Wireless earbuds are one of the most brilliant additions to the world of in-ear and over-ear audio. These tiny devices are packed with the kind of drivers that deliver terrific sound quality and next-level noise cancellation if you’re looking at the right models. Like all things tech, there are many wire-free buds, and not all of them are great. Fortunately, we’ve spent some time with wireless earbuds, so we’re confident that our roundup of the best noise-cancelling wireless earbuds is a resource you can trust.
Sony is one of the first names that comes to mind when speaking of earbuds and the latest WF-1000XM5 justify why. With features like Sony’s 360 Reality Audio for virtual surround sound and a companion app that lets you adjust EQ to change the sound of the buds to something you love, this one’s a clear winner.
The earbuds offer excellent ANC and support the AAC, LDAC, and SBC codecs, allowing you to enjoy music in deep detail. The 8 (ANC on) to 12 (ANC off) hour battery life is longer than those offered by competitors like AirPods Pro, Google Pixel Buds Pro, and Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. The downsides here are the steep price and the focus on bass, which can be your favorite or the least-liked feature, depending on how you enjoy your music.
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds offer some of the best ANC, so if you listen to music during a commute or take lots of calls on the go, these would be ideal for you. In addition, they support aptX Adaptive codec, giving you excellent connectivity and resolution. However, the highlight here is the new Immersive Audio feature, which makes it seem like the sound is coming from in front of you instead of something playing in your ear. The Motion mode ensures this effect stays in place even if you move your head around.
Some of this fanciness can feel gimmicky if you just want simple earbuds to enjoy your favorite songs, but at this steep price, it’s better to have many features to choose from instead of wishing you had more options to justify the cost.
Comfort and performance are two of the Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC’s top laurels, but there’s so much more to love about these budget-friendly earbuds. For starters, this $100 pair includes LDAC and hi-res audio support, which means Anker means business when it comes to sound quality.
Even non-LDAC tracks sound bright and punchy, although Anker’s bass-forward EQ may be a little much for some folks. Fortunately, you’ll be able to tweak sound settings in the Soundcore app, as well as noise-cancellation levels and button controls.
Battery-wise, the Liberty 4 NC are built for long listening sessions too, providing up to ten hours of playback on a single charge, with up to 50 hours through the charging case. Fast-charging capabilities are also great, with an extra hour of playback for every ten minutes of recharge time.
Even though the Google Pixel Buds Pro are stuck using either SBC or ACC codecs to listen to music, the sound was overall pretty balanced out of the box. The highs and mids are crisp and clear, and the bass is full and bouncy but not overpowering. And, if you want, you can adjust the EQ with the Pixel Buds app, so you aren’t stuck with the default sound profile if you don’t like it.
The biggest perk of the Pixel Buds Pro for Android users is Google’s Fast Pair feature, which makes pairing the earbuds to your Android phone a breeze. Just open the Pixel Buds Pro charging case near your phone, tap the notification, and you’re off to the races.
Lastly, the earbuds offer seven hours of battery life with ANC enabled and about 11 hours without it — pretty good for a set of earbuds that cost $200. Plus, the charging case holds two extra full charges for the buds, meaning you’ll get a lot of playtime out of them before you need a power outlet.
With a decent amount of battery life on the buds (about 7 hours with ANC on) and an extra 21 hours in the charging case, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 are a great companion to carry with you anywhere. You can even wear them to the gym; they will hold up to getting a little sweaty, thanks to their IPX4 rating.
While the ANC performance and sound quality are excellent, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3’s Transparency Mode is a little lackluster, often making the audio a bit tinny. However, we love the control you get over the sound with the Sennheiser Smart Control app. On top of messing around with the EQ to make it sound just right, it lets you switch up the touch controls to personalize your experience further.
The standout feature of the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 is the support for Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive and aptX audio codec, which have superb audio quality and stable low-bit rate connections. There aren’t that many true wireless earbuds that give you this option, but this solves a lot of issues that Bluetooth audio can have using other, more standard codecs.
We’re big fans of the Jabra Elite 8 earbuds, and the biggest pro we can’t stop talking about are the ultra-comfortable buds themselves. They are small, lightweight, and unobtrusive, and you can choose from multiple ear tip sizes, ensuring you’ll get the best fit for your ears. The Elite 8 are also incredibly rugged, with a strong IP68 rating. So, you can run on a rainy day and not worry about your earbuds getting damaged.
As far as ANC and overall sound quality go, the Elite 8 Active doesn’t miss a beat here either. Erring toward a V-shaped sound curve, the Elite 8 Active deliver punchy and bright sound quality for listening to tunes and podcasts, and for making phone calls. You’ll also be able to download the Jabra Sound+ app to fine-tune your earbuds’ EQ. The app will also let you customize buttons and update the Elite 8 Active’s firmware.
Battery life is pretty solid here too. You’ll get up to eight hours of playback with ANC enabled, and 14 with noise-cancellation disabled. And the charging case expands playback to 32 and 56 total listening hours. The Elite 8 Active’s quick-charging capabilities are rock solid, too, netting you an extra hour of playback for just five minutes in the charging case.
If you’re rocking a Samsung phone, we would be remiss not to mention the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, as they are the company’s smallest, lightest, and best earbuds to date. Their biggest standout is 24-bit audio support. If you use high-quality streaming apps like Tidal, you may appreciate it, but to most people’s ears, the discernible difference between 24-bit audio and the more standard 16-bit audio is negligible.
Still, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro nail all the basics. With decent battery life (5 hours with ANC and 8 hours without), an IPX7 rating to keep them safe from sweat at the gym, and a pleasant full sound profile, they certainly are worth a look. They don’t necessarily stand out regarding ANC and sound quality — they are good but nothing special. Of course, they are explicitly made to work with Samsung Galaxy phones better than anything else, so if you’re all in on Samsung, they are a decent choice.
Apple and Android may be the two warring foes of the smartphone world, but you don’t have to choose a side. In fact, we’re glad to say that Apple’s decision to ditch the Lightning port in favor of USB-C for this revamped version of the AirPods Pro shows the company is willing to let you choose your own off-brand charging accessories.
Noise cancellation and sound quality are nothing to shake a stick at here either. Thanks to Apple’s Adaptive Audio preset, you’ll now be able to combine ANC and Transparency listening, making for one of the most immersive and accurate music-listening and phone call-taking experiences you’ll get from a pair of wireless buds.
As for battery life, you can expect up to 30 total hours of listening time between the earbuds and the charging case. Quick-charging capabilities are here too, giving you an extra hour of listening for just five minutes of recharge time. We’re also glad to see Find My integration for the Apple U1-powered MagSafe case, with a handy built-in speaker that plays a chime when you ping it via the Find My network.
If you want decent earbuds without spending a fortune, consider the OnePlus Buds Pro 2. With these, you get a warm, bass-focused sound with options to tune the EQ to your liking. The noise cancellation isn’t the best compared to premium picks from Sony and Apple, but at this price, these buds are sufficiently good for listening to music and taking calls during commutes.
The battery life is on par with premium earbuds, lasting over six hours with ANC on, giving you all the key features at a fraction of the cost. You also get a fresh color option beyond the typical black and white offered by competitors. Overall, this isn’t the best one on the market with all the top features, but if you just want good earbuds at a pocket-friendly price, this is the best you can get.
Here’s something you’ve probably never seen before; earbuds with a touchscreen case. The JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds take convenience up several notches by offering features like volume and music controls, notifications, Find My Buds, and a flashlight right on the case. That means you don’t need to keep fiddling with a smartphone for quick changes.
Beyond the cool touchscreen options, the earbuds also provide great sound quality with decent noise cancellation, although they don’t quite match the sound detail of premium picks like the Sony WF-1000XM5. The earbuds do stand out with their slightly above-average battery life of eight (ANC on) to ten (ANC off) hours, though.
As great as modern ANC earbuds are, it’s still a fact that over-ear headphones have the advantage simply because they block out more sound by covering your ears entirely instead of just plugging in your ear canals. They also pack in larger drivers that can deliver more nuanced sound, plus many folks find it more comfortable to have something around their ears rather than inside them. However, they tend to be pricier than comparable ANC earbuds and are certainly not as portable.
It’s more than the lower price tag that makes noise-cancelling earbuds a worthwhile investment. Quality ANC that can fit in your pocket is very appealing, and ANC earbuds are hard to beat when it comes to portability. Of course, earbuds also weigh substantially less than even the lightest headphones, and they’re more likely to be sweatproof, which makes them ideal for workouts.
Wireless earbuds are everywhere these days, and some models are pretty questionable — at least as far as performance goes. That being said, this roundup represents the finer product options, like the Sony WF-1000XM5 buds. These wireless earbuds are bound to be a fan favorite because they deliver some of the best noise cancellation we’ve ever heard, and they sound fantastic when listening to music and podcasts.
If money is no object though, consider the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. This is a great bud set for audio diehards because Bose’s new Immersive Audio feature brings the kind of spatial audio virtualization to the table we’ve been waiting years for. And as far as noise cancellation goes, ANC performance doesn’t get much better than this.
Still, though, we understand the value of a dollar, which is why the Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC is the value pick. These Anker buds aren’t the fanciest model on our list, but they’re reliable, sound fantastic, and do a nice job of bringing adaptive ANC to the fold.
Maybe if we start telling people the brain is an app they will start using it!
