United Airlines will debut new headphones in its Polaris business class and Premium Plus premium economy cabins beginning September 1, 2025, replacing the tired legacy sets that have long been a weak point of the onboard experience.
United Airlines Introduces Meridian Headphones In Polaris
The new Meridian headphones are custom-designed for the aircraft environment, with advanced noise cancellation technology to help cut down on engine hum and reduce listening fatigue. United promises clearer sound across its entertainment system, whether streaming Apple TV+ or Spotify onboard, and hopes these headphones will bring the audio experience in Polaris closer to what passengers expect in a premium cabin.
As flagged by JonNYC, distribution will start on all international Polaris and Premium Plus flights from September 1 and will expand to premium transcontinental flights and long-haul Hawai‘i service by mid-October 2025.
I hope that United will not collect these earlier, as American Airlines used to do, forcing passengers to surrender the headphones 30–40 minutes prior to landing. To passengers: please don’t steal them. Treat them with care, and we may finally keep a quality audio product onboard without it being locked up or rationed.
When I was in New York City for the launch of the new Polaris Studio seat, United put one of these in the “swag bag” given to each journalist/blogger attending.
I haven’t tested the sound quality yet because it is wired and I prefer wireless headphones, but I tried it on and found it comfortable: it will be a huge upgrade over the existing headsets.
Other U.S. carriers already offer excellent headphones in their premium cabins. For comparison:
- American Airlines offers Bang & Olufsen headphones in its Flagship premium cabins that are industry-leading
- Delta offers unbranded noise-cancelling headphones in its premium cabins, which are on par with the outgoing United headphones
- JetBlue offers Thinksound noise-cancelling headphones in Mint business class on domestic routes and Master & Dynamic on transataltnic routes, both of which work very well
CONCLUSION
United Airlines has finally invested in better headphones for its Polaris and Premium Plus cabins, a long-overdue upgrade that brings the airline more in line with its U.S. competitors. I look forward to trying them onboard and hope that they remain available gate-to-gate for the entire journey.
Welcome news. One point that only underscores how overdue this step was – you referred to United’s existing headphones as noise cancelling, but they’re only noise reducing. That’s not semantics, passengers should notice a significant difference.