Originally Posted by
Uplinker
If you are listening only; i.e., you don't need a boom microphone too *, then I highly recommend the Bose QuietComfort 25 or 35. If you can find any.
Very good noise cancelling headphones. Not huge. They fold up into a compact hard case and run on a single AAA battery. If the battery runs out they still provide some noise reduction, because they go over the whole ear. They are not blue-tooth, (the 35 might be ?), but plug into your device with a wire the old fashioned way - no personal details or data required.
You can use them without the cable as stand-alone noise cancelling 'ear defenders' if you want, e.g. crying baby nearby.
* I did actually buy a specially made boom microphone to fit my 25s, and I used them for commercial airline flying.
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I got a pair of the Bose 35 headphones many years ago (long enough that I wore out the ear pads, but was able to find replacements on-line). Love them, hard wire is a bit of pain in that you need to take them off when going to the lav, etc. but they work fantastic.
The noise cancelling is so good that you need to pop them off if you want to talk to anyone (e.g telling the FA what you want to drink).