Bose was once the lone standard for industry-leading ANC (active noise cancellation), but it now has two legitimate contenders crowding its spotlight. The $399.95 Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 remain some of the best noise-cancelling headphones available, but the $349.99 Sony WH-1000XM4 and the $549 Apple AirPods Max have closed the gap with performance that's just as good or, at times, slightly better. Looking at these prices, you're probably wondering which pair is best, and if the AirPods Max are worth the additional $150 to $200.
Even if we take audio performance completely out of the equation (which we won’t) and focus solely on noise cancellation prowess, all three models can easily make a case for your hard-earned dollars. Each pair brings something slightly different to the table in terms of abilities, controls, and value. None of these options are cheap, so it’s worth getting granular to help you make the right decision. But before we dive directly into comparisons, let’s address some practical concerns.
If Planes and Streets are Empty in 2020, How Do We Test Noise Cancellation?
The reality is that, even when we aren't under COVID-19-related lockdown, I don’t take a flight from New York to California every time I review a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. Sure, I’ll take them for a test ride on the subway, but right now even that isn't happening.
To accurately gauge how ANC headphones compare, we have a suite of sound files we routinely use to determine low-frequency, midrange, and high-frequency noise cancellation efficacy for all models. While we may not be testing ANC against the actual drone and rumble of planes and trains, or the noisy bustle of a coffee shop, we have sound files that can closely approximate these sounds, and we have a noise-isolated room where we can blast the volume to put the headphones through real stress tests.
Left to right: Apple AirPods Max, Sony WH-1000XM4, Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700
I Work From Home Now and the Noise I Most Want to Cancel Is...
For obvious reasons, 2020 saw the rise of working from home, and with that the revelation that homes can be noisy and distracting in unexpected ways. It’s natural to hope that a pair of ANC headphones will wash away the din of noisy neighbors and construction sounds to help you focus. But I have bad news: That’s not really what noise-cancelling headphones do. For those sounds, what you probably want are highly effective earplugs.
The more steady a sound is, the closer ANC circuitry can come to eliminating it by creating its inverse. When sounds are more erratic and complex, creating the inverse becomes harder. ANC headphones can only really dial back consistent, or somewhat consistent sounds, like the whir of an AC unit, a loud fan, or the rumble of an airplane or train. A loud coffee shop is less ideal because the sound varies, but it still offers a generally consistent volume level and frequency range to work with.
Sounds that are transient, erratic, or percussive—such as construction site hammering, a neighbor singing, or a toddler crying—are going to make it through most ANC circuitry. Headphones then rely on noise-isolating earpads and secure around-ear seals to help dial back the higher-frequency noises, but these forms of passive noise cancellation aren't the same as active noise cancellation.
So, while all three of the headphones we're comparing here will certainly make your surroundings quieter, you're still going to hear some of the things that drive you crazy while working from home.
Low-Frequency Noise Cancellation
For any ANC headphone of reasonable quality, tamping down low-frequency rumble is the most commonly accomplished feat, and all three models excel at it.
For intense airplane-like hum at high volumes, the AirPods Max are slightly more effective than the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 and the Sony WH-1000XM4. The AirPods Max can sometimes eliminate the rumble almost entirely—something we haven’t experienced before in our testing. Other times, they would simply perform about as well as the Bose and Sony models; much depends upon the precise placement of the headphones on your head. That said, all three do quite well in this category.
Winner: AirPods Max
Apple AirPods Max
Midrange and High-Frequency Noise Cancellation
Tested against a recording of a busy restaurant, with chatter and dish clatter, it’s close, but we give the edge to the Sony WH-1000XM4. Both the Sony and Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 do a great job of dialing back the volume of most midrange sounds, but the Sony model seems to lower the overall noise level a smidge more. Between Bose and Sony, the Bose model is better with the highest frequencies, while the Sony model fares slightly better against midrange noise.
The AirPods Max do well with mid-frequency noise, but when mixed with highs (as they typically are), they offer less consistency than the Bose and Sony models. With restaurant chatter, the AirPods Max cut out more of the lower-frequency and midrange noise, but let the higher-frequency noise pass through, and oddly sometimes even highlight it. That's the double-edged sword of Apple's adaptive ANC—it can be excellent, but it can also deliver results that vary when the actual noise isn’t changing all that much.
Winner: Tie (Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 and Sony WH-1000XM4)
Adaptive Noise Cancellation
In a sense, all noise cancellation is adaptive. That’s literally what noise cancellation circuitry does: It adapts to incoming signals and attempts to cancel them out. If the incoming signal never changed, there’d be no need for circuitry that can adapt to change.
The Apple and Sony headphones feature ANC that changes more noticeably depending on your environment and various other factors. Sony’s is a bit more predictable, with an app that allows you to enable various options to provide a more seamless ANC experience.
Apple’s adaptive ANC is far less predictable, as you essentially have zero real control over how it changes. That’s why sometimes fiddling with the headphone fit, or the angle of your head, is the best way to trigger a different response from the AirPods. In testing, I removed and replaced the headphones enough times to experience a near-complete elimination of audible rumble.
The Bose model doesn’t seem to change up its approach nearly as much as the other two, which may sound less effective, but the reality is that the ANC here is incredibly good at dialing back most of the noise you want to eliminate, without a need for environmental controls.
Winner: Tie (Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 and Sony WH-1000XM4)
Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700
Noise Cancellation Controls
If you want to be able to adjust noise cancellation parameters in an app, Sony's headphones offer the most flexibility, with the ability to turn it off, to blend ANC and ambient modes, and to focus on the human voice. The Bose app has a slider that allows you to dial up the ANC to maximum, eliminate it, or mix it with ambient mode, but beyond that, the ANC controls are somewhat limited.
And then there’s Apple. The AirPods Max do all the work for you and give you zero options to fiddle with. You can turn the ANC on or off, or switch to transparency mode, and that's it for controlling noise cancellation.
Winner: Sony WH-1000XM4
Ear Pressure
Sometimes, powerful ANC comes with a price—you can feel pressure being exerted inside your ear canal. The main problem here is that we’re all built differently, so you might not notice any pressure at all, when someone else finds it uncomfortable. To further complicate things, one pair of headphones might cause more pressure from one person to the next, but for a different pair, the scenario could be reversed.
In testing, the AirPods Max sometimes created pressure that was noticeable to my ears, despite a design that's supposed to dial this issue back. The Bose and Sony headphones are also capable of producing this pressure, but to me, it seem less intense compared with the AirPods.
Take this with a grain of salt. I've read multiple comparisons from my colleagues in the industry, and no two experiences seem to be alike in this regard. Some claim that the AiPods Max exert the least pressure of the three, and for their ears, they're almost certainly correct! If this seems like a potential deal breaker, getting into a store where you can test out how this feels (when it's safe to do so) might be a wise choice.
Winner: N/A (Subjective)
Transparent/Ambient Monitoring
Nearly all noise-cancelling headphones now offer a way to monitor your surroundings without taking them off of your head. When transparent listening modes are bad, the audio can sound tinny, and there’s even sometimes a noticeable delay between sounds occurring and what you hear. The easiest way to determine if there’s a latency issue is to do some really loud typing with transparent mode enabled. Your ears are quite good at detecting the slightest of delays, and if the tactile tap of the keys doesn’t match up exactly with the corresponding sounds in your headphones, you’ll know the transparency mode isn't up to snuff.
In this case, all three pairs are pretty excellent. The advantages here come down to controls. The Apple and Sony models allow you to turn both ANC and ambient modes off, which saves battery life. That’s not an option with the Bose model, which lets you only blend ANC with ambient mode, or have either option fully on. Apple's transparency mode comes pretty close to sounding like the real thing, rather than an intercom approximation of what's going on around you. But the Sony app also has an option to focus on the human voice while in ambient mode, so we'll give WH-1000XM4 the edge.
Winner: Sony WH-1000XM4
Sony WH-1000XM4
Audio Performance
If you want the best-sounding headphones for $300 to $500, you’re reading the wrong article. None of these are audiophile-grade headphones, though all three deliver solid audio experiences. There’s plenty of DSP (digital signal processing) at play for each model, and the result is boosted lows, sculpted highs, and sound signatures and dynamics that vary slightly with volume levels. Purists will likely want to seek out a wired pair of headphones, and probably avoid ANC altogether.
As for the respective sound signatures, we go far more in depth about each in our reviews, but to summarize: They all sound pretty good. The Bose model has tighter, more defined bass depth than the Sony pair, which some might describe as warmer. The Sony model is more bass-forward than any of the three, but it's also the only model with dedicated EQ in the app, so you can tweak the sound signature to taste.
Then along comes Apple and things get more difficult. The AirPods Max offer no EQ, but if we’re taking all three sound signatures at face value, I’d say the AirPods deliver the best out-of-box music experience. They seem to have the least exaggerated, most accurate sound signature of the three—the bass is full and rich, but never overwhelming, and the highs are crisp, bright, and detailed, but never dialed up too much. If EQ is in play, though, then I’ll take the Sony pair and tighten up the lows and low-mids a bit. Kudos to Sony for not treating us like children on that front.
Apple’s spatial audio feature is a little gimmicky, but cool nonetheless. It doesn't offer true surround sound, but it can trick your ears into thinking the audio you’re hearing is happening in a theater-like space. When you turn your head slightly, the “location” of dialogue and sound effects shifts slightly too, as it would in a movie theater or your living room. This is in no way real surround sound, but it works on 5.1, 7.1, and Dolby Atmos films, and it’s one feature the other two models can’t really touch. (Yes, it can be disabled, and no, it currently doesn’t work with much else other than movies with the right coding.)
Winner: Sony WH-1000XM4
Mic Clarity
For calls, all three headphones do a solid job of blocking out most background noise and delivering a clear voice to callers or voice assistants.
The Sony model comes in third here—it seems to have the most full-bodied signal, which is nice, but it also had the most Bluetooth distortion in our test recordings. The AirPods Max come in second place, with a brighter, more high-frequency-focused signal. There’s some very slight Bluetooth distortion in the mix, but nothing major. The Bose pair finds the right balance between the Apple and Sony models—its mic array has better high-frequency clarity than Sony, and more midrange and low-mid body than Apple.
Winner: Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700
Lef to right: Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, Apple AirPods Max, Sony WH-1000XM4
They're All Winners
It's easy to make a case for buying each of these three pairs of headphones, which represent the best of what the noise-cancelling market has to offer. If price is your main consideration, both the Bose and Sony models can be found for far less than the AirPods Max. Between the two, Sony offers arguably better audio performance, while it's debatable which of the two is the most effective in the ANC department, but there are certainly ranges in which both slightly outdo the other.
If eliminating the rumble of airplanes and trains is your top concern, we have to give the edge to Apple. That said, the AirPods Max sometimes struggle with higher frequencies, so if noisy restaurants and office chatter make a comeback in 2021 and that’s your primary concern, either Bose or Sony is the probably way to go.
Ultimately, I think the AirPods Max are excellent, but just too expensive. They may outshine the others in certain aspects, but they don’t sound $150 to $200 better than the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 or the Sony WH-1000XM4, nor do they outperform either in the ANC department to a degree that justifies the leap in price.
If you're still undecided, or all of these pairs are out of your budget, check out our stories on the best noise-cancelling headphones and the best noise-cancelling true wireless earbuds for more top picks in a wide range of prices and designs.
Further Reading
Headphone Reviews
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The Link LonkDecember 18, 2020 at 02:47AM
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Apple AirPods Max vs. Bose NC 700 vs. Sony WH-1000XM4: Should You Pay More for AirPods? - PCMag.com
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