Bose QuietComfort 20 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones, Samsung and Android Devices, Black

These Bose Noise Cancelling earbuds provide an amazing amount of noise reduction. I used them on a recent flight on a mid-size plane and they cut out enough engine and flying noise to make the flight bearable. I was able to listen to a movie without having to turn the volume up really loud.They come with three size inserts and I ended up using the largest size. Getting the right fit is important as it impacts how much noise reduction you will experience.For a previous flight I had purchased and tried out the Bose SoundLink around-ear wireless headphones that were not active noise canceling. Although they had appeared to have good passive noise blocking in the store and I really liked the Bluetooth as well as slightly lower price, they were nowhere nearly good enough to block out the general din in the the airport terminal, and, in the plane itself they were virtually useless. So I switched to my 33 DB earplugs and returned the headphones when I got back home.I also found the around-the-ear style hot for me after about an hour of listening in the plane so I decided not to switch to around-the-ear noise canceling headphones but try the earbuds. After reading numerous reviews and lab tests that said that despite the high cost the Bose Earbuds were the best-by-far -- especially for low frequency noise such as jet engines -- I decided to buy them and I was not disappointed -- they worked! They actually do not go far into the ear so they aren't as uncomfortable as some earplugs. I kept them in for about 4 hours straight without any significant discomfort.Note -- these active noise reducing ear buds block out a huge amount of noise - the impact is quite significant once you get them properly fitted into your ear. However, they do not block out all sound. If you want to truly block out all sound and you aren't worried about sweating, you might try the over-the-ear noise cancelling versions. Or, you can try an over-the-ear passive sound reducing ear muff for construction and gun firing and then use either a regular (i.e. non-noise reducing earbud) or a noise reducing earbud for music. The ear muffs are inexpensive -- amazon has one for $18 for a 34+DB reduction -- and they truly isolate the noise. With that level of reduction just regular earbuds might be enough at a lot less overall cost. However, when combined with a good noise reduction earphones, the outside world would be completely quiet.They charged reasonably quickly using a standard charger and while I have not tested the maximum use time I have not had any problems during my 4-6 hours traveling. And, if you were truly traveling a long time you could re-charge it while in use using a standard USB external power pack.The only thing missing from this model is Bluetooth for which I originally deducted one star. I am not a fan of cords and I find they are really inconvenient when active. So I followed the advice of one of the other reviewers and purchased a Bluetooth receiver at the same time. That combination has worked well -- I used rubber bands to attach all the extra cord to the small Bose control/battery unit, plug it into the bluetooth receiver with a really short 3.5mm male-to-male adapter cord, and then put it into my shirt pocket with the Bluetooth receiver hanging off the pocket by its clip.In summary, if you fly enough on long flights to justify spending $300 for noise canceling headphones, then these ear buds work.Update 08-2017: I now see that there is a newer model that now has wireless Bluetooth so that's an option. In addition, I have now used these for over a year and I love them even more so I have added back the star I removed for not having Bluetooth. In particular, I have found several new unanticipated uses for them.For one, sleeping in hotel rooms with noisy HVAC. I am very sensitive to noise and hate the window HVAC units most hotels use. And many hotels are installing more powerful (and noisy) hall and bathroom ventilation fans, resulting in a constant drone all night. And then there are hotels I end up in for a night or two that are too close to a major highway with trucks and cars going all night. Some people consider this "white noise" and sleep fine, but it drives me crazy so that I wake up and can't fall back to sleep. Now I just put in my Bose QuietComfort and it almost completely shuts out that noise. I no longer have to search for the very few hotels with quiet HVAC or that are far from the road. And they are reasonably comfortable even when I use them all night (I have learned to arrange my pillow so that I don't rest my ear with the earplug directly on it).Another unexpected use is countering early morning neighborhood power tool noises (e.g. lawn-mowing, weed-wacking, sawing, drilling, grinding, sanding) that can start as early at 8AM and go on for hours. I put in the Bose earplugs, turn on the power switch, and the noise(s) miraculously disappear.With these uses I can now know that I can find restful peace-and-quiet even when the world around me is not. It is very freeing and worth every penny of the $250 (This model) -$200 (with USB).

Over the years I've tried a couple of other in-ear active noise reduction headphones with mixed success. All my other earbud/in-ear 'phones have to be set firmly in the ear to get decent sound quality and noise isolation, most need at least slighty EQ adjustments to sound "right" (some too tinny, some too bassy, some not enough in both regards, etc), some brands have cables that cause in-ear noise from clothing - etc. The QC20s are the first in-ear 'phones I've owned that have been virtually perfect for every one of those complaints.They're the most comfortable I've owned, too. Following the instructions I felt like they just couldn't be "in" when I first wore them, but the sound quality was outstanding. I've never liked the looks of the "wings" on the "Stay Hear" tips, but they feel and work great for me.The active noise reduction of the QC20s is astonishingly good too. Bose is known to be good, but the quality of the ANR from these tiny in-ear headphones is fabulously good. Yes, there is the slight hiss when the ANR is on - but that's typical of the technology. The overall experience in a noisy building environment is similar to what I have wearing my Lightspeed Zulu 3 headsets - and that's saying a lot. I've not tried them in a piston airplane, but my gut feeling is they would be a great back-up to conventional headsets.While the ANR is simply amazing, they do not make flying in a jet airliner a "sitting in my living room" experience. They eliminate almost all of the low to mid-range noise, but the higher frequency noise - airflow around the airplane for example - is still quite noticeable. It's my feeling that better passive noise reduction is required for that type of noise. Although I've not used them, I suspect the over-the-ear Bose QC35 would probably be a little better but are obviously less convenient to carry.Audio quality is really super too - as should be expected. I've felt no compelling need to rush into making EQ curves to force decent sound of these headsets. They aren't bassy, not tinny, and not dull. They just sound "right" and natural to me.All in all I'm very satisfied with the QC20s so far.