Bose ProFlight Series 2

The Bose ProFlight Series 2 is a pilot's headset first and everything else second. ANC and mic quality are outstanding, but battery life and music sound are rough. Worth it for professional aviators, skip it for everyone else.

The ANC is the star here, landing in the 90th percentile of our database. That's best-in-class territory, and it's doing the heavy lifting in a noisy turbine cockpit. The mic is also a standout at the 88th percentile, which is exactly what you want when ATC is on the other end. Connectivity sits at a solid 69th percentile, with Bluetooth and 3.5mm options plus the Bose Connect app for mixing audio sources. But the sound quality for music is rough, 18th percentile, and the battery is one of the worst we've seen at the 3rd percentile. This thing is built for communication, not entertainment.

Stacked against the Sony WH-1000XM6 or Apple AirPods Max 2, the ProFlight Series 2 gets absolutely destroyed on sound quality and battery life. Those are consumer headphones built for music and media, and they're much cheaper. The Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 also outclasses it on build and audio. But none of those are designed for aviation communication. The Sennheiser HDB 630 is the closest competitor in spirit, but even that doesn't match the ProFlight's ANC and mic performance in a cockpit environment. This is a case of the right tool for a very specific job.

At $1,099 USD, this is not a casual purchase. It's the 1st percentile for affordability, meaning it's basically the most expensive thing in its category. But if you're a professional pilot, this isn't a splurge, it's a tool. The ANC and mic performance justify the cost for the right buyer. For anyone else, you're paying a massive premium for features you'll never use in a cockpit.

The Bose ProFlight Series 2 is a niche headset built for one specific person: the jet pilot. It's not trying to be your commuter headphones or your gaming cans. It's a lightweight, on-ear communication tool that happens to have some serious ANC chops.

At 128 grams, it barely feels like you're wearing anything, which matters when you're strapped in for hours. The three-mode ANC and talk-through tap control are genuinely useful in a cockpit. But this is not a music headset, and the price reflects that it's professional gear, not a consumer toy.

Skip this if you're not a pilot. Seriously. The music quality is bad, the battery is terrible, and you're paying over a grand for features like intercom mixing and talk-through that mean nothing outside a cockpit. If you need ANC for travel or work, grab the Sony WH-1000XM6 or AirPods Max 2 and save yourself hundreds.

If you're a jet pilot flying pressurized turbine aircraft, this is arguably the best headset you can buy for communication clarity and all-day comfort. The ANC and mic are genuinely excellent. If you're anyone else, this is a wildly expensive headset with bad battery life and mediocre music playback. Buy it for the cockpit, not the commute.