The cost of living crisis is real. Since 2021, everything has been steadily getting more expensive, including petrol, the weekly shop, energy, and even McDonald's cheeseburgers. In the face of this unprecedented squeeze on household budgets, you might think a pair of the best noise-canceling headphones is beyond your means. Some might be, but there are plenty of brilliant models that are much more affordable.
Good ANC headphones – be they in-ear, on-ear or over-ear – can be much more reasonably priced than you would imagine. And that doesn't mean they sacrifice sound quality. In fact, all of the below have scored four or five stars in our reviews, so you can guarantee they have solid features and very good (if not excellent) sound.
But which is for you? Earbuds? Over-ears? And should you go wireless? We're here to help. With dozens of years combined experience testing headphones of all shapes and sizes (you should see our stockroom) not to mention the finest test facilities and the most experienced reviewers around, you can trust our recommendations to the letter.
How to choose the best cheap noise-cancelling headphones for you
Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.
So, should you go wireless? In short, yes. It's more convenient, and sound quality has come on leaps and bounds in recent years, even if it doesn't yet compete with the wired alternatives for the same price. It will also give you much more choice – wired active noise-cancelling (ANC) pairs are becoming a rarity these days.
Most pairs with ANC feature microphones that cancel outside sound, and also those to let sound in, so you can be more aware of your surroundings or even have a chat without taking the headphones off. This 'ambient aware' (or 'talkthrough', as it's also known) was once the preserve of pricier pairs, but is now trickling down to the budget end of the market.
The big consideration is: in-ear or over-ear? The former are smaller and more pocketable, while the latter's design – the fact that they tend to envelop your ears completely – makes for more effective noise-cancelling.
Battery life should also be a key factor. Budget pairs can't match their pricier counterparts, but you should still demand around 20 hours to avoid having to plug in too often.
Sony's best-value wireless earbuds slot neatly between the budget WF-C500 and premium WF-1000XM5, but don't make the mistake of thinking of the C700N as something of a halfway house.
They are, in truth, a brilliant option that more than justify their price tag. The buds are impressively small, and their lightweight design helps make them even more comfortable than Sony's XM4. Battery life is competitive at seven and a half hours from the buds and a further seven and a half from the case.
They lack aptX HD and LDAC but do feature noise-cancelling tech, which the WF-C500 don't have. Adaptive Sound Control automatically switches listening modes depending on your location, and Sony's DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) upscales low-res digital audio files to higher quality.
The sound quality is superbly balanced too, with deep, detailed bass, expressive mids and engaging highs. They're a very musical listen for the money, and in terms of sound-per-pound sonic value, we really can't think of many better buds.
If value for money is your priority, the WF-C700N come highly recommended.
Read the full Sony WF-C700N review
You might think of over-ear ANC headphones as expensive, but they really don't have to be. The BNX-60 show that noise-cancelling and Bluetooth can both be carried off in a very modestly priced package.
One ear cup has a volume control, on/off switch for the active noise-cancellation and a blue light that indicates when ANC is in use. The other has the USB input for charging, pause/play/skip track controls, a Bluetooth connection light and a standard wired headphone output. A full charge is good for 15 hours of wireless music, or a little less with the active noise-cancelling.
At this price, you'd be worried about bright treble or booming bass, but instead, the Lindy BNX-60 headphones produce a balanced sound that’s easy to listen to. They also deliver a nice groove while doing a decent job with vocals.
For this kind of money, it's extremely hard to grumble. So we won't.
Read the full Lindy BNX-60 review
Panasonic isn't a brand that immediately springs to mind when you think of cheap headphones, but just as the RZ-S500W wowed us enough to be included on our list of the best running headphones, so too do they earn a place here. The 2021 Award-winning RZ-S500W are the company's first foray into a wireless noise-cancelling model, and they're sensational performers at a low price.
Specs are thorough, with noise-cancelling tech, an Ambient Mode, twin mics for voice calls, and a battery life that totals 19.5 hours (6.5hrs from the buds and 13hrs from the charging case). They're built to withstand rain, and a 15-minute USB-C quick charge can deliver 70 minutes of playback. The touch controls on each bud are responsive and intuitive, allowing you to control your music and switch between noise-cancelling modes with zero fuss.
You also get five sizes of ear tips to help with fit. We found this a little hit-and-miss, so we would definitely experiment and consider mixing the sizes if it means getting a more secure fit.
Both noise cancelling and sound quality are excellent. Music sounds clear and there's a great deal of refinement on show, while bass is deep and detailed. To sum up, these Panasonic earbuds are superb for the money. A great buy for runners or casual users on a budget.
Read the full Panasonic RZ-S500W review
If you've got a decent-sized budget to play with but can't stretch to more premium options like the Sony WF-1000XM5 or the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II (soon to become the QB Ultra), then these JBL earbuds could be right up your street.
For the money, you get all the features you could wish for, including ANC, IPX5 water resistance, a thorough control app which offers some customisation, a good user experience, and a comfortable enough design. A few more ear tip options to help get the perfect fit wouldn't go amiss, though, but we're nitpicking by this point.
Battery life is good at eight hours with Bluetooth and noise-cancelling on, while the wireless charging case will top the total combined time to 30 hours. Touch controls are included at the top of each stem and you also have Multipoint Bluetooth so you can connect two sources simultaneously and then simply switch on the fly.
The excellent sound quality is the icing on this cake, with the JBLs favouring a lively and entertaining sound. Bass weight is nicely judged and there's good extension there too. Detail levels are excellent at this level as are the dynamics on offer. If you're looking to make the step up from a cheap pair of earbuds and want an entertaining sound these JBLs have to be on your list.
Read the full JBL Live Pro 2 TWS review
Earfun has a reputation for making capable pairs of wireless earbuds at wallet-friendly prices, and the Earfun Air Pro, complete with ANC, don't disappoint.
They fit snugly, pair easily, and are simple to use with their intuitive controls. Their noise-cancelling modes might be a little basic, but they're effective. And to be honest, having anything more than just ANC on or off is nothing short of amazing at this price.
Amazing because they cost little more than the ultra-cheap Earfun Air. Add in USB-C charging, wearer detection, and decent sound for the money, and you've got an unbeatable proposition at this price. At the time of writing, we haven't come across much at this level that does everything these Earfuns do, as well as they do it, and that includes the Earfun Air Pro 2!
Read the full Earfun Air Pro review
How active noise cancellation works
It's all very clever really. Noise-cancelling headphones essentially use two or more tiny microphones on their outer housings to "listen" to the external noise around you and create a mirror image of the compression and rarefaction of the air that it detects.
We can think of the soundwaves around us like peaks and troughs, or ripples in a pond. Plane engine noise is an ideal example since the thrum you hear in the cabin is typically a soundwave of constant amplitude – the height of the peaks and the depths of the troughs are largely continuous.
If you produce another sound wave with the same amplitude but opposite phase – with a peak where the engine sound wave has a trough, and vice versa – you get something called antiphase. Added together, the two sounds cancel each other out. The result: silence. And – voila – you're listening to your music in peace!
Passive vs active noise-cancelling
Some manufacturers may say their headphones boast a "noise-isolating design" or "natural noise-cancelling abilities", but that doesn't necessarily mean they are 'proper' active noise-canceling headphones.
Active noise cancellation is a technology; it's an electrical feature that requires power to work. When you're using it, you'll soon notice ANC will drain your wireless headphones' battery at a faster rate. Toggle ANC on and tiny microphones on your headphones pick up that irksome engine thrum. This is then quickly measured by the headphones' internal electronics to produce an opposite sound, which is fed into your ears. If the tech does a good job, all you'll hear is the chug of the train fading into nothingness.
Passive noise-cancelling – or noise isolation, as it's often referred – is, instead, a physical thing; a term used to describe headphones that block out external sounds and reduce the amount of sound leaking into your ears without the need for power. This is simply achieved through physical design elements.
Closed-back designs, leather earpads, a good in-ear seal, sizing up or down in eartips, a heavier clamping force in the headband (meaning the earcups fit tighter over your ears), dampening in the earcups and even the shape or material of the driver housings all contribute to passive noise isolation. But remember: it's not the same as the active noise-canceling headphones listed above.
How we test noise-cancelling headphones
While we have state-of-the-art testing facilities in London, Reading and Bath, where our team of experienced, in-house reviewers test the majority of hi-fi and AV kit that passes through our door, noise-cancelling headphones are different beasts that require use on the go in different environments.
Therefore, our noise-cancelling headphones reviewing process sees us use pairs in an office, on busy streets, on public transport and, when we can, even on a plane. We judge a pair's portability, comfort and battery life, and of course, sound quality is also key in forming our verdicts and star ratings.
As What Hi-Fi? is all about comparative testing, each pair we review is compared to the best in its price and style class – whether that's one standout pair or a few we favour the highest among the many models we listen to each year for reviews and What Hi-Fi? Awards judging. We keep class-leading products in our stockrooms so we can always compare new products to rival ones we know and love.
All review verdicts are agreed upon by the team rather than an individual reviewer to eliminate any personal preference and to make sure we're being as thorough as possible, too. There's no input from PR companies or our sales team when it comes to the verdict, with What Hi-Fi? proud of having delivered honest, unbiased reviews for decades.
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