Looking for DURABLE bluetooth, ANC, closed back

This morning I broke my third pair of wireless headphones. I apparently have an enormous, misshapen head that headphone designers have not accounted for. I’m not thrashing them or dropping them, just sitting on my huge Klingon skull stresses the cheap plastic the budget models are housed in and eventually they crack.

Here’s the other weird catch: I’m not really an audiophile. My ears are as insensitive as my head is big. As long as they don’t sound like a tin can and they have active noise cancelling so I don’t have to listen to my idiot neighbor mowing his lawn 80 hours a week, I don’t need them to be top-of-the-line audio.

I’m willing to go up to $400 if these will be the last bluetooth headphones I ever buy. I suspect that my best option is to buy a new pair of $50 Ankers and resign myself to sending them to the junkyard every year, because then I’d get 8 years of use before I broke even with a pricier model. But before I do that I figured I’d check with the experts to see if there’s a model made out of vibranium out there.

the Sony XM4’s are likely the only option.

o the Bose QC35II or their newer 700 series.

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I don’t think any Bluetooth headphones would last 8 years with regular use. Bluetooth and batteries will make it fail and/or obsolete.

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YMMV, but I have a pair of Bose QC35s that I have used almost daily for nearly 5 years now and all I’ve had to do is swap the pads. You could easily get a pair of the latest version of those within your budget. The NC700s are the newest model but they have touch controls and aren’t as easy to switch between devices.

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Bose QC35ii are the gold standard and within your budget. My pair is still going strong after 4 yrs of daily use. Just make sure you use the case if you toss them in your bag!

Some bonuses for you besides durability include improved anc and comfort. Plus they have a 90-day return period if you buy directly from them.