Should you buy noise cancelling headphones for studying?

Yes—buy noise-cancelling headphones for studying if noise is regularly breaking your focus, especially in dorms, libraries, shared homes, cafés, or commuting. They’re most worth it for blocking steady background sounds like chatter, HVAC, traffic rumble, and keyboard noise.

Don’t buy them just because you study: if your space is already quiet, a cheaper pair of closed-back headphones, foam earplugs, or a white-noise app may be enough.

Best practical choice: get comfortable over-ear noise-cancelling headphones with a transparency/ambient mode, because you’ll likely wear them for long sessions and may still need to hear announcements or someone speaking to you. If you want a premium benchmark, the Sony WH-1000XM6 are a strong current pick, with RTINGS naming them the best noise-cancelling headphones they tested in May 2026 and noting outstanding noise isolation.