Whatever you do, don’t buy these 5 headphones on Black Friday

Focal Bathys

The first on our list is the Focal Bathys. Focal’s flagship ANC headphones have long been praised for their sound quality, and they’re currently discounted to $500 from their usual $699 price tag. That’s a $199 discount—pretty significant, right? Unfortunately, even at $500, the Focal Bathys is still a difficult headphone to recommend.

Don’t get me wrong—the Bathys sounds excellent. If you’re an audiophile looking for the best-sounding ANC headphones, these deliver with their adherence to our house curve, impressive spatial depth, and USB-C DAC mode that lets you bypass Bluetooth compression entirely. Our MDAQS testing gave them solid marks for timbre and immersiveness.

But here’s the problem: at 350 grams, these headphones are heavy enough to cause neck strain during extended listening sessions. The ANC is merely pedestrian—roughly on par with the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, which is fine but nothing special compared to what Sony and Bose offer. And perhaps most frustratingly, the Bathys won’t work passively—if your battery dies, you’re out of luck until you can charge them.

If you’re already planning to spend $500 on premium ANC headphones, skip the Bathys and grab the Sennheiser HDB 630 ($499.95 at Amazon) instead. At the exact same $500 price point, the HDB 630 delivers superior sound quality with a higher MDAQS overall score (4.6 vs 3.8), better ANC performance, an incredible 53+ hour battery life, and a fantastic parametric EQ in the app. You get the included BTD 700 dongle for aptX Adaptive connectivity, lighter weight (311g vs 350g), and all the same wired connection options. The Sennheiser is simply a better headphone at the same Black Friday price.

Bowers & Wilkins PX8

Another premium headphone you should skip this Black Friday is the Bowers & Wilkins PX8. These luxury ANC headphones are currently on sale for around $500, down from their eye-watering $699 retail price. While that $200 discount might seem tempting, the PX8 still doesn’t justify its price tag, even on sale.

The biggest issue with the PX8 is its bizarre frequency response. Our measurements revealed a dramatic 5-7dB bass overemphasis and a severe underemphasis from 1kHz to 3kHz. While this tuning might work well for vintage vinyl-era tracks, it makes modern music sound muddy and unbalanced. We also noticed strange channel balance issues above 1kHz, where sounds can inexplicably come through louder in one channel or the other in very narrow frequency ranges. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it sounds odd.

The PX8’s MDAQS timbre score of just 4.0 reflects these tuning problems, dragging down what could have been a solid overall score. And while the headphones scored well for immersiveness (4.8) and distortion (4.4), you shouldn’t have to tolerate weird frequency response quirks at this price point. Making matters worse, Bowers & Wilkins only provides a basic two-slider EQ (bass and treble) in the app—nothing like the parametric EQ you’d need to actually fix these issues.

For $550, you have many better options. The Sony WH-1000XM6 is currently on sale for $398 ($30 off) 8 and delivers superior ANC, better sound quality out of the box, and a comprehensive app with actual EQ controls. Or save even more and grab the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones for just $299 ($130 off). You’ll get class-leading ANC and a more balanced sound signature without breaking the bank.

Beats Studio Pro

Perhaps the most popular pick on this list, the Beats Studio Pro might seem like a steal at $149.95 (down from $349.95). That’s a massive 57% discount. But even at less than half price, these headphones are a hard pass for me.

The fatal flaw with the Beats Studio Pro is the fit. Beats inexplicably decided to use tiny ear cups (59 x 40mm), which means anyone with average-to-large ears will have major comfort issues. The small cups cause your ears to touch the drivers, the stiff headband puts excessive pressure on your skull with minimal padding, and if you wear glasses, forget about getting a proper seal. I can’t wear these for more than an hour at a time without discomfort. Even worse, the small ear cups mean that achieving a good seal, which is critical for both ANC performance and bass response, becomes a struggle for most users.

The comfort problems are compounded by frustrating design choices. The physical buttons on the back of the ear cups require you to press hard enough that you risk breaking the seal around your ear, and the clicking sound is obnoxiously loud inside the headphones. The USB DAC mode has bizarre quirks: you can’t change EQ presets unless audio is already playing, there’s no indication of which preset you’re using without looking at external LEDs, and you can’t use ANC or transparency mode while listening over USB if audio is playing. You can also accidentally double-connect via USB and Bluetooth, causing playback weirdness.

For $150, you’re much better off with the Anker Soundcore Space Q45, which is nearly half off right now at $79.99 ($70 off) and offers deeper ear cups that actually fit most people, excellent ANC, 50+ hour battery life, and a comprehensive app with EQ. Or spend a little more for the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless, which is currently reduced to $179.95 ($270 off), which beats the Beats in sound quality, comfort, connectivity, battery life, build quality, and controls—basically everything except ANC performance.

Bose QuietComfort Headphones

The Bose QuietComfort Headphones are currently on sale for around $199 (down from $349), which might seem like a reasonable deal for Bose’s comfort and ANC pedigree. But here’s the thing: these are essentially a worse-sounding version of the older Bose QuietComfort 45, which is can still be found for $50 less.

The most glaring issue with these headphones is the bizarre frequency response. Our measurements revealed dramatically overcooked sub-bass that makes mids sound weak and underpowered by comparison. There are also huge swings in the highs, particularly a prominent peak at 6-8kHz flanked by underemphasis above and below, which creates the impression of poor treble extension—like listening to band-limited music through a phone speaker. Songs with busy top-end content suffer, and the limited three-band EQ slider in the Bose Music app simply can’t fix these fundamental tuning problems.

What makes this even more frustrating is that these headphones are virtually identical to the QuietComfort 45 in every other way—same design, same materials, same comfort, same button placement, same case. The only significant difference is that Bose changed the drivers, and not for the better. The headphones also use outdated Bluetooth 5.1, lack USB-C audio support, and offer minimal features beyond basic ANC and transparency modes. For $200 bucks, you’re paying for comfort and the Bose name, but getting inferior sound quality and older tech.

Save yourself $100 and grab the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless, which again, is currently reduced to $179.95. You’ll get superior sound quality, USB-C audio passthrough, a comprehensive app with actual EQ controls, better battery life (up to 60 hours), and Bluetooth 5.2. The ANC is slightly less aggressive than Bose’s, but it’s still competent enough for airplane and commuter noise, and the sound quality difference makes it worth the tradeoff.

Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen)

Last, and certainly least, we have the Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen), currently on sale for an astonishing $34.99 (down from $119.99). At this point, Amazon is practically giving these away, and there’s a reason for that.

Let’s start with the sound quality, which is mediocre at best. Our measurements revealed a frequency response that under-emphasizes mids from 200-500Hz, making vocals sound unclear and recessed in the mix. Bass is tepid, highs are uneven, and the three-band EQ in the Alexa app is far too limited to actually fix these issues. The battery life is also painfully average at just 4 hours and 42 minutes in our testing—that’s significantly worse than most modern earbuds.

But the real dealbreaker is the ecosystem lock-in. These earbuds are essentially useless without the Alexa app and a heavy investment in Amazon services. You’re required to hand over significant personal data just to access basic features like EQ controls, ANC settings, and firmware updates. Without Alexa, you’re left with a subpar set of earbuds with limited functionality.

Even at $35, you’re better off spending just $7 more for something like the Soundcore Space A40, currently on sale for $42 ($38 off), which offers superior sound quality, better battery life (10 hours per charge), LDAC support, and a comprehensive app with actual EQ controls. Or save up a bit more for the Nothing Ear (a), currently $59 ($50 off), both of which offer significantly better performance and don’t require you to sacrifice your privacy to get basic features.