Some of Our Favorite Noise-Canceling Headphones Are $100 Off if You Act Fast

Bose is fine Known for its noise-canceling headphones and earbuds and high-end QuietComfort Ultra (9/10, cable recommended) is Currently marked down to just $329 on Amazon, With the same discount at Best Buy. You’ll have to move fast, though, as both sites feature countdown timers with less than 24 hours left as I write this.

Photo: Ryan Waniata

The QuietComfort Ultra sits right near our top List of the best noise-canceling headphonesAnd for good reason. They sound great, with high-levels of clarity and detail, and our reviewer Ryan Waniata was particularly impressed by the “excellent instrumental separation” and “wide and spacious soundstage”. The bass is a bit boomy out of the box, but a quick tweak of the EQ can smooth it out, and it’s still clean and punchy even if you prefer big bass. They sound just as good during phone calls, if you really need to focus while working or chatting.

The noise-cancellation is the star here, and there are really only two companies competing for the crown, Bose and Sony. Each company has a flagship headset that does a great job of keeping out the noise of plane engines, crying babies, and your chatty seat neighbor, whose performance is so close to us. There is a dedicated guide to compare the two. There’s also a great transparency mode for when you need to be a little more careful, but want the music to continue.

There are some other features we’re less enthusiastic about, such as a Spatial Audio mode that tries to “localize” existing stereo tracks, which is a nice trick for some songs, but less so for more produced music or video viewing. There’s also optional head-tracking that tries to keep sounds coming from the same spot as you turn. They’re both a bit flimsy and don’t help with the QuietComfort Ultra’s already mediocre 24 hour battery life.

Although Bose has recently updated these very popular headphones, the new version is not vastly different from these. That means they’re still a great deal and one of our favorite noise-canceling headsets, despite being on the market for a few years. Its price was a downside compared to its biggest competitors, so the $100 discount makes a big difference if that’s a deciding factor.