Manufacturer ANC claims ("up to 2× quieter") are unverifiable marketing. We measured five 2026 flagship earbuds on a GRAS 45CA HATS rig with controlled pink noise.
Setup
- GRAS 45CA HATS with KB5000 anthropometric pinna
- Pink noise at 75 dB SPL ambient
- Best of three fits per pair (silicone tips selected by manufacturer guide)
- Measured passive + active attenuation in 1/3-octave bands
Total attenuation by frequency (dB, higher = better)
| Earbud | 100 Hz | 500 Hz | 1 kHz | 4 kHz | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AirPods Pro 3 | 32 | 28 | 24 | 38 | 31 |
| Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 | 35 | 30 | 22 | 36 | 32 |
| Sony WF-1000XM6 | 33 | 29 | 23 | 37 | 31 |
| Pixel Buds Pro 2 | 28 | 24 | 19 | 33 | 27 |
| Nothing Ear (3) | 24 | 21 | 18 | 31 | 24 |
What the numbers mean
Low-frequency rejection is where active noise cancellation actually does work — passive isolation (the silicone tip alone) handles everything above ~2 kHz on its own. ANC's job is the sub-2 kHz band where physical sound waves are long enough to be hard to block passively but short enough to invert with a microphone-and-driver feedback loop. The Bose QC Ultra 2 leads at 100 Hz by 3 dB over AirPods Pro 3 — subjectively very noticeable on aircraft cabin noise (engine drone sits at 60–100 Hz) and HVAC systems.
The Pixel Buds Pro 2's lower scores are partially a fit issue — the smaller nozzle geometry seats less deeply on the HATS pinna than the larger AirPods Pro 3 or Bose tips. Real-world results vary more by individual ear canal geometry than for over-ear headphones, where the cup-clamp dominates. If the Pixel Buds Pro 2 fit your ears well, the 4 dB gap may narrow to 1–2 dB in practice.
Why HATS measurements understate real performance
A HATS rig is a rigid silicone pinna and ear canal. Real human ear canals are warm, slightly compressible, and individual to each user. The bud-to-canal seal in a real ear is often better than on a HATS — so absolute ANC numbers tend to be 2–4 dB conservative. Comparative numbers between buds are valid; absolute "this bud blocks 31 dB" is a lower bound.
ANC vs transparency mode
Every pair in the test includes a "transparency" or "ambient" mode that uses external mics to pass through environmental sound. We rated transparency naturalness on a 1–10 scale (10 = "forgot you're wearing buds"):
- Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2: 9 (most natural)
- AirPods Pro 3: 8.5
- Sony WF-1000XM6: 8
- Pixel Buds Pro 2: 7.5
- Nothing Ear (3): 6
Bose's "Aware Mode" remains the industry leader in transparency naturalness — closest to the actual unprocessed sound.
Wind handling
A real-world failure mode for ANC: wind on the external mics creates audible noise. We tested with a 12 km/h fan at 30 cm:
- Bose QC Ultra: best (digital wind-noise reduction handles it)
- AirPods Pro 3: very good
- Sony WF-1000XM6: good
- Pixel Buds Pro 2: moderate (audible wind buffeting at full ANC)
- Nothing Ear (3): poor
For cyclists, runners, or coastal commuters, wind handling matters as much as raw ANC depth.
Battery cost of ANC
ANC adds roughly 30–40% to per-charge consumption. Battery numbers per charge with ANC on (manufacturer claim vs our measured):
| Earbud | Claim | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| AirPods Pro 3 | 8 h | 7h 50m |
| Bose QC Ultra | 6 h | 5h 45m |
| Sony WF-1000XM6 | 8 h | 7h 40m |
| Pixel Buds Pro 2 | 8 h | 8h 10m |
| Nothing Ear (3) | 5.5 h | 5h 20m |
Pairing matters
The codec gap between AirPods Pro 3 on iOS and Pixel Buds Pro 2 on Android (see our codec & latency lab) is a bigger end-to-end audio quality factor than the 4 dB ANC gap. ANC is one input to perceived sound quality; codec, fit, and ecosystem integration combine to outweigh it.
See our AirPods Pro 3 vs Pixel Buds Pro 2 for the full head-to-head, or the best wireless earbuds 2026 guide for the broader category.