The best headphones with a mic for voice and video calls have a major advantage over seemingly more dedicated, boom mic-equipped headsets. You’re not just getting a device that will help your voice come through clearly in catch-up chats and remote meetings — you’re also getting a great pair of everyday headphones in the bargain.
And, while you can get even better recording quality from one of the best microphones, the headphones on this list will combine high-clarity vocal input with quality sound output. What’s more, if you’re simply listening to music while out and about, you’ll already have the headphones ready for any unexpected phone calls. That’s not something you can say for a dedicated calling headset that just sits by your computer. Read on to find out which are the best headphones with a mic for voice and video calls.
What are the best headphones with a mic for voice and video calls?
Bose has the honor of producing both the best over-ear headphones for calls and the best wireless earbuds for calls. First up is the Bose 700, a plush pair of over-ear headphones with an intelligent microphone array that blocks ambient noises from interfering with your voice and video chats.
In-ear buds can often struggle with microphone recording quality, but the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds shows the rest how it’s done. Your voice will come though loud and clear, unlike ambient noise, which the QuietComfort Earbuds – just like the Bose 700 – do a fine job of keeping quiet.
Our third pick is the AirPods Max. This ranks highly on our rankings of the best headphones overall, and its crisp call quality is one of the reasons why. The AirPods Max cuts out more background noise than other AirPods models, and can even help you hear yourself, so you can be sure that you’re coming through loud and clear.
The best headphones with a mic for voice and video calls
Bose is a class leader on active noise cancellation (ANC) on headphones, and that microphone mastery extends to voice calling capability as well. That’s why the Bose 700 is the best pair of headphones for making calls, and by a comfortable margin too.
The 700’s extensive mic array picks up your vice with outstanding clarity while simultaneously blocking out loud ambient noises, allowing fewer distractions in you calls even when you’re in busy places. Combine that with a comfortable fit, excellent sound quality for music and the absolute best ANC on the market, and the Bose 700 is worth paying a little extra for.
Read our full Bose 700 review.
In a similar vein to the Bose 700, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds is a pair of largely music-focused headphones that nonetheless manages to deliver outstanding overall quality in voice and video calls. Only this time, everything is squeezed into a much smaller pair of true wireless earbuds.
Again, the integrated microphones are brilliant at cancelling out ambient sounds, so during calls you won’t have to worry about being drowned out or interrupted by nearby noises. And, while recording clarity can take a nosedive on lesser in-ear buds, it’s the opposite on the QuietComfort Earbuds — in testing we were actually complimented on how clear we sounded.
Read our full Bose QuietComfort Earbuds review.
While not quite on Bose’s level, Apple knows a thing or two about making headphones that can double as great calling headsets. Its best effort is also the most expensive, but the AirPods Max has a few tricks that help justify the high price. Transparency mode is one: this lets you hear you own voice when speaking, which in turn helps you moderate your own volume and make sure you’re coming through clear.
Not that the latter takes much effort, as the AirPods Max do fine work in reducing the impact of ambient sound on the microphones. Apple’s pair of ANC headphones also feels a lot lighter than it actually is, which might help for long meetings — or just if you have particularly talkative friends.
Read our full Apple AirPods Max review.
The Jabra Elite 65t is a curious case: there are much newer and more advanced Jabra earbuds, like the Elite 85t and Elite Active 75t, but strangely these all represent downgrades on the Elite 65t’s fantastic call quality. If, then, you want a pair of headphones for voice and video calls specifically, it’s arguably best to go with this older pair.
A four-mic array delivers that golden combination of clear voice and minimal ambient intrusion. The Elite 65t is particularly effective at resisting wind noise, so will suit those who like to take calls while out walking. You can also use the transparency mode you hear yourself, and adjust your own loudness through the mobile app.
Read our full Jabra Elite 65t review.
Another good showing for Apple, the AirPods Pro effectively cuts out background noise and provides a better seal in your year than the standard AirPods (below). This improves passive sound isolation so you can better hear our friends and colleagues on the line, and that’s not even taking into account the AirPods Pro’s ANC.
It’s not much of a factor for voice and video calls specifically, but the AirPods Pro also has a few special features that only work with compatible iOS devices. If you have the right phone, then, you can take advantage of faster pairing and spatial audio, which provides a neat surround sound effect when watching certain video content on your phone.
Read our full Apple AirPods Pro review.
A few years old but still going strong, the Bose QuietComfort 35 II could be a very smart choice. It offers Bose’s characteristically high call quality and noise-cancelling effectiveness, all at a much lower price than the newer Bose 700.
It’s worth noting that the 700’s microphones are upgraded, so you will get better performance in calls, especially if you’re outside and exposed to heavy winds. But indoors the QuietComfort 35 II still makes for a great chatting tool, and proved very capable of quietening ambient noise in our testing.
Read our full Bose QuietComfort 35 II review.
Admittedly, most of what makes the Urbanista Miami worth buying isn’t related to call quality — it’s mainly down to monster battery life, and the fact that you can get a great-sounding pair of ANC headphones for less than half the price of rivals like the Bose 700 and AirPods Max.
Even so, good ANC often means good microphones, and the Miami is more than adequate for voice and video calls. It picks up voice cleanly and clearly, and can keep down even the loudest of ambient noises, like trains passing nearby. As a low-cost alternative to pricier over-ear models, it certainly deserves a look.
See our full Urbanista Miami review.
Until the rumored AirPods 3, this is the most affordable pair of Apple AirPods you can get. But the 2nd-gen model is no slouch, including for call quality: the dual microphones and Apple H1 chip in each earbud help to minimize background noise and keep your own voice as intelligible as possible.
There’s no ANC here, nor any replaceable in-ear tips; if you want these features you’ll need to pay more for the AirPods Pro. But the regular AirPods handle voice and video calls well enough to earn a spot on this list, especially with other benefits like a long Bluetooth range and fast pairing with iOS devices.
Read our full Apple AirPods review.
Sporty earbuds might not scream “great for calls,” even a pair that ranks among the best running headphones. Yet the Powerbeats 4 achieves the level of microphone quality you’d want for serious meetings, or lengthy chats with long-unseen friends.
A little bit of background noise can seep in, but only in loud environment, and even then our testing suggests you’ll still be perfectly audible over it. And the Powerbeats 4 is even better for making voice and video calls in quiet settings, taking advantage of a solid Bluetooth connection. The Beats Powerbeats Pro is equally as good for calls, but costs more than the Powerbeats 4.
Read our full Beats Powerbeats 4 review.
The Sony WH-1000XM4 sits atop our best headphones and our best over-ear headphones list, so it might be a surprise it’s not further up here as well. But although the WH-1000XM4 isn’t the absolute finest pair of headphones for calls, it’s still good, and you’d get its myriad of other qualities (including ANC) on the side as well.
In our testing, we apparently sounded loud and clear indoors, though going outside had something of a muffling effect. Keep that in mind, through for Zoom calls and Google Meets you’d probably be at home or in an office anyway.
Read our full Sony WH-1000XM4 review.
How to choose the best headphones with a mic for voice and video calls for you
PICKING THE BEST HEADPHONES AND EARBUDS STYLES
First, consider whether you’d prefer over-ear headphones or a pair of in-ear buds. There’s no rule of thumb that suggests one style is inherently better than the other for calling quality, though both have their pros and cons.
Wireless earbuds, for example, are more portable but don’t create a seal around your ear; as a result, over-ear headphones might be better if you expect to take calls where there’s a lot of ambient noise that could make it harder to hear what other call participants are saying.
Over-ear headphones also tend to have longer battery life, though most true wireless earbuds will last upwards of 4.5 hours between charges. That’s enough for all but the longest voice and video calls.
Don’t forget, also, that the main benefit of buying a pair of headphones over a headset or standalone microphone is that you can use it for music and podcasts too. So think about whether you want to pay extra for ANC, which enhances your listening experience in busy areas or on transport, as well as how important sound quality is for you more generally. All of the headphones on this list sound good for their respective prices, though some — like the Bose 700 and Sony WH-1000XM4 — perform exceptionally well in playback.
How we test the best headphones with a mic for voice and video calls
We test the calling capabilities of mic-equipped headphones exactly as you’d expect: by making calls. This lets us make sure each pair delivers the sound quality needed to ensure other callers are clearly audible, and we ask whoever we call for their feedback on how we sound. This helps us identify any problems with microphone volume or clarity — or, conversely, if we sound clear to others.
This is one of many tests to which we subject each pair of headphones. We also judge overall audio performance by how well each pair handles a variety of music genres, and will measure how long we get out of the battery before it runs empty.
To test comfort, we make sure to use the headphones over several says, including sessions wearing them for 2-3 hours at a time. This gives a good indication of how comfy each pair is, and whether that comfort is maintained in extended use.
Finally, we score each pair of headphones on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is the lowest, 5 is the highest, and the most impressive headphones might get an Editor’s Choice badge as well.