Gift idea | Three pairs of remarkable ANC headphones

The day box of our Advent calendar is once again full. Today we present three pairs of wireless headphones with active noise cancellation (ANC) that have amazed us during the year. Like any selection, this one is necessarily subjective!

You-know-who’s white headphones aren’t the only ones available in France, far from it. And even if they were able to conquer the market with great marketing, the competition still exists.

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II: top comfort and sound

The QuietComfort Earbuds II (QCE II) succeed the initial model released two years ago. Obviously, Bose took into account the feedback from its customers who found the first version far too big. The earphones thus lose a little more than 30% of their volume, see their improved support system and gain in autonomy.

All of this would be good enough, but Bose goes even further with the appearance of CustomTune technology, which optimizes audio performance and noise reduction according to the morphology of the user’s ear canal. The result is more than convincing, even if the sound produced by the QCE II is sometimes a bit strong in the bass. This does not prevent the highs and mids from being present and defined.

The headphones offer 6 hours of continuous listening time. They can be recharged three times using the battery in their case. It no longer has the induction charge, yet presented on the original QCE. Would this function have a hard time convincing fans of the brand?

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2: the convincing outsider

Since its Western setbacks in the smartphone market, Huawei is refocusing on computers and wearables. Its FreeBuds Pro 2 succeed the first model marketed in 2020.

At the time, these impressed us with their quality and ergonomics, an assumed (and improved) copy of what the Pro version of the headphones from who-you-know offered. The new version takes over the achievements of the previous one and offers some welcome improvements. Active noise cancellation, already very efficient, has been improved in particular. Huawei has also collaborated with Devialet on the sound architecture of its headphones in order to improve the overall rendering.

The result is convincing, and the FreeBuds Pro 2 do not have to be ashamed of their performance. We particularly appreciate the functions provided by the companion application such as the presence of a powerful equalizer. Huawei announces a maximum autonomy of 6 h 30 (noise cancellation deactivated and volume at 50%). In real life, where we use the ANC and where we push the volume to 75%, they will last more like 4 hours, and the battery of the box allows 5 additional charges.

NuraTrue Pro: acoustic otoemission makes the difference

Acoustic otoemission, you know? Nope ? So read on… When your auditory system perceives a sound, it translates it into an electrical impulse so your brain can understand it. During this conversion, a return signal 10,000 times weaker than the original sound is emitted. This “acknowledgment of receipt” is the image of what has been perceived: we speak of acoustic otoemission.

The Australian start-up Nura uses this phenomenon to create a specific profile for each user. For this, the acoustic otoemission is captured by an ultra-sensitive microphone, then compared to the initial sound during a learning phase. This makes it possible to create a kind of auditory imprint which will be used to adapt the sound of the headphones to the specificities of the listener. Like their predecessors, the NuraTrue Pro use this technique to enhance the listening experience. The main difference lies in their compatibility with Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless technology, which in theory can reproduce uncompressed sound over a Bluetooth connection.

The NuraTrue Pro are among the first models compatible with this codec. In order to use it, you must of course use an aptX Lossless compatible smartphone, which is not yet on the streets. We conducted our tests with an OPPO Find X5 Pro, announced as supporting the codec. According to Qualcomm, it should become widespread on high-end products in 2023.

The sound reproduction is excellent, especially for listening to classical music and opera. However, it is necessary to have uncompressed files or to use a streaming service like Tidal HiFi Plus. Nura also offers 3 months of subscription for the purchase of its headphones. If it is still a little closer to that of a wired hi-fi headset, the audio rendering is not yet at the same level. It is in any case ultra satisfactory for mobile use, no offense to hardcore audiophiles!