Edifier W240TN

Edifier's entry into working noise cancellation: true-wireless in-ears with ANC and a built-in microphone. This is the practical commuter package — buds for the pocket, cancelling for the bus engine, mics for the call you take while walking.

They are the least expensive noise-cancelling earbuds on our shelf, and that is exactly how to buy them: as the test of whether silence-on-demand fits your day. Most people find out within a week that it does.

Limits, honestly: refinement and app polish sit a step below the NeoDots, and no earbud at this level is a critical-listening tool. On the train at seven in the morning, none of that matters.