Bose QuietComfort 35 I
Still going strong years on. The ANC on a flight or in a noisy café is hard to beat at any price.
The QC35 I came out in 2016 and I bought mine secondhand in 2020. They were already considered "old" but the active noise cancellation is still class-leading for what you pay on the used market. I've briefly tried the QC45 and the 700s — the original QC35 remains the one I keep coming back to.
The ANC is tuned for low-frequency drone: plane engines, HVAC hum, train rumble, bus white noise. On a long-haul flight it makes the difference between arriving tired and arriving functional. That's the specific job they were designed for and they do it better than anything else I've used at any price point.
Build quality for a plastic headphone is fine. Light, fold flat, fit the Bose carry case without fighting. Years of daily use and they're still intact — hinges feel solid, headband hasn't started cracking the way older Bose plastic tends to eventually.
Battery is rated at 20 hours; in practice I get around 17 with ANC on, which covers any return trip without thinking about charging. The wired fallback via 3.5mm works even when the battery's flat — a detail that matters more than it should when you're at 4% on approach to London.