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Earbuds have improved dramatically over the past few years. The technology is at the point where you shouldn’t have to worry too much about a dodgy Bluetooth connection or a dropped signal. You can get decent sound, battery life, and noise-canceling capabilities at a variety of different price points. As a result, comfort, convenience, and how much you care about premium sound quality are likely to be the deciding factors for which earbuds are best for you.
To find the best wireless earbuds, I tested 15 models, spending at least ten hours using each and trying them across a variety of devices with different operating systems to check for sound and connection quality. I listened to music and podcasts as well as an audiobook for good measure in loud and quiet environments, such as a busy gym and a coffee shop, to account for sound quality and the effectiveness of noise-cancellation features.
We don’t have a best overall pick for wireless earbuds because more and more manufacturers are taking Apple’s approach and locking the best features to first-party hardware. That means a pair of third-party wireless earbuds from a company such as JBL can’t always offer the same integration with an iPhone or MacBook Air as a pair of AirPods can (this in part may have even pushed Jabra to exit the category entirely), as they can’t access the same parts of iOS and macOS for easier connection. Samsung has also made its earbuds sound better when used alongside a Samsung device such as a Galaxy phone or one of the company’s TVs. This — along with the fact that features such as noise transparency and voice assistant triggers won’t work when using one company’s earbuds with another company’s hardware — make finding the right fit for most people a bit trickier. In many cases, those advantages result in a better experience for the user, so we’ve picked out the best earbuds for each major mobile operating system along with picks based on other criteria such as sound quality and price.
Update on September 25, 2024: Replaced best less-expensive wireless earbuds for iOS users with the fourth-generation AirPods; added the JBL Tour Pro 3’s as the best airplane-friendly wireless earbuds; updated prices and checked stock for all other products.
What we’re looking for
Noise cancellation
Now that Apple has released a model of the standard AirPods with noise cancellation, all the earbuds we recommend come with this feature. I listened for how effective they were at blocking out background noise whether I was at home or moving through the city. Note that some people find noise-canceling headphones uncomfortable because they can cause a feeling of pressure in your eardrums. I didn’t experience this issue during my tests, but if you are new to noise-canceling earbuds, be sure to choose a pair that fits snugly in your ear to create an effective seal to prevent that pressure.
Comfort
Great sound quality can go only so far if earbuds are uncomfortable to wear. Size, weight, and design will affect how earbuds feel. Some of the earbuds I tested were so heavy they felt like anchors on my ears. Poorly designed earbuds can feel even worse if you wear glasses. Some models feature memory-foam ear tips that expand and contour for a more comfortable and customizable fit. Others have a more rigid plastic design that might not fit as well as some people would like. Models that come with different sizes of interchangeable ear tips provide a more bespoke fit.
Battery life
The average battery life for the earbuds in this guide is about five and a half hours. All these earbuds come with cases that will charge the buds when not in use. The cases typically hold enough power to fully recharge the earbuds at least two more times, which helps ensure you have enough battery life for a full day of calls, podcasts, and music before you have to recharge the case.
Water resistance
An Ingress Protection (IP) rating tells you how resistant earbuds are to water or solid particles like dust (the higher the number, the better the protection). For water resistance, we only recommend earbuds with at least a waterproof rating of 4 (out of 9).
Best wireless earbuds for iOS users
Noise cancellation: Yes | Comfort: 4g per earbud, multi-size ear tips | Battery life: 6 hours with noise canceling turned on; 5 hours without | Water resistance: IPX4 rating — sweat- and water resistant
The AirPods Pro boast many of the same features that make our previous pick for best overall, the OG AirPods, great: simple setup process, seamless connection to your iPhone, compact size, and a relatively comfortable design. But the reason we’ve moved them to the top spot is their notably better sound.
Although the Pros sound great, the main appeal of Apple’s earbuds is how simple the setup process is — just open up the AirPod case and your iPhone starts connecting. The fact that Apple made the setup process so easy is something anyone can appreciate, but it will be especially welcome for people who aren’t overly tech savvy. Thanks to the rubberized tips, which come in four sizes, you can get a more custom fit, which should appeal if you struggled with the fit of the originals. The AirPods Pro have ANC and offer a significant step up in sound quality with richer and better-balanced bass. Plus, Apple added little black vents to the outside of the Pros to alleviate that completely sealed-off, underwater feeling that some earbuds can cause.
The latest AirPods Pro feature the same transparency and active noise-cancellation modes as the first-generation model with an additional feature Apple calls Adaptive Transparency, which toggles transparency mode based on the sounds around you (it’ll turn on when you start talking to someone). When transparency mode is active, if the AirPods detect a sound above a certain decibel level (sirens, loud yelling, overly loud engines being revved), they’ll reduce the volume of those sounds before passing them to your ears.
The second-gen AirPods Pro are the first wireless earbuds Apple has put out that allow you to adjust playback volume right on the stem of the AirPods. It’s one of those features that you miss when using another pair of headphones and makes using the AirPods Pro even more convenient than before. The second-gen AirPods Pro have the same U1 chip as Apple’s AirTags, which makes it easier to track them if you ever lose them; there’s a speaker on the bottom of the new case that will play a loud chime whenever you ping the AirPods from the Find My app. It’s loud enough to hear from across the house and easily cuts down on the time spent hunting for your headphones before running out the door.
My only complaint with Apple’s AirPods (this is true also of the standard AirPods and the Max) is that if you have multiple Apple devices, like an iPad and MacBook, the earbuds have a tendency to connect to different devices when you walk by them. This is true even when listening to music or on a call. You can disable this feature entirely, but it should work as Apple has advertised: If you’re listening to music on your Mac and get a call on your iPhone, the AirPods should automatically switch. While this is true sometimes, the unintentional swap is so frequent I’ve turned that feature off on all of my Apple gear.
Best (less expensive) wireless earbuds for iOS users
Noise cancellation: Yes | Comfort: 4.3g per earbud, hard plastic with no additional ear tips | Battery life: 5 hours | Water resistance: IP54
AirPods have been hugely popular since they were first released and for good reason: The setup is simple (just like that of the AirPods Pro), and the battery life is impressive due to the charging case, which is extremely portable thanks to its Tic Tac–like size.
The AirPods’ controls are simple and intuitive. You tap or double tap the sides of the earbuds to pause, play, or skip songs and, if you’re using an iOS device, to activate Siri. Unlike the AirPods Pro, you can’t slide your finger along the touch sensor to adjust the volume. You can use the AirPods with other devices, though the experience is much smoother within the Apple ecosystem. There aren’t many options for customization on the AirPods’ tap function — unlike the Sony and JBL earbuds below, which all allow you to customize the controls — but Apple’s standard controls work well in most situations. And though some people have had issues with the AirPods’ fit, that can often be improved with an inexpensive accessory like a plastic hook that attaches to each earbud and latches onto your ear for a more secure fit. The fourth-generation AirPods feature a new design that’s supposed to fit snugly inside more ears. My ears have historically struggled with the standard AirPods, and while they do still move around a bit when I lie down, these are much more secure than previous models. If you’ve had issues with older AirPods staying in your ears, it’s worth giving the new ones a shot; Apple even has in-store units you can try on (don’t worry, they sanitize them between demos).
With the charging case, fourth-generation AirPods can provide up to 30 hours of total battery life, depending on your usage. One warning: The all-white case tends to attract dirt and grime, but you can always throw a cover over your AirPods case. The latest AirPods are also the first of the standard models to feature noise cancellation. While it’s not quite as effective as that of the AirPods Pro, it works surprisingly well for earbuds that don’t form a complete seal and lack custom tips. I would still recommend the Pro model for blocking out louder sounds like those you’d encounter on the subway or in a loud coffee shop, but for blocking out sounds around the house, these work great.
Best wireless earbuds for Android users
Noise cancellation: Yes | Comfort: 6.2g per earbud, hard plastic with three additional ear tips | Battery life: 7 hours | Water resistance: IPX4
If you have an Android phone or devices across multiple platforms and find yourself switching between them for all your audio needs, Google’s Pixel Buds Pro will make the transitions more seamless than the other earbuds on this list.
They don’t sound quite as good as the Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro, but they’re on par with the Apple AirPods Pro 2. The real strength of the Pixel Buds Pro is that they’re able to pair with multiple devices simultaneously, so you can watch a video on your MacBook, then pause and start playing your favorite playlist from your Android device, and the Pixel Buds will automatically switch. The initial pairing process on iOS isn’t as convenient as with Apple’s own devices, but after that setup, the easy switching is a nice feature to have.
Best of all, even with an iPhone, the touch controls on the sides of the earbuds still work great, as does the noise cancellation, so you don’t have to worry about missing out on too many features — which is not true of many of the non-Apple earbuds on this list.
Google recently announced an updated model of these headphones, the Pixel Buds Pro 2, which will be available on September 26. They have a slightly smaller design than their predecessor, and Google claims the new ones have noise cancellation that’s twice as effective as the Pixel Buds Pro. I’ll be testing them soon and will update this guide with my thoughts.
Best earbuds for Samsung Galaxy users
Noise cancellation: Yes | Comfort: 5g per earbud, multi-size ear tips | Battery life: 5 hours with noise canceling turned on | Water resistance: IPX7 rating — sweat and water resistant, limited dust protection
If you’re envious of the convenience and integration the AirPods and AirPods Pro provide but don’t want to ditch your Samsung gear to join Apple’s ecosystem, you should get Samsung’s Galaxy Buds3 Pro. They’re effectively the company’s response to the AirPods Pro: They have a similar-style charging case and active noise canceling (with similar adaptive features to the second-generation AirPods Pro), and they easily connect to Samsung devices without having to go through the typical (and annoying) pairing process.
They’re not just similar to the AirPods Pro, though: In some cases, they’re better. I found that the Galaxy Buds3 Pro had richer sound with more vibrant bass while listening to music on Spotify (the Buds3 Pro have been tuned by AKG, a subsidiary of Samsung that manufactures professional and consumer-grade headphones and microphones), and the noise cancellation was equally effective. (Compared to the Buds2 Pro, the Buds3 have more balanced bass and mids, plus more effective noise canceling.) Samsung’s added software features make for a more convenient listening experience. For instance, the Buds3 Pro will respond to voice commands like “play music,” “stop music,” or “volume up,” all without having to touch anything. It works immediately, and it recognizes the commands even when you speak just above a whisper. I wouldn’t recommend this if you work in an office, but it’s a nice feature to have while working from home, especially when doing the dishes or anything else where you’re using both hands.
Unlike their predecessors, the Buds3 Pro look almost identical to the AirPods Pro, though the stems of the Buds3 Pro are more angular than the tubular stems on the AirPods. The case of the Buds3 Pro is slightly less nice-looking than that of the AirPods, though, as the top is made of a transparent plastic that doesn’t look quite as classy as Apple’s white casing.
I was a huge fan of the Buds2 Pro’s discreet design, and I wish Samsung had stuck with it for this model as well. Instead, the stems (which have a triangular shape) make it difficult to listen to anything while lying on your side, and you have to squeeze the stems to trigger things like pausing music, while the AirPods use touch gestures to accomplish the same thing.
Best (less expensive) earbuds for Samsung Galaxy users
Noise cancellation: Yes | Comfort: 5g per earbud, multi-size ear tips | Battery life: 5 hours with noise canceling turned on | Water resistance: IPX7 rating — sweat and water resistant
If you prefer a fully in-ear earbud, or want to save some cash while staying in the Samsung ecosystem, you should get the Galaxy Buds2 Pro. Despite the visual differences, the Buds2 Pro sound almost as good as the Buds3 Pro — the Buds3 are slightly more balanced, while the Buds2 are heavier on the bass. The Buds2 don’t have the same voice controls as the Buds3 — you can’t control playback with quiet commands — which is unfortunate as the touch controls on the Buds2 aren’t as easy to use as the on-device controls of the Buds3. That’s mostly because the Buds2 don’t have stems that poke out and run down your ears. They may look nicer, but they do feel heavier in your ears.
Best noise-canceling earbuds
Noise cancellation: Yes | Comfort: 6.2g per earbud, hard plastic with three ear tips | Battery life: 6 hours with noise-canceling turned on | Water resistance: IPX4
Above all else, Bose is known for its effective noise-canceling — no earbuds I’ve tested have been as good at blocking out noise as the company’s QuietComfort Ultra earbuds. They’re larger than the AirPods (though their stems are shorter), but that extra size makes for a stronger barrier between you and external noise. During my three days of testing these earbuds, I noticed that the QuietComfort Ultras managed to keep out sounds no other earbuds except the JBL Live Beam 3s and Tour Pro 3s could, including a loud fan in my office, my computer speakers playing YouTube videos, and the symphony of howls my dogs like to perform every time there’s a knock at the door. While this was true across different types of music — including heavier songs from bands like Polyphia — podcasts and videos on YouTube were more vulnerable to external noises, and the audio is significantly quieter than with the AirPods Pro or Galaxy Buds3 Pro.
The QuietComfort Ultras are larger than other earbuds I’ve tested and look far less discreet than the AirPods, but the extra surface area makes for better touch controls. I’m a huge fan of the big touch panels on the outside of these earbuds, which make it easy to play and pause tracks, skip to the next one, or change the volume. This is possible on other earbuds, but on the Galaxy Buds3 Pro and AirPods Pro, you have to hit the right spot on the earbuds, making them tougher to get right. These controls are also less sensitive than the ones on the JBL Tour Pro 3’s.
Like many other earbud manufacturers, Bose has added some nifty software to create a unique listening experience. Its feature is called immersive audio, which Bose describes as allowing you to hear audio from beyond your earbuds. With the feature enabled, songs sound like they’re coming out of speakers in front of you rather than buds jammed in your ears. I enjoyed this while listening to tracks like “Harlan County Line,” by Dave Alvin, because it made me feel like I was hanging out at a country bar, but it felt extremely weird listening to podcasts with immersive audio on. You have to disable this from within the app or by setting the shortcut (tapping and holding the touch panel) on one of the earbuds to toggle modes.
The sound quality on these earbuds is pretty good, but for a pair that costs about the same as the JBLs (with a case that’s about as bulky), I wish they sounded better. This was most noticeable with tracks like “Levels,” by BigXthaPlug, where the Bose earbuds felt too heavy on the bass, while JBL’s earbuds sounded more balanced (but a little quieter).
Best earbuds for phone-free controls
Noise cancellation: Yes | Comfort: 5g per earbud, hard plastic with three ear tips | Battery life: 10 hours with noise-canceling turned on | Water resistance: Not listed
If you’d rather not have to whip out your phone to deal with your headphones, JBL’s Live Beam 3 wireless earbuds have a screen right on their case that allows you to control things like playback, volume, and sound mode (transparency or noise canceling). You can even set timers, enable a flashlight, and play a loud sound from stray earbuds to more easily find them — you can also customize which controls show up on the screen so it doesn’t feel too cluttered. Although tiny, the screen provides a handy way to make sure your earbuds have plenty of battery before you head out for the day. There’s also an option to set a custom lock-screen photo that you’ll see whenever you first wake the screen up, if you want to personalize your earbuds.
JBL also included a feature similar to Bose’s immersive audio (JBL calls it spatial audio), but the effect is more subtle. While the Bose earbuds make it feel like you’re listening to speakers in a small room, the JBLs feel more like listening through over-ear headphones. Bose’s feature feels a bit more fun, but day-to-day I prefer JBL’s approach as it’s less disorienting.
Beyond a fancy on-device screen, the Live Beam 3 sounds great for casual listening while you work, and its noise cancellation is effective even in noisy settings like busy streets or crowded coffee shops. These earbuds, like the AirPods Pro, have a transparency mode, and they do a great job of playing your audio over the sounds around you without things sounding muddled.
Best airplane-friendly wireless earbuds
Noise cancellation: Yes | Comfort: 5.6g per earbud, hard plastic with three ear tips | Battery life: 8 hours with noise-canceling turned on | Water resistance: IP55
We have long recommended the Twelve South AirFly Pro for connecting wireless earbuds to airplane entertainment systems, but with JBL’s Tour Pro 3 earbuds, you don’t need any additional gear. These are the first headphones in JBL’s line to support Auracast, a new Bluetooth feature that lets you pair your earbuds with those entertainment systems or pair two sets of earbuds to each other to listen to the same content. Fancy pairing options aside, these are excellent earbuds.
JBL’s Tour Pro 2 earbuds were a previous pick thanks to their excellent sound, and the latest model has a richer sound with slightly heavier bass (though you can adjust it in the company’s app). I listened to a mix of country, hip-hop, heavy metal, ’80s pop, and some synth pop, all of which sounded great on the Tour Pro 3’s. Like the Live Beam 3’s, these earbuds have JBL’s spatial audio feature, though the sound is less disorienting on the Tour Pro 3’s.
Of all the earbuds I’ve tested, I prefer the touch controls on the Tour Pro 3’s. They’re more sensitive than most on-earbud controls, but that makes them more effective, too. I’ve had trouble with Samsung’s and Bose’s earbuds registering some of my taps, while everything registers on the Tour Pro 3’s.
Other mobile accessories we’ve tested
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