Google Pixel Buds Pro: The Pixel Buds Pro are Google’s first earbuds to feature active noise cancellation. While it’s nice that they finally have a feature that many true e-wireless earbuds have been undergoing the Pixel Buds Pro Pro for some time and considering them, especially for Android users – their unique design and winning is fit. This helps to improve their performance for both sound quality and noise reduction fronts. While they aren’t quite elite for voice calling, they also perform well as a headset for calls. Read ours Google Pixel Buds Pro Review.
Soundcore from Anker Space One: Available in three color options, the Soundcore Space One are Anker’s latest headphones and a good value at around $100, offering a strong feature set as well as good sound quality and performance. They can’t quite compete with many of the premium noise-canceling models, but you don’t feel like you’re giving up so much on the sound front to save a lot of money. They lack a bit of that natural, refined quality you look for in a great range of cans, but the Space Ones sound respectable, with decent clarity and bass definition, and measure up well against the more expensive Soundcore Room 45. Noise concentration and voice -Performance performance is also good for headphones in this price range, although the transparency mode is just okay. Anker has developed a version of Sony’s Speak-to-Chat feature – Anker simply calls it Chat – that automatically pauses your music and enters a transparency mode when you walk up to someone and start a conversation. The headphones are equipped with wear sensors, a feature not normally found at this price, and include a carrying case. LDAC audio codec support is available for Android users.
Backward: Many of us liked Shure’s original Aonic 50 headphones, but they had pretty middling noise cancellation. Well, the 2nd generation version addresses this issue – the noise level is significantly improved – and Shure has more than doubled the battery life to around 45 hours (they now have a fast charging feature) and has also shrunk the headphone’s carrying case bit, although it’s still not that compact. These upgrades make the Aonic 50 Gen 2 a top pair of noise-resistant headphones. While the Aonic 50 Gen 2s are quite heavy at 334 grams, they are sturdily built and are also comfortable to wear, with nicely padded earbuds. They offer excellent sound quality with very good clarity and well-defined bass. Shure calls them a “studio headphone,” so the sound profile is fairly neutral, but you can add more bass in the EQ settings in Shure’s companion app for iOS and Android (the Rimmer setting in the app expands the soundstage Soundstage slightly, but I don’t make a big difference).
Mark Levinson #5909: The #5909 are Premium Audio Mark Levinson’s first headphones and yes, they are really expensive at $999. But they’re also really good. They have a sturdy design without managing to feel bulky on your head. Read ours Mark Levinson #5909 handy.
Focus Bathys: French audio company Focal is known for its high-end speaker systems and headphones. You can call it the Bowers & Wilkins of France. And now it’s finally done what many high-end audio companies are trying to do in this age of wireless music listening on the go: make active Bluetooth headphones for noise. These $699 cans sound fantastic and are great overall, but their noise delivery is pretty light. So don’t buy them for their ANC.
Master & Dynamic MW09: Master & Dynamic headphones and earphones have always included unique, eye-catching designs with premium materials such as Aluminum, Sapphire Glass and Kevlar. The latest MW09 flagship earbuds look pretty similar to its previous MW08 buds, but have some upgrades inside that deliver better performance, especially when it comes to battery life and noise clearance (it’s now very close to what Bose and Sony offer, although not quite at their level for ANC).
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro: The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro offers improved noise cancellation as well as very good sound and voice calling performance, as well as support for high-resolution wireless audio streaming if you’re a Galaxy device owner with the right setup. That said, their biggest upgrade may be their new design and smaller size, making them fit more ears better. Aside from their somewhat high price, their only downside is that some of their key features only work with Samsung Galaxy devices.
Beats Studio Buds PlusUnfortunately, for those of you who purchased the original Beats Studio Buds, which remain on the market for now, I’m sorry to report that these new Plus Buds are significantly improved, with better sound, noise reduction and battery life . Additionally, they now deliver premium voice trailer performance.
Beats Fit Pro: While the Beats Fit Pro are not technically AirPods, they are based on the same tech platform as The AirPods Pro (yes, Apple owns Beats). Unlike Beats’ earlier and cheaper Studio buds And 2023 Studio Buds PlusThe Beats Fit Pro include Apple’s H1 chip and have most of the AirPods Pros Features including active noise cancellation, spatial audio and adaptive EQ. I would dare to call them the Sport AirPods you’ve always wanted.
Technics EAH-A800: The EAH-A800 technology has a kind of old school vibe to it – and it’s not just the technology brand that Panasonic has resurrected in recent years. Their design is something of a throwback, but the headphones are comfortable and together and fold flat. They have a big, energetic sound with powerful bass and good detail (takes a day or two to break in, though).
Technics EAH-AZ80: Panasonic has done a good job of creating an all-round top performance set of buds that offer an improved fit with great sound, good noise interference and a robust feature set.
