Soundcore Life Q30 ($80)

Comfort/build: Neat design with sturdy plastic materials and big round earcups. Thin yet comfortable, soft ear cushions. +

Controls: Actual buttons on the sides of the earcups, hard to find, easy to control. +-

Battery life: 40+ hours with ANC on. ++

Calling: Crisp voice, but background sounds can come through a little loud. Doable for phone and video calls. +

ANC: Removes darker and brighter distant sounds, and even reduces close-up chatter and tv sounds well. Great performance for the price. +

Sound: Warm with an engaging bass slam, clearer and more opened-up mids and highs than the $250 Sony WH-1000XM3 (!), decent detail, smooth vocals. A pleasant and balanced-out sound; can be tweaked completely via the iPhone/ Android app. Outstanding for the money. ++

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OneOdio A30 ($40)

Comfort/build: Bit heavy, but robust design. Thick cushions can press a bit; still comfortable enough. +-

Controls: Individual switch to turn ANC on/off without using the rest of the headphone; easy to find and press actual buttons. +

Battery life: 15 hours with ANC on. +-

Calling: Voice volume could have been higher, but surrounding noises are greatly left out of calls. Perfectly doable for indoor phone calls and video calls; decent for outside phone calls too. +

ANC: Noticeable white noise reduces constant background sounds and darker sounds well. Bright peaks still come through, however. +-

Sound: Balanced with a warm undertone, deep bass, natural instrumental presentation, and clear vocals. Closed soundstage. Sound is lighter and more balanced with ANC on, has increased bass with ANC off. Value king. ++

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Tranya H10 ($70)

Comfort/build: Decent materials, formal and subtle looks. Headband presses a bit, soft oval ear cushions. +

Controls: Easy to find controls on the right earcup, hold volume controls to switch tracks. +

Battery life: 18 hours with ANC on. +-

Calling: Gives you a semi-clear, warm voice - but hard to make outside phone calls with, as noises around you are barely reduced. Average for video calls. -

ANC: Softens brighter sounds, but darker sounds like accelerating vehicles and constant noises like traffic are still audible. Decent hear-trough mode. +

Sound: Warm sound with nice bass thump and upfront vocals, but becomes too congested in crowded songs. Has multipoint connection, so it can pick up and switch sound between your phone and laptop: neat. +-

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Mpow H12 IPO/ OneAudio A9 ($50)

Comfort/build: Cheap-looking plastic with seemingly vulnerable hinges. Hard headband, decent cushion padding. +-

Controls: Actual buttons that work like a charm, including an independent switch for turning ANC on or off. +

Battery life: 25+ hours with ANC on. +

Calling: Huge compression on the line, your voice is too soft, drowns in surroundings. Not recommended at all. --

ANC: Shows a lot of white noise, removes and reduces quite a bit of noise around you. +

Sound: Balanced representation of bass, clear mids with crisp sounding vocals and instruments like guitars. Its extended highs can cause some brightness. Vivid, sometimes too wild. +

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Tronsmart Apollo Q10 ($60)

Comfort/build: Both over-the-ear and on-ear; cushions press against your ears a bit. Formal if a bit cheap looks; feels decent. +-

Controls: Outstanding touch-controls on the right earcup: swipe to change tracks and volume. ++

Battery life: 50+ hours with ANC on. ++

Calling: Surrounding noises attack your voice, which can then change from soft and crisp to completely inaudible. --

ANC: Reduces volume of all frequencies... somewhat. It doesn't truly block anything, partly due to the on-ear fit. +-

Sound: Pleasantly balanced, with controlled brighter notes and natural-sounding (acoustic) instruments. Bass is only supportive. Doesn't go very loud; still vocals can become thin on the highest volume levels. +-

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Mpow H17 ($50)

Comfort/build: Tight-fitting ear cushions for smaller heads or kids, hard headband. Feels decent but makes your ears sweat. -

Controls: Easy to find actual buttons that could respond a little faster. +-

Battery life: 40+ hours with ANC on. ++

Calling: Reduces sounds around you decenty in phone calls and video calls, but compresses your voice - makes you sound tinny. +-

ANC: Removes some bass and humming, but lets through many brighter sounds, both distant and closeby. -

Sound: Engaging, upbeat sound with boosted bass and prominent vocals that even have a bit of air around them. Recessed mid-tones prevent a lot of detail from more acoustic instruments, but not bad. +

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Bluedio T7 Turbine ($40)

Comfort/build: Strongly built and spacious ear cushions, but grips tightly on your head due to its heavy weight. +-

Controls: You'll get used to the actual controls quick enough, but they require a bit of force. +

Battery life: 27 hours with ANC on. +

Calling: Highly compressed audio quality, lackluster voice output. Terrible for phone calls and video calls. --

ANC: Has two settings that barely remove any noise. The T7 can show a loud crackle when switching between the functions and has constant static hiss and humming. --

Sound: Warm, fairly detailed sound with a closed-in soundstage and artificial instrument placement. Bass and mid-vocals sound pretty good; underwhelming performance in faster, crowded songs. +-

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JBL E65BTNC ($100)

Comfort/build: Formal looks and well-built, with thick over-ear cushions that clamp tightly to your head’s sides. +-

Controls: Actual buttons at your fingertips respond well and decent. +

Battery life: 22 hours with ANC on. +-

Calling: Decent for indoor phone calls. Horrible for video calls as your voice is too soft, and there's too much compression going on. -

ANC: Silences a lot of noise around you, probably the best performance for its price. Unfortunately, it can reveal loud metallic clanks when you're using the mode, ruining the comfort of the ANC. +-

Sound: Not the engaging bassy JBL is known for from its Bluetooth speakers. Decent mid-bass, but flat and lifeless, with little detail and artificially restricted vocals. -

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Apple AirPods Max ($549) ****

Comfort/build: Sturdy. Wide, breathable cushions, extremely soft headband, but very heavy on the head. +-

Controls: Easy and brilliant - changing volume and pausing via the crown is a bliss, fast-switching between ANC and Transparency too. ++

Battery life: 20 hours with ANC or Transparency. +-

Calling: Crisp, clear, and very natural in Transparency mode - as if you're talking without a phone line in between. ++

ANC: Silences and reduces surrounding noises greatly; Transparency mode is world-class. ++

Sound: Rich and detailed mids, with excellent placement and representation of vocals and instruments. Engaging yet controlled bass, impressive (sub-)bass depth. Somewhat cold tonality. Costs way too much. ++

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Sony WH-1000XM3 ($200) ****

Comfort/build: Strong plastic, soft headband, and soft ear cushions that become hot after a little while. +-

Controls: Swipe to change volume and tracks, tap to pause, press buttons to switch between ANC modes: it all works smooth. +

Battery life: 25+ hours with ANC on. +

Calling: There is plenty of clarity for phone and video calls in silent areas, but it handles loud and outdoor situations terribly. +-

ANC: Silences almost everything around you; usable Transparency mode to hear surrounding noises. ++

Sound: Bass-focused, with a strong mid-bass thump and deep sub-bass rumbling. Heavily rolled-off upper-mids and highs make (higher female) vocals and higher-pitched instruments underwhelming. +-

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