Best Cyber Monday Deals on Headphones

The AirPods Max are stylish, high-performance over-the-ear headphones–with one drawback: the price. The sound quality, noise-canceling tech, design and build quality are all very appealing, especially to Apple fans. But the $500+ price tag can make you wonder if you’re getting good value. That’s what makes this discount so compelling. Yes, these are the prior-gen Maxes, but aside from the choice of colors and the Lightning charging port (instead of the industry standard USB-C), there’s little to separate the two options, and our testers found virtually no difference in performance between the new ones and the old ones.

If you want earbuds, but don’t like the feel of a device plugging up your ears, earplug-style, the Bose Ultra Opens offer a unique option. They hook on the outside your ear, just above the lobe, kind of like a cuff-style earring. And , once you get the placement just right, they sound surprisingly good, too. It’s easy to hear things around you with a clarity that the "transparency" mode of most earbuds can’t match. But there’s no noise canceling so the Ultras are not great for trains or planes.

In the luxury headphone market, Dyson’s OnTracs stand out for sheer style. The elevated design language is beautifully executed and the high-end materials are a joy to touch--the ability to swap parts. to change colors and finishes adds to the high-fashion fun. The sound is sumptuous, too, with good bass impact and a warm sonic signature that makes a day-long listening session a pleasure. The noise cancelling performance is fine, and the OnTracs also claim a superb 55-hour battery life. The one rather serious drawback is the hefty 16-ounce weight which makes them among the heaviest cans we’ve tested.

The JBL Tune 510BT is already a budget-friendly option, but at half off its list price, it dips it into stocking stuffer territory. This Bluetooth model delivers sound quality in the ballpark of far more expensive headphones, and it has a 40-hour advertised battery life. It sits on the ears, which some people find more comfortable than being engulfed by bigger, over-the-ear style cans. As an extra perk, you can use the headphones with a cable if you forget to charge them. These aren’t noise-canceling headphones, but for the price, they’re hard to beat.

Bowers & Wilkins, aka B&W, might not be a household name, but this British company has been making audiophile-grade speakers and headphones for decades. And the beautifully built PX7 S2e delivers both effective noise cancellation and sound quality that justifies the sale price.

While there’s nothing exactly evolutionary about the design of the Sonos Ace, the company’s first headphone, it is clean and well-executed. The sleek and even minimalist Ace is actually flattering when sitting on your head. The wireless noise-canceling model also offers warm, comforting sound and solid bass.

The Pixel Buds Pros have been at this low price for a few months now, and have yet to fall to the lowest price we saw this year of about $120. You might think of them as Google’s answer to Apple’s AirPods Pro. The noise-canceling in-ear headphones are designed to work best with the company’s Pixel phones and smartwatches and Google Assistant, although you can certainly use them with any phone. Our testers report that Pixel Buds sound a bit bassy but otherwise deliver solid sound.

The only thing new about the classic Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW seems to be the wildly variable prices. The sleek wireless earbuds sound really good and have a decent array of features, including an unusual low latency mode that delivers better performance with games and videos. According to Audio-Technica, they have a 6.5-hour battery life, and the charging case stores an additional 13 hours of power. Depending on the color, the prices range from $40 to $80, so click carefully or you could end up paying twice as much.

If you want to treat yourself (or someone else) these noise-canceling Sony earbuds sound just sublime. If you care about music, they’re more than worth the money. The XM5s are the sleek successors to the company’s WF1000XM4s, and they deliver so much musical detail that you simply hear your favorite songs in a different way. The noise-canceling performance of the XM5s is strong as well, and Sonys have an effective ambient mode that pipes in outside noise for safety or convenience.

This is a legitimately low price Apple’s bestselling earbuds. They sound good and offer effective noise canceling, including a transparency mode that pipes in outside sound so that you’re not fully cut off from the world while out walking. Better yet, says Apple, a free over-the-air upgrade will allow the model to deliver a clinical-grade hearing test, which, if necessary, can be used to turn the Pros into an effective over-the-counter hearing aid.

There’s a lot to like about this over-the-ear noise canceling headphone that sits second in Bose’s lineup but performs a lot like the top-of-the line Quiet Comfort Ultras. Since Bose devices don’t routinely carry big discounts, the $200 price–at a discount of $150–makes this deal particularly appealing. The Quiet Comforts provide sound quality that’s solid if not quite up to the very best headphones in this category.

This wireless Bluetooth iPod/iPad/cellphone-centric model from JBL is a solid pick. The JBL Tune 660NC delivers very good sound quality and excellent active noise reduction. These headphones have a closed design, they will provide some muffling of external noises and also reduce the amount of sound that escapes from the headphones.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 may have been replaced by the newer and sleeker XM5, but our testers report that the models perform similarly. The Sony XM4 delivers truly superb sound quality, dead quiet noise cancellation, plus a nice array of features. Note that the silver models are $20 cheaper than the black.

The Sennheiser CX Plus true wireless noise-canceling earbuds deliver solid sound quality at a nice price. They also get solid scores for active noise cancellation, which can be used whether or not you’re listening to music. There’s even a transparency mode that allows you to add in some outside noise, which can make it safer to use them while outdoors.

Shopping for noise-canceling headphones on a budget doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice performance. Case in point? The SoundCore Life Q20s, which have now dipped back to their best price. These over-ear headphones have enviable sound quality and noise cancellation. You don’t get adjustable levels of noise cancellation, though. According to the manufacturer, the headphones deliver a generous 40-hour battery life.