Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones
(Save $70)
Sony WH-1000XM5
(Save $119)
If you’ve looked at any “best headphones” list in the past few years (including our own), you will have come across Sony and Bose’s pairs.
That’s unsurprising — both brands are known for having some of the best noise-cancelling, sound quality, and comfort in the space. And as of May 5, you can grab Bose and Sony’s flagship headphones on sale at Amazon. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones are available for $359, down from their $429 MSRP. The Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones, on the other hand, are available for $279, down from $398.
Best Bose headphones deal
Why we like it
Check out our full review on the Bose QC Ultra headphones.
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones are the most comfortable headphones on the market. Three different Mashable shopping team members have used the headphones, and all three came away with this opinion. Their comfort makes them easy to wear for an entire work day or on a flight, and pairs nicely with their 24 hour battery life. Bose offers some of the best noise cancellation out there, though Mashable’s Sam Mangino found these headphones in particular to have difficulty blocking higher-pitched sounds quite as effectively as they did lower pitches.
Still, their sound is “rich,” as Mangino describes it, continuing on to say: “They tend to run on the quieter end, and I felt like I had to crank the volume a little higher than I do with other headphones, but the sound overall is more detailed.” Perhaps their biggest drawbacks are their price point and some finicky controls with multipoint connections. But if you grab them for $70 off, these cons are easier to look past. Though this isn’t the lowest price we’ve ever seen on these headphones (they’ve dropped down to $329 in the past), this is the best price cut we’ve seen on the new deep plum colorway. At the time of writing, Amazon marked down other colorways by just $50.
Best Sony headphones deal
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Why we like it
Check out our full review of the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones.
Sony’s flagship headphones have long been standouts for their impressive sound quality, which especially shines with the custom equalizer found on the Sony companion app. When Mashable’s deputy editor of shopping and reviews Miller Kern reviewed these headphones, she deemed them, “probably the best-sounding headphones I’ve ever tried.”
In addition, they also come with solid noise-cancelling and all-day battery life (30 hours to Bose’s 24). Usually, there are two reasons folks are put off from buying these headphones: one, the ear cups don’t fold in like their predecessors, the WH-1000XM4 headphones, making them slightly less convenient to take on the go. The other is their price point, which while lower than other premium options, is still up there. While there’s nothing to be done about the ear cups, this deal at least addresses the latter issue. In fact, at $279, the XM5s are even cheaper than the XM4s on sale, as of the time of writing.
