ANC over-ear headphones: tests from four countries
Wireless over-ear headphones with active noise cancelling are sold worldwide under the same name and tested in many countries – but the verdicts are not the same everywhere. We bring together tests from Germany, the UK, France and the US and show the source, country of origin and original verdict for every test. Verdicts from Stiftung Warentest were not freely accessible for these models and are therefore missing.
- Top rated
- Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3
- Tests reviewed
- 44 across 4 countries
- Not from the UK
- 27 of those tests
- Last updated
- 29 September 2026
- Prices last checked
- 8 October 2026
Side-by-side comparison
Close comparison| Sony WH-1000XM6 Rank 2 of 8 | Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) Rank 4 of 8 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 91 | 87 |
| Test basis | 5 tests from 4 countries | broadly tested 6 tests from 4 countries |
| Sound | 93 | 85 |
| Noise cancelling | 89 | 88 |
| Comfort | 90 | 95 |
| Battery | 89 | 87 |
| Verdict by test country | ||
| DE Germany | 91 | 91 |
| FR France | 90 | 80 |
| UK United Kingdom | 95 | 90 |
| US USA | 83 | 82 |
| Price United Kingdom | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.co.uk |
| Strengths |
|
|
| Weaknesses |
|
|
| Weight | 254 g | 250 g |
| Battery life (manufacturer) | 30 h with ANC | up to 30 h with ANC |
| Bluetooth codecs | SBC, AAC, LDAC, LC3 | SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive |
| Drivers | 30 mm, dynamic | – |
Same source, several devices
What the same publication concluded about the selected devices – original verdicts.
| Source | Sony WH-1000XM6 | Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) |
|---|---|---|
| Clubic | 9 / 10 05/2025 | 8 / 10 12/2025 |
| HIFI.DE | 9.1 05/2025 | 9.0 09/2025 |
| SoundGuys | 8.3 05/2025 | 8.2 10/2025 |
| TechRadar | 4.5/5 05/2025 | 5/5 10/2025 |
| What Hi-Fi? | 5/5 05/2025 | 4/5 11/2025 |
What matters to you?
Over-ear headphones
By your weighting · Prices for United Kingdom- 01 Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 6 tests · DE FR UK US 92 Amazon.co.uk
- 02 Sony WH-1000XM6 5 tests · DE FR UK US 91 Amazon.co.uk
- 03 Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless 5 tests · DE FR UK US 87 Amazon.co.uk
- 04 Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) 6 tests · DE FR UK US 87 Amazon.co.uk
- 05 Apple AirPods Max 2 5 tests · DE FR UK US 84 Amazon.co.uk
- 06 JBL Tour One M3 5 tests · DE FR UK US 83 Amazon.co.uk
- 07 Sonos Ace 6 tests · DE FR UK US 81 Amazon.co.uk
- 08 Nothing Headphone (1) 6 tests · DE FR UK US 76 Amazon.co.uk
The individual scores come unchanged from the tests we reviewed. Only their weighting changes. Your settings stay stored in this browser.
Where the tests disagree.
Each dot is the average test result of one country, converted to 0–100. The further apart the dots, the more it pays to read the individual reports.
All models compared
The same order in every language version. The country column shows which markets a model’s tests come from.
| # | Model | Points | Tests | Countries | Test basis | Weight | Battery life (manufacturer) | Bluetooth codecs | Price UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 | 92 | 6 | DE · FR · UK · US | broadly tested | 300 g | up to 30 h with ANC | SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless | – |
| 2 | Sony WH-1000XM6 | 91 | 5 | DE · FR · UK · US | 254 g | 30 h with ANC | SBC, AAC, LDAC, LC3 | – | |
| 3 | Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless | 87 | 5 | DE · FR · UK · US | 290 g | 57 h with ANC | SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless | – | |
| 4 | Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) | 87 | 6 | DE · FR · UK · US | broadly tested | 250 g | up to 30 h with ANC | SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive | – |
| 5 | Apple AirPods Max 2 | 84 | 5 | DE · FR · UK · US | 386.2 g | up to 20 h with ANC | SBC, AAC | – | |
| 6 | JBL Tour One M3 | 83 | 5 | DE · FR · UK · US | 278 g | 40 h with ANC | SBC, AAC, LDAC, LC3 | – | |
| 7 | Sonos Ace | 81 | 6 | DE · FR · UK · US | broadly tested | 312 g | 30 h with ANC | – | – |
| 8 | Nothing Headphone (1) | 76 | 6 | DE · FR · UK · US | broadly tested | 329 g | 35 h with ANC | SBC, AAC, LDAC | – |
Frequently asked questions
Where do the scores come from?
From published tests by consumer organisations, labs and specialist publications. Every product lists each source with its country, issue and original verdict, with a link where possible. We run no tests of our own.
Why do some sources say “zitiert nach” (cited from)?
Some organisations, such as Stiftung Warentest, publish their detailed results only behind a paywall. In those cases we take the overall verdict from a freely accessible report that states the grade and issue, and we name that report.
Was exactly this model tested?
Manufacturers often sell the same appliance under different model numbers or with different accessories in each country. We group variants of one model line and name the tested variant next to the test when the source states it.
Why do the verdicts differ?
Test programmes differ: labs measure things like dust pickup or durability in endurance runs, while editorial reviews weigh everyday impressions more heavily. We do not smooth over such differences; the spread chart shows them.