Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Headphones Bluetooth Headphones Wireless Headphones Over Ear Christmas Birthday Gifts for Men Women Kids

I had previously purchased and been highly pleased with three other TaoTronics devices: two BT receivers I use in the car and with the home theater system and one pair of BT headphones (in-ear / ear buds) designed for active use (sports, etc.). I decided to get a pair of over-the-ear active noise cancelling headphones and was pleased to see a reasonably priced offering from TaoTronics.Once again, I was not disappointed. THESE ARE EXCELLENT!SOUND: As always with TaoTronics, the sound quality was superb. I'd put these up against ANY headphones I've listened to and they'd hold their own. The sound is rich and expansive with a nice powerful bass that doesn't drown out the crisp, clean highs. And the midrange is not ignored or over-emphasized like many others do. Because of the design, these sound even better than the in-ear pair I have from TaoTronics (and I love them, too; just a different purpose/design).COMFORT: The comfort was a concern for me because I wear glasses. I thought the over-the-ear design might cause pressure and some discomfort/pain after some time. I was wrong. I wore these the first time for nearly 2 hours while mowing the lawn and doing yard work and experienced no discomfort. Quite the opposite: they were VERY comfortable and stayed put the entire time, even with physical activity. (I might test them during some workouts just to see how the hold on.)NOISE CANCELLING: Noise cancelling is something I've experimented with quite a bit over the years and have always found it a bit odd. Sometimes the sound ends up being muffled, artificial, flat, or dense. Other times, it just seems OK. This was the first time I fell in love with it. I first tried these while mowing the lawn, and of course I could still hear the mower noise a bit, but what a difference! I didn't need to turn the volume up nearly as much as I do with other non-ANC headphones to enjoy it and the experience was much better with greater comfort and excellent sound.When I was done, I went inside where my daughter and wife were watching a movie. I could just barely hear that there was something in the background, but couldn't fully make it out. I looked at them and they talked to me, but I couldn't hear a word. I was blown away. (This could be a marriage saver for some of us! Ha ha!) I pushed the button to turn of ANC and then I could hear the movie and my family.I have no doubt these will perform excellently on an airplane, in the office, or anywhere else you want to turn down the outside world.I've tried them while working and listening to Brain.fm and it's terrific. Of course, working from home during COVID-19 isn't the same as being in the office, but these are now one reason I'm looking forward to returning to the office someday, just to try them out.OVERALL: design is simple yet nice; the buttons are easy to get the hang of quickly and work great; BT connectivity works great - I set the phone inside at one point and walked outside about 100 yards away (three house lots over) before I lost the connection.With excellent sound + outstanding comfort (even with glasses or sunglasses) + great noise reduction + a very great price point = these are a WINNER and an amazing value.PLUS: when you register the purchase online with TT you'll get an 18-month warranty extension, priority support, 60 days free return shipping, plus discounts on other great items from them. And you might even get a nice gift card!I do wish it could connect to more than one device at a time, but it's a minor thing. I'd connected it to the tablet last, then when I went to mow I wanted it to connect to the phone, but the tablet was the last thing it connected to, so I had to go back inside and turn off the tablet's BT before it would connect to the phone. My other pair of TaoTronics headphones would just connect to both and I could go along my business. It's just a minor inconvenience and if you only use it with one device - or primarily with one - it won't be a problem. In fact, it can be a blessing. I've had times with the other pair where it would connect to two devices and it was annoying because the second device kept sending alerts that I didn't want to hear at the time. So, it's just something to manage either way and can be a + or - in the situation. It's certainly not a reason to dock it a star or not to buy it.Once again, I'm thoroughly impressed and happy with my purchase of my FOURTH TaoTronics device.

Noise cancellation essentially works by emitting an offsetting tone (anti-noise) to drown out unwanted sounds. There are basically two ways to achieve this: Feedforward, and Feedback.Feedforward Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) works by using a microphone on the outside of the earpiece. This microphone picks up the sound, the anti-noise is created and applied, and the final output is then sent to the speaker and to the user's ear. The path of the sound is Microphone, Speaker, Ear.This technology has both pros and cons. By using an external microphone, it picks up the sound early on, giving the unit more time to process the anti-noise and thus can filter out higher pitches better. The con is that output can't be verified because the anti-noise is applied just before it reaches the ear. In other words, it doesn't know what the resultant effects of the anti-noise are. E.g. if the user doesn't have the headphones sitting perfectly cupped over each ear, the anti-noise may actually end up amplifying the unwanted sounds. Additionally, Feedforward ANC typically has a more narrow range of frequencies, thus may not be able to filter out the lower frequencies associated with traffic as well. Lastly with the microphone on the outside, it will be more sensitive to wind noise.Feedback ANC works by placing a microphone inside of the earpiece, so the path of the sound is reversed and becomes: speaker, microphone, ear.There are pros and cons to this setup as well. In this setup, the pro is that the ANC hears what the user will hear, so it will be better able to create or modify the anti-noise for better sound output to the user. It will also offset the other two cons from Feedforward, at least to some extent. It will have a broader range of frequencies, and can account for improper wearing or alignment. The cons are pretty much polar to the Feedforward. With a broader range, and better with lower frequencies, it's performance with the higher frequencies diminish. This increases the risk of getting "feedback", the painful, high-pitched shrill when you place a microphone too close to a speaker. The lower tones (Bass) are also worth mentioning here. Since ANC applies to all incoming sound, if the ANC cannot detect and differentiate the wanted audio (music) from the unwanted audio (ambient noise), it may end up drowning out the wanted Bass (lower frequency sounds) from your favorite tunes. To offset this, some companies advertise a "Bass Boost", which amplifies the bass the headset does recognize.Obviously, a mix of both Feedforward and Feedback would be best, and that's where Hybrid ANC comes in. And as you can probably guess, the sound path is combined to and uses 2 microphones in each earpiece: microphone, speaker, microphone, ear. Thus giving you the best balance possible by applying both FeedForward ANC and Feedback ANC. There is definitely a price difference with Hybrid ANC, but it's totally worth it in my opinion. If it's in your budget, Hybrid ANC is definitely the better choice.With all that said, I had recently purchased a pair of the TT-BH085, and was actually quite pleased with them in terms of ANC performance. Unfortunately my TT-BH085's won't turn on any longer. They recharge, and the ANC can be activated, but the power button is unresponsive. I can still use them with the 3.5mm cable for listening, but that's about all it's good for (note: the microphone only connects via bluetooth, so it's no longer a headset, they're just wired headphones).Luckily for me, TaoTronics offers a 1-year warranty. I contacted them directly (through Amazon) and they sent me a replacement. But I ran into the exact same issue 12 weeks later (power button unresponsive). I contacted them again, and they offered me a full refund! Awesome customer service and a company that stands behind their products!So with my lack of luck with the TT-BH085's, I ordered the upgraded SoundSurge 90's as my replacement pair. I have been using them for about two weeks now, and the Hybrid ANC is definitely more noticeable! The ANC (Feedback ANC) with the TT-BH085 were surprisingly good, but these TT-BH090's are amazing in comparison!Having the chance to try both of these headsets, here's a quick compare of the SoundSurge 85 vs SoundSurge 90.Microphone quality: both units have the latest noise cancellation for the microphones (QualComm's cVc 8.0), and sadly, both microphones only operate when connected via Bluetooth. The wired connection does not support microphone even with an inline 3.5mm cable (i.e. AUX jack with 3 rings). Much like the SoundSurge 85, with the Soundsurge 90, people continued to state that I sounded distant (like I was in another room), but the complaints were less frequent with the Soundsurge 85's. This is most likely due to the microphone location. With the Soundsurge 90's the microphone is located on the bottom of the right ear cup (at about 6:30 on an analog clock) whereas the Soundsurge 85's are more forward facing (at about 4 o'clock) on the same ear cup. While this position may be more susceptible to wind noise, it was clearly better in an indoor environment with my experience. Winner: Soundsurge 85.Size and Fit: the SoundSurge 90's are a bit larger all around. The ear cups are larger and so is the head band. But with this naturally larger size comes an increased weight, 2.2oz to be exact. While this may not sound like a lot, it may make a difference over extended periods of time. I ensure that I never have it on for more than 3 consecutive hours, so weight isn't an issue for my use. My head is on the big side, so I'd have to give it to the edge SoundSurge 90's. Winner: SoundSurge 90.Comfort: the two sets appear to use the same protein padding which is soft and comfortable. Clamping force seems stronger with the SoundSurge 85's, but that would be naturally so as they're smaller all around. Again, for my bigger head, I found the Soundsurge 90's to be more comfortable. Winner: Soundsurge 90.Charging: both use a USB-C charging port and both can deliver up to 2 hours use on just a 5 minute charge, and 45 minutes for a full charge. Winner: None. A tie.Battery Life: The SoundSurge 85 boast a 750mAh battery, while the SoundSurge 90's only have a 500mAh battery capacity. To avoid differences in battery capacity, I will measure efficiency to compare the two (how much power (mAh) it will take to support 1 hour of use). In my experience with the SoundSurge 85's, I was getting anywhere between 18-30 hrs of use per full charge, and averaging 22 hours per full charge over 26 weeks. This puts the efficiency at 750mAh/22hrs or 34mAh/hr. With the SoundSurge 90's, my nearly 4 weeks of usage so far has averaged 24 hours per full charge. This puts efficiency at 500mAh/24hrs or 21mAh/hr. The SoundSurge 90's clearly outperformed The SoundSurge 85's in my real life testing. Winner: SoundSurge 90.Bluetooth: Both have Bluetooth 5.0, and both connect immediately once they're turned on. Both can be paired with two devices, but both devices can't operate simultaneously. From a functionality aspect, they're identical; however, the Soundsurge 85's have aptX (which improves latency or lag), so they come out on top. Winner: Soundsurge 85.Sound: Both have 40mm drivers with AAC and SBC codecs, so when listening to music, there's no difference. But without aptX, video conversation latency is much more noticeable. In addition to the lag, conversations are sometimes choppy. The aptX is the deciding factor here. Winner: Soundsurge 85.ANC: The Soundsurge 85's Feedback ANC is no competition against the Soundsurge 90's Hybrid ANC. The difference is like night and day when you compare them. Winner: Soundsurge 90.ANC Control: ANC is controlled independently on the SoundSurge 85 with a separate switch on the left ear cup. You can turn on ANC without turning the headset on. The downside to this is that if you forget to turn off the ANC, it will drain your battery completely. This was one of the biggest complaints with the SoundSurge 85's. The SoundSurge 90 has a button for the ANC (not a switch) and the ANC function is tied directly to the power of the headset itself. This means that you cannot activate ANC without powering on the headphones themselves (Something the SoundSurge 85's are able to do). The plus side to this is that when you power down your headset, the ANC power's down with it (and will not drain your battery.) The downside is that the two are no longer able to be independently controlled. So if I had the same issue with the SoundSurge 90's as I had with the SoundSurge 85's (can't power on), I would lose ANC functionality altogether, and the headset will not function at all. Clearly there are pros and cons to both methods, and much like size and fit, is highly personal. For most, it appears that they prefer that the ANC powers down automatically, but for me, I prefer the separate switch; the ability to just turn on ANC without powering the unit on can be useful for reading, meditating, doing yard work, or even napping! Sure, if I forget to power off the ANC, it'll drain my battery, but at 5 mins for 2 hours or 45 minutes for a full charge I'm not overly concerned about needing to recharge them. Winner: Soundsurge 85.There are basically three features that differentiate the SoundSurge 90 from the SoundSurge 85's.1. Headset and Ear Cups are physically larger with the SoundSurge 90's, but this comes at the cost of more weight.2. SoundSurge 90's have better ANC (Hybrid) than the SoundSurge 85's (Advanced ANC).3. The ANC is tied directly to the power with the SoundSurge 90's while the ANC is completely independent for the SoundSurge 85's.There is also a price difference between both models, the SoundSurge 90's retail for about $10 more than the SoundSurge 85's.One last notable is that when you turn the SoundSurge 90's on, it broadcasts the remaining battery levels (high, low). The user manual does nothing to define what "low" is, but it died on me within 15 minutes. It did give me two additional warnings that the battery is "low" before it drained completely. As with most rechargeable batteries, it's best if you charge it before it's completely drained, and only drain it completely occasionally (once per week at most and once per month at a minimum). The "low" battery warning is a good one and I'd recommend plugging it in for 45 minutes when you hear it. While the SoundSurge 85's don't do this, there is a double beep warning chime when there's about 10 mins of usage left. A second warning chime will occur at about the 5 minute mark. If you have these paired with an iPhone, the Bluetooth battery life functionality will actually reveal the battery level of your headset.Overall, both headsets are feature packed for the price point, and either one of them are excellent entry level ANC products. In tallying up my comparison, The SoundSurge 85's meet my needs better, but that's only because my primary use if for video calls. You need to assess your own needs. If your primary use will NOT require the microphone, and the additional $10 is within your budget, I'd definitely recommend the SoundSurge 90's with the Hybrid ANC. If your head is on the larger side (size 8 baseball cap or larger), the SoundSurge 90's should be your pick, find a way to pay the $10 price difference, especially if you plan on wearing it for an extended period of time.Ideally, my needs require a combination of both headsets. The SoundSurge 90's with the Hybrid ANC and the larger ear cups coupled with the SoundSurge 85's AptX (for the audio) and the independent ANC switch would cover my needs perfectly. I believe the closest combination they have is the SoundSurge 55's; however, at nearly twice the price (the SoundSurge 55's retail above $100), I can't classify them as entry level...

Using it for Skype and Teams calls, seems quite good. Listening to music from my PC and the sound is great but from time to time it seems to drop the connection quality a little so I have to turn them off and back on again but once restarted they are all good. Replaced Logitech H800 headphones and these are so much clearer.