Best Over the Ear Headphones
Wireless headphones allow you to listen to podcasts and music without the requirement of connecting a wire to your audio device. They're ideal for public transportation, at work, or at home.
Wireless over-ear headphones are available in a variety of styles and noise cancellation capabilities. They usually come with a sleek storage case.
Soundcore Q30
These over-ears are a major upgrade over the Soundcore Life 2 of late-2018. They appear better and are more durable and have a more polished appearance. The hinges are more secure, and the soft ear cups have been slightly larger. They are still largely made of plastic, but they're more polished. You can even swap the 3.5mm cable for a premium USB-C version to use them with stationary Hi-Fi systems and mobile Hi-Res players. They also come with dual microphones that are great in our tests for FaceTime, Skype, and Microsoft Teams calls.
The Soundcore app comes with a wide variety of EQ presets, which can be adjusted and saved to listen to podcasts and music in the style you prefer. The Soundcore app makes it easy to use and makes these headphones stand out.
The Q30's 40mm speakers effectively block out almost all ambient sound when ANC is enabled. This creates an extremely pleasant listening experience. They have a natural sounding signature that leans a little on the treble side, which some might feel is lacking in bass response (we got better results with the Bass Booster EQ preset). This can be fixed easily using the Soundcore App, which includes an 8-band Equalizer.
The left earcup has an power button and a pairing button and a USB-C charging port. The right earcup has buttons for volume up/down, play/pause and volume up/down. Double-clicking these controls lets you to skip tracks or replay previous ones. They also support a voice command, so you can request them to change the mode or set an alarm. The right earcup can be covered with your hand to activate ambient mode so that you can hear what's happening around you without taking off the headphones.
These headphones have a great battery life. In our tests with ANC enabled the Q30 ran for almost an hour longer than the other headphones. This gives you plenty of time to prepare for a long flight or a day at the office. The USB-C cord included in the kit allows you to quickly charge the batteries. You'll also receive an alert when the battery is nearing empty.
Focal Bathys Wireless
Focal's Bathys Wireless is a pair of high-quality over-ear Bluetooth headphones that offer active noise cancellation, as well as Bluetooth playback. They're designed as an elite headphones that are great for listening to music and podcasts on the go but also sound fantastic when used for audiophile home use as well. best wireless over ear headset than similar headphones, but their superior sound quality is their main selling feature.
The Focal Bathys are packaged in a compact, slim and attractive, white, fabric-finished box that includes everything you'll need in. The package also includes a fold-flat carrying case for the headphones as well as a USB-C to USB C cable, 1.2mmSE cable and an audio converter.
They're powered by a decent 600mAh battery that can take you through a full day of listening, and include an audio input for wired use. Wirelessly, they're paired via Bluetooth. You can control their functions using an app (now named Focal & Naim in keeping with English Naim's network-aware products) or the button located on the left earcup that scrolls through ANC profiles like silent, soft 'transparent,' and 'full.
The app lets you alter various settings, including the brightness of the LEDs, the EQ presets (including a'music' profile which is more neutral and brighter than other profiles) and the battery life. You can also select the ANC mode and level and select an 'acoustic environment' to adjust the sensitivity in order to simulate the sound of headphones in a different room.
The Focal Bathys have a bass-rich profile that adds extra warmth, punch and impact to your most loved tracks. In the end, vocals and instruments are nudged back into the mix and can sound dull, while details like cymbals are slightly less prominent than you might expect on some other headphones. The headphones are also less effective at active noise cancellation when compared with other headphones that feature more advanced technology, such as the Sony WH1000XM5 or Apple AirPods Max.
Sony WH-1000XM5
Sony has a stellar reputation for its headphones and the WH-1000XM5 is not an exception. It is the best of the'mainstream' over ear headphone market and is in the luxury lifestyle segment where brands like Apple, Montblanc, Bang & Olufsen and Montblanc are situated. This means that the XM5s come with a high price tag, but when you can afford it, there are few better wireless over-ear headphones available.
The XM5s are loaded with features that help listeners and, in some cases, automate tasks they'd otherwise have to handle manually. Sony's DSEE Extreme engine (which upscales compressed music to near hi-res) is included and also support for Bluetooth's LDAC technology. This lets high-quality audio be streamed with bitrates that are higher than Bluetooth. The built-in microphone is capable of making calls hands-free.
As with the previous generation of WH headphones the XM5s excel in noise cancellation. They're among the top-performing headphones to block out the constant drones heard in underground and train carriages. The XM5s are great at their job of shielding listeners from the traffic noises of busy airports and streets, too.
Sound quality is also excellent. The XM5s may not be as precise in the lower frequencies as the XM4, but there's a more pronounced sense of clarity and transparency, too. The bass on Rage Against the Machine's Bullet in the Head shows the Sonys strength and clarity, without affecting the rest the music. Similarly, Massive Attack's brooding Angel shows off the XM5s ability to create tight and precise bass notes.
Battery life is excellent, with up to 30 hours of listening time when ANC is in use and up to 40 hours when it's off. This is more than enough for a weekend trip or a few days of heavy use.
The only issue is that the XM5s do not have any water resistance or dust resistance protection. Sony actually advises against sweating on them or wearing them in the rain. This may not be a problem for many people, but it could prove a stumbling block for anyone considering the XM5s who spend a lot of their time at the gym or lives in a rainy city.
Apple AirPods Max
The Apple AirPods Max are a pair of over-ear wireless headphones equipped with Bluetooth technology and noise cancellation. They have 40mm dynamic drivers that are designed by Apple and have a an audio profile that is neutral and concentrates on the highs and mids without going overboard on either ends of the spectrum. This makes them perfect for both movies and music. They also offer superior fidelity compared to most rival headphones.
The headphones have a light construction that is comfortable on the head. The ear cups, which are made of memory foam covered with woven fabric, fit comfortably over the ears, do not put pressure on the sides or forehead. The ear cups can tilt and rotate to accommodate different head shapes. The spring-loaded hinges offer a strong, but not too strong clamping force that makes sure the earcups remain in place throughout listening sessions.
You can toggle noise cancelling by pressing a small button located at the top of the right earcup. It also has a pushable like a jog-dial, similar to the digital crown on the Apple Watch, that you can turn to control volume and press once twice or three times for playback controls. Siri can be activated by pressing and pressing the button. The buttons are simple to use and well-placed however, I would like to have the power button that could shut off the headphones when not in use. The headphones are put into standby when they are removed from your ears or when they are put in their case. They will come back to life when you place them over your head.
Another cool feature is spatial audio, which uses the gyroscopes and accelerometers in the AirPods Max and your iPhone or iPad to figure out the direction you're moving in, and then repositions the sound to create the illusion that they're coming from those locations. This creates a cinema-like experience with movies and videos made in Dolby Atmos, 5.1 or 7.1. Only iOS devices can be used to listen to spatial audio.
The AirPods Max are a decent pair of headphones, but I'd be a bit ripped off walking into an Apple Store and spending $549 on them if I knew they'd be outdone next year by the second-generation model. The AirPods Pro have more advanced features and a better battery performance, so it's difficult to justify the additional cost for the majority of people.