Worth it: the hottest new noise-cancelling headphones

Welcome to Would Repurchase, the content series that honestly reviews the products we've tried and tested. We’re lucky enough to try a lot of things at Yahoo Lifestyle Australia, and these are the products and experiences we'd be happy to spend our own hard-earned dollars on.

Bose introduces noise-cancelling both ways

Wireless noise-cancelling headphones are definitely a god send - think noisy work environments, chatty neighbours, and plane travel.

And being able to have an easy phone conversation with a friend or family member, without ambient sound making it difficult to understand them, is amazing.

But, while noise-cancelling headphones are generally great for the person wearing them, the person on the other end of the line still has to try and understand you over the noise of a passing train and station announcements.

That’s where the new Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 come in to play.

Thanks to a new voice interface the 700s isolate a user’s voice from 360 degrees of unwanted sound, allowing the headphone owners to do what’s never been done.

Surrounded conversations, rush-hour traffic, and loud train platforms, they can share their own quiet, instead of the noise around them — for crystal clear calls to home and work, and unprecedented accuracy from virtual voice assistants.

On audio and video calls, they’ll hear what you’re saying — not the TV behind you, or the person next to you. For voicemails, your voice is recorded, not theirs.

And then whether you’re asking for directions or a playlist, dictating a text or email, or need your home alarm turned on or your heat turned off, Siri, the Google Assistant, and Alexa will help you — because now, they can hear you clearly.

Sony’s first to market noise-cancelling ear buds

Bose may be dominating the news around over-ear headphones right now, but Sony has come out swinging with their new in-ear, noise-cancelling ear buds – it’s the first time any brand has managed to get noise-cancelling technology into a completely wireless headphone this small.

The WF-1000XM3 headphones may have an un-catchy name, but man, they’re a cool-looking piece of kit – and the sound quality is frankly astounding.

We’re not scientists, so we can’t fully explain how the buds’ ‘Dual Noise Sensor Technology’ works, but essentially it means a pair of microphones on the surface of the headphones trap more of the ambient sound around you.

Having caught the ambient sound, the ‘HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN1e’ creates an inverted sound wave to offset background noise. Essentially what this means is that even though the buds are tiny, they’re blocking out most of the ambient noise.

Anything ranging from the drone of an aeroplane engine, to the clatter of a city street, is significantly cancelled by the buds.

Having now flown with the ear buds in, we can attest that they really do work amazingly to declutter the noise stimulation you’d normally experience in a plane cabin – in fact, it was quite startling when we had to take the buds out, to hear just how loud the ambient noise of a set of jet engines is.

The convenience of travelling with a pocket-sized pair of headphones can’t be overstated, either – when you’re flying with carry-on only, every square inch (and kg) counts.

Like the Bose 700s, the Sonys come in two colourways – black, and platinum. They’re retailing for $399.00, so not exactly a bargain buy. But if you’re in the market for a high-quality set of extremely convenient, stylish, high-powered headphones, these are just the ticket.

Reporting by Kristine Tarbert and Aletha Wilkinson.

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