On-ear noise-canceling headphones are somewhat odd for me mainly because the cans are small (supra-aural) and thus already (somehow) defeats the purpose of noise canceling. Unless they’re in the same level as the Sennheiser Amperior/HD-25 II, it’s more likely that it will not cancel out enough ambient noise passively plus it will leak your sound out. And even with the active noise canceling technology, it will not work that well unless the headphones are properly positioned (which is a hit and miss with this type).
That being said, here are the top supraaural on-ear noise-canceling headphones in the market.
Sennheiser MM 450-X – This headphone is more than just a noise-canceling headphone. But regardless of that, Sennheiser MM 450x is one of the top headphones in this category. It doesn’t isolate as well as the Bose QC35 nor does its big brother MM 550, but it’s definitely the best for the category
It’s also a Bluetooth headphone, a headset, and has a bunch of other features like the Talk Through, etc. It comes with a bunch of other accessories as well that complement the product well. Sennheiser MM450-X on Amazon.
Denon AH-NC732 – Pretty much just like the Sennheiser MM 450 but with lesser features. It does isolate ‘some’ noises and is also a good-sounding headphone. I initially thought this is an around-the-ear headphone but it’s actually a (larger than average) on-ear headphone.
It runs over 40 hours of battery life with a single AAA battery. This headphone also collapses well into a small molded carrying case for traveling. Denon AH-NC732 on Amazon.
