Noise canceling is great for blocking out consistent sounds, so the microphones have time to detect the sound and cancel it out. Loud, sudden noises are too quick to be properly canceled out, so you’ll still hear these unless you have really good passive isolation.

For top-tier noise elimination on the microphone end, ensuring clarity for the person on the other side of your call, the Sony WH-1000XM5 stands out. Its microphone boasts highly effective noise suppression, ensuring that even in environments with wind or background noise, the person on your call won’t be disturbed.

Make sure you put your headphones into pairing mode, which is different for each pair of headphones. Open up settings on your computer, and find the Bluetooth settings menu. There should be a list of devices, and the headphones should show up as a device to connect to. Click on the name of the headphones in the menu, and you should connect almost instantly.