Best earbuds for IB front office?

In the past years I used Nothing Ear 2 earbuds at my job, which worked well initially as in background noises were kept at minimum during phone calls whilst noise cancellation was fine (not the best but just fine). Main reason for purchasing Nothing Ear 2 was because I wanted to have good conversations over the phone without getting comments from others about background noises (e.g. during commute or busy office hours where everyone is talking). A YouTube review video gave me the impression back then that Nothing Ear 2 earbuds came out as the best during specific noise tests.

Now my earbuds are broken and I'm looking for a new pair of earbuds. Given that hardware may have improved since then, I wonder what you are using nowadays. From all the available options, what recommendations do you have and which ones do you use in your daily IB job? A few things that are important to me:

1. Ideally, it works great for phone calls, as in very limited sensitivity to background noises (i.e. no 'Fallujah' noises or annoyance perceived by others when I speak during calls);

2. Great noise cancellation;

3. Seamless bluetooth connection;

4. Good battery life; and

5. Compatible with Android phone (not sure if AirPods Pro works well with Android phones).

Happy to read your comments.

Best,

Nick

20 Comments
 

Associate 2 in IB - Cov

This guy knows^^

It's "This guy fucks"

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

That’s a common dilemma in IB. If you’re on Android and need top-tier mic isolation for those loud office floors, you might want to look into the Sony WF-1000XM5 or the Bose QuietComfort Ultra.

Both are significant upgrades over the older Nothing Ear models in terms of ANC. Sony, in particular, has improved their bone-conduction sensors to pick up your voice specifically, which helps filter out the background "trading floor" noise during calls. Since you're on Android, you'll get the full benefit of their apps and LDAC support, which you'd lose out on with AirPods.

 

Amazon.com: SHOKZ New OpenRun Pro 2- Bone Conduction Headphones, Open-Ear Bluetooth Wireless Sport Earphones for Running, Workouts - Sweat Resistant, Secure Comfortable Fit -Deep Bass, Smart Mic, Reflective Strip : Electronics

Bone conduction headphones - you can respond to people talking. No noise cancellation though. I use these for everything and the calls seem really crisp. I usually get 8-10hrs on one charge.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Real response here is get the sony over ears -  sony wh-1000xm6. Best in class noise cancellation and call quality with no background noise. I have the xm5s and these are the newer ones. If you insist on buds rather than headphones then they do come as buds as well theyre called wf-1000xm6 but I can't speak to the background noise reduction of these as I haven't tried them but my friend enjoyed the previous version xm3 of the buds. In your shoes though I'd much rather get a wired solution rather than bluetooth. Look up any good wired IEM with mic and choose what fits in your budget from there. Lot of good stuff. 

 

Rerum vitae qui corrupti dolorem qui eum. Autem et dolor nihil. Labore quo quod quis unde.

Nulla ex ad delectus vero doloremque similique. Sit maxime dolor iusto laboriosam libero aut. Ipsam amet at itaque exercitationem omnis vel eveniet numquam. Molestiae voluptatum vitae commodi officiis.

Voluptatem id omnis nam nam dolorem autem. Labore culpa odit qui nihil provident reiciendis ea. Ipsa perspiciatis incidunt provident sed ratione explicabo asperiores. Architecto labore ducimus et totam aliquid et ipsam debitis.

Molestiae dolorum quasi et ut doloremque aut accusamus. Quasi eaque qui sequi atque provident non. Odio quo voluptas omnis explicabo voluptatem libero illum dolores.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (77) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (71) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”