Over-ears for kids, audiophiles and the office

The Sony WH-1000XM5 are Sony’s latest premium wireless over-ears, following up on the success of their popular predecessors. The biggest change from the previous model is how they look. They sport a modern modern look to, and ditch the ability to be collapsed, a change that’s meant to help the noise cancellation peformance, which we found reaped benefits with less noticeable wind noise detected than on the WH-1000XM4.

They’re comfortable to wear, with the redesigned earpads and heading creating a solid enough clamping force and seal; while at around 255g, they’re one of the lightest noise cancelling over-ears around.

The noise cancelling itself is excellent, the call quality is class-leading, while the battery life remains the same as before, it 30 hours with ANC on matches the likes of the B&W Px7 S2 and is better than either the Bose QuietComfort 45 and AirPods Max.

The Speak-to-Chat feature that brings convenience, pausing music when you’re talking. The Quick Attention mode allows you hear your surrounding environment, and there’s built-in voice assistance available from both Google and Alexa. The Adaptive Sound Control detects and logs locations in the Sony Headphones app, allowing you to build custom sound profiles based on the places you frequent. These headphones pack plenty of convienience for the everyday user.

When it comes to sound quality, there’s support for LDAC that’s useful for listening to higher quality tracks from streaming services. We found the midrange to be rich and detailed, the headphones feature a boost in the low and high frequencies over the XM4, with instruments sounding better defined and more focussed. This all contributes to a performance that’s more refined sound than their immediate predecessor.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Sony WH-1000XM5

If you’re something with audiophile tastes we would recommend taking a look at the Meze Audio Liric. These are wired headphones (so no wireless support here) with excellent build quality, constructed from high-grade magnesium, leather and aluminium for a sleek minimalist look, The earcups are large in size, which makes them less suited for small heads, but they are comfortable to wear thanks to the padded ear cups that envelope the ears. 

There aren’t as many features as you would get from a pair of wireless headphones, but the Liric have an impressively wide frequency response of 4Hz to 92kHz for better reproduction of low and high frequencies. This is filtered through Rinaro’s Isodynamic Hybrid Array M24 driver that uses the company’s Phase-X system that it claims improves spatial sound imaging for a more faithful reproduction. The Ear pad Air Flow (EAF) system is another feature that aims to optimise acoustic volume and reduce the size of the earcup chamber. 

Audio performance is where the Liric shines. It’s a soundstage that’s big in scope and full of detail; the stereo image is brought close to the listener, which gives the impression of instruments and voices appearing much closer to our ears. The Liric are a revealing and transparent pair of headphones, so it would be wise to consider pairing them with an equally capable source such as an Astell & Kern SP2000T.

We found that with a capable source, bass levels improved by giving the headphone more detail to feed off on. If you want to hear your music in high quality, the Liric are a skilful, well-balanced pair of wired over-ears to consider. The $2000 / £1799 price is expensive, but they’re worth it for the quality of their performance. If, however, that’s chump change, then consider the even more impressive (but more expensive) Empryean II from Meze.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Meze Audio Liric

The Shure SRH840A are an affordable pair of home studio-grade reference headphones that are ideal if you value sound quality above all else. 

They are the follow up to the SRH840, built from a mix of aluminium, plastic, synthetic leather and a fabric weave, with a redesigned headband that tracks closer to the shape of the head than that of their predecessor. As such, we found these improvements to be positive, ensuring good comfort as the breathable headband and firm ear cup pads enabled our reviewer to wear them for up to six hours with no obvious fatigue. 

The headphones come with a long 3m cable, which limits their portability, making them well-suited for listening around the home but less ideal for using out and about. Given they are home studio-grade reference headphones, it wouldn’t make sense to use these outside of the home.

The sound of the SRH840A is similar to their predecessor with the same 5–25000Hz frequency response and low impedance for use with non-specialist hardware. They have the neutrality required of a pair of monitor headphones with some thickness in the upper bass and low mids to avoid sounding sterile. The bass is measured and punchy and the sound width is good, but we were less impressed by the sense of depth in the soundstage. 

Reviewer: Andrew Williams
Full Review: Shure SRH840A

If you’re a parent in need of a pair of over-ears suitable for children, we’d recommend giving the Planet Buddies Volume Limited Headphones a look. 

We’ve tested the wireless version of these headphones and found them be effective, and the wired models are just as cute in appearance for the younger ones, but the headline feature here is that they are volume limited to 85dB. This is the volume level WHO recommend to protect small ears from developing noise-induced hearing loss. 

The headphones come in a variety of adorable designs, from the vibrant Olive the Owls, to the eared Pippin the Pandas and the customisable Colour and Swaps. All are soft and adjustable and some fold up to slip into carry pouches as well. These headphones are quite light on features. The Olive the Owl and Colour and Swap pairs feature multi-function buttons on their cables, while the Pippin the Pandas actually have two ports so kids can listen to music and watch movies with friends. 

We did find the volume limit subdued some of the dynamism produced by these headphones, and there’s much in the way of detail but the bass still has a good amount of presence and it feels like a worthy trade off to protect your kids ears. For adults, consider the PuroPro Hybrid ANC headphones which also have volume limited technology inside.

Reviewer: Hannah Davies
Full Review: Planet Buddies Volume Limited Headphones

The AirPods Max are Apple’s only over-ear headphones, and as a result they offer the best iOS integration of all the headphones on this list. 

The AirPods Max have a striking design with large metal cups, a mesh band and a dial that’s cribbed from the Apple Watch. Despite being far heavier than the Sony WH-1000XM5 and the Bose QC Ultra Headphones, the AirPods remain comfortable to wear with their weight distributed across the headband to the point where we could barely feel them at all. 

However, there’s no IP rating, so we wouldn’t recommend using them at the gym, but very few over-ear headphones have an IP rating anyway. The physical buttons and dial make it easy to move through tracks, adjust the volume and toggle between noise cancellation and transparency modes, while the ANC itself is some of the best around with the adaptive setting doing a fantastic job of altering the noise cancellation levels to fit your environment. 

The transparency mode is excellent too, and the addition of spatial audio makes Disney Plus and Apple TV+ content feel much grander and less flat than it does with a regular pair of over-ears. However, some features like spatial audio and seamless quick device switching are only supported on iOS devices. 

When it comes to audio performance the AirPods Max are excellent, though perhaps not as big of an improvement over the Bose and Sony headphones to justify the higher price. The custom 40mm driver, dual H1 chips and adaptive EQ work together to offer a balanced and versatile sound that impressed us across a wide range of songs and genres. There’s plenty of bass and higher frequencies never sound harsh or distorted, 

The 20-hour battery life should get you through a long flight but it isn’t class-leading and the storage case offers little protection. However, if you’re looking for a pair of Apple-centric over-ears, you won’t find better than the AirPods Max. 

Reviewer: Max Parker
Full Review: AirPods Max

Since the pandemic, there’s been a rise in people using headphones for online meetings, but rather than using the a pair of headphones that might not offer the best call quality, why not get a pair designed specifically for the task?

That’s where the Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC enters the discussion. Available in a few different configurations, the version we tested is rather expensive but if you look around £259 is one of the cheaper prices on offer (and far less than the £466 quoted on some sites).

They’re not the smallest headphones for an over-ear, an aspect our reviewer had qualms with, but they’re comfortable to wear as using them across a full workday, the reviewer noted there was heat build-up that they noticed, nor any skin irritation. Build quality is sturdy and well-constructed, which you’d expect for the outlay.

The noise-cancellation is effective, not quite up to the level of the Sony WH-1000XM5, but strong enough to drown out the drone of an everyday office. Wireless call quality is excellent, with the ten ‘boomless’ mics working well to capture your voice and render it clearly. Use the USB connection and we noted an even better call quality performance.

Bluetooth multipoint is supported for connecting to two devices at once, while there’s certification with Microsoft Teams.

And if you were to use these headphones for music, then they put in a good performance. Bass is generally warm and energetic, working well wiht genres such as punk and dance that require plenty of bass. Clarity in the treble region allows for good levels of detail, and there’s a nice degree of stereo separation too. We don’t feel you’d be disappointed if you were to use these headphones for music while you work. For a cheaper option there’s the Logitech Zone Vibe Wireless, although these office headphones don’t boast noise-cancellation.

Reviewer: Andrew Williams
Full Review: Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC