OVER-EAR ON THE GO

JUST A FEW YEARS BACK, if you wanted Bluetooth (BT) headphones equipped with noise-canceling (NC), a feature combo especially desired by frequent flyers, you pretty much had only one place to go: Bose and one of its Quiet Comfort models. Over the last couple of years, though, an increasing number of manufacturers have solved the vexing battery life issues that combining the two power-hungry features presented, with a surge of nearly a dozen models introduced in 2019 alone. Suddenly, traveling audiophiles have a wide variety of fit, feature, ergonomic, noise-canceling, and audio quality options in the BT-plus-NC headphones category, with battery life ranging from 11 to 36 hours (20 hours is average) and prices ranging from $100-$400.

Most BT/NC headphones fold up either flat or into a compact ball for easy carry-on portage, and include some or all of the following attributes:

❭ Varying levels of NC, including being able to hear ambient sound plus a “conversation” mode that either dampens or pauses media playback and activates the external mics so you can conduct conversations

❭ A smartphone app that provides more extensive NC, EQ, and operational settings

❭ Voice status prompts to indicate Bluetooth connectivity, remaining power, and NC levels

❭ Access to your smartphone’s voice assistant, or Amazon Alexa/Google Assistant

❭ On-earcup volume, skip track, and next track controls

❭ Accessories including airplane seat headphone adapters, charging cable (either micro USB or USB-C), 3.5mm stereo audio cable, carrying case or fabric pouch (generally supplied with pricier models)

With BT/NC headphones, audio quality is often a fourth purchase consideration behind noise cancelation effectiveness, battery life, and fit—how long can a set of ‘phones be comfortably worn over the course of a lengthy flight. Headband and earcup cushions play a role in comfort, and so does weight. Most BT/NC models tip the scale at 10 ounces or less, and while a one- or two-ounce difference might not seem like much, you’ll start to feel that extra weight after several hours of continual wear. You also want to be able to quickly feel-find the varying control touch-points, buttons, and toggles and switches arrayed on and around the earcups.

To test this eight-pack of BT/NC headphone models, I dialed up an airplane cabin