The Best Over Ear Headphones of 2025

After the Aonic 50 Gen 2: Many of us liked Shure’s original Aonic 50 headphones, but they had pretty average noise cancellation. Well, the 2nd generation version addresses that issue — the noise cancellation is much improved — and Shure has more than doubled the battery life to around 45 hours (they now have a quick charge feature) and they’ve also shrunk the carrying case a bit. although still not so compact. These upgrades make the Aonic 50 Gen 2 a top noise canceling headphone. The Aonic 50 Gen 2s are quite heavy at 334 grams, they’re solidly built and comfortable to wear too, with well-padded ear cups. They feature excellent sound quality with very good clarity and well-defined bass. Shure calls them “studio headphones,” so the sound profile is pretty neutral, but you can add more bass in the EQ settings in Shure’s companion app for iOS and Android (turning on the Spatializer setting in the app widens the soundstage slightly, but it doesn’t big difference).

Beoplay HX by Bang & Olufsen: Bang & Olufsen’s Beoplay HX headphones are the successor to the company’s H9 series headphones (X is the Roman numeral for 10), and like those earlier H9 models, the HX headphones have a list price of $599 (some colors are discounted at Amazon ) . That price makes it a direct competitor to Apple’s AirPods Max, which are heavier at 385 grams compared to the HX’s 285 grams. I don’t know if the HX headphones are any more comfortable than the AirPods Max, but I found the two models to be pretty equal in terms of comfort for longer listening sessions, and they feature the usual luxurious B&O lambskin-covered memory foam cushions. Their sound matches that of the AirPods Max well—it’s generally well-balanced, with deep, well-defined bass, natural-sounding mids (where vocals live) and appealing detail in the highs.

V-Moda M-200: V-Moda’s M-200s are one of the few wired headphones on this list. Launched at the end of 2019, these clear and detailed sounding on-ear headphones have excellent bass response and soft ear cups mean they’re comfortable to wear. Featuring 50mm drivers with neodymium magnets, CCAW voice coils and fine tuning from Roland engineers — yes, V-Moda is now owned by Roland — the M‑200 is Hi-Res Audio certified by the Japan Audio Society. Other V-Moda headphones tend to push the bass a bit, but this set has a more neutral profile that you’d expect from studio monitor headphones. They come with two cables, one of which has a built-in microphone for making calls. It would be nice if V-Moda offered Lightning or USB-C cables for phones without headphone jacks. Note that last year V-Moda released M-200 ANC ($350), a wireless version of these headphones that includes active noise cancellation. They also sound great, but their noise cancellation, call quality, and overall feature set don’t match those of the AirPods Max.

Mark Levinson #5909 (Currently on back order): These are premium audio brand Mark Levinson’s first headphones, and yes, they’re really expensive at $999. They are also very good. They have a sturdy design without managing to feel heavy on your head (read: they’re substantial but not too heavy) and are comfortable to wear for long periods of time thanks to their well-padded and removable leather-covered ear cups and headband. Read ours Mark Levinson #5909 practical.

OneOdio A10: The OneOdio A10s deliver more than you’d expect for their relatively modest price, which is why they feature on several of our best lists. They’re better made than you’d think they would be for around $90, and they’re pretty comfortable to wear. They have a double-hinged design and feel sturdy, weighing in at 395 grams, which makes them perfect headphones for training. They sound surprisingly decent and have reasonably good noise cancellation with transparency mode (which has a slight audible hiss). The headphones also have very good battery life. No, they’re not as comfortable as the Bose and Sony models (they feel a bit heavy), and their sound lacks that extra clarity, bass definition and depth that more premium headphones tend to deliver. They really exceeded my expectations and come with a decent carrying case, even if the OneOdio logo splashed across it is a bit garish.

Technics EAH-A800: There’s a bit of an old-school vibe to the Technics EAH-A800 — and it’s not just the Technics brand that Panasonic has resurrected over the past few years. Their design is something of a throwback, but these headphones are comfortable and fold and fold. They feature a powerful, punchy sound with powerful bass and good detail, although they take a day or two to break in.