Black Friday is still a week away, but the early offers include a wide variety of headphones with solid discounts. We mostly focused on TWS buds, but there are a few over-ear models as well.
Starting with Samsung, the company is pushing its Shop Samsung app and offers exclusive discounts. The Galaxy Buds FE were already the cheapest in the Samsung TWS lineup, now even more so. These sub-$100 buds have ANC and multi-point connectivity and promise up to 6 hours of listening time (with ANC on).
Note: when following the links to Samsung below, you will be asked whether you want the online store or the Shop Samsung app. Pick the app for additional discounts not found in the web store.
The alternative is to get the Galaxy Buds2. These are very similar, but add wireless charging support for the case and 360 audio for the buds. The FE models have wingtips, which offer a more comfortable and secure fit in some people’s ears.
The Galaxy Buds2 Pro are a cut above their siblings with dual speakers – tweeter + woofer in each bud. They also have an IPX7 water resistance rating, which is more reassuring than the basic IPX2 that the Buds2 and Buds FE offer.
The Pixel Buds Pro from Google have always cost less than the Galaxy Buds2 Pro and that remains the case with the latest discounts. These only have an IPX4 rating, but that’s better than the Buds2 (and there’s only $20 between them). The Pixels buds also have better battery life the Samsung buds.
The Google Pixel Buds A-Series is a cheaper option (half the price of the Buds Pro). However, instead of using ANC, Google tried to be clever with Adaptive Sound, which tries to mask noise instead of canceling it and it doesn’t work as well as it alters the sound – good enough for calls, but it noticeably distorts music.
You can go cheaper still – at just $30 the OnePlus Nord Buds 2 have ANC (they promise to squash up to 25dB of noise). It’s not the best, obviously, but it’s more than competitors offer at this price point. They have good audio, latency and battery life too.
If you splurge and spend $100, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 have much better ANC and we found them to be pretty comfortable. They support LHDC and LC3 codecs for high quality audio, plus neat tricks like spatial audio too.
The Sony WF-1000XM5 have stellar noise canceling abilities, much of which is thanks to the foam ear tips. They are also physically smaller than the XM4 generation and offer even better audio quality than them (and those were already pretty great).
Time for some over-ear models. The Sony WH-1000XM5 have better ANC than their predecessors (though not quite as good at low frequencies). Note that there’s no water resistance on these, however.
The older Sony WH-1000XM4 still offer great ANC and audio quality, also the new hinge design on the XM5 model isn’t as comfortable as the old one. Combine that with the lower price tag and these might be the better pick for you.
Finally, a pair of gaming oriented over-ear headphones. Both Sony INZONE models have a boom mics that automatically mute as you rotate them out of the way. Both can use a wired connection (in fact the H3 are wired-only) for the lowest possible latency. The INZONE H9 also come with a dongle for a low-latency wireless connection and they can simultaneously connect over Bluetooth to another device like your phone. Both the H3 and H9 support 360 Spatial Sound.
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Laura Adams is a tech enthusiast residing in the UK. Her articles cover the latest technological innovations, from AI to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.
