TaoTronics ANC Headphones (BH046) Review: Good Noise Canceling For Less Money

TaoTronics

Active Noise Canceling (ANC) headphones are often expensive, costing in the hundreds of dollars. TaoTronics claims it can deliver good noise-canceling headphones with excellent sound for less than $100. Does it succeed? Surprisingly, yes!

If you aren’t familiar with Active Noise Canceling, the basic premise is simple. ANC headphones use microphones to listen for noise around you. When that nose is detected, the headphones emit an “opposite noise” to cancel it out. If you imagine the sound as being +1, the opposite noise is -1.

The most expensive and accurate way of achieving the effect is to use Hybrid ANC, which employs microphones inside and outside the headphones. Usually, you’ll find Hybrid ANC on expensive headphones, like Sony’s ANC headphones that often go for $300.

Taotronics is offering the same technology for less than $90, and overall it delivers.

A Boring if Serviceable Look

A pair of Taotronics ANC headphones with volume up, down, and power button showing. — They don’t look like much. But hey, they’re headphones. Josh Hendrickson

Let’s be honest; if you’re buying your headphones as a status symbol, you’ll never consider TaoTronics. Beyond the fact that it’s not a well-known high-end brand, the look of these ANC headphones is, at best, boring.

The headphones are black, with some silver and chrome accents, and a smattering of buttons. You won’t find fancy LEDs, tap controls, or anything else that screams expensive headphones. Frankly, that’s okay. Not everything needs bling.

On the right ear cup, you’ll find all the controls you need. At first, the placement of the buttons annoyed me. The switch to turn off noise-canceling is pretty far away from the power and volume buttons.

A closeup of the Headphones showing Power, volume up and down, and headphone jack. — The ANC switch is so far away, you can’t even see it in this shot. Josh Hendrickson

But after wearing the headphones for a while, the placement clicked. When I lift my hand to my right ear, my thumb naturally rests on the power and volume buttons. And my ring finger hits the noise-canceling switch. Now I have no issues.

My main complaint with the physical aspect of the headphones is the fit. The earcups are nice and have plenty of cushions, but the band was a problem at first. It doesn’t hug my head like most my headphones do, and instead the very top of the band pushes against the top of my head.