The best noise-cancelling headphones are a must-have for all forms of public transport, as anyone who's worn a pair on a flight or a train commute to and from work will tell you. ANC headphones have gone from strength-to-strength over the past couple of years, with many models improving their audio performances compared to predecessors.

The pick of models below represent the greatest ANC over-ear headphones across we've seen (and heard). Over-ear headphones often have superior noise-canceling performance as the earcups form a seal around the ears.

Read on to discover what are the best noise-cancelling headphones you can buy right now.

1.Bose QuietComfort Ultra

Best-ever over-ear headphones for noise-canceling

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones are the best ANC headphones overall. As the replacement for the Bose 700, the company has raised the bar yet again for active noise-canceling headphones, effectively silencing outside world around you. The new model throws in Immersive Audio tech and plenty of extras including Bluetooth 5.3 with multipoint connectivity, aptX Adaptive support, and touch volume control. This all comes in an all-new modern and lightweight design that's comfortable enough to be worn for hours.

There are multiple levels of noise cancelation to balance the level of quiet with Aware mode (transparency) to suite your surroundings. Battery life has been extended to give up to 24 hours, while changes made to the controls and design make usability more practical and seamless.

2.Sony WH-1000XM5

Best balance of elite sound and noise-canceling performance

Sony has been steadily closing the noise-cancelling gap on Bose, and the new Sony WH-1000XM5 comes closer than ever to beating the Bose 700 in terms of its ANC performance. It has two processors controlling eight microphones, where the 1000XM4 (still on sale and regularly discounted) before it had just one processor controlling four, and the result in our testing is near-seamless ANC.

During our testing we found that sound quality is superb, the 30-hour battery life (with ANC) is excellent and everything from the touch controls to the ability to tweak the EQ via the Sony Headphones Connect app is well thought out and seamlessly integrated. Call quality has also been improved greatly and there's really nothing to criticize here beyond the slightly bland styling and the $50 price increase over the XM4.

3.Apple AirPods Max

The best noise-cancelling headphones for iOS

Although there’s only one level of active noise cancellation on the ultra-premium AirPods Max, it works like a charm. The cans do a great job of blocking out ambient sounds, especially at the lower end of the frequency spectrum. It’s almost as good as Bose’s ANC, which is a fine showing for Apple’s first pair of over-ears.

Elsewhere, the AirPods Max sound great, especially with the surround-sound spatial audio feature switched on, and their design standards and build quality are so high you can almost forget that these headphones cost $549. That’s a lot more than the Sony and Bose headphones higher up the list, so this is a luxury purpose, but can very much be a worthwhile one.