Amazon Prime Day is one of the best times of the year to buy those pricey electronics that you’ve been eyeing, such as a great pair of noise-canceling headphones that actually block out noise. And right now, two of the best pairs of noise-canceling headphones are available for markedly reduced prices. Sony’s flagship WH-1000XM5 Bluetooth headphones are on sale for $300 at Amazon (click the coupon box). This matches the lowest price ever at Amazon. The XM5s were briefly available for this price earlier this year.
Amazon’s XM5 deal is slightly hidden, as you need to click the coupon box on the listing to subtract $98 from the price. Only the black model is eligible for the coupon deal. Amazon’s coupon discounts often don’t remain available for as long as traditional deals.
Alternatively, you can get the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones, which released last summer, for $349. Four different color options are eligible for this deal, and the offer is also available at Best Buy as part of the retailer’s Black Friday in July Sale.
There’s a lot of great technology packed into the XM5 headphones, but it’s the noise-canceling features that make them one of the best around. This iteration uses what Sony calls “Auto NC Optimizer” to automatically adjust the noise-canceling function based on your wearing conditions and environment, resulting in excellent audio isolation.
Beyond that, the headset itself has a lightweight design with soft leather, the new Integrated Processor V1 provides a sumptuous range of Bluetooth-powered sound for your music-listening sessions, and its battery life can last up to 30 hours. If you’re in a rush, you can easily grab a few hours of playback from just a few minutes of charging. The headphones come with a hardshell carrying case to keep them safe when not in use and while traveling.
The other big selling feature here is the selection of touch control settings that will allow you to pause, play, skip tracks, control volume, activate your voice assistant, and answer phone calls.
The QuietComfort Ultra headphones offer many of the same features as the XM5s, including superb noise cancellation. In this department, Bose’s and Sony’s premium headphones are hard to distinguish from each other. You can’t go wrong with either if you’re looking for headphones with noise cancellation.
The Ultras are a tad comfier thanks to a better headband design. Both pairs have swiveling earcups, but unlike the XM5s, the Ultras have a foldable design which leads to a smaller footprint for the included carrying case. The Ultras also have touch controls as well as aware (ambient) and quiet (noise-canceling) modes. Battery life isn’t quite as good, as the Ultras only offer up to 24 hours on a full charge, and the fast-charging feature isn’t as fast (15 minutes for 2.5 hours versus three minutes for three hours with the XM5s).
We’ve rounded up some of the notable Bluetooth headphone and earbud deals for Amazon Prime Day and Best Buy Black Friday in July below.