6 Earbuds And Headphones To Help Meet United Airlines Flight Rules

Summer is fast approaching and if you're planning to catch a flight to go on vacation, heads up that United Airlines now has the explicit right to remove passengers who refuse to wear headphones or earbuds and instead choose to blast audio through their laptop, smartphone, or tablet.

The new rule is part of a recent revision to the airline's Contract of Carriage document that outlines a whole bunch of rules. It's listed under the section titled Rule 21 Refusal of Transport, which outlines various reasons why United Airlines may remove a passenger from a flight or even issue a permanent or temporary ban. Under section H, number 22, it states: "Passengers who fail to use headphones while listening to audio or video content."

"We’ve always encouraged customers to use headphones when listening to audio content – and our Wi-Fi rules already remind customers to use headphones. With the expansion of Starlink, it seemed like a good time to make that even clearer by adding it to the contract of carriage," United Airlines said in a statement.

Even without the official rule in place, it's just good manners to restrict audio to a set of headphones or earbuds. And if nothing else, you can use it as an excuse to upgrade headset before your next flight. Don't know where to start? Have no fear because we've rounded up some of the best options available.

One of the best wireless headphones available right now is Sony's WH-1000XM6, which you can find on sale for $399.95 at Walmart (save $50.04). The only caveat is that only the Platinum Silver colorway is discounted right now, otherwise you're looking at $458 at most retailers.

The WH-1000XM6 is the newest version of Sony's flagship headset and it offers top-notch active noise cancellation (ANC). It also features a new folding hinge design, Bluetooth LC3 (and LE) support, and a rated battery life of up to 30 hours of continuous music playback with ANC turned on, or up to 40 hours with ANC disabled.

Alternatively, the previous generation Sony WH-1000XM5 is still excellent and is on sale for $278 at Amazon (30% off, save $121.99).

We get it, not everyone is interested in paying a premium price for a set of headphones. Fortunately, you don't have to because the market is flush with options at every price point. For those of you looking for a budget-friendly option, have a look at the Anker Soundcore Life Q20 that's on sale for $44.99 at Amazon (25% off, save $15).

For one thing, Anker's support is great (we speak from experience). As for these headphones, they feature 40mm dynamic drivers with hi-res sound, hybrid ANC that promises to reduce ambient noise by up to 90%, and up to 40 hours of non-stop playtime with ANC or up to 60 hours without ANC.

If you're also a gamer, one of our favorite wireless headsets is the Fractal Design Scape that's available for $195.99 at Amazon. You can also get it for $199.99 at Newegg with a $20 promotional gift card added to the mix.

You can read our Fractal Design Scape review for our full thoughts and analysis, but the short of it is, Fractal Design's introductory audio product is a winner. It offers sleek styling, it's plush and breathable for a comfortable fit, and of course it sounds great. One of our very few gripes when it came out was that we wish it had a higher volume ceiling, and Fractal Design addressed this in a firmware release.

Looking for a set of earbuds instead? Then check out Apple's AirPods Pro 3, which are on sale for $219 at Amazon (12% off, save $30).

The newest version of Apple's AirPods up the ante with what the company claims is a 2x improvement to ANC versus the AirPods Pro 2. These earbuds also feature a redesigned fit with better in-ear stability than previous iterations, a built-in heart sensor, an upgraded IP57 rating for dust, water, and sweat, and up to 8 hours of listening time with ANC, or up to 24 hours if factoring in the included charging case.

A premium option that sits outside of Apple's ecosystem is the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen), and you can find these buds on sale for $279 at Amazon (7% off, save $20).

That's not a giant discount, but as we highlighted in our review, the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) are comfortable to wear for long stretches, it delivers balanced audio, the bass hits hard when you want it to, and the ANC is top notch.

We also really liked the SpeechClarity feature. What this does is use noise-rejecting mics to filter out background noise and wind so that your voice is heard clearly by the person on the other end of a call. We tested this by standing next to a loud running washing machine and flushing toilet, neither of which the person on the other end of the line could hear. It's truly impressive.

A more affordable option that still nudges into premium territory is the OnePlus Buds 4, which is on sale for $110 at Amazon (15% off, save $19.99).

Check out our OnePlus Buds 4 review for our full thoughts. The Cliff Notes version is that these are excellent mid-range wireless earbuds that tick almost all of the right boxes. These earbuds are extremely comfortable, they sound great after spending some time finessing the EQ controls, the noise cancellation works well, and the battery life is competitive.

Do you already own a set of earbuds or headphones? If so, check out the Twelve South AirFly SE, which is a Bluetooth wireless audio transmitter adapter. It's on sale for $34.97 at Amazon (13% off, save $5.02).

What this does is plug into a 3.5mm audio jack to connect your wireless headphones or earbuds without having to fuss with dangling wires. We use this when we travel and it works great.