What do you look out for when considering purchasing a headset? Do you consider noise cancellation, multi-connectivity, or premium audio experience? As small as this piece of hardware might be, it could either make or break the quality of your conversations either at work or home and enhance or mar the joy you derive from listening to your favorite songs.

In a Hurry?

Well, to help inform your choice, we checked tens of headsets and came up with recommendations for the best Bluetooth headsets for Music and the best Bluetooth headsets with mic for phone calls. In making our recommendations we further considered price, battery life, comfort, size, controls, and overall performance.

Best Bluetooth Headsets for Music [and Mic for Phone Calls]

Jabra Elite 85h – Best Wireless Headset with Microphone for Music and Phone Calls

The Jabra Elite 85h is a wireless, over the ear, noise-canceling headphone available in 4 different colors; gold beige, titanium black, navy, and copper black. It offers SmartSound, Smart ANC, exceptional music clarity, 36 hours of battery life, and 8-mic call technology.

With its SmartSound technology, it easily and automatically adapts to your surroundings offering the best wireless calls and premium music experience. You can customize your sound settings with the Jabra Sound+ app which is tailored to your Jabra headphone. The app provides access to the most used widgets on your phone. You can navigate apps on the go and select your preferred voice assistant. The Jabra Elite 85h is compatible with both Android smartphones and iPhones.

When in a noisy place, it automatically blocks out background noise due to its Smart Active Noise Cancelling feature. With its one-touch voice assistant access, you can use voice commands to get things done via Siri, Google Assistant, or Amazon Alexa. It is also rain-resistant because its internal components are Nano-coated. It lasts well with up to 36 hours of battery life even with ANC switched on. Its speakers are also exceptional.

With its advanced 8-mic design, you can have the clearest conversations on call anywhere. It blocks out background and wind noise. 6 out of the 8 mics are for calls which easily qualifies it as one of the best Bluetooth headsets with mic for phone calls. With its HearThrough feature, you can listen to music but also hear when someone is talking to you while the ANC feature cancels noise from your surrounding so you can focus on your music.

It isn’t heavy at 10.4 ounces. Its ear pads are nice and soft. It doesn’t have dedicated switches for skipping tracks, though. You have to long-press on the volume keys to do so. It makes a tick-tock sound to let you know it has skipped track. When you take off the headphone, it automatically puts music playing on pause, and on wearing it, the music resumes.

Sony WH-1000XM4 – Best Bluetooth Headphone for Music

The Sony WH-1000XM4 is a wireless, noise-canceling, over-the-ear headset for music and with a mic for phone calls. Regardless of your environment, it offers clarity with its industry-leading digital noise cancellation feature. With 5 built-in mics and advanced audio signal processing, you’ll experience improved phone call quality. It isolates sound while high and mid-frequency sounds are reduced.

With its dual noise sensor technology (with 2 mics on each ear cup), ambient noise is captured and passed on to the HD noise-canceling processor QN1 to give you the quiet you need. For music, its 40mm drivers with liquid crystal polymer diaphragms offer premium sound. It also uses Digital Sound Enhancement Engine with EdgeA1 to upscale compressed music files.

With Adaptive Sound Control, it detects a change in location and behavior and automatically adjusts. This requires location sharing and your phone will most likely be flooded with notifications about how it’s adapting to your environment. It has SENSE ENGINE, which automatically detects activity and balances noise canceling levels as such. It puts playback on pause when taken off and resumes when put back on.

It offers up to 30 hours of battery life. We used it for about 31 hours on music playback. With the touch of dedicated buttons, you can pause, play, skip tracks, control volume, answer phone calls, and activate your voice assistant. Its voice assistant function is compatible with Android and iPhones. It also has a speak-to-chat tool that pauses whatever you are listening to once you start talking.

This headset can be paired with two Bluetooth devices at the same time. It has a cute carry case with cable for wired listening. It is lightweight at 9 ounces. It has Bluetooth 5.0, which connected with our MacBook Pro 2020 without hassle. Its design, with a slimmer headband cushion, relieves pressure considerably for comfort.

It is a great device for listening to music and is one of the best Bluetooth headsets for music.

JBL Live 650BTNC – Best Bluetooth / Wireless Headset for Working from Home

The JBL Live 650-BTNC is an over-ear, wireless, Bluetooth headset with 40mm drivers that deliver JBL Signature Sound with enhanced bass that makes your music your world. With its Active Noise Cancelling technology, it blocks out ambient sounds so that your music is all that matters. It comes with a fitting fabric headband with soft and comfortable ear cushions that cause no pain even when worn for long hours.

There are buttons on the ear cup to manage calls while you can enjoy up to 20 hours of music streaming with Bluetooth and Active Noise Cancelling turned on and up to 30 hours with ANC turned off. It conveniently blocked out the chatter, fan, and traffic noises. There was no distortion even at max volume. When the ANC feature is turned on without music, it makes a subtle hissing sound. You can personalize your listening experience with the My JBL Headphones app. It also has an Ambient Aware and TalkThru technology. It has a voice assistant feature via which you can manage your day and activities.

Weighing 9.1 ounces, it is pretty lightweight. It comes with a charging cable and a cord for using it wired. It has a micro USB charging port, operates on Bluetooth 4.2 with a maximum range of 30feet. On the right ear cup, there’s the power switch, music playback, and volume buttons while there is a one-touch control on the left ear cup to activate Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. It also has a built-in mic for hands-free calls and the audio quality when on calls is good on both ends.

Compared to higher costing headphones, it is lacking in a few areas but qualifies as one of our best Bluetooth headsets for music and calls considering its price point.

Avantree Aria Me – Best Headset for Hearing Impaired / Ear Health

Another one of our best Bluetooth headsets for music and calls is the Avantree Aria Me. The Avantree Aria Me is a relatively cheap, customized audio wireless HD ANC headset. It comes with a detachable boom mic, 1 charging stand, 1 USB charging cable, 1 audio cable, and a hard case. It is a great headset for older people and those with mild to moderate hearing impairments but doesn’t replace medical hearing aids and treatment.

Using the Avantree Audio app, you can create a personalized hearing profile and calibrate your headphone based on how you listen. To do this, install the Avantree Audio app, take a hearing test on the app, create a hearing profile, upload and activate the hearing profile and all audio received via Bluetooth will be processed with your own hearing profile.

It supports aptX-HD for high definition sound quality and with its aptX low latency, it’s great for watching TV with no audio lag. If it is used with a device that doesn’t support aptX low latency, there will be a noticeable audio lag. Its noise-canceling function is great at reducing low-frequency ambient noise but not very effective for sudden noises. So if you’re traveling by air or train or doing some house chores, it will effectively block out surrounding noise.

Its detachable mic allows for clear conversations over a call. It has a dedicated call button with a mute switch on the boom mic for fast mute access during calls. With its 1-click wake-up, your smartphone assistant is up and running. There are two charging options; you can plug this headphone into a USB wall charger or place them on a charging dock. Its charging stand lets you store your headphone while charging it when not in use.

Why is this one of our best Bluetooth headsets for music and calls? It is comfortable and lightweight at 8.1 ounces. It has 6 points of articulation on its headband so it can be adjusted to fit different head sizes and shapes. Its ear pads are made of high-grade protein leather and there is enough room for your ears so they don’t feel cramped. Note that the aptX-HD and the aptX-LL do not work at the same time.

COWIN SE7 – Best Computer Headset for Work and Video Conferencing

The COWIN SE7 is another high-quality one among our best Bluetooth headsets for music and calls. It is an active noise canceling, over-ear headset with Alexa voice control and microphone, with up to 30 hours of battery life for either work or entertainment. With its built-in Amazon Alexa, you get hands-free access to information and lots of widgets. You can activate Alexa with a simple touch on the NC button on the right ear cup. It has a high-quality built-in microphone for crystal-clear phone calls in a noisy environment.

It operates on Bluetooth 5.0, which provides a quick and stable connection to other Bluetooth-enabled devices. Its ANC feature cancels-out low frequency sounds such as sounds from the plane, traffic, trains, or engines. It doesn’t cancel-out high-frequency sounds from talking or playing music. It has 40mm large-aperture drivers that allow you to get the best of your music with its incredible sound quality that leaves no detail to your imagination. You get true-to-life sounds with clear vocals, distinct instrumentals, clean bass, and crisp percussions making it a great Bluetooth headset for music.

Its professional protein earpad is of good quality and provides long-listening comfort. It weighs 9.5 pounds which is pretty lightweight. It comes with a headphone case, micro USB cable, and a 3.5mm audio cable. One button works for noise reduction and Alexa wake-up, volume up/down also controls previous/next track while the main on/off switch also works for answering calls and Bluetooth connection. Personally, we didn’t appreciate that the headset has too many functions attached to one button, but it’s not much of an issue.

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Mpow HC5 – Best Wireless Headset for Office Phone and Noisy Office

The Mpow HC5 is a wireless Bluetooth headset with a dual microphone and one of the softest ear pads we have ever had. If you’re on the lookout for cheap headsets with a noise-canceling feature, it’s a great choice. It has a flattened leather hand-beam, adjustable headband, and a 270-degree rotatable microphone.

Its soft memory foam earmuffs come with a 90-degree rotation design that allows adjustments till they fit your ears. They are very comfortable allowing extended wear time.

It is a great choice for work in an open workspace and customer support. This Bluetooth headset has an advanced CVC8.0 noise-canceling microphone designed for busy and noisy workspaces. With Bluetooth 5.0, it connects simultaneously to your phone and computer and allows you to switch seamlessly between both devices. It offers flexibility with up to a 50ft wireless range that keeps you connected while roaming around.

It features dual microphones that filter most background noises so you can talk with utmost clarity on the phone. One mic works to reduce noise while the other picks your voice. It offers up to 22 hours of battery life which is not exactly impressive when compared to other headsets, but for its price, it can (must!) be overlooked.

It is ultra-lightweight at 5.1 ounces. It is easily one of the best Bluetooth headsets with mic for phone calls. It is compatible with most platforms and irrespective of the device you use for work, it aids in increased productivity.

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