Noise cancelling earbuds that actually work

Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) has the best record for noise cancelling: 37 of 37 shoppers who mentioned it said it blocked out the noise around them, and the most reviewers weighed in on it. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds is the best pick sold on Amazon at 18 of 21, and Apple AirPods 4 has the weakest record here at 21 of 27. A clear majority of shoppers were happy with all three. This page only counts earbuds sold with noise cancelling.

  • 101 store reviews counted
  • Target shoppers
  • Oct 2022 to Oct 2026

Updated . How we count

Does the noise cancelling work? What shoppers said
  1. Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) 37 said either way
  2. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 21 said either way
  3. Apple AirPods 4 27 said either way

Share of shoppers who stated an outcome for noise cancelling. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Best record Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) 37 of 37 say the noise cancelling works
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Best pick on Amazon Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 18 of 21 say the noise cancelling works See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

Apple sits at both ends of this list. The Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) is unanimous at 37 of 37, while 16% of Apple AirPods 4 reviews call the cancelling weak.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points shoppers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1

Apple

AirPods Pro (1st generation)

Best for Noise blocking and sound

37/37 say the noise cancelling works

Every one of the 37 shoppers who judged the noise cancelling said it worked. 30% also praise the sound and 25% call it comfortable. Price is the complaint that comes up, in 5% of reviews.

What shoppers praise

  • Good sound 30%
  • Comfortable 25%
  • Stay in 15%
  • Good battery 8%
  • Good mic 5%

What shoppers complain about

  • Too expensive 5%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 37 of 37
  • Brand site 3 of 3 shown, not counted

Share of 40 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

2 Bose QuietComfort Earbuds

Bose

QuietComfort Earbuds

18/21 say the noise cancelling works

Connection trouble is the issue here, not the noise cancelling. 35% of reviews mention connection issues and 22% say the pair stopped working, yet 18 of 21 still said it blocked noise well. 61% praise the sound, and Bose's own site is unanimous at 9 of 9, which we show but don't count.

What shoppers praise

  • Good sound 61%
  • Comfortable 22%
  • Good value 13%
  • Fits small ears 9%

What shoppers complain about

  • Connection issues 35%
  • Stopped working 22%
  • Uncomfortable 13%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 18 of 21
  • Brand site 9 of 9 shown, not counted
3

Apple

AirPods 4

21/27 say the noise cancelling works

Noise cancelling worked for 21 of 27, but 6 called it weak, which makes this the weakest record here. 13% praise the sound and 11% call it comfortable. Others mention falling out (5%) and battery problems (5%), each at small shares.

What shoppers praise

  • Good sound 13%
  • Comfortable 11%
  • Good value 5%

What shoppers complain about

  • Stopped working 5%
  • Weak sound 5%
  • Fall out 5%
  • Battery problems 5%
  • Uncomfortable 5%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 21 of 27
  • Brand site 4 of 4 shown, not counted

Where these numbers come from

The 3 products ranked here carry 4,240 reviews at Target. We read the newest reviews of each product (up to a thousand per listing), kept the ones that talk about noise cancelling, and counted up to 40 per product, posted between Oct 2022 and Oct 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (2 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Target also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. We show them on product cards but never count them, because brand-site reviews run more positive than store reviews of the same products.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most shoppers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) Target (40 reviews counted)
  2. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Target (23 reviews counted)
  3. Apple AirPods 4 Target (38 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which earbuds block noise well?

Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) has the best record at 37 of 37, then Bose QuietComfort Earbuds at 18 of 21 and Apple AirPods 4 at 21 of 27. Shoppers tend to mention noise cancelling when it stands out, good or bad, so read the shares as a guide and not a test.

Do AirPods 4 block noise well?

Mostly, but Apple AirPods 4 has the weakest record here at 21 of 27, and 16% of its reviews call the cancelling weak. Check the listing for active noise cancelling before you buy.

What goes wrong with the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds?

Shoppers rarely blame the noise cancelling, since 3 of 21 called it weak. The complaints are connection issues in 35% of reviews and the pair stopping working in 22%.

Why isn't a budget pair on this page?

This page only ranks earbuds sold with noise cancelling. Pairs without it can still block some sound with a snug fit, but that is a different thing, so we leave them out here.

Related problems

Headphones Noise cancelling headphones that actually work Top pick: Bose QuietComfort Headphones 283 shopper reports Wireless earbuds Earbuds with good sound quality Top pick: Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) 252 shopper reports Wireless earbuds Comfortable earbuds Top pick: Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) 250 shopper reports Wireless earbuds Earbuds that stay in Top pick: JLab Go Air Sport 246 shopper reports

HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.