Best Premium Headphones 2024 [Tested & Compared!] – AirPods Max vs Bose vs Sony vs Sennheiser..
Best Premium Headphones 2024 [Tested & Compared!] – AirPods Max vs Bose vs Sony vs Sennheiser..
DISCOUNT AFFILIATE LINKS ↘️
SONY WH-1000XM5 👉 https://mikeobrienmedia.com/WH-1000XM5
SENNHEISER Momentum 4 👉 https://mikeobrienmedia.com/Momentum4
BOSE Quietcomfort Ultra 👉 https://mikeobrienmedia.com/BoseUltra
Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2e 👉 https://mikeobrienmedia.com/Px7S2e
APPLE AIRPODS MAX 👉 https://mikeobrienmedia.com/AirPodsMax
In this video, I test and compare the very best bluetooth anc headphones you can buy today from brands like Sony, Bose, Apple, and more. This testing will help us determine which bluetooth headphones have the best active noise cancellation, the best microphones and call quality on headphones, the best sounding headphones of 2024, the most comfortable, and more. This testing is all based on my own personal experience and my priorities may be different from you. I hope this video is helpful in your decision regarding which blueooth headphones to buy.
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Disclaimer: This video is purely based on my experiences, research, and opinions. You and only you are responsible for your actions. I made this channel to advise viewers and I truly hope to help you all out. I love making these videos and connecting with my viewers!
One or more of the products shown in this video may have been sent to me at no cost. This does not influence my opinions; I always cover both pros and cons.
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ADDITIONAL REVIEW NOTES:
CONTESTANTS
Sony WH-1000XM5
Apple AirPods Max
Sennheiser Momentum 4
Bose Quietcomfort Ultra
B&W PX8 or PX7s?
The Very Best ANC Bluetooth Headphones Tested Head To Head And Compared.
PRODUCT LINKS ↘️
Sony WH-1000XM5
Sennheiser Momentum 4
Apple AirPods Max
Bose Quietcomfort Ultra
B&W PX8 or PX7s?
Physical
Comfort/durability
Water resistance
Hot and sweaty?
Weight?
Fit test – wear these working out?
Case
Controls
Features
NFC pairing
Can USB cable be used for audio?
Multi-pairing
Auto play/pause
App
Lag
Find my headphones
Microphone test
Sound quality
Quality:
ANC
Pressure/cleanliness/power
Transparency mode
Battery life
THE HEADPHONES:
Sony WH-1000XM5
LDAC
Auto transparency mode when you talk
Adaptive ANC
Sony 360 Reality
DSEE Extreme – audio upsampling low-quality audio files
Dropped NFC pairing (google FastPair is easier)
Apple AirPods Max
Sennheiser Momentum 4
May slip off my head when I bend over
Impressive color match between silicone and leather
Very nice case!
Headphones do not fold, so case is a bit larger
Accepts usb audio and 3.5mm
Incredible battery life! Rated for 60 hrs with BT & ANC (700mAh)
Subpar ANC
Fantastic sound quality
I like the swipe controls
Multipoint
Auto play/pause
They removed the Tile find feature, haptics, and NFC pairing
Weirdly only Bluetooth 5.2
CODECS: SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX adaptive
These seem to punch above their weight. For $350, these are a DEAL
Bose Quietcomfort Ultra
Does not accept USB audio
Auto on/off (not just play/pause, but actual sleep) – power off after 24h
Press BT button to switch BT connections (press once to hear, press again to switch)
Nice volume slider
Top tier transparency mode
B&W PX8 or PX7s?
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 The headphone contestants
2:20 Active Noise Cancellation (Category 1)
3:57 Transparency (Category 2)
5:24 Design and Controls (Category 3)
9:25 Fit and Comfort(Category 4)
11:40 Microphone Test (Category 5)
13:40 Battery Life (Category 6)
16:09 Sound Quality (Category 7)
21:30 Features (Category 8)
25:15 Price (Category 9)
26:00 The Winners
Thank you for your reviewing Mike. I’ll take Sennheiser.
These over the ear headphones are awesome but for someone who wears glasses it’s so uncomfortable 😣 it’s nearly impossible to have glasses and wear these headphones together
::Applause:: Honestly such high quality content, reviewing and editing.
Sony lost a huge amount of trust with the battery issue on the XM4 earbuds. Some sh*tty corporate behaviour there.
Really useful. Thank you
I’ve had the Bose QC Ultras, AirPods Max, and Momentum 4s. AirPods had the worst sound quality and comfort but best transparency and integration with iOS devices. They were great when connected to Apple TV for watching movies with special audio. Bose had best noise cancellation and great sound quality but felt really cheap. They also are basically unusable on public transport (especially busses) due to horrific cabin pressure feeling. Every single bump and jolt on the bus disrupted the sound quality and made my ears feel like they were being sucked into a vacuum. This to me is a complete deal breaker for ANC headphones, especially since (as mentioned) you can’t turn the ANC off. I found myself getting really frustrated with these headphones. Momentum 4s had the best sound quality by a pretty wide margin, and the battery life is crazy. The ANC weren’t as good as the other two but I never really found myself wishing they were better, and I don’t get any disruptive ANC quirks or cabin pressure feeling like I did with the Bose. Also they seem to fit my head the best. A bit more clamping pressure at first but they really disappear after a while and I forget I’m wearing them. Plus I got the Momentum 4s for $120 off. To me, they’re the clear winners!
What about Jabra Evolve 85
Just get the pair that’s most comfortable on your ears
‘m choosing between Sony and Bose. Here’re my outtakes
1. Noise Cancellation – Bose 1st, Sony 3rd
2. Transparency – Bose 2nd. Sony 3rd
3. Design – Sony 2-3rd, Bose 5th – longer to wake them up
4. Fit – Bose -light-1st, not for dynamic, Sony 2nd – better for gym, light.
5. Microphone – Sony wins. Clearer sound.
6. Battery – Sony 3rd (powerful active noise cancellation, less draining turned off), Bose 4th.
7. Sound quality – Bose 2nd, high res kodek, more bass, good calibration. Sony 3rd – better for android, Ldek. high res sound. better connection.
8. Features – Sony 1st, Bose 5th – modes.
9. Price – Sony 2nd, Bose 3rd (on sale)
Winner -Sony.
Have To Test & Try For Yourself…
Music, Sound, Quality Is Subjective…
I’m Samsung Android User
S22 & S23 Ultra 1TB
I’ve Fallen In Love With
I’m Infatuated With
Bose Immersive Audio…
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜💙💚💛🧡❤️
❤️ Love Bose ❤️
❤️ QuietComfort Ultra ❤️
❤️ Headset & Earbuds ❤️
❤️ $329 & $229 ❤️
❤️ ❤️
❤️ Like ❤️
❤️ Bose Soundlink Max ❤️
❤️ $299 ❤️
❤️ ❤️
❤️ Love ❤️
❤️ Bose Soundlink ❤️
❤️ $119 ❤️
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜💙💚💛🧡❤️
I Loved Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro…
I Loved Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro Initially…
Sounds Great
Voice Commands Awesome
Initially They Stayed In My Ears No Matter How Vigorously I Shook My Head:
Circles : All Directions
Vertically : Up & Down
Horizontally : Left & Right
But After Couple of Weeks, They Do Not Stay In Ears, Fall Out Easily… 😕🤨🤔
I Need My In Ear Earbuds To Stay In & Not Come Out & Cancel Noise While Working Out In Gym, Walking, Hiking, Climbimg…
In Gym There Are Times I’m Inverted Head Is Lower Than Rest of Body & Sometimes Body Is Vertically Upside Down…
I Really Loved Bud 3 Pros Initially, Especially Because of Voice Commands & Ability To Do Folliwing Without Ever Touching Earbuds
Voice Commands Can Use
💥💥💥💥
Music
💥💥💥
Play Music
Stop Music
Next Song
Previous Son
Volume
💥💥💥
Volume Up
Volume Down
Phone
💥💥💥
Answer Call
Reject Calll
Senhisser have better microphone
A guy who reviews audio products rates B&W as the worst for the sound quality among those mediocre brands? Haha omg.. this guy has zero idea what being an audiophile even means.
2024 and watching this before Black Friday. I saw momentum 4 on Best Buy for $230 and picked one up today. It’s amazing
The best Focal bathys!!!!
I have the momentum 4 and xm4, Sennheiser sound better than sonny lower range (bass, perc. brass etc) and clearer layers, but it’s not better than apple, except apple is so uncomfortable to wear. sennheiser’s app sucks really bad tho. the head detection is flimsy, can’t connect to 2 devices seamlessly, noise cancelation is not as good as sonny.
There should be the 10th category: durability. All the great headphones suffer from one major flaw; the arch – the headband (I dunno what is the professional name for that part) broke as the first thing in every headphone set I have ever owned. Why would the sound quality matter to me if I have to replace my headphones every year or so, because the headband arch snaps every so often and I need to, either, duct tape them, or trash them.
Super thorough! Thank you!
If you want headphones for making videos which is the best
Love all the design, and i would love to own them all. in my opinion i think Focal Bathys would most likely sound the best if it was compared with them. 👍👍👍
I have all these + the B&O h95. The H95 kills all the others! Your review is pointless
Dude ive got a meze elite tingsten 4000$ usd and a ifi idsd pro 2500$….. easy
Seinheiser makes world class microphones. Audio is their business. They sound the best on this list. I had to give them to my sister in law though because they hurt my ears after protracted wear. Had a pair of PX7’s for a while. Those are super comfy but broke. There is a pin that holds the phone to the band and it came out.
Will try the Apple next.
Never tried the others.
I returned my Momentum 4 for warranty and decided to pick a newer headphone. I find Momentum 4 soundstage is too wide for hearing details (closeup) sound of instruments. Even using the app eq. I find the sound source is too far away. It’s great for EDM with sub bass, but for acoustic or any string instruments, I find the new Marshall Monitor 3 ANC, beats it in sound details. It has enough soundstage not to feel too intimate.
Has anyone got experience with Jbl tune 770? I just got a pair and friends say the sound on the mic is thin which makes me disappointed. I moved away from galaxy buds 2 because they were no good in calls outdoors.
I had QC ultras for a while and oeoole always had trouble hearing me on phone calls outside.
Cant wait for XM6 ❣️
bro didnt try beats????!!
on sound quality: Almost all of these targeted towards average consumers tend to have bloated muddy base. You can fix this with EQ and it’s worth doing for most of these (especially the bose).
What headphones you guys recommend for someone who cares more about the bass and sound quality above everything else…
I usually like to hear electronic music, hip hop and rock which requires a lot of bass
Thank you all
What is the difference between “active noise cancellation” and “noise cancellation”?
The best noise cancelling headphones were the in ear wired Bose headphones. I can’t find anything similar. 😢
If i have a very trained ears and listin a lot zo music are the sonys in terms of sound wuality good?
I still love my Sennheisers 😊
What about Skull Candy 😅
Got bose QC ultra and happy with my purchase
DISCOUNT AFFILIATE LINKS ↘
SONY WH-1000XM5 👉 https://mikeobrienmedia.com/WH-1000XM5
SENNHEISER Momentum 4 👉 https://mikeobrienmedia.com/Momentum4
BOSE Quietcomfort Ultra 👉 https://mikeobrienmedia.com/BoseUltra
Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2e 👉 https://mikeobrienmedia.com/Px7S2e
APPLE AIRPODS MAX 👉 https://mikeobrienmedia.com/AirPodsMax
He didn’t try them all
Personally when I look at transparent ANC I want it to filter really loud noises but not human voices. I work in a loud environment, banging metal and loud motors, but I have to stay alert to people and animals, but nobody really reviews like that.
Ok so can someone please help me with this. I want to watch TV with my headphones, and play retro games. Ps2, ps3. And watch movies. Can I hook these Headphones up to my television?
Sony xm5s because they are the best looking, and ofc, you can’t beat them.
no b&o…not serious
pretty solid video! Thank you!
I’ll stick with my TOZO ht2 I got for $30 they have the same drivers as the beat pros but in testing have better response and yeah, they sound better than a pair 10x the price 🤌
AirPods Max all the way
My Senny Momentum 4s are just amazing! The layer separation is just unreal for a bluetooth headphone. And it’s really like you are not listening to a headphone, more of like you are in front of a pair of hi-fi loudspeakers which I really dig ❤💪
One thing about battery life regarding AirPods Max, you can use them,and enabled, while it’s charging. So they never run out of charge for me since I’m near an outlet. When I had the Sony, I couldn’t do that.
Very thorough review. One aspect which you didn’t cover in your review and is very important for me is the sturdiness. My last two pairs of headphones (Sony WH-1000XM4 and WH-1000XM5) broke at the swivel point above the ear cups after 1 year and after 18 months of use respectively because I tend to fall asleep on the couch while still wearing them. Not limiting the choices to the ones in this review, which product(s), in your opinion, offer the best durability and price/performance ratio. Must be wireless bluetooth with ANC. I don’t use them with my phone. I mostly watch movies and listen to music on my home cinema and my laptop.
Thanks for the video, I picked Sennheiser M4s and I absolutely love them.
No review of the quality of the material and the overall projected lifespan is such a mistake. im so tired of spending 400 dollars on headphones that only last 4 years at most.
I’m doing MBBS and alot of traffic noise come into my hostel room that hampers my study .plz suggest me headphone that l can use while studying so that l could not perceive noise and study calmly.
Why did this list not include Sonos Ace?