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Whether you’re all about that bass or prefer to play podcasts, the latest noise-cancelling earbuds are ideal for every kind of audio – and active noise cancelling is just one of their many talents

Written by Carrie Marshall

With things getting back to something approaching normality and the good weather hopefully on its way, we’re all starting to do the things we haven’t been doing for such a long time. We’re pounding pavements, going back to the gym, commuting or exploring by bus, tube or train and maybe even travelling by aeroplane to faraway destinations.

And all of those things have a soundtrack: traffic, people, engines and other potential irritants. If you’d rather listen to your podcast than the person puffing away on the machine next to you, or hear your favourite music without a rumbling engine accompanying it, active noise cancelling earbuds can make your world sound a lot less stressful.

Noise-cancelling earbuds are a must-have unless you only listen to music or podcasts at home, and even then they’re worth having: thanks to ours we haven’t heard a peep from the kids in days. But noise-cancelling headphones aren’t all made equally. Some prioritise isolation over sound quality; others sound spectacular but don’t deliver great battery life; and some are designed to work not just with one of your devices, but all of them: Apple’s AirPods connect instantly and switch seamlessly between Apple devices, while Fast Pair on Android offers single-tap connections.