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College is a place to learn, but college life is not designed to help. Whether you have a loud roommate or someone down the hall listening to loud music on the main stage levels, distractions are the rule, not the exception. That’s why active noise canceling headphones and/or headphones are essential school equipment, and Bose QuietComfort is ANC that consumers and other businesses rely on. Right now, Bose has headphones, earphones, and speakers in all sorts of color combinations on sale for summer, but it’s never a bad time to think about back to school. The $130 discount on the QuietComfort headphones is a solid price outside of the holiday sales, so if you didn’t score a Prime Day deal, it’s still a good time to save.

While not the flagship Ultra, the QuietComfort headphones are Bose’s best option for students on a budget. The company’s active noise cancellation remains the standard by which other pairs are measured and is quiet enough to turn a busy bedroom or noisy library into a study cabin. Plus, the headphones are comfortable enough for long nights writing articles or wandering around the yard looking for inspiration. The battery runs for approximately 24 hours, so a single charge covers a week of travel and classes.

If you want something flagship and a little more pocketable, the QuietComfort Ultra headphones (2nd generation) block out more outside noise than almost anything else we’ve put in our ears, which is important when your roommate or brother is awake and you have a paper to hand in. You can read our review for the full breakdown. At $50 off, they’re the most expensive option here, but they’re worth the effort if you need a quiet space in a crowded place and want the most advanced algorithms and expressive audio.

The QuietComfort earbuds do the important part: blocking out the noise, for a hundred dollars less than the Ultra pair. They offer a secure fit for walking to class and cancellation can be dialed in a packed study hall. If you can live without CustomTune Sound, Immersive Audio, ActiveSense adaptive mode, SpeechClarity calling, and so on, this is the smartest buy at $149.

Best Bose portable speaker deals

Bose portable speakers are also on sale if you have a supportive roommate or family or just need to hit the grass after a long conference. The SoundLink Max is the loudest and most durable of the bunch, while the palm-sized SoundLink Micro is the sleeper option at just under $100 and small enough to clip to a backpack strap.

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