All products featured are independently chosen by us. However, SoundGuys may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links. See our ethics statement.
Deals: Our two favorite headphones are on sale!
Published on16 hours ago

I get the same question all the time: which are the best headphones? The answer isn’t that simple, as it depends on your needs and preferences, but if you really need a simpler recommendation, our favorite ones are the Sony WH-1000XM5 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra. These are usually pretty expensive, but today, you can get them at a really nice discount.
These offers are available from Amazon. In the case of the Sony deal, the discount applies to all color versions. If you want the Bose headphones, though, there’s something to keep in mind. Only the Diamond 60th Anniversary Edition color version is discounted. All other color versions are at full price.
Sony WH-1000XM5


If you really want our top pick, the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones stand proudly as our favorites in our list of the best headphones. These are impressive all across the board.
Let’s start with the basics. The sound quality is outstanding, as is the ANC performance, which are the two most important departments in any premium headphones. Even the microphone sounds great, so this will be a great option for calls or video chats. It helps that they are also very comfortable, so they are great for long listening sessions.
The design is clean and minimalist, worthy of a high-end set of headphones. The features are great, too. These come with touch gestures, Find My Device support, Bluetooth Multipoint, and a healthy set of Bluetooth codes, like LDAC, AAC, and SBC.
These are also great if you don’t want to be charging your headphones all the time. We ran these through our standardized tests and managed to get 32 hours on a full charge, with ANC enabled. The more surprising part was seeing how much they lasted with noise canceling disabled: a whole 53 hours!
Bose QuietComfort Ultra


Again, if you want the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones for just $329, you must be OK with getting the Diamond 60th Anniversary Edition color version. I happen to like their look, but that is a subjective matter. If you’re OK with this version, you’re in for a treat, though.
The Sony WH-1000XM5 are our favorite headphones, generally. We believe they are the best for most people. If what you want is the best ANC headphones, though, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra take the crown. Our tests show that these can reduce external noise by 87%. These can quiet any loud noise, such as bus engines, airplane whines, and train screeches.
They are also great in other departments. You will definitely get impressive sound quality, and we really liked the passthrough mode. The battery life isn’t as impressive as Sony’s, but you still get 27 hours per charge, according to our testing.
Features include support for Bluetooth Multipoint, Snapdragon Sound, aptX Lossless, gesture controls, spatial audio, and more.
These are the best of the best, so you can’t really go wrong with either of them, and today’s deals make it much easier to justify buying them. Go get your favorite ones while you can! These sales might not last very long.