The best noise-canceling earbuds you can buy: Expert tested

Nothing is worse than throwing on your headphones and seeing they're on 5% battery. If you often forget to charge your headphones, you'll want a pair with an extensive battery life.

There are many types of headphones, so you must ensure you're buying the right kind for your specific use case. Decide if you want headphones with noise cancellation, or for working out, or for recording content so you can match the features to the use case.

Lifestyle headphones are the headphones you see from brands like Bose, Apple, and Sony, which can accompany you on your daily commute, to the office, and to the gym, all on the same day. Audio-focused headphones from brands like Sony and Sennheiser may lack the comfort, noise-canceling tech, and portability that lifestyle headphones possess since their primary use case is to examine audio critically.

Headphones come in different form factors ...