These Are the Best Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones for 2023

Speaker 1: Hey there, true wireless earbuds continue to be the most popular side of headphones on the market these days, but I know a lot of you still like the full size variety, and I do too. So I've once again put together a round of the best wireless noise canceling over your headphones of the year. Just to be clear, all these headphones were released in 2023. Some of you may own Sony's W 1000, Xbox five, for example. They're great headphones, but they came out last year, so did the Sennheiser momentum for wireless headphones. They're also excellent, but they're not eligible. But I've got five [00:00:30] new ones from 2023 that are, and I'm also throwing in a six bonus pick as a value option because not everyone can afford premium headphones that cost upwards of $400. So let's get right to the picks. I've ordered them from highest to lowest price and I've tested all of them and fully reviewed many of them. Speaker 1: First up, the $429 Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra Headphones while Bose's new flagship noise canceling headphones may not be a huge upgrade over the company's noise canceling 700 headphones from a few years ago. They featured a more premium design with dual hinges along with B'S new immersive [00:01:00] audio feature, along with excellent sound and fantastic noise canceling. The QC Ultra headphones are also very good for making calls with top-notch background noise reduction. All that adds up to the best new noise canceling headphones of 2023 and a worthy adversary to Sony's, highly rated W 1000 X mark five, and Apple's AirPods max. Next up is a slightly upgraded version of one of my favorite headphones from last year, the Bowers and Wilkins PX seven S two E. It's mostly the same as the PX seven S two, but Bowers [00:01:30] and Wilkins says that E at the end stands for evolved and has some acoustic improvements that take inspiration and learnings from its flagship PX eight headphones that cost $300 more. Speaker 1: In short, the audio quality has been slightly upgraded thanks to improved digital processing, which I assume involves an upgraded chip and a retuning of the headphones sound. These headphones are more comfortable than the original PX sevens and not only sound better, but have better noise canceling and voice calling performance with improved noise reduction. I don't necessarily think they're a better option than the lighter [00:02:00] and even more comfortable Sony XM fives or BS QC Ultra headphones, but the PX seven S two E certainly look and feel luxurious and deliver excellent sound. Moving on to number three. This is a headphone that probably hasn't been on a lot of people's radars. The Sure Onic 50 Gen two, which costs $349. I like Sure's original Onic 50 headphones, but they had pretty middling noise cancellation. Well, the second generation version addresses that issue. The noise canceling is much improved and sure has more than doubled the [00:02:30] battery life to around 45 hours and added a quick charge feature. Speaker 1: It also shrunk the headphones carrying case a bit, though it's still not that compact. While the onic 50 gen twos are pretty heavy at 334 grams, they're built sturdily and are also comfortable to wear with nicely padded ear cups. They have excellent sound quality with very good clarity and well-defined base. Sure calls them studio headphones. So the sound profile is fairly neutral, but you can add more base in the EQ settings. Ensures companion app for iOS and Android call quality is also good [00:03:00] and the headphones do have some extra features worth noting. They offer both leck and app deck support for Android and other devices that support those audio codex. You can also connect the headphones to computer or smartphone with A-U-S-B-C cable for high res audio transmission. Next up, the Beat Studio Pro headphones, which lists for $350. They aren't worth that much, but they've been discounted to as low as $170 in flash shells, which is why I've put them on this list. Speaker 1: This is the fourth generation of the beach studio, and they look very similar on the outside to their previous model, [00:03:30] but have some big changes on the inside that make them significantly better. Headphones, a lot of people have described them as more affordable plastic versions of the AirPods Max. However, that's not quite accurate due to a choice in chip sets. These don't have Apple's H one or H two chip and they're missing ear detection sensors that automatically pause your music when you take the headphones off your ears. Those caveats aside, they're mostly excellent headphones and I like that they have USPC audio playback for wire listening and are targeted at both Apple and Android users. The only Apple [00:04:00] users get spatial audio but wait for them to go on sale before buying. So for my fifth pick, I was debating between Sony's $150 CH seven 20 N headphones and Sennheiser recently released at Sentum headphones, which list for $180 and our step down version of its flagship momentum for wireless headphones. Speaker 1: While I do think the centum is a well-built headphone that performs quite well for its price, I ultimately decided to go with a Sony here because it's already dipped to a hundred dollars during flash sales and has some very likable traits, although it doesn't [00:04:30] come with a carrying case or pouch. Sony's improved entry level noise canceling headphones, have a bit of a plasticy budget vibe, but they're lightweight and very comfortable. Part of me was expecting them to sound pretty mediocre, but I was pleasantly surprised. No, they don't sound as good as the XM fives, but they sound more premium than they look and feel and their overall performs is a big step up from their predecessor. The CH seven 10 ends as promised, I'll end with a bonus budget pick. I decided to go with the edifier W [00:05:00] eight 20 NB Plus, which sells for about $80 on Amazon and was released in January of 2023. Speaker 1: So it just qualifies. And if I makes some good sounding PC speakers and true wild earbuds, it's done a nice job with its W eight 20 NB noise canceling headphones. Now on their second generation andif amplifiers upgrade their ear pads with higher grade memory foam, which makes the headphones more comfortable and slightly improve the audio quality thanks to what appeared to be upgraded drivers. They also now support the LDAC audio codec for Android devices, [00:05:30] get a bit more clarity and slightly better base definition. Their sound didn't necessarily blow me away. They lack a bit of openness, but the sound is very good for what the headphones cost, like the predecessor, their pleasant sounding headphones and even a bit more so now, and that's my list. You're looking for even more. Top headphones picks. We've got plenty of headphones and earbuds best lists on CNET that I update regularly, but I want to hear from you. Did you get a new pair of headphones in 2023 and should they be on this list? Lemme know what you think in the comments section. If you found this video informative at all, hit [00:06:00] the like button and subscribe if you haven't already. I'm David Carne for cnet. Thanks for watching.