The best workout headphones

The Apple AirPods Max play the part of luxury headphones extremely well, with a sturdy stainless steel headband and aluminum ear cups, though they are really heavy; however, the headband is brilliantly engineered to distribute the weight evenly, making them comfortable with plush padding and deep ear cups. These headphones feature top-notch noise canceling and a transparency mode, with volume and playback controls assigned to an insanely smooth digital crown. As far as wireless headphones go, we found the sound quality to be very solid, offering a clear, pleasing sound profile with a notably reduced emphasis in the highs and a little extra kick in the sub-bass region. Microphone quality is not great if you have the wrong device, but it performs best with Apple devices where we experience clear communication. The active noise canceling on the AirPods Max is fantastic, completely blocking out the hiss from our heat turning on and making music my roommate plays barely audible. Our testing shows the AirPods Max lasted closer to 21 hours of constant playback with active noise canceling turned on, slightly exceeding Apple’s claim.

Clad in a soft coating and vegan leatherette, the Sony WH-1000XM5 are comfortable with deep and wide ear padding that accommodates larger ears, though we noted the literature amusingly tells us not to sweat on them or take them out in the rain due to lacking an IP rating. These headphones include many popular features like Find My Device support via Android, Fast Pair, and the convenient option to enable ambient noise passthrough by cupping a hand over the right ear cup. The Sony WH-1000XM5 offers decent sound quality with strong bass and treble emphasis, and a somewhat recessed midrange, which results in a consumer-friendly sound that may benefit from some equalization. Sporting an eight-microphone array and an AI noise rejection algorithm, the call quality is quite good, and the array particularly excels at rejecting outside noise. The WH-1000XM5 represents a big improvement in overall noise attenuation, with ANC that makes engines, trains, and street noise drop off to about one-eighth of their original perceived loudness. Our standard battery test yielded a result of 31 hours, 53 minutes with ANC on, slightly better than Sony’s advertised battery life.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones are a departure for Bose, designed to deliver comfort and fit with wide ear cups and soft padding that creates a seal on your head, weighing in at a mere 253g, though they bear no ingress protection rating. Controlling these headphones is straightforward with a multifunction button, a power button, and a touch-sensitive strip for volume, and we found the Bose Music app unlocks features like the equalizer and immersive audio. The sound quality is quite good for ANC headphones, doing a pretty good job with recreating a sound that will satisfy all but those mixing music, though we felt the cans beg for some tinkering if you’re a bass-head. The microphone array works quite well, producing clear results in ideal, office, street, and windy conditions, though in-call results will vary due to network compression. Bose does a rock-solid job of dispelling outside noise, reducing the loudness of bus engines, train screeches, and airplane whines by about 87%, and we found its Aware Mode to be quite good, faithfully representing our surroundings. In our standardized test protocol, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones lasted for 27 hours and 37 minutes of continuous playback with ANC on.

Constructed primarily of matte-finished plastic with an aluminum skeleton, the JLab JBuds Lux ANC are comfortable for hours due to their soft foam ear cups shaped to accommodate real ear shapes, and they fold up quite compactly for travel. On-headphone controls come in the form of rubberized buttons on the back of the right ear cup, and the JLab app provides a 10-band EQ, adjustable ANC modes, and a volume limiter for comprehensive customization. The JLab JBuds Lux ANC sounds pretty decent, though we noted some bass emphasis and a peak from 5-10kHz that can make cymbals and sibilant sounds grating, which we found could be remedied with the in-app EQ. The microphone does an excellent job fighting reverb, ensuring conversation mates can hear you clearly, though we found it is not amazing against wind noise. The active noise canceling is somewhat weak in the lows, offering between 10 and 20dB of noise cancelation under 700Hz, but the headphones shine with high-frequency noise, passively blocking up to 46dB of outside noise due to the ear cups creating an outstanding seal. In a valiant fight against our standardized battery test, the JLab JBuds Lux ANC held on for 44 hours and 22 minutes with ANC on, which we consider a respectable amount of time.

The Heavys H1H headphones are surprisingly comfortable to wear despite their large size, featuring a cushy headband and very roomy earcups that provide a quality seal, and we appreciated the option for swappable earcup shells. These headphones boast a unique 8-driver design, offer "Hellblocker Noise Cancelation" and a transparent mode, support Bluetooth 5.1 with aptX adaptive, and include a physical volume knob that doubles as a play/pause button. As musicians, we found the sound of the Heavys headphones to be undoubtedly an ideal pair of cans to enjoy your favorite heavy tunes, providing immediate satisfaction with low-end punch, crisp distorted guitars with good definition, and clarity and separation of instruments. Users can take calls while connected to the H1H headphones, and in our testing, we found they provided clear communication. The "Hellblocker" noise canceling is effective at keeping outside noises at bay, though we observed a minor loss of bass response when activating the ANC. The review did not provide explicit battery life measurements or claims for the Heavys H1H.

Sony has addressed past gripes with the Sony WH-1000XM6, creating a sturdy design that includes a folding hinge and easy-to-remove ear pads, though we found the pads relatively thin and the ANC mic can sometimes touch the ear for some users. The feature list is long, with the Sony Sound Connect app enabling a 10-band equalizer, EQ presets, advanced Bluetooth settings, speak-to-chat, head gestures, and spatial audio via 360 Reality Audio. We found these to be measurably the best-sounding Sony WH-1000X-series headphones yet, with a sound that is more pleasing to the ear and easier to equalize in the lows and mids compared to the WH-1000XM5. The 6-mic beamforming array with AI does a fantastic job of handling outside noise like wind, ensuring your voice comes through clearly even in challenging environments. The Sony WH-1000XM6 is a set of competent noise canceling headphones, comparable to other top-end ANC headsets, excelling in isolation which allows the ANC system to shine in the sub-1kHz region, deleting outside noise quite well. After surviving our standardized battery test for 37 hours and 14 minutes, the Sony WH-1000XM6 does an admirable job at powering through a week or intercontinental flight.

The Nothing Headphone 1 features a unique retro-futuristic design with square aluminum slabs and transparent plastic, and we found them quite comfortable to wear for hours with secure clamping force and cozy memory foam ear cushions. These headphones sport an IP52 water and dust resistance rating, offer a tactile control system with a rubbery roller for volume and a paddle for track control, and the Nothing X app provides an 8-band custom equalizer. The headphones house 40mm dynamic drivers that deliver a dark sound signature, good but not great out of the box, with notable deviations from our target in the midrange and treble that we found could be addressed with EQ tinkering. The four-microphone array with AI-powered Clear Voice Technology produces clean, intelligible speech with strong suppression of background noise, though the system struggles significantly with echo and reverberation. The Nothing Headphone 1 delivered consistent noise cancelation performance, achieving 15-25dB of attenuation in the 20-200Hz range and 20-30dB in the midrange, while passive isolation is very good in higher frequencies. In our testing, the Nothing Headphone 1 lasted 42 hours and 53 minutes with ANC on, exceeding the manufacturer’s claim of 35 hours.

Choosing the right wireless headphones often comes down to your priorities, and we found each of these options offers something unique. For those deeply invested in the Apple ecosystem who prioritize best-in-class noise canceling and excellent sound quality, the Apple AirPods Max are a top contender, though we note their heavier build and limited features outside Apple devices. If you are looking for an all-around performer with excellent noise canceling, great battery life, and improved sound quality out of the box, the Sony WH-1000XM6 stands out as a strong choice for most users. For Android users seeking cutting-edge audio technology like aptX Lossless and superb comfort with great ANC, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones are a compelling option, despite their average battery life compared to some competitors. If your budget is a primary concern, the JLab JBuds Lux ANC offers remarkable battery life and decent noise blocking for its price, especially if you are willing to use the app's equalizer to fine-tune the sound. For those who value distinctive style and practical durability with an IP52 rating, along with a feature-rich app for customization, the Nothing Headphone 1 is a unique choice, though we found its default sound benefits from EQ adjustments. Finally, if you are a dedicated heavy music enthusiast looking for headphones specifically tuned to deliver powerful, clear sound for your genre, the Heavys H1H headphones are purpose-built to excel in that area. While the Sony WH-1000XM5 remains a capable option with very good ANC and battery life, we suggest considering the newer WH-1000XM6 for overall improvements, unless you find the XM5 at a significant discount.