Sony’s latest noise- cancelling wireless cans are the best we’ve ever heard

Live in your own world the right way with the best noise-cancelling cans we’ve ever heard

One of the best investments you can make for true peace of mind is seriously good noise-cancelling headphones… And Sony’s are more serious than a visit from a police offer who’s taken their hat off. In fact, we think these are the best headphones of their kind on the planet.

Available in black or a grey putty colour, they’re not the prettiest headphones, and are certainly no style statement in the way the Bowers & Wilkins PX or the Beats Studio 3 are, but they don’t look bad either. They keep a profile fairly close to the head, so if you don’t like anything ostentatious, these will suit.

More importantly, these Sony headphones are supremely comfortable. At 255g, they’re around 25 per cent lighter than the B&W PX (our other favourite set), and that lightness is noticeable. This means there’s less pressure on the super-soft headband and earcup padding, so they feel pleasant for a long time. Your ears will get warm, though, as with most over-ears.

Someone who finds a lot of headphones too uncomfortable to wear for long periods might actually be able to live with these. They also fold up, and come with a fabric case for travelling.

Even better than all that, not only do they sound excellent, they also kill sound brilliantly. The noise cancellation is easily best in class. Even with no music playing, the moment you put these on it’s like entering another world. For example, we walked past a road cleaning crew with a loud pump, spray going, and traffic everywhere around us – we couldn’t even have a conversation – but the headphones totally cut out all that noise. It was sheer wizardry.

They also automatically adapt noise cancellation to match your current activity: the headphones let in a little nearby traffic noise when you’re walking in town, or chatter that’s directed at you when you’re in an office. You can tweak each one for preference (or turn it off).

We love their audio skills, too. They’re rich, thanks to full bass performance (though not overwhelming), and offer meticulous detail. The B&W PX’s bass is thinner, in particular, though it does have a punchier top-end.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 feature touch and gesture controls, which work really well – you can be quite clumsy with them. Being able to place a hand on an earcup to let in some outside sounds is genuinely handy, though you do look like a bit of a lemon doing it.