To help us provide you with free impartial advice, we may earn a commission if you buy through links on our site. Learn more
- Our reviewers have tested hundreds of pairs of over-ear headphones over the past 15 years, making us experts in this immensely popular segment of the market.
- We rigorously test every aspect of performance, including audio quality, comfort, battery life, noise cancellation and in-app features.
- Our current favourite over-ear headphones are the Sony WH-1000XM6, which combine fantastic sound and ANC with a stylish build and a comfortable fit.
- Read on for our full list of recommendations; we’ve included options to suit all budgets and use cases.
If you’re looking for the best over-ear headphones, we recommend checking out the Sony WH-1000XM6. They offer the best all-round experience, combining superb sound quality, highly effective noise cancellation and smart functionality that’s unmatched by their rivals.
While they’re the pair we recommend for most people, everyone has different needs and budgetary constraints. By drawing on our decades of experience testing over-ear headphones, we’ve compiled a list of options across a wide range of price points, with each offering users something slightly different, such as bumper battery life or luxurious build quality.
Some are wired, some are wireless – but they all offer brilliant performance and represent great value for money. We’ve also included a buying guide that provides all the information you need to make the most informed purchase decision possible.
How we test the best over-ear headphones
To provide you with the best buying advice possible, we test every pair of over-ear headphones extensively before deciding whether they deserve a spot on this page.
Each pair has been worn and used daily by one of our experts to discern build quality, comfort level and audio performance. We try out every available feature and sound mode, stream audio over every supported Bluetooth codec and feed the headphones high-resolution and spatial audio material from sources like Tidal and Apple Music where necessary.
We leave no stone unturned in terms of what’s tested. If there’s an in-built microphone, we’ll have colleagues comment on its quality during calls and analyse voice clarity and background noise on recordings. If there’s a companion app, we’ll experiment with every aspect of it: whether that’s checking how impactful the EQ settings are, measuring lag between video and audio in a low-latency mode or simply judging how intuitive the app is to navigate and use.
Our over-ear headphones are tested in a wide variety of situations and locations, including home offices, noisy tubes and the streets of London, and these diverse environments allow us to analyse key aspects of performance such as sound isolation and noise-cancellation efficacy. We run side-by-side comparisons of over-ear headphones in similar price brackets to help us recommend certain pairs over others, and we always keep close tabs on how many hours we’ve used a particular pair to verify the manufacturer’s battery life claims.
The best over-ear headphones to buy in 2026
1. Sony WH-1000XM6: Best over-ear headphones overall
Price when reviewed: £329 | Check price at John Lewis
- Extremely comfortable and light
- Great ANC system
- First-rate audio quality
- Average voice pickup on calls
Tested and reviewed by Jon Bray
The WH-1000XM6 are the ultimate over-ear all-rounders, combining superb sound quality, a supremely effective noise-cancelling system, and a design that’s comfortable to wear for hours.
They improve upon their predecessors, the WH-1000XM5, in just about every area, and Sony listened to feedback and once again made the earcups foldable, much to the delight of our Head of Reviews, Jon Bray. Jon described them as a “highly enjoyable listen” across a range of genres, and suggested that they would “sit atop our best headphones listings for some time to come”. Well, here they are, and we don’t see them budging anytime soon.
Read our Sony WH-1000XM6 review from May 2026
2. Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: Best over-ear headphones for sound quality
Price when reviewed: £629 | Check price at John Lewis
- Incredibly detailed and articulate sound
- Very comfortable
- Luxurious aesthetic and build quality
- Middling noise cancellation
Tested and reviewed by Jon Bray
No other over-ear headphones we’ve tested can match the B&W Px8 S2 for pure audio quality. “Stupendous” was how Jon Bray described them after listening to various high-resolution tracks on Apple Music. He even found they were able to highlight details in some of his favourite songs that he’d never heard before.
Detail retrieval, punch and power, control and an unerringly natural yet engaging tone elevate these headphones above the competition, and not just for genres you’d expect the audiophile crowd to gravitate towards. The Px8 S2 performed just as well when articulating angst-fuelled punk rock as they did when handling classical masterpieces, and in doing so, cemented themselves as a masterpiece of modern acoustic engineering.
Read our Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 review from September 2025
3. Anker Soundcore Space 2: Best value over-ear headphones
Price when reviewed: £130 | Check price at Soundcore
- Lots of useful features
- Great low-end frequency attenuation
- Super comfy
- Unconvincing 3D sound
Tested and reviewed by Andy White
The Soundcore Space 2 offer a fantastic array of features and great low-frequency noise cancellation in a package that’s extremely comfortable. Best of all, they do so at a price that won’t empty your bank account.
We don’t want to bore you with a list of specs, so let’s just say that these headphones cover all the key bases while throwing in features typically only found on much more expensive pairs. Functionality-wise, they tick every box. And they don’t sound half bad, either. The default tuning impressed Andy White across a wide range of genres during testing, and there are plenty of ways to tweak the sound if required. Accomplished and affordable, you won’t find better pound-for-pound value than the Soundcore Space 2.
Read our Anker Soundcore Space 2 review from April 2026
4. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (Gen 2): Best over-ear headphones for noise cancellation
Price when reviewed: £400 | Check price at John Lewis
- Phenomenal noise cancellation
- Eye-catching colour options
- Fantastic fit
- Underwhelming build quality
Tested and reviewed by Andy White
They say silence is golden, and no over-ear headphones get closer to silence than the second-generation Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones. Bose is a master of the noise-cancelling art, and the QC Ultra Headphones reap the benefits, blocking out more environmental noise than anything else on the market. Like all of their ilk, they’re strongest attenuating low-end frequencies, but what sets them apart is their ability to dampen the impact of sounds further up the frequency spectrum.
Class-leading ANC is backed up by engaging sound, all-day comfort and some cool colourways, putting the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (Gen 2) right up there with the best premium over-ear headphones around.
Read our Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Gen 2 review from October 2025
5. Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless: Best over-ear headphones for longevity
Price when reviewed: £330 | Check price at Richer Sounds
- Long-lasting, replaceable battery
- Crisp sound
- Impressive ANC
- Heavy build
Tested and reviewed by Simon Cocks
If you’re sick of having to replace your headphones every other year because the battery no longer lasts as long as you’d like, the Momentum 5 Wireless are the over-ears for you. Their battery, which lasts up to an excellent 57 hours with ANC on, is user-replaceable, meaning that you can easily switch it out when its capacity starts to wane. You’ll have to pay for a new battery, of course, but that’s a lot cheaper than buying a new pair of headphones!
The Momentum 5 Wireless performed admirably in our listening and noise-cancelling tests, too, so are far from a one-trick pony. Simon Cocks praised their “fantastically wide soundstage” and warm, “consumer-friendly” tuning, and got good use out of their Dolby Atmos support when watching films.
Read our Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review from June 2026
6. Anker Soundcore Life Q30: Best budget over-ear headphones
Price when reviewed: £45 | Check price at Amazon
- Numerous sound customisation options
- Effective noise cancellation
- Strong battery life
- Look cheap
Tested and reviewed by Andy White
Anker’s Soundcore Life Q30 have been around for years now, but still live on as our favourite budget over-ear headphones. Their greatest strength is their noise cancellation; no cheap rivals take the edge off ambient distractions as effectively. But they also offer bumper battery life, loads of customisation options, and their lightweight construction and soft earcups make them a joy to wear.
We see so many pairs of the Life Q30 on our travels, and it’s no wonder, given how much they offer for how little they cost. If you’ve only got £50 to spend and want over-ear headphones that will serve you brilliantly for general-purpose use, buy these.
Read our Anker Soundcore Life Q30 review from February 2021
7. Apple AirPods Max 2: Best over-ear headphones for iPhone users
Price when reviewed: £499 | Check price at John Lewis
- Great sound quality
- Well-built and easy on the eye
- Highly effective ANC
- Mediocre battery life
Tested and reviewed by Jon Bray
The AirPods Max 2 are Apple’s first over-ear headphones to house the H2 chip, which unlocks improved audio and noise-cancelling performance, Adaptive Audio, which blends ANC and transparency to control how loudly you hear sound in the headphones, and Live Translation. These upgrades make what were already the most popular headphones for iPhone users even more of a shoo-in.
In addition to new features, the Max 2 offer the seamless iOS device switching we’ve been accustomed to from AirPods products, along with conversational awareness, personalised spatial audio and hands-free Siri. All this, coupled with super-effective ANC, immersive sound over Bluetooth and USB-C, and an immediately recognisable, stylish aesthetic, makes them impossible to look past for iPhone owners with the disposable income to afford them.
Read our Apple AirPods Max 2 review from April 2026
8. Marshall Monitor III ANC: Best over-ear headphones for rock and roll lovers
Price when reviewed: £300 | Check price at John Lewis
- Strong mid-range and treble performance
- Unbeatable durability
- Intuitive control system
- Earcups get pretty warm
Tested and reviewed by Andy White
Marshall’s historical relationship with the world of rock and roll is evident in almost every aspect of its flagship over-ear headphones, the Monitor III ANC. From the distinctly Marshall design to the practically indestructible build quality and mid/treble-focused tuning, they’re perfect for a headbanging session to tracks from AC/DC or a psychedelic rock trip with Jimi Hendrix.
They also have some of the best thought-out and intuitive-to-use physical controls. You won’t find any touch-control faff here; everything is customisable and easily accessible, with the multi-directional knob and M button making it a breeze to control audio playback and useful features like noise cancellation and spatial sound.
Read our Marshall Monitor III ANC review from September 2024
9. Nothing Headphone (a): Best over-ear headphones for battery life
Price when reviewed: £149 | Check price at Currys
- Exceptional battery life
- Very solid ANC
- Engaging audio
- Disappointing spatial audio modes
Tested and reviewed by Andy White
If staying power is the first thing you look for when buying a pair of headphones, the Headphone (a) – the cheaper of Nothing’s two over-ear options – should be top of your shopping list. With their ANC engaged, you can expect up to 75 hours of playback over the AAC codec. Turn noise cancellation off, and that figure balloons to 135 hours. Basically, you don’t need to charge these badboys for weeks unless you listen to as much music as our team of reviewers.
The Headphone (a) also have edgy design on their side; the unique look of these headphones is intended to get you noticed, and it certainly did the trick when our Deputy Editor Andy White was testing them. Granted, people weren’t stopping him in the street for an autograph like they would with Nothing’s Global Brand Ambassador, Charlie xcx, but he got many an admiring glance and a few raised eyebrows.
Read our Nothing Headphone (a) review from March 2026
How to choose the best over-ear headphones for you
Should I buy wired or wireless over-ear headphones?
Wired over-ear headphones need to be connected to an audio source via a physical cable. Many use cables terminating in 3.5mm jacks, though professional-grade over-ear headphones often use larger 6.3mm jacks or XLR (External Line Return) connectors.
Wireless over-ear headphones operate over Bluetooth and therefore don’t require any cabling. As long as you stay within the Bluetooth range of your audio output, you can move around freely while enjoying whatever you’re listening to.
Wired connections typically deliver better audio quality, but advances in Bluetooth technology have seen the gap close considerably. The big advantage of wired headphones is that they’ll never run out of charge.
That doesn’t mean you should disregard wireless headphones, though. They grant a great deal more listening freedom, and you won’t ever have to untangle a length of cable again. Universal connectivity with any Bluetooth-enabled device is especially convenient, too, though it’s worth remembering you won’t be able to hook your headphones up to non-Bluetooth devices unless they house an optional 3.5mm port.
Are over-ear headphones comfortable?
As a general rule of thumb, over-ear headphones provide better comfort than in-ear or on-ear headphones. The earcups sit around your ears to provide a cushiony feel. It’s important to consider clamping force, which is the pressure the headphones put on your head; loose-fitting headphones will naturally be more comfortable to wear, but may shift position on your head when you move around.
What’s the difference between open- and closed-back headphones?
Closed-back headphones have sealed earcups that block a significant proportion of external noise. This enables them to isolate sound and provide a weighty bass response.
In contrast, the earcups of open-back headphones aren’t sealed, allowing air to pass through to the speaker element. This reduces air pressure buildup in the earcups and gives the headphones an airy, natural sound. However, it also allows external sound in – and your audio out – so open-back headphones are best used at home or in other quiet environments.
Is driver size important to over-ear headphones?
Generally speaking, the bigger the driver – the component in each ear cup that vibrates to produce sound waves – the wider the soundstage. This results in better instrument separation, greater depth and a sense of space between you and the music. Driver size isn’t the be-all and end-all, however. In-ear headphones with the audio world’s smallest drivers can sound wider than a set of over-ear headphones – how the headphones are tuned is far more important than the size of their drivers.
What other features should I look out for?
Active noise cancellation (ANC): This handy feature helps reduce the impact of environmental sound on your audio experience. It’s particularly useful in busy urban areas and while commuting, and is often accompanied by a transparency mode, which makes you more aware of your surroundings by pumping sound in.
Battery life: This is only important for Bluetooth headphones. Given that no one likes charging their tech products, the longer a pair of over-ear headphones lasts, the better. Manufacturers typically state battery life based on listening at around 50% volume, which is important to bear in mind if you like to listen to your music loud. Battery life of around 20 hours should be a bare minimum, though many pairs far exceed that figure.
Controls: You’ll typically find physical control buttons located on one or both of the earcups of a pair of over-ear headphones. These are very easy to use, and learning which buttons do what is relatively intuitive. However, some manufacturers incorporate touch controls and gestures into their over-ear headphones. These aren’t to everyone’s taste, so be sure to check what type of controls the headphones you like the look of use.
Carrying case: Most over-ear headphones come with a carrying case, though the quality of these cases varies widely from product to product. It’s normally a case of you get what you pay for – cheaper models tend to come with fabric bags, while pricier models come with hard-shelled cases that do a far better job of protecting their precious cargo.
