The best noise-cancelling earbuds of 2024

Read our full review of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds.

Who it’s for:

I didn’t know I could feel passionate about earbuds until I tried the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds, a Mashable Choice product. Truthfully, I can’t imagine a person that wouldn’t appreciate these buds. The noise cancellation is the best I’ve ever experienced, and the music feels like it surrounds you thanks to spatial audio. Plus, the fit is like no other.

If you’ve ever struggled with ear fatigue or getting earbuds to fit comfortably, these earbuds work for multiple sizes of ears, providing a secure yet comfortable fit for hours. You might be put off by the $299 price tag, but they’re worth every penny.

Why we like it:

Having tested the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones and read Mashable editor Timothy Beck Werth’s review of these earbuds, I expected them to be good, but I didn’t expect to be so blown away by them. I’ve struggled with earbuds in the past, never finding ones that offer the perfect fit, but the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds sat comfortably in my ears with a secure fit. Whenever I wear earbuds on a walk, I constantly push them in, but I swear I didn’t have to adjust these once on my entire 3-mile loop.

If you’re after noise cancellation, you really can’t beat these. When I first put the earbuds in, I was in a room with a loud fan, and when the earbud’s ANC kicked in, it completely blocked out the fan in a way that felt like magic. Even though I didn’t have music playing, there was no buzzing, just perfect quiet.

Plus, the audio quality was superb. Bose offers immersive audio mode on these wireless earbuds, but it felt like the music was all around me even when I wasn’t using it. They helped me get in the zone, thumping the beats of Nelly Furtado’s “Man Eater” as I stomped the pavement. I heard every note of the delicate instrumentals of the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack, even while walking alongside a busy road. Plus, I felt like I was in the room listening to a live recording of Daft Punk’s “One More Time.”

In Werth’s standalone review of the earbuds, he said that they’re wasted on podcasts. While he’s right, they do shine when playing music, and they do make podcasts sound better. When I was listening to episodes with lower-quality tracks, they made even the worst audio sound crisp and distinct without having to crank up the volume.