Excellent sound quality and noise cancelling No in-line volume control

These days, air travel just sucks. Seats are smaller, flights are overbooked, computer glitches cause massive delays, and whatever happened to in-flight meals You're lucky to get a tiny bag of pretzel crumbs. Whenever I travel, I always slip on a pair of headphones, and tune out the chaos.

A look at the on-ear wireless headphones with active noise cancellation from AKG.

Flying sucks. It's claustrophobic, uncomfortable and noisy. As a tech journalist, I fly a little too often for my comfort (and health). To make it easier on my sanity, I've tried it all. But when it comes to noise-reduction solutions, I've come up short.

This is more comparison review of AKG and BOSE. I bought both Bose QuietComfort 35 II and AKG N60 on the same day for Christmas gifts for my kids. AKG does cancel out noises, but it still allows noise to be heard due to its "on ear" design.

The AKG N60NC Wireless offers a surprisingly competent combination of excellent sound quality and noise cancellation. The headphones are well designed and built, and are much better looking than their competitors. All while sitting at a much cheaper price point.

Great sound; Battery life; Compact design

On-ear form-factor gets uncomfortable; Initially confusing controls

It's impossible to use these as a headset in bluetooth mode. No one can hear me over the phone or when paired with my Mac in bluetooth mode. The wired connection works, but wireless is useless.

The sound quality kinda sucks and and not very comfortable very very overpriced

If you're in the market for a premium noise-canceling headphone, chances are you're looking at one of the Bose models, the QuietComfort 25 (around-ear) or QuietComfort 20. We gave high ratings to those products and -- in terms of noise-canceling headphones -- they're leaders in the category.

Despite a few small downsides, AKG's $250 on-ear active noise-canceling headphone sounds great and is a worthy alternative to Bose's top-selling QuietComfort 25.

The AKG N60 NC is a compact, comfortable, well-designed on-ear headphone that sounds really good for a model with active noise cancellation; The rechargeable battery offers 30 hours of listening time.

Charging cable isn't the standard Micro-USB variety; single-button remote lacks volume controls.

Bose may have a stranglehold on the noise-canceling headphone realm, but that status has always been based primarily on its noise-cancellation circuitry, and not necessarily the audio performance of its headphone models. That leaves a niche for certain manufacturers to step in and carve out a space, which is what AKG continues to do with the N60 NC. At $249.95, the N60 NC are beautifully designed, travel-friendly on-ear headphones that deliver high-quality audio performance and solid noise cancellation. Do they offer more bang for your buck than Bose? That depends on where you rank noise cancellation on your priority list, but the N60 NC are definitely worth your consideration. DesignThe N60 NC ($174.85 at Amazon) are designed for travel. Thus, the lightweight, comfortable supra-aural (on-ear) design can be folded down into an extremely compact, easily packable carrying pouch, and the headphones themselves can also be used strictly in noise-canceling mode, but also in passive, wi...

The AKG N60 NC headphones deliver balanced, laudable audio performance and solid noise cancellation in a travel-friendly design.

Powerful, balanced audio performance; Solid noise cancellation; Can be used passively; Includes removable cable; Comfortable design that folds down for easy stowing

Noise cancellation creates audible hiss; Not for those seeking booming bass