Heritage vs high-tech in two premium ANC headphones—which one is for you?

Picking up a premium pair of over-ear active noise cancellation headphones in 2026 is no walk in the park, a flurry of compelling launches in recent months from the likes of Sennheiser and JBL joining all the usual big names in personal audio. On one side, you have the Sennheiser Momentum 4 80th Anniversary Edition, an unexpectedly cheerful octogenarian celebration from a brand that’s been perfecting sound since before many of our parents were born. On the other, there’s the JBL Tour One M3, a feature-packed, do-it-all powerhouse that offers many cues about the future of headphones. So, which one deserves space in your backpack, and on your head? And do they do enough to challenge the current king of the hill, the Sony WH-1000XM6?

JBL Tour One M3

The Tour One M3 ( ₹26,999) are JBL’s high-end active noise cancelling headphones, and with their 40mm drivers and 8 mics for noise cancellation and voice calls, have all the makings to go up against the big guns in the space. Yet, you wouldn’t immediately think they look the part, with the plastic parts used across the black variant I tested looking less premium than the higher quality plastic on the Sony (the blue variant looks a tad better, though).

The lighter materials work in JBL’s favor in actual use, as these sit lighter on the head and with a well-distributed clamping force that works great for use on long flights. Bonus: they fold inwards like a ball and are super compact to carry in the included case. Controls are a mix between physical (volume, ANC modes and power) and somewhat fidgety touch (playback, voice assistants) but this where things get super interesting if you pony up the additional cash for the Smart Tx variant (Rs. 32999).

Now, if you’ve seen JBL’s wireless earbuds charging cases for the Tour Pro 3 or the Live Beam 3, the pager-sized Smart Tx transmitter is a familiar quantity. Not only does it allow quick access to features and playback controls for which you’d otherwise have to fire up the JBL Headphones companion app, but it also packs in a special feature unique to the Tour One M3—the ability to connect to a source that doesn’t support wireless connectivity, such as dated in-flight entertainment systems or older analog audio sources at home.

And if you’re the sort who’s upgraded to the latest audio gear, the transmitter allows you to pair multiple Auracast-compatible devices to it simultaneously, allowing a group of friends or family to watch a movie/show at the same time, provided each of your headphones supports Auracast. One transmitter, zero compatibility issuesbut one more device that needs charging after its 18-hour battery runs out. For those times, there’s the lossless USB-C audio with the onboard digital to analog converter and 3.5mm cable connectivity.

Beyond the very obvious and unique utility of the Smart Tx transmitter, particularly for travelers, the headphones pack in a swathe of features expected at the price—LDAC hi-res codec support, 12-band equalizer control, a smart talk mode and wear-detection to pause your music when you talk or take the headphones off, and JBL’s own take on spatial audio.

Bleeding edge features don’t come at the cost of the basics, and the Tour One M3 gets audio right, although it might need the default, somewhat bland audio profile to be tweaked via the equalizer control…or you could run the Personi-Fi feature to get a audio preset tailored to your liking. Once you bump up the high frequencies a bit, the headphones reward you with ample detail, a warm, pleasing bass and clear highs, and the clear instrument separation and expansive soundstage make these an enjoyable pair of cans to listen to just about any genre of music.

Pit it against the Sony and the JBL edges ahead with a more spacious and wider soundstage and slightly more detail and clarity, but Sony has a deeply satisfying and tightly controlled bass level that is unmatched, for now at least. Its noise cancelling abilities are good, although the transparency mode is slightly bested by the Sony. Where the JBL pulls ahead for seasoned travelers is the whopping 40 hours of battery life with ANC turned on, 70 if you leave the noise cancellation off, far ahead of the 24-30 hours of its peers.

Easy to live with, perfectly portable without scrimping on features, with a pleasing, punchy sound that will find plenty of fans, and with an ace up its sleeve if you pick up the Smart Tx variant—the JBL Tour One M3 lands a solid contender even if you consider the wildly competitive and fiercely talented rivals.

Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless 80th Anniversary Edition

Sennheiser has long played the role of the well-dressed audiophile in a room full of flashy trend-chasers, and the Momentum lineup, in particular, has a reputation for understated, classy design and an almost stubborn focus on delivering sound as the artist intended. So, Sennheiser’s latest Momentum 4 Wireless headphones 80thAnniversary Edition ( ₹25,990), released to commemorate the brand completing eighty years of existence may come as somewhat of a surprise for folks who haven’t been along for the ride.

Right from the ear cups emblazoned by graffiti artist Bond Truluv’s art to the bright yellow headband and dashes of yellow around, these look nothing like any recent Sennheiser headphones, but Sennheiser aficionados will spot the homage to the iconic Sennheiser HD 414 headphones from nearly 60 years ago. The bold styling may not be for everyone, but if you do put them on, you’ll appreciate the generous padding on the headband and earcups, both of which allow the slightly heavy 290g headphones to sit comfortably atop your head for hours. As with the JBL, the materials are primarily plastic, but the Sennheiser pair have a decidedly more premium feel to them. The only downside is that the headphones only swivel flat and do not fold inwards, so they take up a fair bit of space in their large carrying case.

Once you have them on, controls are via the right earcup, with swipes and taps for volume adjustment, play/skip tracks and taking calls. The touchpad is precise but is prone to accidental touches, and you can disable the touch controls altogether via Smart Control Plus app. The app also lets you configure on-head detection and auto-shutdown capabilities, along with tweaking the equalizer and sound presets and customizing noise cancellation levels and sound zones (audio settings based on where you are, different settings for the home or the gym, for instance).

As with the original Momentum 4 Wireless, these cans shine when it comes to delivering a balanced and detailed sonic signature. Sennheiser’s large 42mm dynamic drivers pump out a rich, deep bass which doesn’t overpower the clear and lively mids and highs. Music remains true to what the artist intended, a Sennheiser trait, but folks preferring a deeper, punchier bass beyond the limits of the equalizer control may want to look at the Sony headphones. Sennheiser also misses a trick by not updating the firmware to include hi-res LDAC codec support, but the aptX, aptX adaptive codecs coupled with an optional BTD 700 (Rs. 4,990) dongle help, particularly with an iPhone (the dongle bypasses the onboard DAC on the iPhone to route higher quality audio to the headphone). On noise cancellation, the Sennheiser cans do well but Sony and JBL are a bit ahead in this department.

Now, if you thought the battery life on the JBL was crazy, sample this—the Sennheiser manages nearly 60 hours of playback with Active Noise Cancellation on! I’ve gone through a full week and have not needed to recharge the headphones, and even when they do run out, you can listen to them wired via the supplied 2.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable or a USB-C to USB-C one (not bundled).

When you view the Sennheiser from the lens of a 2026 pair of headphones, it may seem to lack a few of the tricks that make the pricier Sony or the feature-packed JBL more appealing. This is Sennheiser doing what it does best— celebrating eight decades of audio heritage with a product that prioritizes listening pleasure over everything else.