Over-ear headphones can be somewhat a luxurious purchase. Many premium pairs offer great sound quality and great noise cancellation, offering a way to cocoon yourself off from the world while listening to your bangers in peace.

The best over-ear headphones can cost north of £400 from the likes of Apple, Bose and Sony, which is why a deal currently running at Argos caught my eye.

Right now you can pick up the Sony WH-1000XM5 over-ear wireless headphones for £249.99. That’s a £30 discount on the previous price Argos had them for, but the cans actually launched in 2022 for £379, so the latest price is a huge saving.

It’s also cheaper than the £279 the headphones currently cost from Amazon and Sony itself.

Argos is also offering 5x Nectar Points with this purchase, so you can save on the RRP while banking 1249 points.

The WH-1000XM5 are the fifth iteration of Sony’s very popular range, but they have been superseded by the XM6, which came out in June. The newer ‘phones cost £399, so you can certainly save a wedge by opting for the previous XM5s.

There are perceived upgrades to the newer pair, but for all intents and purposes, the two versions are very similar, and you shouldn’t be disappointed with the quality of the audio, noise cancellation and battery life you’ll find on the XM5s for £249.99.

View the Sony WH-1000XM5 at Argos

I still use my older XM4s, which I have had since 2020. They are still very good – you don’t need the latest product when it comes to over-ear noise cancelling headphones.

The WH-1000XM5s are on sale in blue, black, silver and pink. The noise cancellation is top tier, meaning you can listen to your music, podcasts, audiobooks or phone calls while blocking out the majority of background noise. This is great for commuting, plane travel, home office use or anywhere you want a bit of peace and quiet.

Connection to your phone is over Bluetooth but the headphones include a 3.5mm headphone jack and cable in the box if you do want to plug in directly to a jack. Audio is superb, and you get Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Audio Wireless support with compatible devices and apps.

Perhaps best of all is Sony’s promise of 33 hours of battery life, though that’s with noise cancelling turned off. Even with it on you can get up to 24 hours, so long haul flights without needing to charge is possible.

All pairs come with a carry case, though it’s worth noting that compared to the new XM6, the XM5 don’t fold down, so you have to store them flat, which takes up a but more room whether you use the carry case or not.

However this is a minor niggle with what are an excellent pair of noise cancelling headphones.