Best Wireless Earbuds

Introduction

True wireless earbuds are hugely popular among headphone buyers and 2021 will likely bring even more options to the market.

To help you sort the wheat from the chaff, we’ve chosen only the best. We’ve put these earbuds through their paces, testing their connectivity and features, as well listening to all kinds of music to understand how well they’ll work with various genres.

This selection ranges from affordable true wireless to premium priced earbuds, so whether you’re after the ultimate in wireless sound; need a pair that can do noise-cancelling well or want something cheap that sounds good, there’s plenty to choose from.



FAQs

How we test headphones Not just anybody can review a pair of headphones. You don’t need superhuman hearing to tell what’s good, but you do need to know what to listen out for.Our headphone tests are done by some of the best and most prolific reviewers in the industry, with years of experience listening to everything from the plasticky freebie earbuds that come with your smartphone, to five-figure beasts of glass and marble. We love music and we want your tunes to sound good, too.So we listen every pair of headphones we can get on or in our ears. We use a variety of sources, from basic MP3s playing on a laptop to high-quality tracks on dedicated hi-res audio players.Our test tracks are wide-ranging to give headphones a thorough challenge. They’re also familiar, so we know every track backwards, and we know which bits might trouble the lesser performers.We listen again and again, and we do that for weeks in case the sound changes – because it usually does. Then we’ll listen to similarly priced rivals and come up with a verdict that reflects the performance and features for the money.








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Apple AirPods Pro



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Pros


Much improved design over original AirPods
Excellent noise cancellation
Well integrated with the Apple ecosystem
So comfortable




Cons


ANC strength can’t be manually altered







£249$249







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Bose QuietComfort Earbuds



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Pros


Tremendous noise cancelling
Neutral sound quality
Comfortable fit
Excellent transparency mode




Cons


Rather average battery life
No higher quality Bluetooth codecs






£249$279







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Earfun Air



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Pros


Comfortable fit
Impressive battery life
Great audio quality




Cons


Cheap looks






£55$60







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Grado GT220



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Pros


Accomplished at every aspect of music-making
Light and (eventually) comfortable
Good battery life




Cons


Don’t look or feel £250-worth
Some gaps in specification
Can be tricky to position




£250$259







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Jabra Elite 85t



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Pros


Good, clean sound
Excellent fit
Effective noise cancellation




Cons


Better-sounding options available
ANC not as thorough as rivals
Reduced IP rating




£220$229







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LG Tone Free HBS-FN7



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Pros


Sound quality benefits greatly from the ANC
The new textured touch pad is easier to use
Only £30 more than the FN6




Cons


There are better examples of ANC out there
Not the best fit for workouts





£179$179







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Sennheiser CX 400BT



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Pros


Excellent sound
Pretty comfortable to wear
Unassuming design




Cons


Volume limited
Battery life slightly disappoints













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Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2



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Pros


Expressive, lush sound
Reasonable good ANC
Good fit
Robust feature set




Cons


Pricey
Battery taxed by heavy ANC and Transparency Mode usage






£279$299







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Shure Aonic 215



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Pros


Open, balanced, detailed, punchy and all-around splendid sound
Decent battery life
Robust wireless connection




Cons


Flat-out odd looks
App updates can’t come soon enough





£259$279







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Sony WF-1000XM3



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Pros


Great musical sound quality
Terrific noise cancellation
Snug fit
Solid wireless connectivity
Great with all types of music




Cons


Intrusive Adaptive Sound Control
No aptX







£220$220







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Sony WF-1000XM4



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Pros


Astonishingly good sound
Excellent noise cancellation
Improved design
IPX4 rating
Smaller case
Comprehensive feature set




Cons


Is the noise cancelling the best?
More expensive than before
Call quality suffers in noisy areas







£250







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SoundMagic TWS50



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Pros


Light, compact and comfortable
Detailed, informative and coherent sound
Convincing tonality




Cons


Direct rivals offer better battery life
Not the most out-and-out dynamic listen





£79$99







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Technics EAH-AZ70W



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Pros


Decent audio quality
Solid battery life
Effective noise cancellation




Cons


Very chunky






£239$249







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Urbanista London



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Pros


Solid sound
Impressive noise cancelling
Comfy fit and compact charging case
Good range of features




Cons


Better sound can be had for less
Sporadic Bluetooth connection
Can’t skip tracks on the earbuds





£129$149













Sony WF-1000XM4




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Pros

Astonishingly good soundExcellent noise cancellationImproved designIPX4 ratingSmaller case Comprehensive feature set

Cons

Is the noise cancelling the best? More expensive than beforeCall quality suffers in noisy areas

The XM4 knocks the XM3 off the top spot and does so with an improvement in all areas. Some improvements are rather subtle, such as the design, but they reap dividends with cushier, more comfortable wearing experience. More obvious are the new smart features in Speak-to-Chat and improvements to Ambient smart Control that personalise your audio experience without getting in the way.ANC is again terrific, suppressing noise for an even smoother and quieter noise-cancelling experience, and the sound is terrific, taking the performance of the previous over-ears and refining it in a way that makes the XM3 sound rather dated. The XM4 are Sony’s best true wireless so far.Reviewer: Kob MonneyFull Review: Sony WF-1000XM4













Bose QuietComfort Earbuds




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Pros

Tremendous noise cancelling Neutral sound qualityComfortable fit Excellent transparency mode

Cons

Rather average battery life No higher quality Bluetooth codecs

Bose have outdone themselves with the QuietComfort Earbuds. They are a staggeringly good pair of wireless earbuds.The noise cancelling is the most superior we’ve heard to date. The Sony WF-1000XM3 were fantastic but the Bose live up to the QuietComfort name, the amount of noise they eradicate makes for an eerily quiet experience. The strength of the noise-cancelling affects their stamina, the 18 hours of battery life is less we’d like from an earbud that costs north of £200.Nevertheless, the excellent ANC is matched by an excellent sound. The Bose delivers sharp treble response, bags of detail, and a confident bass performance. We’d sum the performance up as being very natural in tone, versatile in terms of handling music genres and superbly engaging. No doubt about it, Bose has served up a classic in the QuietComfort Earbuds.Reviewer: Kob MonneyFull Review: Bose QuietComfort Earbuds













Sony WF-1000XM3




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Pros

Great musical sound quality Terrific noise cancellation Snug fit Solid wireless connectivity Great with all types of music

Cons

Intrusive Adaptive Sound ControlNo aptX

The WF-1000XM3 are a great-sounding pair of headphones, and while newer earbuds have bested them in some ways, as a complete package the Sonys are hard to beat.And that’s in part due to their impressive sound performance that’s balanced in tone and musical in its approach. Give them any type of genre and they’ll refused to be flustered, revealing plenty of detail in the midrange and necessary ‘oomph’ in the bass regions to give tracks impact.The ANC is still the best we’ve experienced on a true wireless so far, and battery life with ANC is a steady 24-hours. Wireless connectivity is an improvement over the first-gen pair, though the omission of aptX is a disappointment.Reviewer: Kob MonneyFull Review: Sony WF-1000XM3













Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2




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Pros

Expressive, lush sound Reasonable good ANC Good fit Robust feature set

Cons

PriceyBattery taxed by heavy ANC and Transparency Mode usage

The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 are the German audio brand’s second stab at a premium true wireless, and they improve in several ways over the original with the inclusion of active noise cancellation, improved battery life, and a more ergonomic design.The inclusion of ANC is a welcome addition, by it’s not as strong as some other efforts on this list. It reduces traffic and voices to a less noticeable hum, but the ANC is reliant on achieving a good fit and setting the volume appropriately for it to have the impact required. Battery life is 28-hours, although using ANC and bud’s Transparency Mode can noticeably tax the length of battery life available.The audio is what you’ll be buying the MOMENTUM TW2 for. It’s capable of delivering a rich and expressive sound, with bass deeper and warmer than other alternatives, and top-end frequencies expressed with detail and clarity. There are more ‘attacking’ sounding pairs of earbuds available, but few entertain as much as these do.Reviewer: Kob MonneyFull Review: Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2













Grado GT220




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Pros

Accomplished at every aspect of music-making Light and (eventually) comfortable Good battery life

Cons

Don’t look or feel £250-worth Some gaps in specification Can be tricky to position

The GT220 are the first from illustrious headphone brand Grado, and given their pedigree in the audio field, these wireless earbuds live up to the brand’s bar for high-quality sound.At £250 they incur a premium, and they lack some of the features that have come to define expensive true wireless earbuds such as active noise cancellation. They also look surprisingly plain – aside from the Grado branding they verge on the anonymous. But they’re fairly lightweight to place in the ear, and they’re comfortable to wear once a good fit has been found. Battery life is 36 hours, so these earbuds should be able to last a good while.Really, the GT220 are all about the sound, and in terms of fidelity and musical enjoyment, we’d rate none finer than the Grados at this moment. Tonally they’re impeccable: bright at the top end, lathered with detail in midrange and offering deep bass. They are a super-sounding pair of wireless earbuds.Reviewer: Simon LucasFull Review: Grado GT220













Shure Aonic 215




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Pros

Open, balanced, detailed, punchy and all-around splendid sound Decent battery life Robust wireless connection

Cons

Flat-out odd looks App updates can’t come soon enough

The Aonic 215 have a rather unique look with their rather bug-like antennae. Though the design raises a few eyebrows, they deliver when it comes to audio quality.With SBC, AAC and aptX, the Aonic 215 deliver on the promise of high-quality playback. Battery life is 32 hours, more than enough to get through at least a week of use. The design takes a while to get used with the controls on the bulbous end of the stem, though the over-ear hook design offers a snug and comfortable fit.Music shines as Aonic 215 provides deep bass and a treble performance that offers plenty of shine and bite. The soundstage is broad and well-defined and dynamically they lap up shifts from high to low and vice versa. If you can get past the looks, they’re an impressive true wireless pair.Reviewer: Simon LucasFull Review: Shure Aonic 215













Jabra Elite 85t




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Pros

Good, clean sound Excellent fit Effective noise cancellation

Cons

Better-sounding options available ANC not as thorough as rivals Reduced IP rating

The Elite 85t carries on from the Elite 75t, being the first in Jabra’s true wireless range to support built-in noise cancellation.The ANC performance isn’t as effective as a Bose or Sony but it’s effective enough to provide a sense of isolation. It comes with plenty of features, from its Qi-charging to its Soundscapes feature that adds further isolation by replicating sounds from nature such as waterfalls.We found they sounded very good, the 85t taking a m