4 Noise-Canceling Headphones Consumer Reports Says You Should Avoid

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Whether you're an everyday commuter who rides a bus or subway, or you share an office with chatty coworkers, one of the best investments you can make for your ears and sanity is a pair of active noise-canceling (ANC) headphones. These audio products use integrated microphones to capture and cancel out unwanted noise, so engine drone and colleague dialogue are all but vanquished. ANC headphones are also a dime a dozen, and there are just as many duds on the market as there are winners.

Luckily, Consumer Reports (CR) is constantly taking the pulse of the wearable audio sector and maintains several lists of best and worst consumer tech devices. To that end, we dug through CR's headphones roundup to find four of the worst pairs of noise-canceling headphones you should avoid at all costs. We were surprised by a couple of our selections, and even more shocked to discover that more than one pair of these inferior cans cost more than $100. 

If you're looking for cheap HDMI cables, the Amazon Basics label isn't the worst option. If you're shopping for noise-canceling headphones, though, your hard-earned cash shouldn't go toward a pair of the $32 Amazon Basics Hybrid ANC Headphones. CR wasn't too keen on the sound quality and noise-canceling of these cans, and that disdain is shared by numerous Amazon shoppers. At first glance, the product's 4.3 out of 5-star score (based on over 700 reviews) may lead one to think otherwise, but we dug a little deeper.

Many of the 2 and 3-star user reviews mention lackluster sound quality (with one person comparing them to freebie, in-flight headphones) and ANC that operates too lightly. One of the more recent reviews mentioned that the headphone controls stopped working after only six months, forcing the user to plug them in to power them down because the button-based "off" function no longer worked. We also read several call quality complaints, with the overall consensus being "muffled and laggy."

If there's any saving grace with the Amazon Basics Hybrid ANC, it's the $32 price for a pair of noise-canceling headphones. Amazon also claims you'll get up to 35 hours of battery life with ANC enabled, and 45 hours with ANC off. Still, an extra $20-30 puts you in a much better position, at least as far as performance and reliability are concerned.

Similar to Amazon Basics, Onn (Walmart's house brand) offers low-cost electronics that often punch above their weight class. But when it comes to ANC headphones, your funds are better spent elsewhere. The $49 Onn Wireless Over-Ear headphones are budget-friendly and hard to ignore, but they're near the top of CR's most-unliked headphones. Walmart's site shows a 3.9 out of 5-star ranking, based on over 270 reviews, and one particular issue kept coming up: overly-sensitive ear detection.

This is a common feature for modern headphones and earbuds that auto-pause media when onboard sensors can't detect skin. Unfortunately, Onn's version of this technology is far too aggressive, with users reporting that music pauses simply by turning their head a bit to one side. Somewhat humorously, one reviewer even said, "I can't listen with one ear uncovered because it continuously pauses. While chewing, it pauses. While talking, it pauses."

Many Walmart shoppers also mentioned low master volume, poor sound quality, and ANC that leaves much to be desired. They're also not foldable, making them tougher to travel with than other pairs of ANC headphones. On paper, $49 looks appealing, but not if you end up returning the headphones within days.

Anker's Soundcore sub-label is hailed by industry experts as one of the better options for inexpensive headphones and earbuds. But not every model can make the grade, and CR flagged the $150 Soundcore Space Q45 as cans you'll probably want to skip. When we looked at user feedback on Amazon (4.3 out of 5 stars, based on over 13,700 reviews), we were surprised by how many users complained the headphones were literally falling apart.

It seems everything from the plastic chassis to ear cup stitching is at risk of breaking, with a handful of customers reporting defective units right out of the box. One astute reviewer said the hinges fell apart, and thought the cause might be the actual weight of the ear cups themselves. Beyond these design flaws, a number of folks also took issue with the default sound quality being too muddy, though you can choose a different preset or build your own EQ in the free Soundcore app.

Anything over $100 is typical midrange territory for noise-canceling headphones, but it seems the Soundcore Space Q45 performs more like an entry-level product. One review even pointed out that the $80 Soundcore Q30 sounded better than the Space Q45, and they're more than $100 cheaper, too. When a brand's older and less-advanced headphones are recommended over the bigger, better buy, it's hard to make heads or tails of what that extra $70 you're spending is for in the first place.

On the one hand, the $240 Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 brings a beastly amount of bass to the table; so much in fact, that a couple of publications flagged bass output as a con instead of a pro. Over at CR, the Crusher ANC 2 fared better than other headphones we've discussed, but $240 is a lot to ask for a set of ANC cans that aren't near-perfect.

On Amazon, users handed down a 4.6 out of 5-star rating, based on over 3,900 reviews. But as we've learned, the real "dirt" hides in the 3 and 2-star blurbs. A handful of reviews mention that the Crusher ANC 2 is too heavy and that the ear cup buttons lack commands like track skipping. There was also a user who reported super-ineffective ANC that did nothing to deaden the sound of a lawnmower.

Another user reported a good amount of sound leakage, suggesting these Skullcandy cans may be distracting to coworkers. Our advice: if you're willing to spend up to $240 on a pair of ANC headphones, buy the Sony WH-1000XM5 when they're on sale instead. 

As part of our ongoing coverage of the best and worst products that Consumer Reports has reviewed, we started by selecting four of the worst-rated pairs of ANC headphones that were below average in more ways than one. We then took a look at sites like Amazon and Walmart to see what user feedback looked like for these CR selections, vetting hundreds of reviews to identify the most recurring issues.

We also leaned on professional, hands-on reviews from a few other publications that mirrored CR's low polling, and did our best to include strong alternatives that sound better, feel comfier, and cost less.