[Closed] recommend me some Bluetooth headphones .£250ish

Before you spend that much on Bluetooth phones, seriously check out the Sony WHCH700N phones.I have tried lots of different ones right up to the Sony WH1000XM3 and reckon the sound quality is nearly as good. They have noise cancelling but it isn’t up to the standard of the more expensive models, I suppose it depends on your priorities. I am really not sure that Bluetooth headphones have the ultimate sound quality of wired models, a lot of the cash seems to go into noise cancelling rather than sound quality. For non noise cancelling, the Bowers and Wilkins phones are well recommended.

I've got the Sony XM3 which I got for something silly like £180. Word how Amazon prices move. They are awesome.

Based on what I have, if using them out in the real world, the noise cancelling on these is ace. Sound is very good, too.

Excellent battery life.

https://www.johnlewis.com/bose-quietcomfort-noise-cancelling-qc35-ii-over-ear-wireless-bluetooth-nfc-headphones-with-mic-remote-built-in-google-assistant-alexa/black/p4211033

Have heard good things about those new Sony, and if/when my Bose give up the ghost, I'll be looking at them. The newest Bose models look fugly and fragile to me.

Just about every review site of any note says the Sony XM3 are the absolute best currently available.

Depending on your taste in music, I have some Plantronics Backbeat Pro 2 which are also excellent, especially for bass heavy electronic music.

I’m going to get a pair of Beats Solo 3’s after Christmas, to replace my old Beats Solo HD’s. I use a music player on my phone with an 11-band equaliser, so I can tweak things to get a better midrange.
Thing is, I’ve got a replacement cable with a Lightning connector on one end, and the Solo 3’s are the only BT ‘phones which still have the 3.5mm jack, so I can use them wired as well as wireless, which is a big advantage.
The latest Beats ‘phones have a much better sound balance than mine anyway, so any adjustment is going to be fairly subtle.
My Christmas bonus this year is going to come in very useful...

I thought they might be pushing it budget-wise, but I bought a pair of those Bose QC35 II's earlier in the year as a final last gasp attempt to block out my colleague's *constant* grunting, sniffing, slurping and throat-clearing.

We can now co-habit the same small office space without my wanting to throttle him every 20-30 seconds.

If they break, I'll buy them again. And again.

I’m new to noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones but a new train commute forced my hand. I bought the Sony XM3, nothing short of amazing. They envelope you in a world of silence or music and make journeys less tiring. Very long battery life too.

Sony XM3 are my favourite purchase in the last year - used them on various plane trips and they make the journey so much nicer. Pretty comfortable, battery life is great, and noise cancelling is incredible.

Sony XM2s which I use for music \ noise cancelling in the office and commuting by train. They're brilliant, given the XM3 are even better they must be incredible! Would definitely be what I'll be buying if the XM2s ever die on me. All reviews I've read in the last year rank the XM3s no 1 for over ear bluetooth.

First off avoid beats if you want good natural believable sound ... they’ll just get tiring to listen to after twenty minutes.
The Bose 35 have just had an firmware update that’s spoilt them but apart from that they a good.
The Sony’s are spot on with very good sound and a great app to tune the sound but are very plastic.
I went with the B&W px as to me they sounded more natural and alive with out being tiring plus I’ve worn them for up to five hours without my ears aching , the build quality is amazing and they can be used wired too .
I hope that helps

Not outer ear nut I had B&O E8s with an iPhone and found they were a mare to connect, I took them back to JL in under a month, I’d make sure you can return them if not happy.

I bought the QC35 II's over the Sonys because they are more comfortable for all-day use.

I work from home and basically wore them for 8hrs a day while my wife was home on maternity leave for a year with Mini-Batfink 2nd. They've been absolutely faultless - I'd buy them again based on their performance, but the Sonys look like they have come down in price significantly, so would be tempted.

I have the wired Bose QCs, the noise cancelling is so effective (and useful) that I'd get the wireless ones without hesitation if I needed a set.

Had my heart set on some PX's (I have some wired P3's and love them) but then tried on the Sony XM3's and was immediately smitten.

They're not as 'artisan' construction wise as B&W but in terms of, comfort, noise cancellation and sound they really are astonishingly good. Sat here wearing them now in my noisy, echoey, distracting office, there are numerous projects and reports I wouldn't have delivered on time if it weren't for these beasties.

Fair play Sony, fair play.

reluctantwrinkly

Member
Before you spend that much on Bluetooth phones, seriously check out the Sony WHCH700N phones

I've got these and they're bloody brilliant, battery life is also immense.

I've got some lower end Sony noise cancelling bluetooth headphones.

They are very good, but recently while in John Lewis I tried some of their more expensive models.
They really are amazing - definitely a noticeable step-up from mine; although for the price, mine are pretty good.

If you have the option, it's definitely worth getting along to a shop to try as things like fit on your head shape will really make a difference for prolonged use.

The one thing to note about Sony headphones - I don't know if they still have this, but the ones I have use 3 different types of BT connection. Basically put, they are 1) best connection stability, worst sounds quality, 2) compromise on connection & sound quality & 3) worst connection stability, best sound quality.
I changed mine immediately to 3 & have never had a connection issue, but I think they come out of the box set with the best connection/worst sound option.

I have the older Sonys. The WH-1000XM2. I think they are fantastic. Initially when I was trying all the different ones in the shops I thought they all sounded a bit lifeless. Then I discovered that I didn't have Spotify on the highest quality setting. That made a huge difference. I really wanted to like the B and W PX headphones but they weren't as good and also as a glasses wearer the foam was too hard and they don't fold up.

A number of us have the different generations of the Sony ones from 1 to 3. I can't tell the difference and considering CEX sell the earliest ones for under £100 with a two year guarantee I'd save some money and go down that route.

Another good thing with Sony is they fold well and you get a really tough case if that's important to you.

My ears started to not like inner ear/ ear bud style headphones, because of this I went back to the free wired apple headphones which came with my phone. Actually liked the shape in the end so picked up some second hand airpods to "try" as I was dubious about them, but they are good, never had them fall out, sync up with an iPhone really well too.

I went through this last year and chose the QC35 II Bose, I preferred the sound and experienced less of the "cabin pressure" feeling with the Sony XM3 but I also found that the cups themselves were less comfortable on the XM3 as the foam seemed to be much harder. This made a difference mostly because of my wearing glasses, the XM3 pressed on the frame pushing the glasses into the sides of my head.

A year later and I can't say i regret it, the Bose still look and feel like new, deliver (to my ears) very good sound and the noise cancelling works well although with the seal from the over ear cups I don't actually need to use it very often. I tend to use them daily, although mostly in the evenings occasionally I have to resort to them at work because of building work going on nearby.

Most annoying thing about them is the silly cable connection using a 2.5mm mini-jack on the headset end for when I do chose to go wired.