Best Wireless Earbuds of 2024 - Ultimate LIST
Choosing the best wireless earbuds in 2024 was a tough process, but I think we got it right. Below, you can see our recommendations for the models on the market.
We have been getting sent lots of wireless earphones, and we have quickly realized that many of them aren’t everything they claim to be.
There are some very awful products on the market and some excellent ones. Choosing the right ones can be confusing.
I will be sincere in my opinions of the current state of the wireless earbud market. Within this buyer’s guide, I will only recommend those I feel worthy of purchase and offer good value for money to the buyer.
Editors Choice: Top 3 Best Wireless Earbuds
Most tech sites write these articles to generate ad revenue and list true wireless earbuds that they have never tried. They are just trying to find an earphone to fit a certain price point and generate revenue for their site.
I won’t be doing that here because if I don't want you to get ripped off, I want you to get the most bang for your buck and be happy with your purchases. Therefore, every wireless earbud on our list has been tried and tested.
There are a few very good true wireless earbuds on the market right now. The technology has advanced over the past year, and there is quality to be had at every price point. Whether on a budget or willing to go big, you have options.
Having no cables is a very freeing experience, so let’s get on with the ten best true wireless earphones you should buy in 2024.
11 Best True Wireless Earbuds - 2024
1. Sony WF-1000XM5
Specifications:
Updated more powerful V2 chip
Improved shell with smaller body
A.I. based noise canceling algorithm
Pros:
Marked improvement over the XM4
Best noise cancelling in any wireless earbuds
Excellent functionality via in built app
Cons:
Very expensive
If you have the XM4 it may not be enough of an upgrade to justify changing
What We Like:
It takes a lot of effort to try and replace your flagship earphone when it’s still considered the best wireless earphone in the world. Despite Apple and Google’s best efforts, they still couldn’t touch the XM4, but Sony gave users some upgrades we had been craving.
The shell was redesigned and is now a lot smaller and more comfortable. Users with smaller ears will enjoy this, and despite going smaller, the new V2 chip is more efficient, so they have better battery life than their predecessors.
Noise-canceling is incredible, meaning Sony is still king in this department. If you are someone looking to drown out noise when traveling or commuting, then this is the one you have been looking for.
The sound quality is fantastic. Good strong bass is matched with a wide soundstage and good detail retrieval. It works well with every genre of music and can be further dialed in by using the graphic equalizer in Sony’s headphone app.
2. Sony WF-1000XM4
Specifications:
V1 chip for enhanced noise cancelation
LDAC codec for high-resolution Bluetooth audio
IPX4 Water and dust resistance
Pros:
Best Noise-canceling earbuds
Excellent sound quality
Useful customization via Sony’s Headphone App
Cons:
The earbuds housing is large making it hard to use with small ears
What We Like:
Sony has aggressively positioned itself across the premium tech market with TVs, cameras, and high-end headphones. For the first decade and a half of this century, it looked like a company that had lost its way. But when it comes to audio, they are still one of the best.
The Sony WF-1000XM4 should be considered by anyone seeking the best true wireless earbuds because they don’t just have a lot of features; they are class-leading in most of those features as well.
The noise-canceling is exceptional, and while not on par with their full-size headphones, they are the best I have ever heard from an in-ear model. They also have touch controls, passive modes, bass modes, and support 24-bit high-resolution audio.
The only downside here is the price tag; with an RRP, they are one of the most expensive models on the market. However, if you want a set of TWS earbuds and don’t want to compromise, I highly suggest checking them out.
Recommendation - Test Winner - Leaders in tech and innovation
3. Apple Airpods Pro (2nd Gen)
Specifications:
Powerful Apple H2 Chipset
4 Eartips Sizes for Perfect Fit
Touch Controls on Earpod Shells
Pros:
Seamless integration with Apple products
Great natural sound quality
Very Portable carry case
Cons:
Battery life is very low but compensates with excellent quick-charge.
What We Like:
Apple went big on the latest iteration of the company’s hugely popular Airpods. The original Airpods were iconic but were undoubtedly flawed. The Pro put people on notice. The second Gen has perfected the concept.
If you have an iPhone, these are the best wireless earbuds you can buy.
The Airpods Pro 2nd Generation is brimming with technology that puts them on par with many other flagship earphones on this list from well-known brands like Sony and Bose.
You now get integrated touch controls that allow you to play, pause, and skip tracks, access Siri and activate the noise canceling. Sadly there is no way to control the volume from the earphones, so you still need to use your phone or laptop.
Yes, I did say noise canceling; the Apple Airpods Pro is one of the best ANC earphones that offers significant ambient sound reduction benefits. Apple even went as far as creating pressure equalization on the earphones, so you don’t get the sucked-out hollow discomfort associated with this technology's cheaper interactions.
The sound is the best Apple has to offer, its tight and punchy bass is excellent, and the overall tuning is pleasantly smooth and resolves good detail—Apple’s best earphone to date and one that works with little frustration.
Link: Official Apple Airpods Pro Webpage
Verdict - Airpods Pro is still the best wireless earbuds for users of Apple devices.
4. Google Pixel Buds Pro
Specifications:
Protection: Earbuds IPX4 / Case IPX2
Built in capacitive touch controls
7 hours of battery life and wireless charging
Pros:
Colorful fun designs
Really comfortable over long sessions
Small charging case
Cons:
ANC strength lacks Sony and Apple flagship performance
What We Like:
The Pixel Buds Pro are the best wireless earbuds to use if you have a Google Pixel Phone or Pixel Watch. They are small easy-to-use earbuds with great battery life and solid sound quality.
They have integrated touch controls but can also be operated by your device if your Google Assistant is activated. I liked that they have wireless charging and that the carry case is one of the smallest on the market making them easy to pocket.
The Pixel buds come in various colors and are available to purchase from most electronic retailers.
Verdict: Buy if you have other Google devices like the Pixel 7 Pro
5. Beats Studo Buds Plus
Specifications:
Three Color Options: Black, Ivory, Transparent
Spatial Audio Support
4 eartip sizes included in box
Pros:
The transparent case looks amazing
Excellent Bass
Deep integration with Apple devices
Cons:
No wireless Charging
What We Like:
In our review of the Beats Studio Buds Plus earbuds, we noted how much we liked the concept of evolution rather than revolution. The original Studio Buds were great earphones, but Apple and Beats have tweaked them internally to make them even better.
With what the company claims as 95% new internals, we now have a bigger battery in both the earbuds and the carry case and three times bigger microphones. The microphones improved call quality, as you would expect, but also enhanced the strength of the noise cancelation.
The fit and style of the earphones are spot on with great ergonomics, making them very comfortable to use, and I like the new transparent colorway.
As you would expect with Beats headphones, the sound is bass-focused but more refined than ever and it is a solid performer for almost any genre. However, it excels if you listen to electronic and modern music.
It's a great earphone, with the only negative being that we don’t have wireless charging included.
Verdict: A fantastic update to an already great wireless earbud.
6. Soundcore by Anker Life P3
Specifications:
5 Color Options (Black, Blue, Red, Navy, White)
11mm Custom Composite Drivers
Adaptive ANC modes
Pros:
Fantastic performance at a low price
Noise-canceling and wireless charging
The bass performance is excellent
Cons:
The charging case is larger than the premium models
What We Like:
Anker is the company to watch in the earbud space right now, and while I am super impressed by their new flagship, the Librety Q4 the cheaper products they offer give consumers a lot of premium features at a low price.
The Life P3 makes me ask questions as to how it is possible that they can sell an earphone this good so cheap.
The p3 is equipped with wireless charging, fast charging, ANC, Bluetooth 5.2, and integrated app controls on Android and IOS. The crazy thing is all those features work well and are more than just a gimmick.
The sound is great if you like a bass; it has deep extension and low-end rumble. It lacks a bit of fidelity in the midrange compared to more expensive models, but on the whole, I enjoyed listening to them.
Verdict: Best true wireless earbuds to buy on a budget
7. Sony Linkbuds S
Specifications:
Four Color Options: Blue, White, Cream, Black
IPX4 Water resistant
Dynamic driver
Pros:
Engaging tonal balance
More comfortable than the XM4
Noise cancellation is very strong
Equal to Flagships in performance
Cons:
No Wireless Charging
What We Like:
Comfort. The Linkbuds S's big selling point is that it offers similar performance to flagship earbuds but costs less and is much more comfortable.
If the WF-1000 XM4 does not work for your ear size, check out the Linkbuds S because the only feature we felt they were lacking was wireless charging. Everything else was on par, including sound quality and the strength of the noise cancelation.
The carry case is nice and small, not much bigger than the Apple Airpods Pro and the integration with the Sony Headphones App allowed for customization of the listening experience.
Many people argue that the Linkbuds S are Sony’s best earphones right now, and we tend to agree as they have benefited a lot from the trickle-down tech from the more premium models.
Recommendation: The most comfortable true wireless earbuds
8. Jabra Elite 85t
Best Features:
Adjustable ANC - 11 customization modes
Battery life - 5 hours plus 1 hour playback from 15min Quick-charge
Qi wireless charging
Pros:
Very clear call quality
Neutral tuning
Good ergonomics
Cons:
ANC strength is a step behind current flagships from Sony and Apple
What We Like:
The Jabra Elite earphones have been a trendy alternative to Bose and Sony over the past few years, and with each new model, they seem to add the sort of refinements people are asking for.
Jabra’s current flagship TWS is the Jabra 85T earphone, which has state-of-the-art technology and a solid reputation.
The 85t is built off the back of the very successful Jabra 65t, and the refinements take them to the next level. This model is 20% smaller overall, and the awkward protrusion of the 65t antenna has been rounded into the 85t housing more ergonomically pleasantly.
The sound is excellent and surpasses that of the Airpods Pro. It’s clear and clean, with good detail and a fairly wide soundstage. The bass hits hard only when necessary, meaning that voices don’t come across as overly boomy during calls.
This is the best and clearest sounding headset we tested on calls, thanks to the four microphones that reduce ambient noise and increase clarity.
The Jabra does not feature noise cancellation, but with the excellent performance and fairly affordable price, we think this is a great buy, especially if you take many calls through your earphones.
Verdict: True wireless earbuds with the best call quality
9. Sabbat E12 Ultra
Specifications:
11 Color Options
Capacitive controls
Enabled for Siri and Google Voice
Pros:
All-day comfort and secure fit
Fantastic deep, punchy bass
Price
Cons:
Case uses lower-quality plastics
What We Like:
For those who might not know, Sabbat is one of the market's highest-regarded budget true wireless earphones in 2024. Over the past few years, the company has successfully delivered audio products that punch well above their weight.
The latest earphone from Sabbat is the E12 Ultra, which builds on the company’s early designs, and for the money, it is simply unbeatable.
The earphones sound incredible, easily good enough to compete with wireless earbuds three times the price, and you compromise very few areas. You can read our full review to see why we recommend them so highly, but to cut things short, here’s a quick summary of the best features.
Build quality is great, featuring resin shells with metal nozzles. They feature Bluetooth 5.0 and have a turbo mode to reduce latency when gaming or watching movies. Each earphone has an integrated touch control pad to skip, play, pause, etc. The sound is excellent, and they use high-quality drivers.
Verdict: Buy if you want great-sounding wireless earbuds under $100
10. Bose Quietcomfort Earbuds II
Specifications:
4 Color Options - Gloss Black, Matte Black, Stone, Navy
6 hours battery
Customtune sound profiles
Pros:
Excellent ergonomic design
Cons:
Tuning wasn’t refined
What We Like:
We liked the Bose QuietComfort II earbuds a lot, and while we would recommend them, I don't like them as much as the Sony.
The sound was fantastic, and they displayed some decent bass response, but the detail was lacking. The highs are nice and smooth, and it’s one of the few earphones on our test that displayed clarity here.
Comfort is up there with the best, thanks partly to the company’s Truegrip ear tips, which keep the headphones well seated in the ear canal.
We did have issues with the left earpiece cutting out at times, though, and looking online; it seems others have experienced similar (although occasional) dropouts. Bose handled our return request with no issue, and we experienced no problems with the second set.
They have finally been refreshed, bringing them in line with other top wireless earphones.
Verdict - A decent buy on par with the Sony and Apple models
11. Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3
Specifications:
Wireless Charging
28 hour battery in case
USB-C cable enabled
Pros:
Feels like a premium product with good materials
Great natural sound
Cons:
Battery life is too low
What We Like:
The Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3 fixes the company's many problems with the 2nd Gen model. The low latency issue is gone, and the sound and feature set is now refined.
Sennheiser has a lot of good headphones, but the Momentum 2 always felt a bit left behind. The new model has good noise-canceling performance (just slightly behind Bose and Sony) and now includes wireless charging.
The sound is clear and balanced, making it work well with any musical genre, and the fit is a lot more comfortable thanks to an ergonomic redesign.
It’s expensive but has a premium feel and good build quality.
Verdict: Good Premium build quality but performance behind Sony and Bose
12. Final ZE3000
Specifications:
High-Resolution Codecs: AAC, SBC, aptX, aptX Adaptive
Protection: IPX4
Noise Canceling: No
Pros:
Eye-catching design and excellent build quality
Audiophile Grade Sound
High-Resolution Codec Support
Cons:
To focus on sound quality noise cancelation is omitted
What We Like:
Final Audio Design makes some of the best sounding and highest quality earphones in the world, and they are now taking what they learned from their wired headphones and putting it to work in the wireless space.
The Final ZE3000 is a beautiful-looking earphone with a unique finish on the housings. They look cool and crisp but also fit great in the ears (which is more than can be said for the more expensive ZE800).
They aren’t feature-rich, with no app integration or active noise cancelation. Tech specs aren’t the point of these. Its sound.
This is the best-sounding true wireless headphone I have tested with a new F series driver design derived from their wired headphones. Its detailed yet spacious sounding and the low end is beautifully presented with hard-hitting yet tightly composed bass with now bleed to the midrange.
Verdict: Low on features big on fidelity
Wireless Earbud Buyers Guide:
A few areas stand out to me when buying this type of earphone. Of course, none of the earphones I have tested are perfect, but if you can find a good balance in these areas, you should have an excellent user experience.
SIze & Comfort
First of all, you want something that fits.
Many truly wireless earbuds are massive and barely fit inside the ear.
Apple got this right on the Airpods by hanging the battery and receivers from that weird-looking pole that hangs down from your ears. Other companies, for some reason, decided to build outwards, and that meant wide profiles and poor balance.
Overly bulky earphones will be hard to fit, especially if you have small ears, and the weight distribution at the back end makes them hard to keep in place if you are doing anything more strenuous than sitting still.
I suggest you look for an excellent ergonomic design that will fit snugly in your ears, create a good seal, and not fall out under movement. If you want to see a poor example of design and one of the worst-fitting earphones on the market, look no further than the Master & Dynamic MW07. Conversely, if you want a fantastic fit, then the Kinera YH623 earphones.
Sound Quality
Over the past two years, I have tried around 60 pairs of wireless earbuds, and 50% have sounded shocking. It is terrible by audiophile standards, and anyone could notice that the sound is horrible. Weak and thin bass are the most common things and are often combined with a drawn-out, thin overall sound.
The other fault I see is a lack of volume. Some of these earphones do not get loud enough to make your music sound enjoyable. It can be frustrating to have your book limited; I want earphones that can go a little up from my usual listening volumes, and I don’t want to run my earbuds at 100% due to the noticeable drain on the battery’s resources.
This year, we have seen the sound being taken very seriously. The drivers’ standards to produce the sound have greatly improved, and a better focus on tuning.
Bluetooth connectivity weakness
Finally, you might have pairing issues. Yes, some companies have sent me earphones where one of the earbuds lags slightly behind the other during playback. They get crazy when we refuse to write a review or recommend them to our readers.
At this point, our response has been pretty standard. If you want a good review of your headphones, make good headphones. Do not just do the bare minimum and expect a positive reaction.
The good, true wireless earphone companies have stepped up their game in this area, which has been a revelation. Bluetooth 5.0 is fast becoming the standard of this technology, and many manufacturers have started offering a low latency mode.
Low latency is important if you watch a lot of videos. Latency, in this case, is the lag between what you see on the screen and what you hear. So your earphones should be up to date and in sync with low latency enabled when watching a movie, YouTube video, or playing a game.
Battery Life
Battery life on wireless earbuds has always been an issue. You have a minimal product that is doing an awful lot yet still has to remain small and light enough to fit in your ears.
Run time is about 6-8 hours, with further portable playback coming from the integrated charging cases where you charge the earphones. This works well for most situations, but you might run out of juice on a long-haul flight, extended camping trip, etc.
Wireless earbuds have evolved - The Truth!
OK, so there are good products on the market, but there is a whole host of re-branded OEM junk for the most part. These are an absolute waste of your money and should be avoided. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell which is which; that’s the main problem.
Let me explain.
Since Apple was released, the Airpods of other companies have jumped into the market with barely passable products to get a slice of the action. These earphones have many issues ranging from poor connectivity, short battery life, and sometimes the sheer size.
In this list, we want to recommend wireless earbuds that work. However, unlike other headphones and earphone review sites, we have tested all these earbuds listed below. We will call out the ones you should buy based on our criteria for sound quality, features, functionality, and price.
Conclusion
True wireless earphones are a great concept but still need time to mature. I feel that far too many of these styles of earphones have been released to meet a deadline and not because they improve the user experience. If I were going to buy any, it would be Apple Airpods, Huawei Freebuds, or the Jabra Elite.
That is if I had to choose. I wouldn't use any of these as they are significantly outperformed dollar-for-dollar by Bluetooth and wireless earphones with neckbands. It’s certainly an area I will continue reviewing and looking into in the future, but they don't enhance my user experience to justify the expense.
