The active noise canceling headphone market is steadily becoming more and more competitive
these days cause we have experienced companies releasing second, third, or fourth generations
of their products… we have giant companies that wanna get in on the action, and we have
other companies that want to bolster their declining smartphone sales by giving you a
free pair of headphones if you pre order their shiny new marginally better smart phone.
Now theres no way im going to be able to cover all of the new ANC headphones that were released
this year… but we’re going to look into the new $350 ANC headphones that have been
released in the second half of 2018…
I’m going to let you know what I think we have to look forward to in 2019… and some
ideas and suggestions that I would like to see implemented in future ANC headphones.
The reason we’re looking at these $350 ANC headphones today is because the market has
pretty much dictated that $350 is the most people are willing to pay for premium ANC
headphones.
Anything more than that means you’re buying ANC headphones that are made out of finer
materials or apple courageously released their own rumored ANC headphones.
For those who don’t know… the Sony 1000XM3 are currently my favorite and most recommend
ANC headphones, I think the Microsoft Surface Headphones are a really good first try but
do have room for improvement, and I would avoid the AKG N700NC’s at all costs.
But if you want to pick up these or any other ANC headphones mentioned in this video I'll
have links in the description below.
And if you use those links, it really helps out the channel.
Now the first thing anyone should consider when picking out a pair of ANC headphones
is their design, build quality, and most importantly… fit.
Headphones like the Sony 1000XM3, Bose QC35, and Sennheiser PXC 550’s have a subtle but
professional looking design that are going to look good on almost anyone who wears them.
But there are other headphones like the Microsoft Surface Headphones, Beats Studio 3, and Bowers
and Wilkins PX that have a more stylized design or come in loud bright colors that some people
like while other don’t.
And like I said in the full review, I really like how the Surface headphones look.
But the thing all of these ANC headphones have in common is that they’re aiming for
a low profile headband and ear cup design.
And this is what most people are looking for.
Where as there are other headphones like the AKG N700NC and Sony XB950N1’s that just
have these thick headbands and huge ear cups that stick out that in short just make people
feel embarrassed when they wear them out in public.
So if companies want to stay competitive, they don’t just have to continue making
good looking headphones… they need continue to shrink them and make them as low profile
as possible.
But obviously, anytime you’re trying to shrink a product down it makes it very hard
to stick other components inside, particularly the battery.
Now the average battery life of ANC headphones these days is 25 hours with ANC turned on.
There are exceptions to this like the surface headphones clocking in at 15 hours and the
Sony’s over achieving at 30 hours.
And for the most part a 25 hour battery life on headphones should last most people a week
and half or two weeks in between charges.
So I don’t think headphone manufactures should spend a lot of effort trying to increase
that number.
But I do think it would be pretty cool if we saw a pair of headphones that could be
used to charge your phone.
And it would be even cooler if you could charge your phone with your headphones wirelessly.
But something that I do see headphones really improving on in 2019 is fast charging.
For awhile the beats studio 3’s had the best fast charging where 10 minutes got you
3 hours.
But now the Sony’s turned it up a notch where 10 minutes gets you 5 hours.
So I really do see future ANC headphones really improving and fluting their Fast charging
feature to entice heavy commuters.
Another thing I really want to see improved on in 2019 is wireless connectivity.
One of my biggest grips with the Sony 1000XM3’s is that they can only be connected to one
device at a time.
Which makes switching between your phone and computer on a regular basis a hassle.
And this is the case with a lot of other ANC headphones like these.
But then there are other headphones that can be connected to 2 or more devices at a time
like the Surface Headphones or Bose QC35’s.
I just really wanna see multi device connectivity become more common in ANC headphones cause
it ones of those features you really miss when you don’t have it any more.
Now, whenever a new smart phone is released the key main improvements people are looking
for are speed, battery life, and camera quality.
And the version of this for ANC headphones is fit, sound quality, and ANC performance.
In general, the active noise cancellation in ANC headphones is designed to block out
constant low frequency sounds like road noise, the constant hum of an AC unit, or the jet
engine on a plane.
But what separates good ANC headphones from great ANC headphones is also being able to
block out random higher frequency sounds like chatter.
In the ANC test you just heard you may have noticed that the AKG’s did a better job
of blocking out road noise than chatter, the surface headphones where able to block out
more noise than the AKG’s in general, and the Sony’s not only blocked out the most
road noise… they also did a much better job of blocking out chatter.
But another thing to take into consideration with ANC headphones is the amount of cabin
pressure their ANC produces.
Headphones like the Bose QC35’s and JBL Everest Elite just have a lot of cabin pressure
making them very uncomfortable to wear for some people like my self.
Where as there are other headphones like the Surface Headphones, and Sennheiser 4.50 BTNC’s
that have a very mild amount of pressure thats much more manageable.
And there are headphones that have almost no cabin pressure like the 1000XM3’s that
still manage to block out a lot of sound.
But its my hope that in 2019 we start to see even better active noise cancellation thats
able to block out more noise with less and less cabin pressure.
But even though Active Noise Cancelation is great and all… it does hinder your headphone’s
sound quality.
With active noise cancelation turned on… the sound stage and instrument separation
is narrowed on a lot of ANC headphones and the bass on some headphones starts to sputter
more frequently.
And in some cases some ANC headphones don’t get as loud as loud as they could with ANC
turned on.
So whenever you want to get the best sound quality out of your ANC headphones you should
listen to them ANC turned off.
And again, as we head into 2019 I would really like to see improvements in ANC technology
where its just not blocking out a lot more noise with little cabin pressure… but doing
so without effecting your sound quality.
A lot of ANC headphones these days are also bringing extra features where they will pump
in the ambient sound around you giving the headphones an open back effect.
And having this type of feature on headphones is especially useful if you plan on walking
around with them in the city on your commute to work.
This feature allows you to have your headphones on and listen to your music but still be aware
of your surroundings.
The only thing is that I want companies to remember to implement this feature correctly.
As in prioritizing people’s voices instead of straight up noise pollution… looking
at you Microsoft.
And shutting off the feature when a random loud sound occurs so you don’t suffer any
blaring sirens or jump scares…
AKG.
But still, this is one of those features I want to see become more common on ANC headphones
cause its sorely missing on other popular headphones like the Bose QC35’s and Beats
Studio 3.
But the number one feature I know for a fact thats going to make a very big push on ANC
headphones in 2019 is going to be the integration of voice assistants.
And headphones like the Bose QC35’s, Sony’s whole headphone line up, and the surface headphones
have some type of voice assistant integration
And personally, I actually like having voice assistants built into my headphones.
Besides making you feel like a very cheap version of iron man, voice assistants in headphones
read out notifications to you as they come in and you can interact with them very quickly.
But I would like to see more headphones take the bose route where they support more than
one voice assistant so you can choose which one to use…
unlike sony which is strictly google assistant.
And I would also like to see more headphones where you can activate your voice assistant
by just saying the hot word like with Cortana on the Surface headphones.
Just as long as theres voice mapping so not just anyone can run up to you and pull up
your voice assistant and try to mess with you.
But more importantly… if ANC headphones are commonly going to have voice assistants,
we need them to start coming with a dedicated Voice assistant Button.
Right now on both Sony’s and Bose’s headphones in order to use your voice assistant you have
to press down on a physical button on the headphones and then talk.
And theres nothing wrong with pressing this button, its a very efficient and accurate
way to talk to your assistant.
My problem with Sony’s and Bose’s methods is that if you want to use this feature you
end up sacrificing some functionality on your headphones.
With the Sony’s you wont be able to cycle between having ANC turned on, off, or ambient
mode… and on the bose you wont be able to toggle the level of your ANC… things that
I like adjust on my headphones on a regular basis.
So if headphones are going to have voice assistants, we want to be able to use them without having
to sacrifice any functionality on our headphones like we do today.
And finally, the last improvement I want to see on ANC headphones for 2019 is their microphone
sound quality.
The microphone sound quality on ANC headphones can be really hit or miss sometimes.
But it can be very important for working professionals.
But over all, as we close out 2018… the number one ANC headphones to beat right now
are the Sony 1000XM3.
They look good, the fit well, they sound good and they currently have the best active noise
cancellation on the market.
But even though they’re very good, they still have room for improvement.
The 1000XM3’s lack multi device connectivity, I want to see an additional dedicated voice
assistant button, and I would like a faster and more efficient way to switch from ANC
to ambient mode similar to what the Surface Headphones have going on with their dials.
But still, as 2018 comes to an end… you cant go wrong with picking up the 1000XM3’s…
but I'm still very excited to see what 2019 brings to this increasingly competitive ANC
headphone market.
I have some pretty high hopes for Bose, Sennheiser, and Apple.