A plane is a noisy place. It's people sitting in a tube, breathing recycled air and listening to turbine drone for six hours straight. ANC headphones won't save you from the kid sitting next to you, but they'll make the flight bearable – even enjoyable.
How does ANC work on a plane?
Active noise cancellation does one thing really well: it eats low, constant frequencies. The hum of a jet engine is exactly that. The VMK25's hybrid ANC listens to the environment through its microphones and produces an opposite-phase sound wave that cancels out that constant drone.
In practice, this means that when you press the ANC button and put some music on, the turbine noise disappears almost entirely. What's left is your music and the occasional clatter of the drinks trolley.
What ANC doesn't do: eliminate speech, a crying child, or that bloke who rustles his crisp packet for the entire flight. These are high-pitched, variable sounds, and no ANC circuit handles them perfectly. But stick some music on and they'll fade into the background too.
What about flight mode?
You need to turn Bluetooth off during takeoff and landing – at least if you follow the rules. The VMK25 comes with a 3.5mm AUX cable for exactly this reason. Plug the cable in and the headphones work wired. ANC still works.
So: Bluetooth off, cable in, ANC on. Done.
At cruising altitude most airlines allow Bluetooth, so you can unplug the cable and listen wirelessly. The 50-hour battery life will comfortably get you from Helsinki to Tokyo and back – even if the return flight runs on postal service schedules.
Practical tips for flying
- Charge your headphones before you leave. Obvious, but it needed saying.
- Bring the AUX cable. It's in the box. Put it in your bag. Thank you.
- Ear cushion seal is everything. ANC works best when the cushions sit tight against your head. If you've got luscious sideburns or thick-framed glasses, the seal suffers and so does ANC performance. Not a fault, just physics.
- Transparency mode is handy. When the flight attendant asks if you want chicken or pasta, press the ANC button once. Transparency mode lets speech through without having to take the headphones off.
- They weigh about 300 grams. Lighter than most competitors. On a six-hour flight, your ears will notice.
Why the VMK25?
Let's be straight: if you want the absolute best ANC on the market, the Sony WH-1000XM5 beats us on that one thing. But it also costs twice as much. And when it breaks, it goes in the bin.
The VMK25's ANC is more than good enough for air travel. Sound quality is better than it has any right to be at this price point – thanks to Jasse, whose ears are separately insured. And if the headphones ever break, we'll fix them in Kajaani instead of pointing you to the nearest recycling bin.
Every purchase also funds our Death Star. It's only 0.000001% complete, but every great journey starts with a single flight.
