When it comes to noise-canceling headphones -- those models that actively block outside noise like airline engines -- Bose is generally considered the gold standard, but Sony's engineers have been on a mission to beat Bose at what it does best.

If you can overlook a few small drawbacks, the MDR-1000X is a top-notch wireless noise-canceling headphone that's stacked with features and sounds excellent.

The Sony MDR-1000X is an excellent-sounding, comfortable wireless headphone with effective noise-canceling that measures up to Bose's for muffling ambient noise; It has good battery life and some nifty extra features geared toward frequent travelers.

Not great as a headset; its adaptive noise-canceling is too noticeable at times.

Sony might be a noise-cancelling newbie but the MDR-1000Xs should have more established rivals sweating – on both sound quality and noise-killing efficacy, these cans are superb.

Impressive noise-cancelling; Superb wireless sound quality; Balanced sound and long battery life

Touch controls are hit and miss

Impressive noise-cancelling; Superb wireless sound quality; Balanced sound and long battery life;

Touch controls are hit and miss;

Sony's new MDR 1000X Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Headphones are a direct challenger for the Bose Quiet Comfort series

Once in a while, a company takes all the good bits from its previous products and puts them together in a new one, one that hits the mark just right. Sony's newest headphones have all the noise-cancelling smarts of older MDR-series headsets, add a bunch of genuinely useful extras, and bring the...

When it comes to noise-cancelling headphones, most experts agree that it doesn't get much better than Bose. The American company has built something of a reputation for itself with its QuietComfort range, and the recently launched QuietComfort 35 sets new benchmarks when it comes to cutting out the...

Nowadays, we are witnessing a solid growth in headphones segment with the implementation of various technologies. One of the major territories that needs more focus is the so-called Noise cancellation.

Noise cancellation; Battery life; Build quality

Priced on the higher side

The Sony MDR-1000X are some of the best we've seen. If you're looking for one of the best pairs of Bluetooth headphones with great active noise cancelling, look no further.

Great ANC; Sound quality; Battery life

Price; Known creaking issues

Who would have the chutzpah to say its very first pair of Bluetooth-equipped premium headphones have "industry-leading levels of noise cancelling"?

Noise cancellation is a step-up in effectiveness compared with the MDR-100ABN (which was pretty good already). Significantly less noise getting through on aircraft take-off and landing.