The simple-and-sweet answer to this question is "Bluetooth." When you don't want dangling wires interfering with your music listening experience (unless you're a TikTok girly who wants to intentionally flaunt the wires on walks), Bluetooth comes in to save the day — by providing your headphones with seamless cross-device compatibility. According to PCMag, "wireless no longer means poor sound and battery life." Bluetooth headphones "still compress hi-res audio, but... preserve quality much better than in the past, and battery life has steadily improved with each new generation." Upon setting up your newest headphones purchase, you'll be prompted to connect to a device via Bluetooth. The whole process should only take you about 5 seconds. Simplicity, after all, is key.

Think of it as the real-life definition of "headphones on, world off." Active noise cancellation achieves the effect of tuning out your surroundings by using mics that capture exterior noises. Then, "audio processing circuitry... takes those noises and generates their inverse to cancel them out in real-time," as PCMag explained.

PS: There's also something called passive noise cancellation. It uses physical engineering to manually insulate your ears. Most earbuds and over-ear headphones already have this kind of noise cancellation handy — arising from the sheer shape of the earplug tips that fit snuggly into your ear or the way over-ear cups create a seal that blocks off extraneous sound.

Not all of the headphones pairs we tested boast ANC, but those that do allow you to turn on what's called transparency mode, which is a fancy way of saying you'll be able to hear your surroundings if you choose. Sometimes, you can even manipulate just how much of the outside world you want within (literal) earshot. This feature proves super helpful for city dwellers who don't want to get hit by a car while blasting "Empire State of Mind" at full volume.