The headphones to get you through lockdown
WITH a potential months-long lockdown ahead of us, as well as the additional possibility of schools staying closed, the most prized commodity in a home-working scenario may be quietness.
With that in mind, it’s a good time to pick a decent pair of noisecancelling headphones.
Here are three of the most reliable models, as tested by us.
Sony XM4 (€389)
Sony has set the standard in the sub€500 price range for years.
Its XM4 models (inset below) are great lightweight overhead cans with superb noise cancellation and excellent audio quality. Their only weakness is that the previous generation — the XM3 — are just about as good; if you can still find a pair, you’ll save around €100. However, a significant upgrade is the XM4’s ability to switch between two different Bluetooth connections easily.
With all previous models, it was a manual process that took a few seconds each time. If someone bursts into the room when you’re working, the XM4s have a feature where you can place your palm on the outside of the right earcup to pause whatever is playing and switch the headphones into ‘ambient’ mode.
Coming in a couple of different colours, this has become the default noise-cancelling headphones for a great many people.
Apple AirPods Max (€618)
They may cost a lot, but Apple’s headphones are the highest-quality overall headphones of the bunch.
While they’re a little heavier than Sony or the others, the mesh band spreads the weight perfectly. The audio quality is absolutely top notch, with features such as spatial audio that aren’t available on other models. The quality of the active noise cancellation is also at the very top of the heap. And the importation of the ‘crown’ from the Apple Watch to control audio is a great addition, as is the headphones’ ability to switch in automatically between (Apple) devices.
You can also remove and replace the ear cushions, which area usually the first part of the headphones to fray or break.
So the AirPods Max should last you a long time. Note, though, that they’re custom designed for indooruse, meaning they’re not really made for an outdoor jog.
Microsoft Surface Headphones 2 (€275):
These are custom-made for home workers and the price makes them very compelling.
They have great sound, great noise cancellation and just about the best way of controlling music or audio signals — via little controls around the ear cups — in the market. One other trump card is the superior connection technology to multiple devices. While most of the headphones in this list do some version of this now, it was Microsoft that really kicked it off: you can easily switch from one source (like a laptop) to another (like a phone).
The most common benefit for this is when you’re watching something on a laptop or tablet and a call comes in — you can take the call on your headphones without skipping a beat, then returning to your original content on the first device.
The only niggle is the headband design which, for people with a delicate pate, may cause mild discomfort after a while.
Other than that, for the money, these are hard to beat for someone who’s looking for everyday headphones to cut out the cacophony around them when trying to work.