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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-30 · 6 min read · Independent comparison
• Cubitt Tracking Technologies Headphones Lite — biggest strength: hybrid ANC that cuts ambient noise by up to 22 dB, plus up to 60 hours of playtime (40H with ANC on) and a 10-minute quick charge for 2–4 hours of use.
• Cubitt Tracking Technologies Headphones Lite — biggest trade-off: it's a closed over-ear design, so it seals you off from your surroundings, and there's no headphone jack — wireless only.
• AYI Open Ear Air — biggest strength: a 29.5g open-ear build with a rotatable boom mic and dual microphones, so you stay aware of traffic and coworkers while taking calls.
• AYI Open Ear Air — biggest trade-off: up to 10 hours of playtime per charge is far shorter than the Cubitt's, and it relies on IPX4 splash resistance rather than true active noise cancelling for the listener.
• Who each is for: the Cubitt is for travellers, commuters and home-office workers who want to block noise out; the AYI is for runners, cyclists and people on calls all day who want to keep one ear on the world.
The Cubitt Headphones Lite is built around one idea: shut the world out and stay powered for days. Its headline feature is hybrid active noise cancelling rated to reduce background noise by up to 22 dB — that's the kind of figure that matters on a plane, on a train, or in an open-plan office where the hum never stops. Pair it with the over-ear, memory-foam-cushioned build and you get a headphone designed for long, uninterrupted listening rather than quick bursts.
Battery is the other pillar here. Cubitt rates it at up to 60 hours with ANC off and 40 hours with ANC on, and a 10-minute top-up gives you 2–4 hours of music or calls. That's a genuinely useful combination if you're the sort of person who forgets to charge things. Bluetooth 5.4 with multi-point means you can be connected to your laptop and your phone at once and switch between them without re-pairing, and low latency mode keeps audio in sync for gaming or video. Three microphones handle call clarity, and the frame folds down for travel. The enclosure material is stainless steel in a Light Sand finish, with touch controls and a 32-ohm dynamic driver covering 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz.
Who should buy it? Anyone whose priority is quiet — frequent flyers, commuters, people who take meetings from a noisy home. Who should skip it? If you run, cycle or need to hear traffic, the sealed over-ear design works against you. There's also no 3.5 mm jack, so if you still plug into older gear, this isn't the one. And the age guidance starts at 12+, which tells you it's aimed at older kids and adults rather than young children.
The AYI Open Ear Air takes the opposite approach. It weighs just 29.5g and sits outside your ear canal rather than inside it, so music plays while ambient sound still reaches you. That single design choice reshapes everything: it's safer for outdoor activities, more socially acceptable in an office, and far more comfortable for people who hate the pressure of in-ear tips over a long day.
Call handling is where AYI has clearly spent its effort. There's a rotatable boom mic you can position right at your mouth, backed by a dual-microphone system and noise-cancelling processing to pull your voice out of a busy room. If your job is back-to-back calls — support desks, sales, remote standups — a boom mic that sits near your mouth is a meaningfully different experience from a mic buried in an earcup.
On the durability side, the AYI is rated IPX4, which covers sweat, rain and splashes — fine for running, cycling and gym sessions, though not for swimming or full submersion. Battery is up to 10 hours of continuous playtime with 200 hours of standby, and the feature list includes fast charging, multipoint pairing and a lightweight build. The style is listed as contemporary in white, aimed at adult users.
So who should buy it? Runners, cyclists, gym-goers, warehouse and office workers who need situational awareness, and anyone who finds in-ear or over-ear headphones uncomfortable after an hour. Who should skip it? If you want to block out engine noise or a loud café, open-ear simply can't do that — nothing is sealing your ear. And if you regularly forget to charge, the 10-hour figure will feel tight compared with the Cubitt.
• Best for noise cancelling → Cubitt Tracking Technologies Headphones Lite. Up to 22 dB of hybrid ANC versus an open-ear design that deliberately lets sound in.
• Best for battery life → Cubitt Tracking Technologies Headphones Lite. Up to 60 hours (40H with ANC on) against up to 10 hours on the AYI.
• Best for calls in loud places → AYI Open Ear Air. The rotatable boom mic puts the microphone at your mouth, which is hard to beat for voice pickup.
• Best for running, cycling and workouts → AYI Open Ear Air. 29.5g, open-ear awareness and IPX4 sweat and splash resistance.
• Best for commuting, flights and focused work → Cubitt Tracking Technologies Headphones Lite. Sealed over-ear cups plus ANC are the point here.
• Best for switching between phone and laptop → a tie. Both list multipoint pairing, though the Cubitt adds low latency mode for gaming and video.
• Best for people who dislike things in their ears → AYI Open Ear Air. No ear-canal pressure at all.
• Best for travel storage → Cubitt Tracking Technologies Headphones Lite. The frame folds, which the open-ear format doesn't need to do.
In my opinion, the Cubitt Tracking Technologies Headphones Lite is the stronger all-round buy for most people. ANC, 40–60 hours of runtime and a quick-charge top-up cover the situations where headphones actually earn their keep — travel, commuting and long work sessions — and the foldable over-ear build is simply more versatile across a day. I'd only steer you to the AYI Open Ear Air if your life is genuinely active: running, cycling, gym work or an office where you must hear what's happening around you. That's a real need, and the AYI serves it well with its boom mic, 29.5g frame and IPX4 rating. Two different tools, two different jobs. If you're still weighing it up, check the current price on Amazon before deciding, since that's the one thing specs can't tell you.
FAQ
The Cubitt, clearly. It uses hybrid active noise cancelling rated to reduce ambient noise by up to 22 dB. The AYI is an open-ear design, so it's built to let outside sound in rather than cancel it.
The Cubitt. It's rated up to 60 hours with ANC off and 40 hours with ANC on, plus a 10-minute charge for 2–4 hours of playback. The AYI offers up to 10 hours of continuous playtime with 200 hours of standby.
Yes, within reason. It carries an IPX4 rating, which covers sweat, rain and splashes, and the 29.5g open-ear fit is designed to stay comfortable during activity. It isn't built for submersion.
If you're on calls in a noisy place, I'd lean toward the AYI Open Ear Air because of its rotatable boom mic and dual-microphone system. The Cubitt counters with a three-microphone setup and multipoint pairing, which suits desk work with ANC blocking the room around you.
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