Should You Really Buy Noise-Canceling Headphones for Your Next Flight?
Photo credit: Charles Starrett
Travelers are constantly searching for new technologies to help them endure long-distance flights. Noise-canceling headphones are one of the latest additions to the travel tech scene. Although Bose has been manufacturing noise-canceling headphones for more than 15 years, it wasn’t until recent years that the market became saturated with headphones claiming the best noise-canceling capabilities, sound quality, and comfort in one easy-to-store package.
However, these headphones are characteristically expensive, and many budget-minded travelers are unsure whether the noise-reduction capabilities are truly worth the cost. These three simple tips should help you determine whether you should spend the extra cash on noise-canceling technology or not.
1. High Quality Comes with High Cost
Unfortunately, noise-canceling technology isn’t the same across all brands and price tags. It’s true, that not even the best noise-canceling headphones in the industry cancel 100-percent of the noise around you. However, the best noise-canceling headphone brands, like Bose and Plantronics, tend to come with the highest price tags. If you opt not to buy from the best in the business, you’ll probably wish you had.
2. Don’t Have Extreme Expectations
The term noise-canceling can be misleading, but the phrase noise-reducing is much more reasonable. Noise-canceling headphones, even those made by the most respected brands, can’t work magic. Low frequency, steady sounds are much easier to cancel than high-pitch, abrupt sounds. You’ll notice the sounds of the airplane jets are drastically quieter, but you may also hear the screech of a baby a few seats behind you. Keep your expectations reasonable, and you’ll be impressed by what noise-canceling technologies from the top brands can do.
3. You’ll Need to Keep them Charged
Noise-canceling technology needs power to operate — a feature that many consumers don’t consider before purchasing. Whether it’s with a rechargeable or traditional battery, you’ll need to keep your headphones charged to enjoy the noise-canceling capabilities. For many, this means charging at the airport between flights or keeping extra batteries on hand. If this seems like too much hassle, you may find yourself perfectly happy with a high-quality, more affordable set of traditional headphones.