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To me, there's no better way to spend several hours of my time than in a packed airplane, squished next to strangers, 30,000 feet in the air, traversing through time and space. I hate flying (in case you didn't pick up the sarcasm) so a solid pair of headphones to watch hours of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" is a must to make it bearable.
Also: Best headphones and earbuds of 2025
There are plenty of headphones and earbuds that are great in their own right, but the real test is taking a pair through a major airport and on a flight. Over the past six weeks, I took five pairs of headphones through airports in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and New York City -- multiple times -- and assessed each of their performance.
Traveling to New York from Atlanta twice, and to L.A. from Atlanta twice, I wore the Sonos Ace, Sony WH-1000XM6, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen), AirPods Pro 3, and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen). Here's how each pair excelled, as well as some areas where they fell short.
Sonos Ace: ATL to LGA round-trip
Jada Jones/ZDNET
The good: comfort, sound, ANC
The Sonos Ace are easily the most comfortable pair of over-ear headphones I've worn, even more so than Bose. Although my flight from Atlanta to New York City was only two and a half hours, I could've kept them on for at least four more hours. The Ace have a comfortable and relaxed clamping force, a plushy headband, and spacious earcups padded with memory foam.
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