I compared nearly 20 of the best noise-cancelling headphones, and the two best cheap options have great deals right now

1. Audio
2. Headphones
3. Wireless Headphones

I compared nearly 20 of the best noise-cancelling headphones, and the two best cheap options have great deals right now Deals By Matt Bolton published 5 February 2026

Don't miss these budget bargains

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Future)

• Copy link
• Facebook
• X
• Whatsapp
• Reddit
• Pinterest
• Flipboard
• Threads
• Email

Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get the TechRadar Newsletter

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful

An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter

Recently, I overhauled our list of the best noise-cancelling headphones by filtering the options down to just under 20 prime candidates across the whole budget range, then testing them all against each other in a series of real-world tests.

The idea was not only to get a feel for how options at different price levels compare to each other, but also to compare them to the options above and below to assess which are really standout value.

And at the cheaper end of things, two stood out to me, and both have discounts right now in the build-up to the Presidents' Day sales, making them even better value.

The Amazon Basics Noise Cancelling Headphones are just $30 (was $36) at Amazon right now, and are the best option you can get at that price, in my view. And the 1More SonoFlow HQ51 are currently $70 (was $89) at Amazon, and are easily the best-value buy for their price – you have to go above $200 to really improve on them.

Amazon Basics Noise Cancelling Headphones: was US$36.97 now US$30.38 at Amazon

This doesn't look like a huge discount, but it's the cheapest I've ever seen these headphones for, and these are the cheapest noise-cancelling over-ear headphones that I'd actually recommend. The design and build don't look this cheap, and the well-balanced sound and noise cancellation don't either – and having tried them against the competition from the likes of Soundcore, these are the best $30 ANC headphones.

View Deal1More SonoFlow Pro HQ51: was US$89.99 now US$70.39 at Amazon

A note before we start: these fell as low as $59 over Black Friday, so this isn't their best-ever price – but they're still a stone-cold bargain compared to almost any other headphones at this price. Noise cancellation to match the Sony WH-1000XM4 in real-world use (which costs three times as much), great audio quality, a very comfortable fit, and giant battery life – we raved about these in our full 1More SonoFlow HQ51 review.

View Deal

I tested the noise-cancellation effectiveness of these headphones in four trials based on real-world use cases. I was testing for both higher and lower frequencies (because performance can be quite different across these areas), and for their ability to handle both consistent droning noises (like a plane engine or air conditioning) and more inconsistent noises (like people talking).

So my tests consisted of the following:

Swipe to scroll horizontallyRow 0 - Cell 0

Droning sound

Chaotic sound

Higher frequency

2m away from a hair dryer

Sitting in a busy café

Lower frequency

1m away from a microwave

Standing by road traffic

And here were my final scores for all the headphones I compared, including the options I'm recommending here (highlighted in bold). I think the 'chaotic' tests are the most important for real-world effectiveness, so I weight their scores at double the weight of the droning scores.

Swipe to scroll horizontallyWeighted scores

Model

Total score

Hair dryer

Microwave

Traffic (2x)

Café (2x)

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen)

29.5

4.5

5

5

5

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones

29.5

4.5

5

5

5

Sony WH-1000XM6

28

5

5

4.5

4.5

Sonos Ace

28

4.5

4.5

4.5

5

Bose QuietComfort Headphones

27

4.5

4.5

4.5

4.5

AirPods Max

26

4

5

4

4.5

Sony WH-1000XM5

24

4

4

4

4

Sony WH-1000XM4

23

4

4

3.5

4

Cambridge Audio P100 SE

23

3.5

3.5

3.5

4.5

1More Sonoflow HQ51

22

3.5

3.5

3.5

4

Nothing Headphone (1)

22

3

4

3.5

4

Sennheiser Accentum Plus

19.5

3

3.5

3

3.5

Amazon Basics

17

2

3

2.5

3.5

Soundcore Q30

15.5

2.5

2

2.5

3

Soundcore Q20i

15

2.5

2.5

2

3

Audio-Technica ATH-S300BT

13.5

3

2.5

1

3

Runolim WH301A

9.5

1

2.5

1

2

As you can see, the 1More massively outperformed its price – it beat headphones that cost twice as much and performs at about the same level as Sony headphones that go for $200 or more.

The Amazon Basics were easily the best of the more budget bunch, and nearly performed as well as Sennheiser headphones that cost 5x as much – though the Sennheiser headphones naturally have much better sound quality that feels worth the extra money, and lots of extra features up their sleeves, too.

But still, if it's good-sounding headphones with nice designs, good build quality, and the best noise cancellation you can get at their price brackets, then these two are picks, especially for these prices.

Today's best Amazon Basics Hybrid Noise Cancelling Headphones deals No price informationCheck Amazon SingaporeWe check over 250 million products every day for the best pricesToday's best 1More SonoFlow Pro HQ51 deals SG$121.89View Deal SG$128.18View Deal SG$128.44View DealShow moreWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices

More of today's best Presidents' Day sales

• Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $99
• Best Buy: $1,000 off TVs, laptops & headphones
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lenovo: 45% off laptops & tablets
• Lowe's: up to 40% off appliances, furniture & tools
• Samsung: up to $2,000 off appliances, TVs & phones
• Target: 40% off clothing, tech & furniture
• Walmart: furniture, cheap TVs & vacs from $69
• Wayfair: 54% off furniture, rugs & decor

Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Matt BoltonSocial Links NavigationManaging Editor, Entertainment

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Entertainment, meaning he's in charge of persuading our team of writers and reviewers to watch the latest TV shows and movies on gorgeous TVs and listen to fantastic speakers and headphones. It's a tough task, as you can imagine. Matt has over a decade of experience in tech publishing, and previously ran the TV & audio coverage for our colleagues at T3.com, and before that he edited T3 magazine. During his career, he's also contributed to places as varied as Creative Bloq, PC Gamer, PetsRadar, MacLife, and Edge. TV and movie nerdism is his speciality, and he goes to the cinema three times a week. He's always happy to explain the virtues of Dolby Vision over a drink, but he might need to use props, like he's explaining the offside rule.

View More

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Logout Read more Want some cheap noise-cancelling headphones that are actually good this Black Friday? Here are 3 we love based on real-world testing    The best cheap noise canceling headphone sales and deals for January 2026    The best wireless headphones, chosen by our experts for all budgets    The best headphones you can buy today, all tested by our experts    Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: cheap ANC headphones with a few too many flaws    The best travel headphones for all budgets, chosen by our jet-setting reviewers    Latest in Wireless Headphones Cheaper Nothing over-ear headphones are reportedly on their way soon    Sonos is ready to release new products in 2026 after a year of cancelations    One of the best cheap audio makers has new ANC headphones for a silly price    I love this hidden feature on my Sony headphones, but you may not know it even exists    The AI-led memory prices rises will hit TVs and audio tech too in 2026    Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: cheap ANC headphones with a few too many flaws    Latest in Deals ExpressVPN slashes prices for Valentine’s Day – here’s how to save up to 81%    Experience Super Bowl LX like a local with this VPN that's superb at streaming Peacock and NBC    Surfshark just made my favorite deal even cheaper — get all of Surfshark's best features now for only $2.29 per month    Thinking of tightening your digital security? This Keeper password manager deal cuts up to 50% off plans for safer online accounts    I was suprised when I saw that this VPN was less than $3 per month, and that it includes advanced features for that price, too — here's how you can grab yours    Norton VPN just dropped exclusive prices for TechRadar readers on new two-year plans — here's how to get the best deal for you    LATEST ARTICLES

1. 1Is that a mini PC or a NES? Acemagic Retro X3 features some familiar casing, but with a welcome hardware boost inside
2. 2Bulletproof hosting providers renting cheap infrastructure to supply virtual machines to ransomware hackers
3. 3I tested the Notta Memo and ditched handwritten notes for searchable AI transcripts
4. 4AI bot web traffic is closing in on human usage, experts warn
5. 5Guerrilla announces Horizon Zero Dawn spin-off Horizon Hunters Gathering, a 'tactical' 3-player co-op action game coming to PS5 and PC