The best noise cancelling earbuds for you depend first on the phone in your pocket, and only then on how much quiet you want. AirPods Pro 3 make the most sense with an iPhone, but a Pixel or other Android phone, an interest in lossless Bluetooth codecs, hard workouts or a long commute can each point to a different pair, and so can wanting a different look or a longer battery.
These seven each answer one of those needs: a Soundcore flagship built around calls and adaptive cancelling, Beats with Apple’s H2 chip and heart rate sensors, a OnePlus pair with dual drivers for Android, an EarFun pair with aptX Lossless and LDAC, an Audio-Technica pair rated for 25 hours on one charge, a Marshall pair built from recycled plastic, and a CMF by Nothing pair with a control dial on the case.
Best Noise Cancelling Earbuds Compared by Phone, Codec and Battery
| # | Earbuds | Best phone match | Battery (maker claim) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro | Android or iPhone | 6.5h buds, 28h with case, ANC on | Cancelling and calls overall |
| 2 | Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 | iPhone, with an Android app | 8h buds, 36h with case, ANC on | iPhone owners who train |
| 3 | OnePlus Buds Pro 3 | Android, with Fast Pair | 6h buds, 25.5h with case, ANC on | Android owners |
| 4 | EarFun Air Pro 4 | Snapdragon Sound Android | 11h buds, 52h with case | Lossless and LDAC audio |
| 5 | Audio-Technica ATH-CKS50TW2 | Android or iPhone | 15h buds, 40h with case, ANC on | Longest battery |
| 6 | Marshall Motif II A.N.C. | Android or iPhone | 6h buds, 30h with case, ANC on | Style and a small case |
| 7 | CMF Buds Pro 2 | Android, LDAC | 10h buds, 43h with case | A tight budget |
1. Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro: Adaptive Cancelling Built Around Calls
Soundcore builds the Liberty 5 Pro around its Thus AI chip and eight sensors that, by the maker’s count, process more than 384,000 noise signals per second for Adaptive ANC 4.0. Soundcore claims the cancelling is 100 percent more effective than its previous flagship, the Liberty 4 Pro. It is the pair to start with if cancelling and calls both matter and you do not care which phone brand made your earbuds.
Calls are the other half of the design. Ten sensors (eight microphones and two bone conduction sensors) pick out your voice, and Soundcore rates them for clear calls in places louder than 100 dB. HearID 5.0 builds a personal EQ, 20 offline voice commands handle tracks, calls and volume, and multipoint keeps two devices connected. Each earbud weighs 5.5g, the rating is IP55, and Soundcore quotes 6.5 hours with ANC on, 28 hours with the case, and four hours from a five-minute charge.
What it does well
- Adaptive ANC 4.0 driven by the Thus AI chip
- Eight microphones plus two bone conduction sensors for calls
- 20 offline voice commands
- IP55, multipoint and ear fins in the box
What to know before buying
- 6.5 hours per charge with ANC on is short for a long flight
- Extreme mode cuts battery to 2.5 hours per charge
- Not for iPhone owners who want automatic switching across Apple devices
2. Beats Powerbeats Pro 2: The H2 Chip for iPhone Owners Who Train
For an iPhone owner who wants Apple’s pairing tricks without AirPods, the Powerbeats Pro 2 is the closest match. Beats builds them on the Apple H2 chip, which brings one-touch pairing, automatic switching between Apple devices, hands-free Siri and Personalized Spatial Audio with head tracking. Active Noise Cancelling and Transparency mode come with it.
The other reason to buy them is training. Heart rate sensors in the earbuds feed the iPhone Fitness app and select fitness apps and equipment, and nickel-titanium reinforced earhooks hold them in through sprints and lifts. Beats rates the buds IPX4 and quotes 8 hours with ANC on, up to 45 hours with the case in Adaptive EQ mode, and 1.5 hours from a five-minute Fast Fuel charge. The case is the first Beats case with Qi wireless charging. On Android, the Beats app adds one-touch pairing, heart rate and custom controls.
What it does well
- Apple H2 chip with automatic device switching and hands-free Siri
- Heart rate sensors in the earbuds
- Nickel-titanium reinforced earhooks
- Qi wireless charging case
What to know before buying
- The charging case is not sweat or water resistant
- Earhooks make them bulky for sleep or under a hat
- Not for anyone who wants a small, pocket-friendly case
3. OnePlus Buds Pro 3: Dual Drivers and Fast Pair for Android Phones
The Buds Pro 3 are the pick for Android owners who want setup and codecs built for their phone. Google Fast Pair handles pairing on Android, and OnePlus lists LHDC 5.0 alongside AAC and SBC, so an Android phone with LHDC gets a higher-bitrate link while an iPhone still connects over AAC. Each earbud pairs an 11mm woofer with a 6mm tweeter, and OnePlus rates the adaptive noise cancelling at 50dB.
Controls use squeeze and swipe gestures: a long press toggles noise cancelling and a slide changes volume. Calls run through three microphones and a bone conduction voice pick-up sensor. OnePlus quotes 6 hours with ANC on and 25.5 hours with the case over AAC, or 10 and 43 hours with ANC off, and five hours of playback from a 10-minute charge. The case also charges wirelessly, each earbud weighs 5.29g, and the rating is IP55, with two-device connection and a 94ms latency figure for games and video.
What it does well
- 11mm woofer plus 6mm tweeter in each earbud
- Google Fast Pair and LHDC 5.0 for Android
- Five hours from a 10-minute charge
- Wireless charging case and IP55
What to know before buying
- LHDC cuts battery to a quoted 5 hours with ANC on
- Squeeze controls take some practice
- Not for iPhone owners, who lose LHDC and Fast Pair
4. EarFun Air Pro 4: aptX Lossless and LDAC on One Pair
The Air Pro 4 is the pick for Android listeners who care about codecs. A Qualcomm QCC3091 chip gives it aptX Lossless and Snapdragon Sound certification, and it also supports LDAC, LE Audio and LC3, so it can use the best codec an LDAC or Snapdragon Sound Android phone can send.
EarFun rates the adaptive hybrid ANC at up to 50dB and says QuietSmart 3.0 detects the shape of your ear canal to tune it. Six microphones with cVc 8.0 handle calls, multipoint keeps two devices connected, and Google Fast Pair speeds setup on Android. EarFun quotes 11 hours per charge, 52 hours with the case and 2 hours from a 10-minute charge, and it supports Auracast broadcast audio. The warranty is 18 months.
What it does well
- aptX Lossless with Snapdragon Sound, plus LDAC
- Adaptive hybrid ANC rated up to 50dB
- 11 hours per charge, 52 with the case
- Auracast and Google Fast Pair
What to know before buying
- Lossless modes need a phone that supports them
- iPhones fall back to standard codecs
- Not for anyone who wants Apple-style device switching
5. Audio-Technica ATH-CKS50TW2: 25 Hours Before the Case
Audio-Technica rates the ATH-CKS50TW2 for 25 hours from the earbuds alone with noise cancelling off, and 40 more from the case, for up to 65 hours. With hybrid noise cancelling on, the figures are 15 hours from the earbuds and 25 from the case. A five-minute charge gives up to 90 minutes. That makes it the pair for long flights and long work days.
A Magnetic Switch turns the earbuds off when you snap them together, so they save power out of the case. Proprietary 9mm drivers, a hybrid ear tip of hard and soft silicone, and a customizable button rather than touch controls round out the design. The Connect app adds a low latency mode, EQ, hear-through, talk-through and soundscape sounds, and the case supports Qi wireless charging. The rating is IP55, with multipoint pairing and a two-year warranty.
What it does well
- Up to 25 hours per charge with ANC off, 15 with it on
- Magnetic Switch saves power out of the case
- Qi wireless charging and multipoint
- IP55 with a two-year warranty
What to know before buying
- A physical button instead of touch controls
- No head tracking or ecosystem extras
- Not for anyone who wants the strongest cancelling here
6. Marshall Motif II A.N.C.: Rock Styling and a Recycled Build
The Motif II A.N.C. borrows its look from Marshall amps, with a textured black case and the script logo, and it is the pair to buy if style matters as much as sound. Marshall says the case and buds are made from 70 percent post-consumer recycled plastic, including used electronics, water bottles and automotive light covers.
Marshall quotes 6 hours with ANC on and 9 with it off, or 30 and 43 hours with the case, and a 15-minute charge gives an hour of play. The case charges wirelessly, the earbuds are IPX5 and the case IPX4, and the 6mm drivers run on Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio support and two-device multipoint. The Marshall app adds EQ and battery preservation settings, including a maximum charge limit and a temperature limit.
What it does well
- Case and buds from 70 percent recycled plastic
- Wireless charging case
- IPX5 earbuds and multipoint
- Battery preservation controls in the app
What to know before buying
- 6 hours per charge with ANC on
- Small 6mm drivers
- Not for anyone after lossless Android codecs
7. CMF Buds Pro 2: A Control Dial on the Case for Less
CMF by Nothing puts a smart dial on the charging case of the Buds Pro 2. It handles volume, tracks and noise modes, and a press can also call up a voice assistant, switch on low latency mode or mute the microphone, which helps when touch controls on small earbuds feel fiddly.
CMF rates the adaptive hybrid ANC at 50dB, pairs an 11mm bass driver with a 6mm tweeter tuned by Dirac, and supports LDAC for Android phones. Six microphones handle calls, multipoint and Bluetooth 5.4 are included, and a 120ms low latency mode helps with games. CMF quotes 10 hours per charge, 43 hours with the case and 3 hours from a 10-minute charge, and the earbuds are IP55.
What it does well
- Smart dial on the case for volume, modes and mic mute
- Adaptive hybrid ANC rated at 50dB
- Dual drivers and LDAC support
- 43 hours with the case
What to know before buying
- The dial lives on the case, so the case must be in hand
- LDAC is lost on an iPhone
- Not for anyone who wants a premium build
AAC, LDAC and aptX Lossless: Which Codec Your Phone Can Use
A codec decides how audio is compressed between phone and earbuds, and both ends must support it. Apple devices rely on AAC. Sony developed LDAC, a lossy format that runs at up to 990 kbps, and it has been part of Android since version 8.0. iOS does not support it, so on an iPhone the EarFun and CMF pairs drop back to a standard codec.
aptX Lossless needs even more: a phone certified for Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound. The EarFun Air Pro 4 carries that certification, so a matching Android phone can use it. If your phone supports neither, choose on cancelling, fit and battery instead, because a better codec cannot do anything your phone cannot send. For a broader look at everyday pairs, see these wireless earbuds compared on battery.
Ear Tip Seal and Listening Volume: Getting More From Cancelling
Cancelling and the ear tip work together, which is why EarFun says its earbuds detect the shape of your ear canal, CMF says its ANC detects noise leakage between the earbud and ear canal, and Audio-Technica uses a hybrid hard and soft silicone tip. Try every tip size in the box. A seal that leaks lets bass escape and noise in, and keeping the tips clean helps them seal, as the steps for how to clean AirPods show.
Less background noise also means less volume. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders says sounds at or below 70 dBA are unlikely to cause hearing loss, while long or repeated exposure at or above 85 dBA can, and it puts music through headphones at maximum volume at 94 to 110 dBA. If earbuds never seal well in your ears, over-ear headphones cancel through the cushions instead.
Which Noise Cancelling Earbuds to Buy
As an all-rounder, the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro is the pair to buy: adaptive cancelling that Soundcore rates at twice its previous flagship, ten sensors for calls, IP55 and multipoint, on any phone. If you carry an iPhone and work out, the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 give you the H2 chip, heart rate and earhooks in one pair.
Choose the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 for an Android phone, the EarFun Air Pro 4 for aptX Lossless and LDAC on Android, the Audio-Technica ATH-CKS50TW2 if battery life comes first, the Marshall Motif II A.N.C. for looks and recycled materials, and the CMF Buds Pro 2 for strong features on a small budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do LDAC and aptX Lossless work with an iPhone?
No. iOS does not support LDAC, and aptX Lossless needs a Snapdragon Sound phone, so iPhones use AAC. The EarFun and CMF pairs still work on an iPhone, just without those codecs.
Which of these earbuds last longest on one charge?
The Audio-Technica ATH-CKS50TW2, which the maker rates at 25 hours per charge with noise cancelling off and 15 hours with it on. The EarFun Air Pro 4 is next at a quoted 11 hours.
Which pair is best for phone calls in loud places?
The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro, which uses eight microphones and two bone conduction sensors and is rated by Soundcore for clear calls above 100 dB. The Powerbeats Pro 2 and EarFun Air Pro 4 each use six microphones.
Do noise cancelling earbuds help protect hearing?
They can, because cutting background noise lets you listen at a lower volume. Long or repeated exposure at or above 85 dBA can cause hearing loss, so keep the volume moderate even with ANC on.
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