Over ear headphones for long haul flight

[Medicimama]

Help! Going on a hideously long haul flight next month (two connections, over 33 hours. Economy. Pray for me).

Can anyone recommend any comfortable, noise cancelling over the ear headphones? Please no air pods as they fall out of my ears.

I need something that is super comfortable, doesn’t cause too much clamping pressure (maybe I have a wide head?!) or sweaty ears.

Hopefully it would also work with the inflight system somehow.

Budget under £300…

Are the older models of Bose and Sony really much worse than new ones?

I’ve just flown from Australia to Europe and used Sony WH-CH520 earphones and they were great. Really soft on the head, great battery life and good sound cancelling.

I also have a dongle thingy so I can use them on the in seat entertainment.

Get yourself a good eye mask as well, I grabbed a 3D contoured one from Temu and it’s brilliant. I slept for hours on the flight (which I never do) and the mask blocked out all the light.

My boyfriend uses the WH-1000XM6’s and they are undeniably excellent. Before he bought those he bought the 5’s but upgraded to the 6’s because we both felt they were abit loose (smaller heads/ears) so if you struggle with ones being too tight normally the 5’s may be for you.

the Bose quiet comfort ultra are also incredible, both in comfort and noise cancelling but are very expensive. I used the Bose quiet comfort (not ultra) for a long time and really liked them. Comfortable and good noise cancelling and Alot cheaper than the other options. They also fold into a case which is good for travelling and come with a wire so you can use it with inflight systems.

I was all set to get the Anker ones - even the slightly more expensive models than the qi20 - but it seems the noise cancelling won’t work if you’ve already plugged them into inflight entertainment systems! Any other suggestions? If I can get away with spending closer to £100 than over £200 then great but obviously don’t want it to be a false economy! Thanks for all the tips so far!

I used to travel / fly a lot with work and was surgically attached to my Bose once I boarded. The majority of people in business always seemed to be using their own Bose headphones (rather than other brands or the plane supplied ones). I went through so many headphones before finally giving in and trying Bose. Yes, they’re expensive. But yes the noise cancellation and quality is amazing and now I won’t buy anything else (that includes both TV soundbars etc).

@Medicimama

Two good relevant Black Friday offers on headphones on the Bose website that might interest you:

£190 (instead of usual £290)
https://www.bose.co.uk/en_gb/products/headphones/noise_cancelling_headphones/QCSC-HEADPHONEARN.html#v=QCSC-HEADPHONEARN-BLK-WW

£250 (refurbished) or £300 (new) instead of usual £450 new:
https://www.bose.co.uk/en_gb/products/certified_refurbished/refurbished_headphones/QCUH-HEADPHONEARN-FR.html#v=QCUH-HEADPHONEARN-D60E-FR-WW
(I’ve bought refurbished from Bose before and they’ve been perfect. Only difference from brand new has been the outer packaging).

Note that as a Bose bargain stalker, they’re ‘usual’ prices are indeed usual so they’re not playing any tricks to make things sound like bigger bargains. And yes, the good deals sell out quite quickly (I’ve dithered in the past and learnt that lesson the hard way). And no I don’t work for Bose!! (I work in a bank)

I bought these for DH and I want some myself. Super comfortable and noise cancelling.

I’m a basic bxxxh and used the ones on the plane when watching things and silicon earplugs when sleep time - they worked great. Might be worth a practice with earplugs as then you can lean on the side of your head to sleep too?

Good point @Newgirls about being able to sleep!!

One of my bugbears with the plane issued headphones is that the audio from the entertainment is barely audible above the jet engine noise hence looking for ones that can block out engine noise mostly plus play films.

I have had Bose ones for ages and I love them.

These! I love mine too. The sound is fantastic and they're very comfortable to wear.

I have the Sony WH1000 MX4, and they’re great. You can probably get them cheap in the sale as there are newer models out.
I couldn’t justify the extra cost of Bose ones.

The only caveat is the colour - online they looked like a silvery grey, but they’re actually sort of a sludgy beige colour which I don’t like.

I’d go for the older Bose QC35 or Sony WH-1000XM3. Both are under £300 now and honestly still excellent for long flights, lightweight, really soft on the ears and brilliant noise cancelling. I find them comfier than some of the newer models because they clamp a bit less.
You can plug them into the inflight system with a cheap little airplane adapter (Amazon etc). For a 33-hour journey… absolutely worth it!

I’d recommend going into somewhere like John Lewis and just trying a load on. There’s no way of knowing what’s going to be comfortable otherwise. I have Beats which I find comfortable but I have a small head so they might be too tight on you.

thank you for all your suggestions - they were super helpful. I’ve ordered the older style Bose SC ones from John Lewis as they were reduced to £188. They have less of a clamping force than the newer, more expensive ones that I’m too tight to purchase anyway.

I was initially tempted by the Sony XM5 but seems like they are not compact enough when folded. They do look stylish, far cooler than the Bose. But I’m not cool and won’t be wearing these down the street.

My head was also turned by the many recommendations for the Anker sound core ones. I went into a rabbit hole watching YouTube reviews on these. It seems the big downside is that the more affordable models won’t let you switch on ANC while plugged in to inflight entertainment. I can rarely hear the film over the noise of the engine so this was a deal breaker sadly. I will perhaps experiment and get them for the kids!

Thank you again. I may revisit this thread when something inevitably goes wrong with the Bose ones…

Good choice @Medicimama And don’t be so pessimistic!! Nothing has ever gone wrong with any of my Bose headphones (or Bose anything) unless you count me managing to lose my favourite set of Bose headphones while travelling once as going wrong. I’m still not quite over that. 😕

Thx fo those that recommended the anker ones. I ordered and now have them for a few days and they’re fab

I have a massive bonce, and my Sony WH-XB900N's are really comfortable and very good. DH has a slightly fancier pair of Sony ones and they're also v comfy.