The 10 best on-ear headphones
Whether you're looking for a pair of wireless, noise-cancelling or budget headphones, these models all sound great
Bowers & Wilkins PX7
They’re not cheap, but Bowers & Wilkins has produced another fine pair of noise-cancelling headphones
Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700
There are superior sounding headphones out there, but as an all-rounder the 700s are hard to beat
Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT
An undemonstrative exterior concealing really enthusiastic sound – these Audio-Technicas are not to be taken at face value
Philips PH805
All of the looks, most of the performance and barely half the price of some of the best wireless headphones around
Sennheiser PXC 550-II
It’s not often big over-ear headphones can be described as ‘discreet’ – but that’s how the PXC 550-IIs look and sound
Apple AirPods Max
Apple’s first over-ears are big, heavy, often brilliant, and far too expensive. Apple has made some fantastic headphones, but they’re not going to pull in the proper audiophile chin-strokers, and they’re not close to being worth £200 more than Sony’s XM4s, which remain the best overall noise-cancelling headphones for our money. Sony’s cans also come with a proper case – these don’t.
