Best wireless earbuds 2023

The Sony WF-1000XM4 are all-around excellent earbuds. They offer truly great audio quality, robust noise cancellation, and all-day battery life. Though on the large side, they are significantly smaller than their predecessors, the popular WF-1000XM3, and fit more comfortably in the ears for longer listening sessions. That’s important, too, because these earbuds sound incredible — along with regular SBC and AAC codec support, Sony added high-quality LDAC compatibility for those with Android phones (iPhone users are limited to AAC) to go along with the improved drivers.

The WF-1000XM4 were formerly the reigning ANC champs in the earbud space, but Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds II have Sony beat on that front (more on that below). But at $280, the WF-1000XM4s are a little less expensive than Bose’s offering — and see sales far more frequently — and offer a fuller feature set including premium staples like wireless charging and the aforementioned LDAC support. If you’re looking for a great, high-end experience, look no further.

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If you’re looking for the top sound quality in a pair of wireless earbuds, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 should feature in your decision-making. Like the two generations before, the True Wireless 3 offer terrific sound, which can be further customized to your liking, thanks to the detailed equalizer settings. The active noise cancellation is good but isn’t as strong as Sony’s technology.

These earbuds are light and comfortable, but previous generations haven’t always been suitable for those with smaller ears, so that may be something to bear in mind when you’re deciding. One of the best parts is that the price is $50 lower than previous generations. If you’re looking for sound quality, look toward these Sennheiser true wireless headphones as a top pick.

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Jabra’s excellent budget earbuds, the Elite 3, share a lot in common with the iconic Elite 75t, but they have one clear advantage: they’re extremely affordable. At $80 MSRP (and frequently $50 on sale), they’re among our favorite budget true wireless earbuds for many reasons. First, they’re really comfortable; you wouldn’t expect it from a pair of earbuds this cheap, but Jabra knows how to design headphones that fit most ears perfectly, and that’s true here, too. Second, the Elite 3s sound much better than they have any right to for this price; you’re really not missing much dropping from the company’s more expensive lineup to these ones. Third, call quality is excellent, with four dedicated microphones that excel at canceling out background noise. And finally, the earbuds are IP55 water-resistant and can eke out seven hours of battery life per bud.

The main criticism here is a lack of frills; there’s no active noise cancellation or fancy ear cancel pressure-lowering design as found in the pricier Jabra lineup. The case also lacks the wireless charging found in the Elite 7 Pro. No huge loss — the case still charges quickly via USB-C — but it’s worth saying.

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Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds II are incredible. The company says it designed the earbuds to have the best ANC on the market — not just in earbuds, but in any consumer-grade headphones. It’s hard to say whether that’s entirely true, but we’ve compared them head-to-head with some of the best over-ear ANC headphones you can buy, and the QC Earbuds II do outperform the full-size competition much of the time. They also have the great sound you’d expect out of Bose.

But as great as the buds are for ANC, the QuietComfort Earbuds II stumble in other areas. At $299, they’re expensive in the extreme, and they’re lacking a lot of the nice-to-have features you’d expect in this segment. There’s no support for Fast Pair or multipoint connectivity, and the earbuds’ case can’t be charged wirelessly. They also only support the AAC and SBC codecs, so if you won’t buy buds without aptX, they’ll be a non-starter for you. Still, if you need the best ANC you can get in earbuds, you’ll find it in the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II.

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With full and satisfying audio, ANC, and a fantastic transparency mode, the Pixel Buds Pro deliver a premium earbud experience in ways Google’s past attempts couldn’t. Packed with useful features like the always-on “Hey Google” detection, Bluetooth multipoint, and marathon battery life, the Pixel Buds Pro don’t have any glaring weaknesses. While the Pixel Buds Pro did launch without a customizable equalizer, five-band EQ eventually made its way to the Pixel Buds app, addressing a considerable flaw the buds suffered at launch. Google even ironed out the connectivity issues that plagued the past couple of pairs released.

They don’t have the very best audio quality or ANC money can buy, but strong fundamentals, batteries that can go for up to seven hours (with ANC) on a single charge, and a hassle-free experience might be worth the premium to you. So if you’re an Android user with $200 to spend on earbuds, the Pixel Buds Pro are a great pick. The buds fit might feel odd for some, but you get used to it rather quickly.

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Jabra’s tackling the true wireless earbud market with a strategy of small iteration: the Elite 7 Pro try to toe the line between price and performance, between compact and capable, and they nail almost everything. What they get right — sound quality, battery life, comfort, and call quality — they get really right. Even where they’re lacking — active noise cancelation and some comfort issues — they’re actually still not bad.

In our Elite 7 Pro review, we found that the earbuds are good for most circumstances, but if you make a lot of phone calls, there is no peer in the industry. In addition to high-quality noise-canceling microphones, Jabra uses a bone conduction sensor — one that can sense minute vibrations in the bones of your jaw — to fill in the blanks in noisy environments, and the results are spectacular. At $180, the Elite 7 Pro are at the upper end of mainstream but worth looking at if you want a pair of earbuds that does everything pretty well, but Jabra has been discounting them pretty heavily the last few months, so chances are you’ll be able to catch them $60-$80 off.

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Anker’s Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro offer some of the best sound quality from a pair of wireless earbuds along with plenty of tip and wing options for even the most persnickety ear canals. With excellent ANC, decent call quality, better-than-average battery, and an app you’ll actually want to use, the Liberty 3 Pros are among the best wireless earbuds you can buy today. On the downside, they’re a bit big, bulky, and may not be the right style for everyone — especially those who work out a lot. With an IPX4 water resistance rating, these are not going to survive much more than a passing rain shower or mild sweat session, but for everyone else, these are some of the best buds out there.

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Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are the strangely named follow-up to 2021’s Galaxy Buds Pro. They take what was great about the first generation — robust audio with a generous helping of bass, strong noise cancellation, and a comfortable shape — and jam it into smaller earbuds with a more modern, refined design.

Coming from the last generation, there aren’t many new features here. There’s support for 24-bit audio in compatible apps when the buds are paired with a Samsung phone, plus a gimmicky new head-tracking feature that tries to mimic directional audio, even in apps that don’t offer surround sound content. The new buds also inherit the older model’s middling battery life of five hours per charge with ANC. Everything else is so good that these should be on your radar if you’re in the market for new, premium earbuds, but think twice before upgrading from last year’s pair.

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The Jaybird Vista 2 are the follow-up to the originals, released primarily as comfortable workout-friendly true wireless earbuds that still sound good. This successor, released in 2021, improves on the design, fit, sound quality, battery life, and water protection while also adding active noise cancelation. Jaybird takes comfort and “earth proof” durability very seriously: the earbuds have three tip sizes that fit better than most of the competition, allowing for intense workouts that don’t dislodge either earbud.

An IP68 water and dust ingress protection rating and a MIL-STD 810G rating make these appropriate for extreme weather, too (though if you’re working out in the ice or snow, that’s on you). The Vista 2’s secret weapon is actually Jaybird’s app, which allows you to select custom equalization settings, modify ANC intensity, and more. At $150, the Jaybird Vista 2 are not cheap, but if you want the best workout buds available, these are for you.

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You may not have heard of the Creative Outlier Air V3, but they could be your next pair of true wireless earbuds. They have a lot to offer, starting with a very affordable price tag and an impressive feature set. Indeed, for this price, you get decent ANC, wireless charging, and excellent battery life. They may not be the best-looking pair, and you shouldn’t expect them to sound as great as some of the more expensive models on this list, but given their price, they’re worth considering for people who need a pair to listen to music or place calls during the day. What’s more, their IPX5 rating is good enough to protect them from water splashes and rain, making them an excellent all-rounder. If ANC and superior audio quality aren’t essential to you, these budget buds are worth a serious look.

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