Top 10 Best Noise Cancelling Earphones in India 2020: Bose, Sony, Sennheiser, Apple, & More

Buying earphones might not look like a tough task, but it usually ends up being just that. And that’s because everyone has a different taste in audio tuning and have differently-shaped ears. Moreover, when you are looking for noise-cancelling earphones, the task becomes much harder as you have to have to check out not only the earphone’s audio tuning but also things like their noise cancellation performance, call quality and battery life. To make your life a little bit easier, we have carefully created a list of the best noise-cancelling earphones in India for the year 2020. 

This list includes wired, wireless, and truly wireless noise-cancelling earphones. And there’s something for every budget. However, we have not included earphones that offer a sub-par audio experience or bad noise-cancelling performance in our opinion. Let us have a look at all the best noise-cancelling earphones that you can buy in India. 

Best Truly Wireless Noise Cancelling Earphones in India 2020 

Smartphones are the primary consumer choice these days for listening to music via earphones, but most modern high-end smartphones don’t have headphone ports any more. So, we think that you would be better off buying truly wireless earphones. Most of the good noise-cancelling truly wireless earphones cost upwards of ₹10,000, but some of them are priced as low as ₹5,000. We shortlisted those noise-cancelling truly wireless earphones that have the following features: 

Good audio quality 
Acceptable noise cancelling performance 
At least one high-resolution Bluetooth audio codec 
Good call quality 
Good battery life 
Compact design 
Companion smartphone app for customisations 

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 - ₹24,990 

The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 are a huge upgrade over last year’s model in terms of fit, audio quality, and battery life. Moreover, they offer excellent noise cancellation performance. The audio tuning is relatively neutral and the call quality is very good. Both, the earbuds and the case are compact, and you can charge them using a USB Type-C port. However, they are pricey and they lack wireless charging. 

Pros 

Fantastic audio quality 
Good noise cancellation performance 
Bluetooth 5.1 with AAC and aptX 
Very good call quality 
Compact design and case 
USB Type-C port and fast charging 
Companion smartphone app 

Cons 

Pricey 
No wireless charging 

Sony WF-1000XM3 - ₹18,990 Onwards 

The Sony WF-1000XM3 are arguably the best truly wireless noise-cancelling earphones in the world right now. They have excellent noise cancellation performance and very good audio quality. These earphones also feature wear detection so the music playback pauses when you remove them from your ears and then resume the music when you put them inside your ears. The case, although huge, has a USB Type-C port and fast charging. It’s a shame that the WF-1000XM3 have no degree of water resistance. 

Pros 

Very good audio quality 
Great noise cancellation 
Bluetooth 5.0 with AAC 
Wear detection with auto play and pause 
USB Type-C port with fast charging 

Cons 

High price 
Huge charging case 
No water resistance 

Apple AirPods Pro - ₹20,999 Onwards 

The AirPods Pro are Apple’s best truly wireless earphones and they are the best choice if you use an iPhone, iPad, or a Mac. They have a sleek design, arguably the best call quality, neutral-sounding audio, water resistance, and wireless charging. However, they use a Lightning Port for wired charging, which is a huge letdown. They feature Siri for voice commands and deep integration with Apple products. As with all Apple products, they are quite pricey, and they are not suitable to be used with Android or Windows devices. 

Pros 

Very good audio quality 
Commendable noise cancellation performance 
Great for iPhone, iPad, and Macs 
Bluetooth 5.0 with AAC 
Wear detection for auto music pause and resume 
Water resistance 
Wireless charging 

Cons 

Pricey 
Not suitable for Android and Windows devices 
Lightning port for charging 

Jabra Elite Active 75T - ₹10,999 

Although the Jabra Elite Active 75T are older earphones, they recently received active noise cancellation via a software update. They have very good audio quality and effective noise cancellation, but their real advantage is call quality, which is as good as AirPods Pro. There’s Bluetooth 5.0 with AAC and multi-point connect, which means they can connect to two devices. However, there’s no support for aptX. There’s wear detection, too, and water resistance, USB Type-C port, fast charging. The design of the earbuds and the case is not attractive, though. 

Pros 

Very good audio quality 
Great call quality 
Great fit 
Bluetooth 5.0 with AAC and multi-point connect 
Wear detection for auto music pause 
Water resistance 
USB Type-C port with fast charging 
Companion smartphone app 
Two-year warranty 

Cons 

No aptX 
Design not attractive 

Samsung Galaxy Buds Live - ₹11,990 

The Galaxy Buds Live are Samsung’s first truly wireless earphones with active noise cancellation. They are the most compact truly wireless earphones in this list and their case is extremely small when compared to other models. These earphones fit well, but they do not have an in-ear canal design, so there’s no silicon tip, which means passive noise isolation isn’t great. Even the active noise cancellation is quite average. 

These earphones and their case look strikingly attractive. There’s Bluetooth 5.0 with AAC, wear detection, a USB Type-C port, fast charging, wireless charging, and among the best smartphone companion apps. There’s sweat resistance, too. 

Pros 

Good audio quality and call quality 
Extremely compact earbuds and case 
Good fit and attractive design 
Bluetooth 5.0 with AAC 
Wear detection for auto music pause 
Water resistance 
USB Type-C port with fast charging 
Wireless charging 
Great companion app 

Cons 

Noise cancellation not as effective as chart-toppers 
Noise isolation isn’t great due to their design 

Realme Buds Air Pro - ₹4,999 

The Realme Buds Air Pro are your safest bet if you want truly wireless earphones with active noise cancellation and modern features like Bluetooth 5.0, AAC, a USB Type-C port, fast charging, and wireless charging. It even has an excellent smartphone companion app. These earbuds might not fit well for some people, but they have decent audio quality. However, the noise cancellation performance is just average and battery life could have been longer. 

Pros 

Decent audio quality 
Bluetooth 5.0 with AAC 
Google Fast Pair, sweat resistance, wear detection 
An extremely good smartphone companion app 
Gaming mode for low latency 
USB Type-C port with fast charging 
Wireless charging 

Cons 

Noise cancellation performance is average to below average 
Battery life could have been better 

Best Wireless Noise-Cancelling Earphones in India 2020 

If you can’t afford truly wireless earphones, there are a few wireless options for you. These earphones are cheaper and have longer battery life on a single charge. Plus, some of them offer a great selection of wireless audio codecs and have good call quality. 

Sony WI-C600N - ₹7,990 Onwards 

The Sony WI-C600N are Sony’s cheapest active noise-cancelling wireless earphones. These behind-the-neck style earphones have good audio and call quality, and acceptable noise cancellation performance. They feature Bluetooth 4.2 with AAC, aptX, and even NFC (for quick pairing). They have a USB Type-C port with fast charging technology. They fit well, have a magnetic design so that they don’t tangle, and are compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant. 

Pros 

Good call quality and acceptable noise cancellation 
AAC, aptX, and NFC 
Lightweight design 
USB Type-C port with fast charging 
Magnetic earbuds 
Alexa, Google Assistant, and smartphone companion app compatibility 

Cons 

Battery life could have been longer 

1More Dual Driver ANC - ₹10,700 Onwards 

The 1More Dual Driver ANC are among the best-sounding wireless earphones with active noise cancellation. Thanks to their dual-driver setup, the audio quality is great, with tight bass, clear vocals, and crisp highs. The noise cancellation performance is good, too, but the audio quality takes a slight hit when the ANC mode is turned on. 

These earphones have Bluetooth 5.0, AAC, LDAC, and even a wired mode where you can listen to them even when they don’t have charging. You can either use a USB Type-C port or the bundled adapter to connect to a smartphone or other audio devices in wired mode. They are even sweat- and water-resistant. The design is slightly heavy, though and the battery life could have been better. 

Pros 

Great audio quality 
Decent noise cancellation performance 
Very good call quality 
Bluetooth 5.0 with AAC and LDAC 
Can also work in wired mode 
USB Type-C port with fast charging 
Sweat and water splash resistance 

Cons 

Slightly heavy 
Controls can be a bit confusing 
Battery life could have been better 

Plantronics Backbeat Go 410 - ₹3,999 Onwards 

These are the cheapest in-ear earphones with active noise cancellation in our list, but they don’t disappoint too much. They come in various attractive colours and have a fairly lightweight and sweat-resistant design. Their audio quality is okay and so is noise cancellation performance. Although they feature Bluetooth 5.0, there’s no support for AAC or aptX. These earphones even use the dated microUSB port for charging. 

Pros 

Decent audio and noise cancellation quality 
Variable active noise cancellation feature is handy 
Bluetooth 5.0 
Can be used in wired mode 
Sweat resistance 
Available in attractive colours 

Cons 

ANC mode has a hiss 
No USB Type-C port 
No AAC or aptX codec 
Average battery life 

Best Wired Noise-Cancelling Earphones in India 2020 

Although there are a few wired noise-cancelling earphones available in India, it’s a dying breed as everyone is moving to wireless earphones. We think that only the Bose QuietComfort 20 are worth mentioning in this category due to their strong noise cancellation performance and good audio quality. 

Bose QuietComfort 20 - ₹25,000 

Bose knows the ins and outs of noise-cancelling, no wonder it makes some of the best noise-cancelling earphones and headphones. The Bose QuietComfort 20 are the best earphones when it comes to noise cancellation performance. However, they are wired earphones, and not many people would like to buy them in this day and age. However, if it is just noise cancellation performance that you care about, you can’t go wrong with these. They offer great audio quality and fit, but they are expensive for wired earphones and it comes in different models for Android and iOS devices. So, make sure that you buy the correct model. 

Pros 

Good audio quality 
Great noise cancellation performance 
Very good fit 

Cons 

Wired earphones in this day and age 
Expensive and hard to find these days 
 

We hope that you have found at least one wireless earphone with active noise cancellation that suits your needs and falls within your budget. If you think we missed something that should have been a part of this list, let us know by dropping a comment from the comments section below. 
 

See Zee Business Live TV Streaming Below:

(Sunil Gandhe, Chief Service Delivery Officer at Onsitego)