Here’s the rub: I live in a house of seven. One of them is four-years-old, and he wreaks absolute havoc on my ears from sun up to well past sundown. Add in the fact that four of us are all working from home with apparent decibel quotas to reach, and it’s apparent I need a good pair of Bluetooth cans with active noise-cancelling.
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My first considerations were Sony’s highly-revered WH1000XM3 and the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700—especially since I once owned a pair of QC35 and I’m in love with Bose’s comfort profile—but I’m not really interested in spending more than $300.
I’m not even sure I want to go over $200. I currently have the HyperX Cloud Mix—a gaming headset that marries Bluetooth and analog in the same package—and they crapped out in just under four months. They still work perfectly fine in wired mode, but with Bluetooth on, the left ear cup seems to hop on a jet plane and it doesn’t know when it’ll be back again.
It’s just completely dead, and it’s easily the most bizarre thing I’ve ever had happen with a pair of headphones. Considering HyperX was completely stumped on the issue, I’m sure my problem is more anomalous than proof of any quality control issues, but it still left a bad aftertaste.
That said, I’d still consider buying a pair that’s $200 or more, but only if they can tick these boxes:
- Over-ear, please!
- Bluetooth 5.0 + AptX support.
- Decent active noise cancellation performance. I don’t need a supersonic vacuum.
- Uses USB-C for faster charging, and can be used while charging.
- Can last at least 15-20 hours on a single charge.
- Above-average sound quality.
- Proven durability and reliability.
I’m a pretty simple guy, so I don’t need the world. But I do need your suggestions on a good starting point because this field is massive and dizzying to explore! I’m open to products that don’t neatly fit my list of particulars above, but they must offer Bluetooth connectivity and active noise cancellation, and they can’t be a penny more than $300. P.S.: Look out for me in the comments, where I’ll shamelessly solicit suggestions on good PC adapters!
1) Your nomination should contain the name of a specific pair of headphones, why you think it’s the best, a link where it can be purchased, and an image.
2) Vote by starring someone else’s nomination.
3) Please do not duplicate nominations.