Best Early Black Friday Deals on Headphones

The JBL Tune 510BT is already budget-friendly compared with other models, so even with a small discount it’s a good buy. It’s worth noting, however, that the price has been as low as $30 recently. This Bluetooth model delivers sound quality in the ballpark of far more expensive headphones and it has a 40-hour advertised battery life. It sits on the ears, which some people find more comfortable than being engulfed by bigger, over-the-ear style cans. As an extra perk, you can use the headphones with a cable if you forget to charge them. These aren’t noise-canceling headphones, but for the price, they’re hard to beat.

Bowers & Wilkins, aka B&W, might not be a household name, but this British company has been making audiophile grade speakers and headphones for decades. And the beautifully built PX7 S2e delivers both effective noise cancellation and sound quality that justifies the price.

The Pixel Buds Pros have been at this low price for a few months now, so they might get even cheaper for Black Friday. (Last year they dipped to $120.) You might think of them as Google’s answer to Apple’s AirPods Pro. The noise-canceling in-ear headphones are designed to work best with the company’s Pixel phones and smartwatches and Google Assistant, although you can certainly use them with any phone. Our testers report that Pixel Buds sound a bit bassy but are otherwise satisfying.

The Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW are sleek wireless earbuds that sound really good and have a decent array of features, including an unusual low latency mode, which reduces the slight lag you sometimes get with Bluetooth headphones, for better performance with games and videos. According to Audio-Technica, they have a 6.5-hour battery life, and the charging case stores an extra 13 hours of power. We’ve seen them for as little as $30 recently so you might wait for a further price drop.

These Sony earbuds aren’t cheap, but their sound quality makes them more than worth the money if you care about music. The XM5s are the sleek successors to the company’s WF1000XM4s, and they deliver so much musical detail that you simply hear your favorite songs in a different way. The noise-canceling performance of the XM5s is strong as well, and Sonys have an effective ambient mode that pipes in outside noise for safety or convenience.

Apple has unveiled a fourth-generation edition of its classic buds, but the third-generation AirPods perform just about as well, according to our testers, offering decent sound quality and the same easy compatibility with Apple devices. And, if you’re not a fan of the silicone or foam eartips found on most earbuds, this classic model has a hard plastic eartip that doesn’t form much of a seal in your ear canal and doesn’t isolate you from the outside world. Note that there’s a version of the AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation, which does dampen the background sounds in a noisy environment like an airplane, while keeping the gentler ear canal seal that many listeners love.

The AirPods Pro dropped to $169 at Amazon during Prime Big Deal Days, so they will likely dip in price again closer to Black Friday if you’re looking for bigger savings. These are Apple’s bestselling earbuds, with good reason. They sound good and offer effective noise canceling, including a transparency mode that pipes in outside sound so that you’re not fully cut off from the world while out walking. Better yet, says Apple, a free over-the-air upgrade will allow the model to deliver a clinical-grade hearing test, which, if necessary, can be used to turn the Pros into an over-the-counter hearing aid.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 may have been replaced by the newer and sleeker XM5, but our testers report that the models perform similarly. The Sony XM4 delivers admirable sound quality and noise cancellation, plus a nice array of features.

The Sennheiser CX Plus headphones were under $100 during Prime Day, so you might consider waiting for a lower price. These true wireless noise-canceling earbuds have solid performance when it comes to sound quality. They also get solid scores for active noise cancellation, which can be used whether or not you’re listening to music. There’s even a transparency mode that allows you to add in some outside noise, which can make it safer to use them while outdoors.

Shopping for noise-canceling headphones on a budget doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice performance. Case in point? The SoundCore Life Q20s, which have now dipped back to their best price. These over-ear headphones have enviable sound quality and noise cancellation. You don’t get adjustable levels of noise cancellation, though. According to the manufacturer, the headphones have a generous 40-hour battery life.