Best OVER-EAR Bluetooth / Wireless Headphones under $400 for 2023

scrimshaw on 07/02/2023 - 20:26

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Question

What is the best Over-Ear BT Headphones under $400 in 2023?

Results from 2022 shows that most of you voted for the Sony WH-1000XM4 (the same as 2021's poll), then followed by the Bose QuietComfort 45. The Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 took third place.

Over-ear headphones are bulkier than their in-ear or on-ear counterparts, but the benefit of having headphones sitting over, rather than on or inside your ears means they're much more comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

Some of the things you need to look out for in a pair of headphones apart from their sound quality:

  • Open back or closed headphone types
  • Optional detachable Wired connection cable
  • Built in microphones for smartphone usage
  • Boom microphone for gaming
  • Whether they support being connected to a game console, such as Xbox Series and PlayStation 5
  • Active Noise Cancelling features
  • Sizing of the earcups and their materials (affecting comfort)

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This is part of What Should I Buy poll for 2023. Check out other recommendations from the OzBargain community.
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closed Comments

  • BewareOfThe Dog on 07/02/2023 - 21:16

    I bought Sony wh1000xm5 refurbs for $340 a few weeks back. Bloody good.

    • idonotknowwhy on 08/02/2023 - 12:54

      Why my mx3's die; if I can't fix them, I'll get mx4's because I prefer the form factor.

      • albert0pia on 01/07/2023 - 18:08

        What went wrong with them?

        • jv on 15/12/2023 - 09:49

          they died.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 07/02/2023 - 21:42

    I like many others got the xm5’s for under $400 through tggc - does this count?

    • fredblogs on 24/08/2023 - 19:52

      not there anymore :(

  • Kangal on 07/02/2023 - 23:32

    I'd go Bose QC45, Sony XM5, Sony XM4.
    No need for Bose 700, Sennheiser, and other brands at this price.

    For lower budget, there are options too.

    • [Deactivated] on 08/02/2023 - 11:11
      +1

      I'm such a sucker for how the Bose 700 looks though.

    • fredblogs on 24/08/2023 - 19:52

      Why QC45 over Bose 700?

      • Kangal on 26/08/2023 - 14:09
        +1

        It's newer, cheaper, more portable, and wears tighter (better for walkers/runners/movers/gymrats).

        The Bose 700 is a higher level/brand and it had it's place in the market for having actually usable microphones. But the newer QC45s and it's successors now have those good microphones, so there's not much market or need for the Bose 700. The reason one would pick them up instead is for subjective reasons like aesthetics or prefering looser wearing cups.

  • theMoebius on 08/02/2023 - 11:52
    Suggested Technics EAH-A800

    Love my Technics EAH-A800 - sound fantastic (to me) and comfortable to wear for extended periods, plus have insanely-good battery life.

    Haven't personally tried the others on the list but reviewers tend to rate the above points, and the mic quality for calls, however the ANC is apparently not quite as good as Sony/Bose.

    RRP is steep but they often seem to be on sale below $400.

    • notJV on 25/05/2023 - 09:52
      +1

      Another vote for the Technics here. I have a pair, and they sound amazing, week long battery life, mic is good for Teams calls, very comfortable to wear for long periods of time. On the other hand, the ANC is a bit so/so, but thats the only drawback.

      Highly recommend them.

  • wordplay on 10/02/2023 - 18:25

    own the Sony WH-1000XM4 have had multiple people say they can not hear me properly when using them on phonecalls. is fine if i switch to cheaper sonys or any $40 headphones, it is annoying and seem to be a known issue when i looked it up.

    • User102430 on 15/02/2023 - 17:49

      Returned mine for the same reason. Call quality on Bose's (either QC35 or 700) is fantastic.

      • fredblogs on 24/08/2023 - 19:44

        But music on Bose is not as good. Wonder if XM5 fixes this

  • jcdenton on 07/03/2023 - 18:58

    Not under $400 yet, but I got the Momentum 4's for $450 with price protection last week, I expect they'll drop in price later this year. For the battery life and noise cancelling I think they're worth the price.

  • babyyodathethird on 12/03/2023 - 17:45
    Suggested Sennheiser HD 450BT

    Often goes for $150, along with the Sennheiser HD 458BT (A red recolor).

    Honestly for the price its AMAZING. The sound quality is pretty similar to the XM4s but its a lot less popular for sure.

  • Yapapi on 30/03/2023 - 11:27
    Suggested Yamaha YH-E700A

    Superb sound quality and extremely comfortable (wearing these right through my work day). Regularly available in the low to mid $200s.

  • Lululuke on 04/04/2023 - 12:50

    If just for music, XM3s are a great options too, not much difference between them and the XM4s. I have XM3 and are very happy. I would get the XM4 if they died, not interested in the XM5, a couple of known issues with the noise cancelling.

  • Ozzy bar on 23/05/2023 - 11:11

    They are good for music but failed latency when streaming (my prime use). Vocals v lip movement all over the place. Sometimes slow, sometimes fast and sometimes in synch. I returned mine for a refund.

    • mctubster on 23/05/2023 - 17:59
      +1

      Bluetooth is at the edge for video / audio latency, and it can very depending on the codec and signal strength / interference. APTX-LL can help but needs an expensive transmitter and headphone support (Momentum 3s do for example)

  • CandyMan on 11/07/2023 - 20:12

    The noise cancelling mic on the Bose 700NC is quite good making it the best option for wfh in my case. Nothing seems to beat it’s mic atm. After long hrs my ear lobes to start hurting if there was something more comfortable with similar quality mic’s I would switch straight away.

  • picant on 04/08/2023 - 15:35

    What about TaoTronics? I own TaoTronics TT-BH22 which is an old model so I don't want to add it to the poll. Mine are very comfortable, even more comfortable than Sennheiser that I owned before. Sound quality is good too. Anyone got a newer model to add to this poll?

  • mbck on 19/08/2023 - 10:16

    Xm5 for pure noise canceling ability as well as much better mike compared to others. The xm5 is in a league of it's own.

    Xm4 for form factor only. Noise canceling is great; it makes things quiet. But the xm5 make things very quiet.

    • drillvoice on 22/11/2023 - 12:55

      How much better is the xm5 in terms of screening out microphone background noise when using it for a call? How does it compare to Bose 700?

      • mbck on 24/11/2023 - 00:48

        Ive only used them for calls a couple of time (i dont use it for calls). But from my experience, pretty good, especially compared to the xm3.

        However i feel that the xm3 anc is still pretty good.

        I dont have the bose 700. From what ive read, they're not as good, however they were 210 from amazon at one point. I think at that pricr, it's a very good deal.

  • Saura on 15/10/2023 - 05:29

    The 350bux price glitched xm5s late last year from jbhifi was the best thing i impulse bought in ever.

  • Nubbin on 23/10/2023 - 14:37
    Suggested Anker Soundcore Space Q45

    Anker Soundcore Space Q45. Bought for $164 off Amazon. I'm well satisfied with these as commuter headphones. Cancellation and transparency mode are competent, sound clarity and bass beat anything I've used at this price point.

  • Aiaiai on 02/11/2023 - 15:56
    Suggested Bowers and Wilkins PX7 S2

    Bought for 389 at David Jones. Phenomenal sound quality, beats out everything on this list imo. ANC is worse than the XM4s/XM5s though.

    • love2buy on 29/12/2023 - 14:28

      I'm holding off because many sources say comfort is worst out of the bunch.

      • Aiaiai on 16/01/2024 - 03:56

        I've seen a few complaints about the clamping force being too harsh but imo it's not an issue personally, been using it frequently since I bought in Oct

  • Davo1111 on 07/11/2023 - 16:10

    Very happy with my xm4.

    Positive: noise cancelling is disturbingly good. It took me a good few days to adjust from what i thought was noice cancelling.

    Negative: the sound on headset mode isn't great, I prefer to run them as stereo and use my laptop mic

  • roby21 on 15/11/2023 - 10:59
    Suggested Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal

    Let me throw in a curve ball, these are heavily discounted from rrp$800, have been fantastic for gaming and music.travel, just make sure you buy the right version for your console (i've also purchased a creative bluetooth sound adapter for use on PC), and free shipping if you have a prime subsciption already.

    :
    https://www.amazon.com.au/Bang-Olufsen-Wireless-Over-Ear-Hea…

    • harshbdmmaster718 on 27/11/2023 - 15:40

      hey I noticed this post from February being recommended to me and saw your comment.

      I can agree I am satisfied with the sub $300 price I paid for the Portal. but thought to mention there is a persistent bug that causes the custom EQ to reset back to OPTIMAL EQ every time I fully charge the headphones.
      app and firmware are up to date and the bug won't go away.

      but just incase you experience the same problem, another user actually told me some useful info a way to prevent this bug from happening.
      while charging if the headphones are powered on when they reach 100%, the custom EQ doesn't get reset.

      I just tried this and it worked. first I turned off "auto power off" feature in the app, then I know charging from 50% takes roughly an hour so at 50 something minutes I powered the headphones on while they were charging. and once the light turned green and it hit 100% I unplugged them, used them and yep the custom EQ is still there (it's as obvious as day to me because I increase the bass by a lot). I double checked in the app and yep it was on the custom EQ preset and not OPTIMAL.

  • PierDuFwa on 11/12/2023 - 10:59

    Have had the MX-4s for 3.5 years and have been flawless, good sound great noise cancelling battery still lasts the day now. Would consider getting the same ones again if and when they die but I paid around $330 for them back then which seems to be a goodish price even now

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