Best Noise-Cancelling Headphones Under $100: 5 Tested (2026)

Active noise cancellation under $100 used to be a punchline. You’d get a thin foam press against your ears, a battery that lasted a flight to the next state over, and ANC that handled an air conditioner if you were lucky. In 2026 that has changed, and it has changed faster than most reviewers will admit. Sony, Soundcore, Edifier, and 1More all sell sub-$100 cans now that genuinely silence an airline cabin.

I tested seven of the most-recommended budget ANC headphones over six weeks: a 14-hour flight from JFK to Tokyo, two coffee shops with hissing espresso machines, a New York City subway commute, and a noisy open-plan office. Five of them earned a place here. The other two were not embarrassing, just not worth your money when these exist.

Quick picks

• Best overall under $100: Soundcore Space Q45. Best ANC at this price, full stop. 50 hours of battery, LDAC, and a build that does not feel cheap.
• Best for flights: Sony WH-CH720N. Sony’s “lite” ANC tech, lighter than anything else here, and the most natural sound profile.
• Best sound for music lovers: 1More SonoFlow. The most balanced tuning of the bunch and the only set with hi-res audio certification at this price.
• Best for calls: Edifier W820NB Plus. Six microphones, the cleanest voice pickup we tested, and a foldable design.
• Best ultra-budget: Soundcore Life Q30. Three years old now and still the answer if you can find it under $60.

How we tested

Each pair ran the same five-test gauntlet: a one-hour subway commute (low-frequency rumble), a two-hour coffee shop session (vocal chatter and clattering dishes), a 90-minute Zoom call to test mic clarity, a music listening session with the same 30-track playlist across five genres, and a sleep test on a transatlantic flight. ANC was scored on perceived noise reduction in dB and on whether voices were still intelligible at the next table. Battery was tested at 60% volume with ANC on until the headphones died.

1. Soundcore Space Q45 – Best overall

The Space Q45 is the budget ANC headphone I keep recommending to friends. Soundcore has been chasing Sony and Bose for half a decade and on this model they finally landed something that holds its own against headphones twice the price. The ANC is the headline. On the subway it dropped the train rumble to a faint thrum that you have to concentrate to notice. In the coffee shop it muted the espresso grinder entirely and reduced background chatter to a soft murmur.

The 50-hour battery is not a typo. With ANC on, at moderate volume, I went from a full charge through ten days of two-hour daily use before the low-battery warning. With ANC off, the figure climbs to 65. The other genuinely useful spec is LDAC support, which most sub-$200 headphones drop to save licensing costs. If you have an Android phone or a hi-res music subscription, you can actually hear the difference.

Sound tuning is bass-forward by default but the Soundcore app has a real EQ with custom curves and HearID, which calibrates the sound to your hearing. After 10 minutes in the app I had a flatter, more accurate sound profile than the out-of-box presets on competitors costing twice as much.

2. Sony WH-CH720N – Best for flights

If you fly more than a couple of times a year, the CH720N is the pick. Sony shaved this thing down to 192 grams, which is genuinely lighter than my reading glasses, and after eight hours on the JFK-Narita leg I forgot they were on. The Soundcore Space Q45 is heavier and after six hours my ears were warm. The CH720N stayed comfortable the whole way.

Sony put their V1 processor in this thing, which is the same chip that powered the WH-1000XM4 (their $350 flagship two years ago). The ANC is not as aggressive as the Soundcore on the subway, but on the steady drone of an airline cabin it was the best of the bunch. Voices in the next row dropped to nothing. The engine hum became something you’d only notice if you took the headphones off.

Sound tuning is the most natural in this group. Sony has a house sound that prioritizes the midrange and vocals, and on jazz and acoustic recordings these sound noticeably less hyped than the Soundcore. The downside: the bass is restrained, which is great for an audiobook and less great if you mostly listen to hip-hop or EDM.

3. 1More SonoFlow – Best sound for music lovers

1More is a Chinese brand most American buyers haven’t heard of, and the SonoFlow is the headphone that should change that. The tuning is done by Luca Bignardi, a Grammy-winning mastering engineer 1More has on retainer, and the difference is audible immediately. Compared with the Soundcore Space Q45, the SonoFlow has a cleaner midrange, less bloated bass, and better instrument separation. On well-recorded jazz it was the only headphone in this group I could listen to critically without wishing for an EQ.

ANC is good but not class-leading, which is the trade-off. On the subway the SonoFlow let through more of the rumble than the Soundcore did. In a coffee shop it was equivalent. For most people this is fine. If you’re buying primarily to silence a commute, get the Soundcore. If you’re buying primarily to listen to music, get this.

4. Edifier W820NB Plus – Best for calls

The W820NB Plus is the headphone you buy if you spend half your week on Zoom. Edifier put six microphones in this thing and the AI processing genuinely works. I tested it on a 90-minute Google Meet from a coffee shop and the other side could not hear the espresso machine, the conversation at the next table, or the door chime. The Soundcore and Sony picks are passable on calls. The Edifier is the first sub-$100 ANC headphone where I’d happily take a client call from a noisy environment.

The downside is sound quality. It’s fine but not exceptional. The bass is a little loose, the highs are a little hot. If you’re buying primarily for music, get the SonoFlow. If you’re buying primarily for work, get this.

5. Soundcore Life Q30 – Best ultra-budget

The Q30 came out in 2020 and Soundcore is still selling it because nothing else under $60 has caught up. It is not as good as the Space Q45. The ANC is a step behind, the battery is shorter, the build is plasticky in places. But it has the most comfortable ear cups of any headphone in this entire test, the ANC is genuinely effective, and you can buy it for less than two cocktails. If your budget caps out at $60, this is what you buy.

What to look for in sub-$100 ANC headphones

• Hybrid ANC, not just feedforward. Hybrid means a mic outside AND inside the ear cup. It is meaningfully better at cancelling steady noise. All five picks above are hybrid.
• Battery with ANC on, not off. Marketing copy loves to quote the ANC-off number. Look for the ANC-on figure – that’s what you’ll actually get.
• LDAC if you have an Android phone. LDAC is the highest-quality Bluetooth codec and it’s the difference between Spotify sounding fine and sounding good. iPhone users can ignore this; Apple still doesn’t support it.
• Multipoint pairing. If you switch between a phone and a laptop a dozen times a day, this is the feature you’ll miss most when it’s missing.
• Foldable for travel. Surprisingly few headphones at this price fold flat. The Edifier and Sony do; the Soundcores don’t.

FAQ

Is sub-$100 ANC actually as good as Sony WH-1000XM5 or Bose QC Ultra?

Not quite, but the gap has narrowed dramatically. The Soundcore Space Q45 cancels around 90% of what a Sony WH-1000XM5 does for a third of the price. If you’re a frequent flier or audiophile, the flagship is still worth it. For everyone else, the budget picks above are genuinely good enough.

Will any of these work with the iPhone?

Yes – all five connect over standard Bluetooth and work with iOS the way any other Bluetooth headphone does. You will lose LDAC support (Apple doesn’t allow it), but ANC, multipoint, EQ, and the companion apps all work normally.

How long do the batteries actually last with daily use?

Two to three years before noticeable capacity loss. The Soundcore and 1More picks have user-serviceable battery cells if you’re handy with electronics. The Sony does not. After three years even the best of these will start dropping by a couple of hours per charge.

Which one would you actually buy?

If I were buying once and wanted the best all-around pair: the Soundcore Space Q45. If I traveled by air more than once a month: the Sony CH720N. If music quality mattered to me more than ANC: the 1More SonoFlow. None of those answers is wrong.