First of, it all depends on a few things.
Type of noise cancelling:
- Active-noise cancelling - Uses batteries and applies a inverse sound wave to environmental sounds to cancel out any environmental noise. Most fall into this category.
- Passive-noise cancelling - Uses pads and headset pressure to block incoming noise instead of batteries and inverse sound waves. Think hearing protection for noisy environments like shops.
Type of headset:
- Over the ear
- On the ear
- In the air
Type of sound delivery:
- Wired
- Wireless
The best, hands down, noise cancelling I’ve ever experienced has been the “Bose QuietComfort 20 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Earbuds” They are wired, but wow, they will cancel out everything.
However, a close second is the Apple Air Pods Pro. They are wireless/bluetooth, and do an amazing job at active noise cancellation.
If you’re looking for over-the-ear headphones, Bose QuietComfort 45 are pretty good. Over the ear will always be worse than in-the-ear if you wear glasses. Something to think about. It’s still good, but not near as good as in-the-air. The advantage of over the ear is that they are more comfortable.
If you fly a lot, you may also want to consider how you’d use some of the wireless/bluetooth units with a 3.5mm jack for airplanes. You can purchase dongles/adapters.