC. Comfort is vastly superior on the QC compared to every single headphone in this test. The Sony is fatiguing after a couple of hours where I experience no issue with the QC even after 5+ hours.

[@User57655]

Could that be specific to your hearing though? Seems odd that the QC45 doesn't lead in any of the tests (referring to the actual report on the site) but that you think they are best

[@mlykke]

@@User57655 I guess anything is possible, but it's also quite clear form the video that the real-world recording is quieter on the QC45 compared to several of the others. Which is also why it's quite interesting that the lab-results contradict the recording from the first half of the video.

[@Hankblue]

I wouldn't buy the XM5s, already when they said "passive attenuation was much better than the rest" I could tell how uncomfortable they would be, because you can only really achieve that with clamping force.

[@SageBeas]

​@@Hankbluethey really don't have much clamping force tbh

[@davis.7901]

exactly.. I can hear the same.. QC45 the best in the real world test

[@lukaslanger5068]

Some nice bit of content, thank you! Id have loved to see some more brand variety, maybe some Beyerdynamics Lagoon ANC to mix it up a bit :)

[@bryanlyns437]

Glad my money was well spend 😊 cuz I was a bit nervous until the end. Great job guys love your videos

[@jeffjung8186]

Love this test! It would be interesting to compare how in-ear ANC earbuds like AirPods Pro 2, WF-1000XM5, Galaxy Buds Pro 2, etc. do with that special microphone. I feel like the in-ear earbuds would have greater passive noise canceling just by the nature of going into the ear itself, but there's much more space in over-ear headphones for more sophisticated ANC tech.

[@anmolsharma4049]

I've listened to all of them, in terms of sound quality and anc sony>apple>samsung, because xm5 are new so not a fair comparison also for ambient mode apple>>sony>>samsung

[@anfernyjackson9013]

@@anmolsharma4049 i own both the samsung buds pro 2 and airpods pro 2, samsung is better at filtering out the lower freq noises and apple at medium freq noises, so the two are close. Sony is sort of in between, maybe the best all around, but they're also uncomfortable to use for long cause they're a lot bigger/heavier

[@anmolsharma4049]

@@anfernyjackson9013 yes Sony's xm4 are bulky and painful specially for smaller ears. Airpods are best if you're in apple ecosystem

[@magnus9316]

No the seal is a lot worse with earbuds than with over ear headphones. If you d make custom fit earbuds it could be better

[@KazehayaKhai]

Having the sony xm4 earbud for few months now, i would the best purchase i had. the ANC really works well on every environment, sometimes i used it for sleep or when my anxiety kicks in

[@vincelongman3264]

Great testing, although would have loved to see the XM4s tested too. Interested to see Apple's upcoming adaptive ANC, but I won't even consider the AirPods Max until the weight+size are reduced and the condensation design flaw is fixed

[@kornee]

Just as an fyi, I think the condensation issue might only be a problem in humid area’s? I’ve never had any condensation issues and have used them extensively for 1.5 years. I don’t workout in them though, because they are indeed heavy. Still very comfy headphones though.

[@parthjoshi9581]

Condensation ?

[@MariettoQuaranta]

XM4 and XM5 have the same ANC

[@khj5582]

@@MariettoQuaranta Then why do reviews say the noise cancellation on the XM5 is better?

[@shreyasdangare4610]

@@MariettoQuaranta no they do not lol

[@eclipse_eternal8178]

Thanks so much for this!

[@KristianJohnson94]

Great video! More please!

[@gg31hh]

that is awesome video. can u do True wireless earphone too? the one with ANC

[@darkstepwarrior88]

Love the mix of funnny and professional testing.

[@aaakmm1785]

Please make the same tests but with in ear ANC earbuds, e.g. Bose QC2, Apple airpods pro 2, etc.

[@deathcore420]

Hey! Great video! How does in-ears compare to these headphones? Do they come close?

[@MattSwain1]

I realise that it’s not a primary use case for ANC headphones but the other area that could still improve significantly is the intelligence of their mic’s and maybe that’s why you would pay the very steep price of the Bose aviation headphones. A very real scenario for many people now is being back in an office, but still on video calls and having to mute and unmute repeatedly because the microphones still pick up the voices of everyone around you. Maybe these aren’t the headphones for that scenario but I don’t want to carry multiple headsets around with me!

[@liadtuchschnider6683]

Great vidio I just wish there were more budget noise canceling headphone like the Anker Aoundcore Q40

[@metaforically]

This is why I subscribe to The Verge! 👏

[@strangebaaza]

Xm5s are amazing. I have the Xm4 and bought the Airpods max at the same time. Returned the Airpods max simply because of comfort. Anc was on par with the Xm4. Now my partner has the Xm5 and I'm constantly thinking of buying them. Great pair of headphones

[@artefloe7676]

I live in a very warm area and I tried the XM4s, and while yes the Noise Cancelling is amazing, I couldn't wear them for more than 30 mins straight because my ears will get super hot and start sweating, so I got the Airpods Pro instead, which I wear 10 hours a day without feeling anything.

[@kmgates]

Loved this!!!

[@areschan1762]

thanks for making this great comparison vedio,look forward to the true wireless ear buds

[@cristiansoutside]

This video is top tier 🔥

[@vizender]

That new adaptive mode in the AirPods Pro is awesome. While at night, in my apartment, I always go for full attenuation, I find myself using the adaptive mode 95% of the time when outside !

[@sasmitha8446]

We need more stuff like this. Great job!

[@S3verance]

Absolutely mind blown by how good the Airpod maxes are. I use my Sony Xm4s everyday and absolutely love them!

[@rupsh4460]

Already knew that xm5’s were gonna be the winner but really wanted to see the Sennheiser Momentum 4 in this test as well

[@StroalOutdoors]

I would love to see the Sennheiser Momentum 4's tested.

[@supernova-xl1lt]

Well detailed video