The best splurge noise-cancelling earbuds
Let me first address the elephant in the room: the price of the Beo Grace. £1k is a heart-stopping amount of money to spend on some earbuds. But, let me counter it with this: these are truly the best-sounding earbuds I’ve ever used, they look like jewellery and, for those who use them every day, the cost-per-wear could actually be minimal. I appreciate that for some, this kind of price will never be realistic, but if you’re the type to really care about the quality of audio in your headphones, you truly won’t find a better pair of earbuds out there. As someone who travels a lot, I think it’s worth investing in a quality pair of earbuds to drown out the sound of fellow passengers, and the noise cancellation on these is second-to-none. They slip easily into my pocket or smallest crossbody, making them an accessory I’ll never travel without again. Abigail Malbon, global audience development manager
When I first heard about Bang & Olufsen’s Beo Grace earbuds – which are, for the record, inspired by fine jewellery – I was intrigued. I’ve never found any earphones to be particularly stylish, yet we all buy and wear them regardless because they do an arguably essential job. And in B&O’s case, they do it well all while looking good: the sound quality of music and podcasts is great, and the noise-cancelling function (powered by a 12mm titanium driver) is almost too good. I highly recommend these on any flight, and recommend them less while crossing a busy city street.
While you likely won’t find many cons to these as a user, I did on two occasions have the person on the other end of the phone mention that I sounded a little tinny, so I’m watching the space on that particular bit of tech. I wore these in the Honey Tone, and from jogs in the park and my commute to work to long-haul flights, they were as comfortable as they are chic. They come with an equally sleek USB-C charger, and eartips in four sizes, meaning they really will fit anyone nicely. Oh, and the case also turns into a wireless audio transmitter, meaning you can plug it into any USB-C compatible device and it’ll stream straight to your earbuds. Tamara Southward, commerce producer
