The best noise-cancelling headphones for flying: 8 picks you can grab on Prime Day to improve your travel experience

Read Mashable's full review of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds.

If you're not an over-ear headphone fan (or like to lean against the window to nap mid-flight), then we have to recommend the supremely comfortable Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds. Like their headphone counterpart, aka our top pick for flyers, these buds offer impressive noise cancellation but with a much lower profile. They're also $130 less expensive.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds snagged a Mashable Choice award shortly after their release for their stellar noise cancellation, comfortable fit, and impressive Immersive Audio tech. Per usual for the brand, Bose's ANC drowns out a ton of background noise, making these buds a perfect fit for flights. In his review of the QC Ultra buds, Mashable Tech Editor Timothy Beck Werth mentioned that Bose's noise cancellation is so good that he often wears these buds even when he's not playing music.

"When I want to take a nap on a plane or focus on my work, I pop in these earbuds and let the noise-cancelling cocoon wash over me," Werth says. "Do they offer 100 percent sound dilution? No, but all but the loudest and closest sounds should disappear. On airplanes, they significantly reduced noise, making it much easier to take a nap. I have to warn my partner when I'm putting on these earbuds, otherwise she'll think I'm giving her the silent treatment."

Mangino was similarly impressed by these earbuds, writing, "the noise cancellation is the best I've ever experienced," in our roundup of the best noise-cancelling earbuds. They also stay put in her ears, even on long walks.

In terms of cons, the battery life is (understandably) not as great as our over-ear headphones picks. So, always charge the case before you travel. We also found that the design of the case makes it a bit difficult to remove the buds and experienced some finicky Bluetooth connections, but these are minor qualms — the pros of the QC Ultra buds absolutely outweigh the cons.

While having active noise cancellation at the ready while traveling might sound great, spending hundreds of dollars sounds decidedly less so. (Airline tickets are expensive enough, thank you.) If you're not looking for the most elite ANC, sound, or build quality, the Anker Soundcore Life Q20s don't break the bank. And while they may not have more premium features, we found they wore comfortably and got the job done.

The Life Q20s are a fraction of the price of the other headphones on our list, but their merits go far beyond their budget status. The cushioned ear pads make them easy to wear comfortably for the length of a long flight. The active noise cancellation is strong enough to block out ambient airplane sounds, and the battery life is also impressive. It took us several days of use to run it down listening at about 50 percent volume — and that was with noise-cancelling engaged.

Plus, unlike higher-end headphones in this guide (namely, the Bose QC Ultras), these headphones support passive playback via a 3.5 millimeter aux cable. In other words, if you do happen to run out of battery on your flight, you're not completely out of luck. As for the actual listening experience, these headphones provide a surprisingly well-balanced sound, but if you don't like how they sound out of the box, you are unfortunately out of luck.

Part of the reason they clock in at such a good price (and even more so when they're on sale) is because these headphones are an older model, so they're not compatible with the Soundcore app and its equalizer features. Overall, these headphones epitomize the word decent — but that's not a knock against them at all.

The Sennheiser Momentum 4 headphones have incredibly balanced sound quality, but what really made them stand out to us was their battery life, which lasts for 60 hours with ANC on. They're a great pair of headphones for anyone taking a longer trip who wants one less device to worry about charging.

A lot of over-ear headphones, including many premium options, have battery lives that max out at around 30 hours. While it's not impossible to find impressive battery life — the Soundcore Life Q20 headphones and the Dyson OnTrac headphones have 40 and 55 hours of battery life, respectively — but each of those headphones comes with a drawback.

The Life Q20 headphones are budget-friendly, so you lose the top-of-the-line ANC and premium sound, while the Dyson OnTrac headphones are bulky and don't feel well-suited to travel. The Momentum 4 headphones, on the other hand, sound crystal clear out of the box. In our testing, they made the bass on Magdalena Bay's "Killshot" stand out in a way we'd never heard before, without losing the complexity of the rest of the song. Plus, at $379.95, they're cheaper than the flagship Sony and Bose headphones. You can also catch them for about $280 on sale.

They also feel more thoughtfully designed for travel, with ear cups that have a slightly flatter profile than you'll find on the Sony XM5s, and an included airplane audio adapter in the case (we wish all premium headphones offered this). The ANC doesn't quite match up to Sony's — it's just ever so slightly worse — but on a plane, we doubt you'll notice a drastic difference, especially if you're listening to audio.

We've only found one other drawback so far — the overly sensitive touch controls on the right ear cup, which we often accidentally bumped, especially when taking off the headphones to put them around our neck. We ended up turning off the controls altogether by mistake, which isn't ideal.

Read Mashable's full review of the Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones.

For frequent travelers who held off on getting the XM5s, the XM6s bring an important travel-friendly upgrade in the form of foldable ear cups, all the while retaining the XM5's updated design, along with improved sound quality and ANC. If you already own XM5s, these headphones might not be worth the upgrade just yet.

Sony's flagship headphones have been a popular option since at least the days of the WH-1000XM4s, thanks to their excellent sound profile and top tier active noise cancellation.

The WH-1000XM5s lost some points in the portability area when Sony nixed the folding ear cups design, giving them a larger case (and more real estate in your carry-on). With the XM6s, Sony's gone back to folding ear cups, which results in both a thinner and more compact carrying case. The snap-lock closure on the case also makes it incredibly quick to store.

As for how the headphones hold up out of the case, Sony didn't necessarily reinvent the wheel, but they made small improvements that result in an all-over better product, especially for folks who don't already own over-ear headphones or are upgrading from older models. The sound signature is warm and full without any tinkering on the equalizer — noticeably more so than on the XM5 headphones. With the equalizer, they're some of the best sounding headphones on the market, providing clarity and balance on songs from Adele's "Hello" to the Eagles' "Hotel California."

Their 30-hour battery life remains the same as its previous gen — while it would've been nice to see some increase, we're not complaining. The ANC significantly dampens sound (though Bose does a slightly better job than Sony in this department). The design is comfortable, with plenty of padding in the headband and earcups. The subtle change of a circular power button also makes operating the on-ear controls even easier than on the XM5s.

Read Mashable's full review of the Apple AirPod Pros.

If you prefer something more low-key than a bulky pair of over-the-ear wireless headphones, opt for a pair of earbuds for travel instead. Though this usually means noise cancellation takes a big hit, that's not the case with the second-gen Apple AirPods Pro. Mashable Senior Editor Stan Schroeder deemed these, "the first pair of earbuds I'd actually consider taking on an airplane," due to the quality of their ANC.

The ANC ante has been upped with the latest Pros, which offer even more sound-blocking power than the already great first-generation model. The design remains essentially the same, so you can easily stow the charging case in your bag or pocket. Plus, with their most recent upgrade, the USB-C charging port likely means you have to lug around one less cable. Adaptive transparency mode allows you to hear outside noise once more with a press of the stem, while still dampening unwanted noise. To add to the aural experience, these buds do have spatial audio, though that feature is infamous for working great with some songs and not working at all with others.

Beyond sounding great, the easy pairing AirPods are known for being even more efficient thanks to the upgraded H2 chip found in these earbuds. The especially great thing about AirPods is that though they're expensive, they do go on sale regularly throughout the year — we recommend waiting until they're down to at least $199 before you pick a pair up.

The EarFun Air Pro 4 are the best earbuds you can get under $100, but compare easily to earbuds double their price. If you want a budget pick that punches above its weight class, you'll find it in these earbuds.

The Air Pro 4 earbuds look like most other budget earbuds out there, but their appearance is where the similarities stop. After powering them on, we were immediately impressed by how well their active noise cancellation worked, and that feeling didn't fade as we put them to the test against forces like people talking loudly around us. Once we connected these earbuds to their companion app, we were even more impressed by the five different levels of noise cancellation.

As we mentioned in the intro of this guide, comfort is a key factor in choosing the best headphones for travel, and while these don't reinvent the wheel, we found them to stay put much better than other earbuds (including the first-gen AirPods Pro). EarFun provides five different silicone ear tips with these buds to help you find the right fit.

So where do they show their lower price point? Not in the sound quality, which we found to be well-balanced and easily adjustable with the equalizer presets and custom EQ feature in the app. Where you'll likely notice it most is in the finicky on-ear touch controls, which though adjustable, wouldn't always register properly. A single press to pause music, for instance, might actually be treated as a long press to turn on noise cancellation. You can toggle the touch controls off, but you do lose a small level of convenience.

Though we're not a fan of the inconsistency of the touch controls, we will say that they were never overly sensitive — while wearing them with a hood, these buds never registered the jacket's fabric or hair as a button press (the same can't be said for other earbuds we've tested).

Finally, in our few weeks of testing these earbuds by wearing them regularly, we've only had their battery completely run out once, and have only put them on the charger twice. In other words, with the Air Pro 4s, you're not likely to find yourself halfway through a five-hour flight enduring some forced mindfulness while your earbuds juice back up.

Read Mashable's full review of the Apple AirPods Max.

These headphones are expensive as all hell, but for those deep in the Apple ecosystem who want a pair of over-the-ear headphones, they could very well be worth the price. Plus, the noise cancellation is pretty great. Apple did release a "new" version of the Maxes in Sept. 2024 with a USB-C charging port and a new set of colorways, but we're continuing to recommend the 2020 version as they're more likely to be on sale and offer the exact same performance as the newer version.

The AirPods Max aren't just a pretty pair of headphones. With the help of eight microphones, these headphones provide excellent active noise cancellation. Switching into transparency mode happens with the push of a button, so there's no messing with finicky touch controls to hear what's going on around you. In addition to ANC, they have fantastic sound quality and support for spatial audio that will make cinephiles happy.

Their battery life, however, is a bit lacking compared to similarly priced headphones, thanks to the fact that they have no power button. (They're also missing a headphone jack, so a Bluetooth adapter will be a must if you like to enjoy in-flight entertainment). They will go into a low-power mode, but you can never completely turn them off. However, this does allow for easy switching in between devices, and for the "Find My" feature to always work. Plus, 20 hours of battery isn't bad, as that should last for even the most long-haul flights. In a pinch, five minutes of a charge can get you an hour and a half of battery life.

The carrying case is unfortunately, as former Mashable Tech Reporter Brenda Stoylar wrote in her review, "possibly the dumbest thing Apple has ever designed," so these headphones are probably best for people who don't mind wearing them around their neck for the entirety of their trip.