If you live a perfect life, you have beautiful ambient music playing around you at all times. Unfortunately, the rest of us aren’t so lucky. Thankfully there’s such thing as active noise cancelling headphones. They use tiny microphones built into the headphones to pick up any outside noises before producing the inverse sound wave. This phenomena (called deconstructive interference in physics lingo) effectively cancels any unwanted outside noise, allowing you to enjoy your music uninterrupted. This can be crucial when deciding on a pair of headphones if you have a noisy neighbor or simply don’t want to be bothered while commuting.
Personally, I fall into both of those categories. There are plenty of headphones out there that do an amazing job at this but they all usually come with a hefty price tag. What if you’re not looking to spend too much? Say, no more than $100? Well you’ve come to the right place because these are our picks for the best noise cancelling headphones under $100.
Disclaimer: it’s worth mentioning that it’s fairly difficult to make a cheap pair of headphones with this technology. Will they block the low rumble of an airplane, sure. Will they cancel out the crying baby three seats back or the crowd of tourists passing by? Probably not.
Related: Best Noise Cancelling Headphones/ Best Noise Cancelling Earbuds
Monoprice Hi-Fi ANC Headphones with Bass Boost
If you have a thing for unnecessarily long names for products, this first one should make you happy. The Monoprice Hi-Fi Active Noise Cancelling Headphones with Bass Boost (henceforth referred to as the Hi-Fi ANC headphones) are the perfect way to start this list. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is Monoprice sells as a company as their products range from wall mounts to 3-D printers, but one thing that we know for certain is that they know their way around a pair of audio. We’ve reviewed a couple of their products here in the past and even though they do have a knack for weird names, we’ve been consistently impressed with the quality-to-price ratio.
The Hi-Fi ANC headphones (seriously, I’m not typing that out the full name every time) use AAA batteries to actively cancel any random noises you might encounter. How long will those tiny batteries last you? Monoprice promises about 20 hours of usage with the active noise canceling option turned on and says that they used “ active noise reduction circuitry” that reduces up to 95% of external noise. That said, if you do happen to run out of juice you can still plug in the included audio cable and use them passively.
The cable is slightly longer than average at 4.6 feet and has a built-in mic and remote that gives you a little more control over the music playing from the device in your pocket. Of course you can answer and end phone calls as well as pause and resume playback, but it will also let you skip to the next track by double tapping and return to a previous track by triple clicking. They have a rather unique, rounded design but still retain their functionality. On the bottom of the ear cup you’ll find a switch that lets you choose choose between three modes: ANC, Bass Boost, or passive mode (off). The headband also folds at the hinges which is useful if you’re going to be throwing these in your bag often.
If you notice a lack of low end once you turn the ANC on, these also come with a bass boost mode which, as the name implies, adds some oomph to the low end of your favorite tunes. It has an internal amp that when switched on bumps up the bass to 10dB. These are a part of the “Hi-Fi” line that was recently announced, so judging by our review of the way less expensive/cool Hi-Fi Lightweight on-ears, we’re willing to bet these sound great as well. The Hi-Fi ANC headphones scored a 4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon and if you decide to pick up a pick one up for yourself they also come with a few handy accessories. Besides the headphones, you’ll also get a 3.5mm to 1/4” adapter, a flight adapter for those annoying built-into-the-seat headphone ports, and also a hard shell carrying case.
Buy now from Amazon ($99)
NoiseHush i7 Headphones
One pair of headphones that keeps popping up are the NoiseHush i7 headphones. These also fall under the active noise canceling category and use AAA batteries to make that happen. NoiseHush claims that the noise cancelling technology is so advanced that it even works sufficiently while turned off in passive mode. Pretty impressive if that’s true. Even if it’s not these are over-ear headphones so simply having them on will drown out a lot of annoying ambient noise. Couple that with music playing and you should be fine until you can find yourself another pair of AAA batteries, which will last you about 120 of constant playback time by the way.
The i7s also have a detachable audio cable which is nearly 6 feet long and flat, meaning you won’t have to worry about spending the first few minutes of your flight untangling them. The ear cups themselves are made of memory foam covered in genuine leather which should allow for hours of comfortable listening. The headband has a similar padding all around and is adjustable to fit pretty much every sized head.
But it’s not all about the comfort (for most), inside those ear cups the i7s are packing 40mm neodymium drivers that help to pump out “audiophile quality sound.” We’re a bit skeptical anytime a company uses that phrase but these have been getting solid reviews so the sound definitely has to be at least be good, if not up to audiophile standards.
On the audio cable you’ll find a one-button remote and mic so you can answer calls and control music playback that works with both Android and iOS. Normally a manufacturer has to decide which OS they want to be optimized for and more often than not iOS is the winner, but Noisehush found a clever way to get around that decision. Instead of adding volume control to the remote (which is for Android and iOS devices) they added a small volume wheel to the bottom of the ear cup next to the ANC button. They get brownie points for that workaround.
These sell for $99 on the official Noisehush website but you can usually find them on Amazon for significantly less cash. These have acquired a score of 3.4 out of 5 stars from over 200 people so if you’re on a budget the NoiseHush i7s are definitely worth taking a look at. They also come with a handy carrying case, an airplane adapter, and a 3.5mm to 1/4” adapter for when you feel like plugging these into something like a DAC or audio interface for enhanced audio.
Buy now from Amazon ($64)
Sony MDRZX110NC Headphones
Sony makes a lot of great stuff, so this next one should come as no surprise. Though again, they have a — let’s say unique method of naming their products. The Sony MDRZX110NC Noise Cancelling headphones are of the on-ear variety, so the passive noise blocking is less prevalent here than the others on this list. Still, if you prefer on-ears to over-ears while traveling these are the best you can get. When turned on the ANC works to block 95% of unwanted ambient noise which helps to make up for the fact that these aren’t over-ear cans.
These have 30mm drivers in them and pressure-relieving ear cup cushions. What are those? They’re ear cups that not only help to passively block ambient noise, but also help to provide a good fit to the wearer. They’re made of a urethane foam which is science talk for super comfortable. To help with portability Sony also gave these hinges so you can easily fold them and stuff them away in a bag. On top of that the ear cups swivel slightly so you can get an easier fit.
Like everything else on this list, these require AAA batteries to power them. One battery should last you about 80 hours of noise canceling so if you keep a spare on you then you should be covered for quite some time. If you’re a bass head you’ll like that the frequency range on these dips all the way down to 10Hz, so even though you won’t be able to hear what’s going on (humans can hear as low as 20Hz) you’ll be able to feel that sub-bass doing work.
The Sony MDRZX110NC headphones have 3.9 foot audio cable that ends in a gold-plated L-shape 3.5mm plug which helps to strengthen the durability of that connection. That’s pretty handy considering many people are going to be using these while commuting or traveling. Oh, and naturally they also come with an in-flight adapter. If you think these might be the ones for you, you’re not alone. They have a 3.9 out of 5 star rating on Amazon and a 4.3 out of 5 star rating on the Best Buy page. Clearly Sony got it right with these.
Buy now from Amazon ($41)
Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7b QuietPoint Headphones
This one is kind of a bonus option. If you’re reading this you probably know a thing or two about audio and have heard of Audio-Technica. If you haven’t heard of them here’s what you need to know: they’re awesome. They’re pretty much the internets favorite brand because of their ATH-M50 headphones which had a great quality-to-price value. Unfortunately those headphones aren’t noise canceling, but these are.
The Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7b Quietpoint headphones take everything that’s good about the brand and adds up a 20dB reduction to outside noise. These are over-ear closed-back headphones as well, so there’s sure to be a good amount of passive blocking to go along with the built-in active cancelling circuitry. They have a clean design meant for travel and can easily be folded flat to better fit in the included hardshell carrying case. As far as comfort goes, these have a lot of cushion and are flexible enough to fit heads of all shapes and sizes (assuming you’re not a cone head).
Still, it’s what’s on the inside that counts and the large aperture 40mm drivers in the ATH-ANC7b headphones are sure to make every detail sound crisp. You can pump these up to about 109dB which when paired with the ANC should be more than sufficient to drown out any random rumbling around the office or airport. They also take AAA batteries and one battery should last you roughly 40 hours of ANC. Should they die on you they can also be used in passive mode, and being closed-back headphones they should do a fairly good job at passive noise blocking as well.
Audio-Technica likes to include two cables with their headphones and these are no exception. They come with both the standard 1m cable that ends in a 3.5mm jack and a longer 1.6m cable that you can swap out depending on how you feel that day. Along with that you’ll also get a 1/4″ adapter, a hard-shell carrying, and (like any self-respecting ANC headphones) an airplane adapter for flights. These will run you $108, which is a whole eight bucks more than the upper limit for this list, but with a 3.7 out of 5 star rating on Amazon we figured it was worth bending the rules a bit.
Buy now from Amazon ($108)
As always be sure to let us know what gems you’ve found when it comes to the best noise cancelling headphones under $100. When we next update this list we’ll be sure to add some of the better (and newer) ones to this list as they come out.
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