How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-22 · 8 min read · Independent comparison
• Sony WH-CH720NB — best for commuting and all-day office wear; pick this if you want active noise cancellation, multipoint pairing and a genuinely light 192g frame.
• Anker Soundcore — best for long-haul travel and flight noise; pick this if adaptive noise cancellation and up to 50 hours of ANC playtime matter more to you than anything else.
• JBL Tune 500BT — best for a simple, foldable everyday pair; pick this if you mostly want wireless streaming, hands-free calls and a compact design you can toss in a bag.
• Razer BlackShark V2 — best for PC and console gaming; pick this if spatial surround sound, a detachable boom mic and low-latency wireless are what you actually need.
This is an over-ear wireless headphone built around Sony's Dual Noise Sensor technology and the Integrated Processor V1 — the same processor family that shows up in Sony's premium noise-cancelling models. In practice that means the cancellation isn't a blunt "mute the world" switch; it's tuned to keep music sounding natural while it works. Sony also pairs it with the Digital Sound Enhancement Engine, which is designed to restore some of the detail that gets lost when compressed audio files are played back. If you stream from a phone or laptop, that's the difference between flat and full.
The physical design is where this one quietly separates itself. It weighs 192 grams, which is light for an over-ear can with active noise cancellation, and Sony describes the earpads and ergonomics as built for extended wear. The claimed battery life runs up to 35 hours with quick charge on top, so a daily commute plus a full workday of listening doesn't require a nightly top-up. Multipoint connection lets you hold two Bluetooth devices at once — laptop and phone, for example — and switch between them without re-pairing. Voice and touch controls are both listed, so you're not hunting for buttons mid-call.
The trade-offs are worth naming. There's no headphone jack listed, so wired listening isn't an option here — this is a wireless-only headphone. The enclosure is plastic, which keeps the weight down but won't feel like metal-and-leather luxury in the hand. And the 325 ohm impedance rating is unusually high for a consumer Bluetooth headphone, which tells me it's engineered primarily to be driven by its own internal amplification rather than by whatever you plug it into.
Who is it for? In my opinion, this is the pick for someone who wants one headphone for the whole day: calls at a desk, music on transit, a podcast while cooking. The noise cancelling, the light frame and the two-device pairing all point at that specific life. If you need a wired fallback or you're shopping purely for gaming, look at the Razer instead.
The Soundcore Space Q45 by Anker is the travel specialist of this group. Its headline claim is reducing noise by up to 98%, and the system behind that is adaptive: it reads the noise around you and selects a suitable cancellation level automatically. There are also five manual levels in the app if you'd rather take control yourself. That adaptivity is the real story — it's the difference between a headphone that cancels well on a plane and one that also behaves sensibly on a quiet train where maximum cancellation would feel oppressive.
Battery is the other headline. Anker lists up to 50 hours of playtime in noise-cancelling mode and up to 65 hours in standard mode, with a five-minute charge yielding roughly four hours of playback. A charge time of two hours for the full cell is reasonable. For a long trip, that math matters: you can leave the cable at home and still land with charge to spare.
Sound-wise, the Space Q45 uses 40mm dynamic drivers with a double-layer diaphragm made from silk and ceramic, and it supports LDAC for Hi-Res Audio Wireless. Anker's description points at strong bass and crisp treble rather than a neutral, studio-flat tuning. Bluetooth 5.3 is the newest version in this comparison, and the package includes an AUX cable, a protective case and a USB-C cable — so unlike the Sony, there is a wired option available. The app handles control, which is a plus for tweakers and a mild annoyance for anyone who'd rather not install anything.
The main trade-off: this is the heaviest headphone here at 10.4 ounces, and the cancellation system leans on software. If you dislike app-dependent features, that's a real consideration. But for flights, open offices and noise that changes as you move, I'd recommend it.
The JBL Tune 500BT is the straightforward one. It's an on-ear wireless headphone with 32mm dynamic drivers, JBL Pure Bass tuning, Bluetooth 4.1 and multipoint connection so you can hop between two paired devices. It trades the advanced features of the two models above for simplicity: no active noise cancellation is listed, and there's no app-based control layer to learn.
What you do get is practical. Up to 16 hours of battery life, a two-hour recharge, and a speed-charge feature that gives roughly an hour of music from a five-minute top-up. A single-button remote with microphone handles calls and playback, and the headphone supports voice assistant connectivity. The design is on-ear with soft cushions and a padded headband, and — this is the part I like most — it folds. Foldable on-ear headphones disappear into a bag in a way that full-size over-ears simply don't.
The trade-offs are clear and they're about ambition, not quality. Bluetooth 4.1 is the oldest wireless version in this lineup. Battery life is the shortest of the four by a wide margin. There's no noise cancellation, so this is not the pair for a loud commute or a plane. And on-ear cushions press against the ear rather than around it, which some people find less comfortable over many hours than an over-ear design.
Razer BlackShark V2
The Razer BlackShark V2 Pro is a gaming headset, and it's built like one. The core of it is a set of Triforce Titanium 50mm drivers split into three parts so highs, mids and lows can be tuned independently — Razer's pitch is brighter, clearer audio with richer highs and stronger lows. The frequency response spans 12 Hz to 28 kHz, which is the widest range in this group and extends well below what the music-focused models list.
The gaming-specific features are what justify its place here. It's THX 7.1 Surround Sound capable, which is about positional accuracy — hearing which direction a sound came from — rather than raw loudness. The detachable HyperClear Supercardioid mic is a 9.9mm unit designed for voice isolation, and it can be tuned further in Razer Synapse. The connection is 2.4GHz wireless, which is the low-latency option for PC, with up to 24 hours of battery life and a 15-minute charge time. A 3.5mm jack is also available for console use, so it works with PS5, PS4 and Switch as well as PC.
Comfort gets real attention: memory foam ear cushions that Razer describes as breathable, designed to prevent heat build-up and pressure over long sessions, plus closed earcups for sound isolation. Note that this is isolation, not active noise cancellation — it's passive, which is the right call for a headset where you still want to hear your own voice.
The trade-off is focus. This is a PC gaming headset first; it's not the pair I'd reach for to listen to albums on a walk. At 11.36 ounces it's the heaviest option here, and the 2.4GHz wireless connection is built around a USB transceiver rather than the general-purpose Bluetooth pairing the other three use. If games are the point, though, this is the one I'd recommend.
We compared the published specifications and feature sets of each headphone — driver size and type, connectivity, battery figures, noise control, microphone design and included accessories — and weighed them against the everyday situations each product is clearly built for. The ranking is our own independent editorial opinion, not a reflection of sales data or popularity. No brand paid for placement, and no manufacturer had any input into the order.
FAQ
what is the best selling headphones
what is the best selling headphones of all time
There's no reliable public data that settles this, so treat any confident answer with caution. Historically, the biggest-volume headphone lines have been simple, affordable wireless models rather than flagship noise-cancelling ones — which is roughly the niche the JBL Tune 500BT occupies, with its basic Bluetooth streaming, foldable design and 16-hour battery.
what are the best selling headphones in the world
Again, worldwide unit-sales data isn't something an independent reviewer can verify. If what you actually want is the most capable headphone in this comparison for travel, the Soundcore Space Q45's adaptive cancellation and up to 50 hours of ANC playtime make it the strongest fit; for gaming, it's the Razer BlackShark V2.
what is the most popular brand of headphones
Popularity shifts by category rather than by a single winner. Sony is the name most associated with noise-cancelling headphones, Anker's Soundcore sub-brand is known for value-focused audio, JBL has decades of consumer audio behind it, and Razer is a major name in gaming peripherals. Which one is "most popular" depends entirely on which of those categories you're shopping in.
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