Best Deals on Headphones

While there’s nothing revolutionary about the design of Sonos’s first headphone, it is well-executed. If you like the Sonos brand, this is a good opportunity to get this model at a discount, as it doesn’t go on sale often. 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.

While Apple claims the AirPods 4 are improved over the AirPods 3, our testers were less impressed. They’re still solid headphones if you prefer not to have eartips stuck in your ear. The fit, despite Apple’s tweaks, is pretty much the same as previous models, as is the sound. These headphones were $15 less for Black Friday, but this is still a nice price if you missed that sale, and it’s only available at Walmart.

If you want earbuds, but don’t like the feel of plugging up your ears, the Bose Ultra Opens are a unique option. They hook on your ear, just above the lobe, kind of like a cuff-style earring. They sound surprisingly good, too, once you get the placement just right. And it’s totally easy to hear things around you with a clarity that the "transparency" mode of most earbuds can’t match. This deal was available at a few retailers until recently, but now only Amazon is offering a discount.

If you’re a fan of the Google Pixel phone, then the Pixel Buds Pro 2 are a solid choice for a complementary earbud. They have a Find My Device function, and the sound can be adjusted through the Pixel app. The Pixel Buds 2 earn very good sound quality grades and score well for noise cancellation.

When you’re looking for workout headphones, nothing’s more important than the fit. Earbuds that don’t stay on aren’t of much use. The Powerbeats Pro 2 aims to solve that problem with earhooks that keep these good-sounding, noise-canceling earbuds firmly in place. Among our testers, some found them very secure, but others had to fiddle to get a decent fit, so pay attention to the return policy, especially if you’re giving these as gifts. The current sale price is only $12 more than the best we’ve seen in months.

If your goal is reference-library levels of silence, Bose’s top-of-the-line noise-canceling headphones are hard to beat. If you get a good fit—some of our testers with larger heads and larger ears had trouble—the Ultras do an admirable job of keeping the outside world at bay. Sonically, they’re fine, offering strong bass, though the midrange is just a bit anemic. All in all, they’re easy to live with, and they don’t go on sale often, so if you aim to silence an Airbus A350 or a commuter train, you might want to take advantage of this price.

This wireless model from JBL delivers acceptable sound quality and top-notch active noise reduction. These earphones have an isolating design and an ambient sound monitoring feature; they will provide some muffling and electronic canceling of external noises and also reduce the amount of sound that escapes from the earpieces. As such, they are best for those who want highly portable earphones that reduce the amount of noise they hear from their surroundings, or don’t want the sound from the earpieces to disturb others.

Can’t fall asleep without noise, but your partner needs total silence? These wireless headphones from Ozlo are designed for bed, and they’re the top choice among the models we tested. They’re lightweight and bendable for a snug, comfortable fit. And more importantly, they block out disruptive noise. The battery lasts 10 hours, so you’ll wake up with your music still playing, and the accompanying app offers a wide variety of white noise options (and you can still play your own audio via Bluetooth). For this price, these are probably more ideal if you’re going to use them frequently.

As with the Ozlo headphones above, these earbuds are made for sleeping. The Anker Soundcore Sleep A30 earbuds offer everything you need to rest without interruptions. They effectively drown out noise, and the battery reliably lasts for an entire night with some power to spare. (You can count on a 9-hour battery life, Anker says, and 45 hours with a fully charged case.) The headphones also offer active noise cancellation—a new addition to the A30 model. And the price has dropped $20 in the last few weeks.

If you’re looking for earbuds that prioritize fit above all else, check out the Beats Fit Pro. These noise-canceling buds have soft silicone ear tips in three sizes, plus wingtips that fit into the pinna (the exterior of your ear) for additional security. They have actual buttons, too, rather than the touch-sensitive controls on many other models, which may make it easier to operate them while on the go. The Fit Pros also sound really good and feature effective active noise cancellation, making them a solid alternative to the similarly priced AirPods Pro.

These sleek true wireless earbuds may be a bit expensive, but their stellar sound quality makes them more than worth it if you care about music. Plus, the price dropped $50 since last week, marking the best discount we’ve seen this year. They are sleek successors to the company’s stellar 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 top-notch as well, and Sonys have a very effective ambient mode that pipes in outside noise for safety or convenience.

If you want a pair of noise-canceling earbuds at a budget price, check out the Soundcore Space A40s. The bass packs some wallop, and the overall sound is warm, which makes the A40s pleasant to listen to over a long period of time. The noise cancellation earns top marks from CR’s testers, too—there’s even a transparency mode that allows you to monitor your surroundings when you’re out running or walking down a busy street. The discount isn’t steep, but these headphones are a serious bargain even at their normal street price.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 is two generations old—Sony recently introduced the XM6—but headphone tech doesn’t advance that rapidly, and the XM remains a solid performer with fine sound and very effective noise-canceling. These headphones did dip as low as $160 during Black Friday, so you’re not getting the absolute best price, but this is the lowest price you’ll see outside of major sale days.

For all of the popularity of Apple’s AirPods, these are a rather unusual. Lacking the padded ear tips that plug your ear canals, they don’t offer much passive noise cancellation, but they do have reasonably effective noise-canceling tech. And so, you can elect to turn the noise-canceling feature off and hear what’s going on around you, which can be great when you’re on a run or walking on a busy street. In terms of sound and fit, the buds are very similar to the regular 4th-gen. AirPods. These did cost $99.99 during Black Friday, but we likely won’t see another discount that steep until July when Amazon typically holds it Prime Day sale.

The Bose Quiet Comfort earbuds sit near the top of our ratings, with really satisfying sound and exceptional active noise cancellation. Bose headphones also earn top marks from our members for predicted reliability and owner satisfaction. The discounted price is $20 more than the best we saw, but we don’t expect that discount to return until July for Amazon’s Prime Day sale and big sales at other major retailers.

The CX Plus wireless earbuds receive top scores for active noise cancellation (which can be used whether or not you’re listening to music). They offer a transparency mode that allows you to add in some outside sounds for safety when you’re, say, walking on a city street or on a road with traffic.

You can access the Sennheiser’s volume and track functions with touch controls on the earbuds, and they also let you summon both Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri digital assistants. Sennheiser claims the CX Plus will deliver 8 hours of battery life, while the charging case can add 16 hours, for a total of 24 hours.

If you’re afraid of losing an earbud, the Sony WI-C100 is a great choice. With a wire tethering the two buds together, the odds of losing your headphones greatly diminish. Our testers give the Sony earbuds fine marks for sound quality. They don’t have noise cancellation, but the earphones will muffle some external noise and limit the amount of sound that escapes from the earpieces. They also have an in-line mic for phone calls.