I just tested these noise cancelling headphones — and they're shockingly good for under $150

If you’re terminally plugged into your digital soundscape across your day-to-day and your work, rest and play then it’s important your headphones can go the distance with you. The TAH8506 from Philips presents a versatile option that will satisfy anyone who spends their days on work calls, pumps the beats in the gym and unwinds with a podcast in the evening.

It goes without saying that delivering this sort of ever-present audio cocoon requires a set of cans to not only be extremely comfortable, but also have fantastic sound quality and battery life to match, and yes, the TAH8506 effortlessly deliver just that.

And how much would you be willing to pay for a pair of ANC headphones that did all this? $200? $300? How about 128 bucks? That price might sound a bit too good to be true, and while these cans definitely have their shortcomings, they’re still a wonderful option for people on a budget. Let's find out how they stack up against the best wireless headphones.

Philips TAH8506 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A pair of contemporary, all-rounder headphones with sleek looks and decent sound output.
• Who is it for? Eclectic music lovers looking for a comfortable, well-rounded pair of headphones on a budget.
• What does it cost? $128/£103.99/AU$205
• What we like: Solid Bluetooth multipoint implementation, good support for all genres and comfort for long listening session.
• What we don’t like: The app and the presets feel underpowered and some of the touch controls feel impractical.

Philips TAH8506 review: Price & Availability

As an older model, the Philips TAH8506 headphones are becoming trickier to find however they remain in stock at Amazon. Either all black or all white, the TAH8506 will comfortably sit alongside your existing wardrobe.

With an MSRP of $128, the Philips TAH8506 cost more than the impressive Soundcore Space One headphones but deals undercutting Anker’s stylish noise-cancelers are available.

Philips TAH8506 review: Design

• Comfortable even after prolonged use
• Lightweight aluminium construction
• Slim hardshell case

Sleek and understated, the Philips TAH8506 won’t turn heads but the overall look is refined and clean. Branding is also kept to a bare minimum, with a solitary Philips logo featured on the left side of the headband that disappears entirely when the light catches it in just the right way.

My only criticism on the look of the TAH8506 is the shape of the headband itself, which sits almost completely flat across the top of my head.

The lightweight aluminium construction keeps the weight down to a modest 9.8 ounces and makes the TAH8506 feel somewhat premium. That feeling extends to the build quality too, with no rattling or cracking, even from vigorous headshaking.

The padding around the earcups and headband is suitably soft and provides a solid seal around the ears to prevent sound bleed. I found the Philips TAH8506 incredibly comfy, even after a full day of wearing them and those earcups kept them secure even during my morning run.

You’ll want to keep your headphones safe when you’re not wearing them, and the TAH8506 comes with a compact hardshell case that the headphones neatly fold into.

Philips TAH8506 review: Controls

• Touch controls
• Dedicated Voice Assistant button

Physical inputs are minimal with just three buttons adorning the right can. An ANC toggle, a voice assistant button, and the off/on button. The button’s identical size, shape, and elevation make them hard to distinguish from one another, although this improves with time and familiarity.

The voice assistant button worked flawlessly with Google Assistant on my Pixel 6A and felt like an unintrusive, yet helpful addition to the right earcup.

For playback, the onus is on the touch controls, which utilize the outer-face of the right can for inputs. I found the touch controls both intuitive and responsive, with a swift double-tap reliably enabling or pausing playback.

While the touch controls are intuitive that doesn’t mean you won’t feel a little silly while using them in public. If you want to drastically increase the volume for instance, then you’ll be forced to repeatedly trace your finger upwards across the earcup to turn these cans up to 11.

Skipping through tracks feels more natural, however, with swipes across the right cup quickly and efficiently navigating playlists and albums with ease. Similarly, I found placing my palm over the cup to momentarily mute audio output proved consistently helpful.

Philips TAH8506 review: Features

• A quirky app
• Switching EQ presets can produce unpleasant stuttering
• No wear detect

The TAH 8506 is supported by Philips headphones app and provides a clean interface for audiophiles to tweak ANC options and EQ presets and upgrade firmware.

The TAH8506 currently only supports four different EQ presets with space for a fifth customizable EQ setting. The four presets, for Bass, Treble, Voice and Powerful, amplify their respective focus areas but at the overall cost of reduced volume. I also found switching between presets could introduce stuttering during playback. It wasn’t bothersome enough to prevent me from using the various EQs but it’s something to consider if you do flick between presets often.

The absence of wear detect certainly isn’t a deal breaker but I was caught out on several occasions where I quickly slipped the TAH8506’s off for a moment, to find I missed a discussion point in a podcast or a chunk of an album because I’d forgotten to pause playback before setting the headphones down.

Philips TAH8506 review: ANC

• Adequate noise dampening
• Surprisingly minimal noise even without ANC
• App integration for greater control

The Active Noise Cancellation of the Philips TAH8506 is sufficient at removing unwanted background noise and allowed me to focus on music and podcasts. Riding the bus without the low hum of the engine muddying the crispness of Daft Punk’s ‘Discovery’ was very welcome.

With ANC on I found traffic noise greatly reduced thanks to the 4-microphone ANC configuration. The Philips TAH8506 also avoids introducing any unwanted noise or distortion like in some similarly priced headphones such as the Baseus Bowie 30 Max.

Surprisingly, even without ANC switched on, I still noticed a significant reduction in ambient noise from my surroundings. This undoubtedly comes from the aforementioned snug and cosy fit of the earcups and means that, in a pinch, squeezing some extra battery life out of the TAH8506 with ANC off won’t come at a massive audio penalty.

Philips TAH8506 review: Connectivity

• Bluetooth 5.0
• Excellent multipoint implementation
• 2.5mm jack

The Philips TAH8506 use Bluetooth 5.0 and while this older version won’t win over the most tech-savvy, the ease of use will still please most.

There’s a solid implementation of multipoint here too, granting Bluetooth connections to two devices simultaneously. Listening to Joe Satriani’s ‘The Elephants of Mars’ on my PC, pausing, and then picking up a YouTube video on my phone was gratifyingly easy, even with the slight pause in audio as I transitioned between devices.

The TAH8506 supports wired connections and includes a 2.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable in the box. Whether plugging directly into a hi-fi system or my PS5 DualSense controller, the sound quality remained consistently impressive, even if the 1.2m length of cable did catch me off guard on a couple of occasions as I fidgeted around on the sofa.

Philips TAH8506 review: Call Quality

• Excellent sound clarity
• Particularly sensitive microphone

Whether in my home office or briskly walking through town, calls came through crystal clear on the Philips TAH8506 headphones.

It wasn’t such a rosy story for the person on the other side of the call though, with the integrated microphone picking up unwanted background noises. A dog barking thirty meters away shouldn’t force me to repeat myself while I’m on the phone.

Philips TAH8506 review: Sound Quality

• Good performance across a range of genres and musical styles
• Easy to pick out and appreciate individual instruments
• The bass delivers

The sound from the Philips TAH8506 is pleasingly warm and handles an eclectic mix of tracks without any noticeable issues, distortions or unwelcome noise. Whether you’re looking for soulful vocals, crunchy vocals or pulsing bass you’ll be well served.

Individual instruments on tracks like ‘Weird Fishes’ from Noordpool Orchestra are easily identifiable. Lie down for a moment, close your eyes and turn up the volume and you’ll feel the bass kicking you in the chest while the strings and horns simultaneously lift you upwards. It’s a magical experience and a great achievement from the TAH8506’s 40mm dynamic drivers.

Seriously heavy bass tracks like Bela Fleck’s ‘Flight of the Cosmic Hippo’ hit the sweet spot with those long moody notes resonating deep into my skull. I would usually be inclined to engage an EQ preset for such tracks but I found the diminished volume from turning on the bass preset left me wanting more. Thankfully the standard setup more than delivers a satisfying droney shake.

Philips TAH8506 review: Battery Life

• 45 hours with ANC on
• 60 hours with ANC off
• 5 hour boost from a 15 minute charge

Philips deliver an ample longevity from the TAH8506 with roughly 45 hours of playback while ANC is active. That figure jumps up to 60 hours with ANC turned off, and as mentioned above, the difference in sound quality isn’t that substantial, so there’s definitely scope for deactivating ANC and just enjoying a beefier battery life.

Once the battery is depleted the Philips TAH8506 require 2 hours to fully recharge, but will gain a healthy 5 hours of juice from a 15-minute top up.

Verdict

For a pair of noise-cancelling headphones that aren’t going to break the bank, the Philips TAH8506 do a splendid job, especially if you tend to listen to lots of different genres of music regularly.

If you’re looking for a set of cans that support a wide breadth of fanciful extras that take your listening experience to the next level then there are definitely better options available and more power to you for wanting a completely revolutionary experience from your headphones. If, however, you’re looking for a comfortable workhorse that will deliver great sound quality wherever you are, then the Philips TAH8506 might just be for you.

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