The best over-ear headphones for 2024: options for any budget, tested by our experts
The best over-ear headphones deliver a fully immersive audio experience, perfect for those who crave high-quality sound. Tailored for audio enthusiasts, these headphones often feature wired options with powerful drivers that provide clear, high-definition audio and expansive soundstages. In our guide below, you’ll find our top selection of the best over-ear headphones, all hand-picked by our team of audio tech experts.
Unlike in-ear options, over-ear models completely encase your ears, offering a deeper, more immersive listening experience with space for more acoustic depth. Over-ear headphones also tend to outshine the best earbuds for comfort. Their larger earcups allow for bigger drivers, while soft cushioning ensures a snug fit, making them the best headphones for travel and long listening sessions. Many of today’s models are wireless and come equipped with active noise cancellation for distraction-free listening.
Over-ear designs can also be good for your hearing health. With drivers positioned outside the ear canal, there’s less direct strain on the eardrum. The cushioned ear cups also offer passive noise isolation, letting you enjoy rich sound at a safer volume.
The quick list
Want to cut to the chase and find out which over-ear headphones are the best? Below, you’ll find a roundup of our choices. You can also jump to a more detailed review of every pick, along with our price comparison tool to help you find the best deals.
The best over-ear headphones overall
The WH-1000XM4s are a flawlessly designed pair of over-ear headphones that continue to remain at the top of our list because they’re unbeatable value if you find them for under $200/£200, which is regularly the case.
Read more below
The best budget over-ear headphones
A great-sounding pair of affordable over-ear headphones. With excellent battery life, good noise cancellation and a comfortable fit, they’re astoundingly good value.
Read more below
3. Cambridge Audio Melomania P100
The best premium over-ear headphones
Behind this understated and comfortable design are a range of excellent features, including top-tier sound, solid ANC and a truly incredible 100 hours of battery life.
Read more below
4. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones
The best over-ear headphones for noise cancelling
If noise-stopping power is your goal, nothing does it better than these – and the sound quality is absolutely fantastic too. They’re expensive, but are absolutely worth it.
Read more below
The best over-ear headphones for Sony fans
Seriously powerful active noise cancellation that’s a step above the WH-1000XM4, plus rich audio, a slick design and great features. But they’re not that much better than the XM4, and cost a bunch more.
Read more below
6. Edifier Stax Spirit S5
The best over-ear headphones for wireless audiophile sound
They’re not cheap, but these sound wonderful thanks to their advanced planar drivers, which are rare in wireless headphones. There’s no ANC, but they have tons of other features.
Read more below
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The best mid-range wired over-ear headphones
Sivga’s Oriole stand out not just for their distinctive geometric design and solid audio, but fantastic affordability. These wired headphones are also some of the comfiest.
Read more below
The best open-back over-ear headphones
When it comes to a wide, expansive soundstage, an open-back design is essential. The wired HD-660S2 are made to bring mixing booth level quality to everyday listening.
Read more below
The best looking over-ear headphones
If you like your headphones to look and feel as premium as they sound, the Dali IO-8 are for you. With perfectly circular cups and a choice of finishes they score serious style – and sound – points.
Read more below
The best over-ears for movie audio
The Sonos Ace are pricey and imperfect with music – but for movies, they’re second to none, and support Dolby Atmos spatial audio from any Bluetooth device. The ANC is great too.
Read more below
The best Apple over-ear headphones
These are full of special features for Apple devices that make them tempting if you’re in that ecosystem, and they sound excellent, with high-end noise cancellation.
Read more below
Becky Scarrott
I’ve reviewed over 150 audio products since becoming a tech journalist, ranging from super-budget earbuds to high-end Hi-Res Audio music players. Before joining TechRadar, I spent three years at What Hi-Fi? testing everything the world of audio had to offer; before that, I was a professional dancer. My love of music ties it all together.
November 1, 2024
Rewrote the introduction. Switched the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 for the Dali IO-8 as our ‘best design’ pick based on our testing. Added some new options to our ‘also consider’ section, including the Noble FoKus Apollo.
The best over-ear headphones for 2024
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The best over-ear headphones for most people
The WH-1000XM4s may not be Sony’s flagship headphones anymore – that title has since been passed onto the Sony WH-1000XM5, which are at #8 in this list – but we still rate these as being the best for most people, because of their impressive sound quality and features balanced with the lower prices you can now find them for. You can do better in most individual areas if you’re looking for the ultimate pair of headphones, but not as a complete package for under $200/£200 – that’s a price that we regularly see these Sonys drop to, and we’re basing this recommendation on the assumption that you’ll find them for that price in one of the many regular sales events.
Aside from clear, well-realised and deep sound, there’s also highly effective noise cancellation that is only really surpassed by a big margin by the Bose QuietComfort Ultra at #4 on this list. You’ve got useful extra features too, including multi-point pairing for switching between two devices instantly, DSEE Extreme upscaling of lower-quality audio (such as from Spotify), auto-pausing when you remove them, Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format, plus LDAC higher-quality wireless tech for compatible phones.
They’re also lightweight and comfortable, with a folding design that’s convenient for travelling. Now that they’ve had a price drop – and especially if you get them for the extra discounted price they’re regularly available for – these are just unbeatable value, which is why they’re still at the top of this list years after their release. But be warned, if you can’t find them reduced it’s well worth considering the Cambridge Audio cans in third place. Yes, they’re more expensive but they’re objectively the better pair of headphones, so if you can’t go with the bargain, go with the best.
Read our full Sony WH-1000XM4 review
The best budget over-ear headphones
The Earfun Wave Pro are an affordable pair of over-ears that are packed with features, proving you don’t need to spend more than $100/£100 for a solid pair of noise-cancelling headphones.
The Earfun Wave pro are a very standard looking pair of over-ears, but we were happy to find during our testing that you can adjust the headband and cans a little to suit all head sizes and fold them up so they fit into their carry case that we commented is “surprisingly premium-feeling” in our review. Fit-wise, they’re among some of the most comfortable headphones we’ve tested thanks to the memory foam in the cups – which is saying something considering how many the TechRadar team has trialled.
The Earfun Wave Pro obviously can’t compete with the sonic performance and features of the higher-end headphones in this list, but they sound truly impressive compared to budget rivals, and the active noise cancellation is pretty decent, too. You can also tweak the sound a little thanks to EQ settings within the app. The reason they perform so well is likely due to the fact their specs are surprisingly good, including 40mm drivers, a Hi-Res Audio certification (both for wireless and wired music) and a Lossless Digial Audio Codec (LDAC) for improved Bluetooth streaming from compatible devices.
Overall, this is a great value pair of over-ears that tick all of the boxes. They sound good, look understated, feel extremely comfortable and offer up to a long-lasting 80 hours of battery life (with ANC off). We haven’t found a budget pair of headphones that are such all-rounders.
Read our full Earfun Wave Pro review
The best premium over-ear headphones
The Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 wireless over-ear noise-cancelling headphones are our top premium pick because, despite the fact there’s a lot of competition in this space, we awarded them a rare 5 out of 5 stars during our testing. There’s a lot to love here, including excellent specifications. You’ll get an incredible battery life at 100 hours – yes, you read that right. That’s without ANC, but you’ll still get 60 hours with ANC deployed, which is the best you’ll find in over-ear headphones.
Another headline feature is class AB amplification tech used to power 40mm full-range dynamic drivers – this is normally reserved for actual hi-fi gear, with headphones opting for the simpler and lower-power class D amplification. But class AB is generally considered to be better for sound, and somehow Cambridge Audio has included it while still maxing battery life. You’ll also get an app packed with features, multi-point connectivity, Bluetooth 5.3, six mics for noise cancellation, aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless codec compatibility (allowing you to listen to 16bit/44.1kHz resolution if you have access to it) and much more. Hilariously, you can also select actor Matt Berry as your ‘audible feedback’. We can’t think of a better way to subtly brighten up our days.
In our review, we described these headphones as delivering “energetic, informative and convincing sound” thanks to a fantastic tonal balance and exceptional detail – they sound as good as anything in their price range (and a lot of things above it). The good news is that if the audio isn’t quite to your tastes, there are EQ settings you can adjust within the app. ANC here is also really good. In our review, we wrote: “It will do a job on external distractions of all types, and without leaving a counter-signal or shift in tonality”. But it’s not the best we’ve ever experienced – Bose is still the best in that regard.
We commented that these headphones are “flawlessly built and finished” in our review, as well as comfortable. This is thanks to a lot of vegan leather on the outside, memory foam earpads, a padded headband and a fairly lightweight build of 330g. Of course, they aren’t cheap at $279 / £229 / AU$479, but they’re a lot less than the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM5 at #8 on this list, while sounding better – so they’re our top premium pick, even though we actually consider them to be fantastic value at that price.
Read our full Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 review
The best over-headphones for noise cancellation
If you need the best noise cancellation that over-ear headphones offer right now, you need Bose’s Ultra Headphones. The noise-blocking power is a step up from basically anything that’s been available before, and we’ve never heard the sound of a busy city centre so strong quietened, or the speech of others in an office or around the house. We called it “mind blowing” in our review.
This power comes at a very premium price (higher than the likes of the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless), but it also comes with absolutely glorious audio quality, so it feels very much worth its price. Our review said that the Ultra Headphones “deliver some of the most alive, exciting, textured, finely resolved, deeply engaging music I’ve ever heard from a pair of wireless headphones. It’s the kind of sound I would expect to pay 50% or even twice as much for.”
They also have a very premium feel, while being light and comfortable – and have a travel-friendly folding design, which is always welcome. They’re not flawless – it’s a shame they lack USB-C audio and general aptX support (they do have Snapdragon Sound, though), and the 24-hour battery life is the lowest here by a long way – but these things are easy to forgive if wonderful sound and active noise cancellation in equal measure is what you want. Though if you want to spend a little less, the ANC in the Bose QuietComfort Headphones is practically as good, though the sound quality is weaker.
To save money on Bose products, check out our Bose voucher codes.
Read our full Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones review
The best premium Sony over-ear headphones
Sony’s flagship headphones do a huge amount of stuff incredibly well. In our review, we were deeply impressed with their sound quality, and until recently, we rated their active noise cancellation as being the best you could get. However, as things stand now, they’re beaten in key ways by competitors that means they’re not the slam dunk pick that might’ve been – however, we know that some people really want the reliability and sound profile of Sony cans, so we wanted to highlight them in this list. And, y’know, they are still very very good.
The music quality is rich and well-balanced, although it’s beaten by the even more expansive and alive sound from the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100, which also trounce the Sony on battery life (by doubling it). Similarly, the noise cancellation is fantastic, but been soundly beaten by the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, so if your focus is the best noise-stopping power possible, those are the best buy.
And when it comes to all-round value, there’s a reason the Sony WH-1000XM4 are still top of this list – the newer XM5 are better, but only by a little way, and they usually cost a lot more, especially because the XM4 frequently have extra discounts. Having said that, the XM5 are starting to see much more impressive discounts these days. They are fantastic headphones, they’re just in an especially cut-throat world – but if you’ve loved Sony’s stuff in the past and want its latest and greatest new headphones, we’ll happily recommend them.
Read our full Sony WH-1000XM5 review
The best wireless planar magnetic over-ear headphones
Planar magnetic headphones feature a different kind of speaker driver to the vast majority of headphones. Planar tech is known for being incredibly dynamic and detailed, making it a favorite of audiophiles, but it’s also hard to power and leads to chunky headphones designs. As a result, it’s always been rare to find the tech in wireless headphones, but the Edifier Stax Spirit S5 have found a way to make it work, and it’s fantastic.
We said in our review that “it doesn’t matter if you’ve listened to a recording plenty of times before now – I’m confident the Edifier Stax Spirit S5 will find some tiny aspect of it or detail within it that you’ve never heard (or, at least, noticed) before.” We love just how well the reveal and resolve the fine elements of tracks, but what keeps us coming back to them is that they’re also very entertaining, full of low-end oomph and energy. They’re also reasonably forgiving with lower-quality streams from the likes of Spotify – you don’t have to be a Tidal member to hear what they can do. At louder volumes, the treble can become a little hard-edged, but this is only really a flaw in comparison to very high-end headphones.
The big omission here, though, is active noise cancellation. The passive noise isolation is actually very good, and they’re closed-back, but they’re definitely better in less-noisy environments. However, they’re well-specced elsewhere, including support for all three major high-res wireless codecs: aptX Lossless, LDAC and LHDC.
They’re not the smallest headphones in the world, but by audiophile standards they’re practically compact, and they’re not too heavy at all at 347g, meaning they’re very comfortable to wear. They come with two sets of ear pads, and the mesh ones do a great job of keeping your ears cool, too. Those who are against the use of animal products, be warned here, though: they have leather on outside of the earcups, and one of the sets of ear pads is lambskin.
At $499 / £499, they’re obviously up there with the more premium headphones in our list, but they offer sound quality that exceeds this price, and are positively affordable by planar magnetic standards. For hardcore music lovers, we actually think they’re incredible value – but obviously it’s a steep price regardless.
Read our full Edifier Stax Spirit S5 review
The best mid-range wired over-ear headphones
Sivga is not a very well-known brand but you’ll find its Oriole headphones hard to forget once you see them. The striking wooden ear cups aren’t just for looks either and are capable of delivering decent sound across varying frequencies – all for a reasonable mid-range price.
At this mid-tier price level, there are lots of competing wired over-ear headphones to choose from but the Sivga Oriole, which are the costlier alternative to the company’s Robin, are the best you can buy considering the step-up in sound quality thanks to large 50mm dynamic drivers.
They don’t have active noise cancellation or Bluetooth like many of the other options here, but the full suite of core components are here though. The Sivga Oriole comes with a 1.8m long cable, a 3.5mm to 6.3 adapter and a hemp carry case. The lightweight design is another advantage here.
Read our full Sivga Oriole review
The best open-back wired over-ear headphones
If you love a natural, open sound, then a pair of wired open-back headphones are the way to go and the Sennheiser HD-660S2 are our favorite pair. These boast an immensely impressive and expansive soundstage, but being open-back means they don’t block out the outside world, so they need to be used in quiet spaces – and they’re wired only as well.
They’re as at home in the mixing booth as they are at, uh, home for general listening – they have an air of superiority to them. They feature magnificent sound recreation that’s more powerful and convincing that basically anything else here, especially when paired with one of the best portable DACs or hi-res music players, though they can be powered just by a laptop without extra equipment. We said in our testing that while they do leak sound, it’s not too bad – but you may not be popular in the office if you use them, still.
They have premium ear cup cushioning and a durable headband to prevent vibration and make sure you can get lost in your music for a long time. These are bound to delight anyone looking to have the delights of open-backed cans.
Having said all that, if you want to know what our even more seriously audiophile open-back headphones recommendation would be, look to our Final D7000 review. They’re big, they’re difficult to drive, they’re several times the price of the Sennheiser, but they’re very special when it comes to sound.
Read our full Sennheiser HD-660S2 review
Visit our Sennheiser coupon page for our latest deals and discounts.
The best over-ear headphones for design
If you like your over-ear headphones to look as lovely as they sound, we recommend the Dali IO-8. Expect an exceptional level of build and finish quality here – these headphones definitely quality for our ‘best for design’ pick. They look minimal and premium, with perfectly circular earcups, brushed and anodised metal on the exterior, memory foam lining the inside for maximum comfort, and a choice of ‘iron’ black or ‘caramel’ white finishes. The only drawback in terms of design is there is leather on these headphones and there’s no alternative to opt for instead. Which is a shame as it means they’re not for vegans.
Certainly not style over substance, the Dali IO-8 deliver exceptional sound that we described as “alive with detail” in our review. This is the case, to our pleasant surprise, across all genres and volumes. Expect a thoroughly enjoyable listen, whatever you feed them. In our review, we wrote: “There’s a sensation of directness and of positivity to the way these headphones deliver music.” Even with ANC on, the sonic performance isn’t negatively impacted. And noise-cancelling performs very well – although it can be beaten by Bose.
The specs list here is impressive, packing in everything you’d expect from a pair of high-end headphones, including Bluetooth 5.2 with aptX Adaptive compatibility, 24bit/96kHz support, 50mm full-range drivers with 10Hz-43kHz frequency response and 30 hours of battery life with ANC on. They can also work with a wired connection – ideal if you forget to charge them and don’t have access to power. The only thing that’s missing here is a control app. If you like to tweak your sound settings there isn’t much choice here then, with only two EQ settings on offer. But you could argue: why would you need to mess with the sound when it’s this good? If you don’t like fussing with apps, this could actually be another point in favor of the Dali IO-8 rather than against them.
The Dali IO-8 are not cheap. However, by Dali standards, they’re actually more on the affordable side. If you’re on a budget, or you don’t like the leather or the lack of a control app, you’ll find plenty more options that will better suit you. Otherwise, we really rate these headphones (we awarded them a rare 5 out of 5 stars in our review) because with an impressive list of specs, excellent sound and a gorgeous design, they’re going to deliver a stellar performance for those who are willing to splurge.
Read our full Dali IO-8 review
The best over-ear headphones for movies
Sonos’ first headphones were highly anticipated, and a little disappointing: they don’t work with the overall Sonos Wi-Fi multi-room system (even though they do support Wi-Fi), and their music quality is merely very good, not the kind of excellent audio we’d expect for headphones that come with such a high-end price.
However, they still managed to win us over with their fantastic performance with movies. They support head-tracked Dolby Atmos spatial audio from any device that supports Atmos over Bluetooth – which includes iPhones, iPads and Samsung phones, so no shortage – and it’s absolutely fantastic. It’s weighty, it’s convincingly directional and doesn’t sound like the audio is being pushed right into your ears, and dialogue is elevated super-clearly out of the mix while still feeling natural. Having directly compared it to the spatial audio on the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones and AirPods Max, the Sonos were our favorite option.
And they do have a Sonos ecosystem trick: if you have a Sonos Arc soundbar (and support will come to all Sonos soundbars in the future), you can connect the headphones to them over Wi-Fi, and use a button on the headphones to instantly switch from listening over Bluetooth to streaming the sound from your soundbar instead – so you can listen to anything that plays on your TV with privacy, and zero latency.
It all worked fantastically well for us, and the headphones also offer very strong active noise cancellation, wired listening over USB-C (lossless) or 3.5mm jack, and a 30-hour battery life over Bluetooth with ANC on – though when listening to sound from your soundbar, this battery life dropped to around 10 hours based on our testing.
For music lovers wanting premium ANC headphones, we would steer you towards the Bose Ultra or the B&W PX8. But if you want something heavily focused on provided a personal home theater experience, we really recommend these.
Read our full Sonos Ace review
The best over-ear headphones for Apple fans
The AirPods Max are the best-sounding headphones made by Apple, and the company’s first over-ears. They have very strong active noise cancellation, superb sound quality, the best spatial audio available so far, and a striking look with a premium feel. There’s a ton to enjoy with them, and they have way more special features if you’re deep in the Apple ecosystem, including auto-switching between devices and Find My support if they’re misplaced. Very few of these work on Android (basically just music and noise cancellation), so they’re very much for the Apple-heavy crowd, especially at this high a price.
And at this high price, their lack of hi-res audio support really grates, but a lot of people will probably be able to forgive it. They have a natural, dynamic and detail sound that we enjoy a lot, though the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones are at the same level of quality and are cheaper. However, the nothing matches the Dolby Atmos 3D spatial audio that you get from these when watching a movie on an Apple device – it’s so good.
If you’ve already bought into the Apple ecosystem, if the price isn’t a concern, and you’ve got lots of Apple tech, then the extra features you get from these may put them above a lot of the competition. But we think most people will be better served by spending less on the Bose Ultra Headphones.
Read our full Apple AirPods Max review
Other over-ear headphones to consider
Noble FoKus Apollo: These headphones sound excellent, have a premium look and feel and an outstanding battery life. So why don’t they make this guide? Well, as you’ll learn in our Noble FoKus Apollo review, these headphones have a divisive design, which we know won’t appeal to everyone. Th onboard mic also didn’t work during our testing.
FiiO FT1: We love the FiiO brand and these are the company’s very first pair of closed-back over-ear headphones. We had high hopes, but read our FiiO FT1 review to find out more about why these headphones are a rare miss that we wouldn’t recommend over many rivals.
Bowers & Wilkins PX8: We removed the PX8 as our ‘best design’ choice in favor of the Dali IO-8. But they’re still an exceptional pair of headphones, especially if you like the finer things in life because these over-ears look stunning. Take a look at our full Bowers & Wilkins PX8 review to find out why their classy build and finish is just one of many things we love about these B&W cans.
Anker Soundcore Space One Pro: We recently published our Anker Soundcore Space One Pro review, a pair of over-ears that did impress us with solid features and booming bass. However, they don’t make the cut because we felt they looked too chunky and their buttons didn’t work reliably enough.
SoundMagic P58BT ANC: We were excited to test the SoundMagic P58BT ANC headphones because the company’s IEMs are fantastic. But as you’ll see in our SoundMagic P58BT ANC review, we weren’t happy with the fit or lack of app support on offer here.
Marshall Monitor III ANC: We’ve also had the opportunity to get an initial hands on with the Marshall Monitor III ANC over-ear headphones, an excellent-sounding pair of headphones that have a 70-hour battery life and a comfortable design. We’ll need longer with them before we decide if they’ll make this guide. But until then, take a look at our hands on Marshall Monitor III ANC review.
Final D7000: We were seriously impressed with the sound quality of these open-backed wired headphones in our recent review. They’re extremely expensive, but for most indulgent music lovers, we think they earn it. Read our full Final D7000 review for more.
How to choose the best over-ear headphones
When buying over-ear headphones, sound quality is the most important feature to look out for – the more expensive they are, the better your cans tend to sound, although there are quite a few impressive exceptions to this rule.
But if you’re specifically choosing over-ear headphones, we assume you also have an eye on comfort. The type of padding and the cover material on the earpads makes a difference, as does the headband – if you’re going to maximum comfort, you want a broader headband where your actual skull won’t make any contact with any hard parts of the band.
People also often choose over-ear headphones with active noise cancellation, because the around-ear pads are great at passive noise isolation, so when combined with ANC they’re especially effective. The majority of our choices on this list include active noise cancellation, but it’s not the case that spending more on ANC automatically gets you better results. That’s true to a point, but the most elite headphones here actually have weaker ANC than some that cost less, so keep that in mind when weighing everything up.
On the other end of things, it’s possible to buy over-ear headphones with ‘open backs’, which means they allow air to flow right through the earcup. This leaks to an expansive, powerful and dynamic sound usually, but it also means audio leaks in and out of the headphones. Great for listening in a special room at home, less good on the subway. Here’s our in-depth explanation of open-back vs closed-back headphones.
The really big question connection to a lot of this is whether you want to do wired or wireless. Most of our suggestions are wireless, but with the option of going wired – but we have a couple of dedicated wired options here. Wired-only headphones tend to offer better sound bang for your buck, but don’t usually come with all the smart features.
There are also different kinds of wireless to take into consideration, such as whether you’re happy with regular Bluetooth, or whether you want higher-quality options such as Snapdragon Sound, aptX or LDAC. These are all CD-quality options, but your devices must also be compatible with them.
Don’t forget to look at weight of headphones too – 250g is fairly lightweight for advanced wireless headphones; 350g is about the maximum you’ll want for longer wear, but can be very comfortable if the fit is good.
How much should I spend on headphones?
That really depends on your budget – you don’t need to overstretch yourself to prices you can’t really afford in your quest for great sound.
You can find over-ear options among the best cheap headphones under $100 / £100 / AU$150 – check out brands like Jabra and JBL if you want to keep costs down.
The best noise-cancelling headphones and higher-spec options tend to cost more than this. For wireless headphones, the flagship models start around $250 / $250 / AU$450.
When you get to true audiophile headphones for analytical listening, the prices really start to shoot up – but these cans will last you decades if you look after them.
Is it worth getting over-ear headphones?
Choosing over-ear headphones over earbuds is a personal choice. There’s no wrong option here but over-ear headphones typically provide better battery life and better sound quality.
Thanks to being larger, they can pack in a better battery along with more advanced features like superior drivers. By their very nature, they tend to provide better noise cancellation too as they cover your ears more comprehensively than earbuds.
However, some of your decision making process needs to come down to what you feel more comfortable with. Earbuds are easier to store away, but not everyone likes the feeling of them in their ears. Alternatively, headphones can feel more secure over your head but are heavier and require more thought when storing them.
What are the benefits of over-ear headphones?
The two biggest differences are comfort and sound quality. Many people find over-ear headphones much more comfortable to wear than in-ear ones, and because they’re much bigger they can accommodate much larger and more powerful drivers. Unlike earbuds, they’re not limited by having to fit into the very limited space of your ear canal.
Because over-ear headphones have bigger drivers, they can potentially deliver a wider frequency range than earbuds, especially at the low end where the bass lives. For example, our current favourites, Sony’s WH-1000XM4 go down to 4Hz and top out at a very high 40kHz. By comparison Sony’s closest equivalent earbuds, the WF-1000XM4, still reach 40kHz but the low end only reaches 20Hz.
There’s another crucial factor here. According to the Hearing Health Foundation, over-ears are less likely to damage your hearing. Once damaged, hearing doesn’t repair itself so it’s really important to look after it. Over-ears don’t sit so close to your eardrums so they’re less dangerous over long periods – provided of course you don’t run them too loud.
Another advantage of over-ears, albeit a horrible one, is that they don’t end up covered in ear wax like in-ears do, so you don’t have to read our how to clean wireless earbuds guide. And on a more cheerful note, they’re also considerably harder to misplace.
Is over-ear better than in-ear for noise cancelling?
There’s not really a simple answer to that one. Some earbuds are very good at passive noise cancellation, which is when the headphones simply block out a lot of external audio by being stuck in your ear canals. But over-ears can do much the same by enclosing your entire ears, so there’s huge variation here.
Where things generally do differ is when active noise cancellation is involved. That’s when your headphones analyze the sound around you and produce additional waves to cancel the sounds you don’t want. As with the drivers that can deliver better sound quality, the larger size of over-ears means there’s more room for tech in there.
In our many hours of testing and casual listening we’ve found that over-ears such as Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones and Sony’s WH-1000XM5 deliver even better noise cancelling than the same firms’ best earbuds. And they generally sound better too.
How we test the best over-ear headphones
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We have tested all of the headphones in this guide extensively, spending lots of time analyzing the sound, fit, design, specs, and value for money – and comparing to the competition, of course, to make sure we’re giving you advice that’s rounded and contextual.
Running-in: We allow all headphones a running-in period, to make sure the drivers are working at their best. We listen to audio from a range of sources, including both high-quality and more basic music services, as well as movies, online video, and podcasts or audiobooks. We’re looking for all kind of elements here, including how deep the bass can go, whether that bass feels controlled and precise, whether the balance is right between different frequencies, whether the mid-range is able to communicate lots of detailed sound, whether treble frequencies stand out, whether treble is natural or too harsh, how spacious and natural the sound is, how dynamic the headphones between loud and quiet moments, and much more nuance.
Extra features: We test all additional features in headphones, including spatial audio support or active noise cancellation – we will test the latter in real-world situations, including public transport and walking around a city.
Smart functionality: We’ll test any smart features, including making sure that multi-point Bluetooth works seamlessly, or testing EQ-changing options and customization of active noise cancellation. We also monitor battery life ourselves, testing the depletion of the battery from full over time.
Perfect partnering: With wired headphones, we’ll use a suitable amp where necessary to make sure they get the chance to perform at their full potential. And of course, we listen to myriad types of audio, including music, podcasts and movies, from various sources including (where connectivity permits) phones, laptops, NAS drives and dedicated hi-res audio players.
Latest updates to our over-ear headphones guide
November 1, 2024
Rewrote the introduction. Switched the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 for the Dali IO-8 as our ‘best design’ pick based on our testing. Added some new options to our ‘also consider’ section, including the Noble FoKus Apollo.
October 3, 2024
Updated the introduction, added several new over-ear headphones to our ‘also consider’ section, including the Anker Soundcore Space One Pro and Marshall Monitor III ANC. Itemized our ‘how we test’ section to make it easier for readers to understand our reviewing process.
See more recent updates…
September 4 2024
Replaced the Edifier Stax Spirit S3 with the Stax Spirit S5, based on our review. Added more information about other recently reviewed products.
August 5 2024
Replaced the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless for the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 based on our extensive testing and 5-star review.
July 5 2024
Added the Sonos Ace the best over-ear headphones for movies, based on our testing and comparison with other headphones in the list.
June 6 2024
Swapped Sony WH-CH720N for Earfun Wave Pro as our budget pick, based on our review, and current prices.
May 9 2024
Checked all products against our latest reviews, and updated the ‘Also consider’ section with information about new options.
March 20 2024
Added some additional information about how we test, and added a new section covering our recent reviews that haven’t made it into this list.
8 Feb 2024
Updated to include the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones as the best for active noise cancellation.
2 Jan 2024
Updated with 2024 information; all products checked against latest reviews.
15 November 2023
Updated with information about expected Black Friday deals on these headphones.
13 October 2023
Checked all products against our latest reviews.
17 August 2023
Added quick list navigation and updated product listings to reflect latest launches.
7 July 2023
Updated rankings to include the Sony WH-CH720N. Re-ordered the list to reflect latest pricing and options in the market. Added new easy navigation subheadings.
23 May 2023
Checked list against latest product reviews.
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