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Our review team researched over 50 of the best Bluetooth wireless earbuds on the market before purchasing 6 to put to the test for our updated review. We toted these earbuds around for months, spending countless hours listening to music, podcasts, and audiobooks, all while evaluating each model's individual performances. We focus on key areas of performance, including sound quality, athletic performance, comfort, battery life, and portability, to bring you an accurate account of which wireless earbuds rise to the top and which may miss the mark. We hope this in-depth look helps you find the right pair of headphones for your specific uses and budget.
Editor's Note: Our wireless earbuds review was updated on November 8, 2023, removing some discontinued models and offering alternative suggestions to our award winners.
Noise cancellation quality lacks compared to other premium models
The Jaybird Vista 2 tops the charts as our pick for best overall wireless earbuds. The sound quality offered is almost unreal — in some of the tracks we listened to, we could audibly detect some vocalists' breaths. The Vista 2 produces crystal clear audio, with smooth, warm bass and excellent clarity during playbacks and calls. These buds are comfortable and secure enough in your ears to stay put through even high-intensity workouts, and their water resistance protects them from profuse sweat and light rain. The app has an incredibly useful EQ that you can customize or select from an array of handy presets. The strong battery life, a small charging case (with a wireless charging option), and simple onboard controls round out this excellent package.
We don't have too many bones to pick with these wireless earbuds. Their noise cancellation capability is not the best we tested, which isn't to say it's bad, just that some other models performed better than the Vista 2 in this area (we love the noise cancellation on the Apple AirPods Pro). Aside from this small caveat, the Vista 2 are simply the best all-around wireless earbuds, and we recommend them most readily for those looking for an exceptional listening experience.
Living up to the high bar of quality established by their predecessor, the Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) are an excellent product at an even more excellent value. They are extremely lightweight and portable, with a protective charging case that is small and convenient. These buds offer good sound quality with impressive bass that is fun to blast as you complete a workout.
Speaking of workouts, the Echo Buds (2nd Gen) offer a secure fit and fair-to-good athletic performance overall. One of our few criticisms of these buds is that they can get uncomfortable after periods of long wear. Also, they require you to set up Amazon Alexa to use, which can be annoying for some, especially those who are not too keen on the idea of voice assistants. Overall, these buds provide a positive and enjoyable user experience. For around half the price of most of the competition, these buds represent the best value we've found for true wireless Bluetooth earbuds.
The Apple AirPods Pro are the perfect companions for airports or crowded subways. They feature impressive active noise cancellation, a slim carrying/charging case, and a fit that is still comfortable after hours of wear. In crowded or loud situations, we found the noise cancellation to be effective enough to listen to music or podcasts at a reasonable volume without being distracted by the outside world. When stuck in a metal tube with dozens of disgruntled travelers, that is just about all you can ask for. The noise cancellation also ups the overall quality of the music reaching our ears, providing clear mids and treble with more bass than most people expect from Apple earbuds. The majority of our testers even found the silicon earpieces to be plenty secure for gym workouts.
The high price is an apparent drawback. Some of our testers also noticed that the silicone tips started to slip towards the end of sweaty runs (though none actually fell out). Perhaps most importantly, Android users will not be able to access all the unique features that those utilizing Apple products (iOS devices) will. Therefore, we only recommend using them with compatible Apple products. Still, we found these wireless earbuds unique in that they can follow you from the subway to the gym while offering good sound quality, terrific noise isolation, and reliable comfort. For these reasons, we feel many users will find the Apple AirPods Pro a worthy investment. If you're looking to save some money, check out the Amazon Echo Buds.
There are a bunch of reasons to invest in a pair of true wireless Bluetooth earbuds. Maybe you want them as a companion for distance running, for listening to audio in busy places, or to listen to your podcasts without bothering your roommates. If you want a pair of true wireless Bluetooth earbuds to make phone calls, then these might be a great choice for you. The Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds boasted exceptional call quality that was only enhanced by its smart, self-correcting ANC features.
These wireless earbuds are not flawless. Multiple testers found them difficult to fit, specifically in the left ear. They are not the best choice for exercise, as they are apt to fall out when running or jumping. If you're looking for a great pair for exercise, we suggest the Beats by Dre Powerbeats Pro. The WF-1000XM4 is one of the priciest models in our fleet, which may dissuade many potential buyers. Still, these buds have an elegant and intuitive user interface that you can further customize through Sony's Headphone app. If you plan on making plenty of calls and could use smart continuous ANC features, these Sony buds may be right for you.
While these buds fit super securely in their case, we can't say the same for our ears.
Credit: Laura Casner
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We continuously test the best bluetooth earbuds throughout the year to bring you test-centric assessments and reliable recommendations to make your decision-making a little easier.
Credit: Jason Peters
Why You Should Trust Us
This review represents more than 200 hours spent with these earbuds. In that time, we completed thorough, side-by-side sound quality comparisons using a wide variety of musical genres. We took these earbuds on airplanes, used them in the office, and generally wore them for hours on end to ascertain their relative comfort levels. Perhaps most importantly, we used them while engaging in many athletic endeavors, including running, mountain biking, hiking, yoga, and challenging workouts in the gym. In the end, we found the best pair for every activity and budget.
We tested wireless earbuds using six different rating metrics:
Sound Quality (30% of total score weighting)
Comfort (20% weighting)
Athletic Performance (20% weighting)
Battery Life (15% weighting)
Portability (10% weighting)
Ease of Use (5% weighting)
In designing our sound quality testing process, we enlisted the help of sound recordist Palmer Taylor. Palmer's professional experience is anchored in location audio and runs the gamut from music recording to composition. In his career, Palmer has amassed an impressive list of clientele, including The History Channel, Apple, and The Food Network. Serving as the testers and authors for this review, Steven Tata and Max Mutter have been leading TechGearLab's audio product reviews for over 3 years. As a result, they have personally used and listened to well over 100 of the most highly regarded consumer-audio products on the market, which supplies them with an in-depth knowledge of the current market.
GearLab testing goes to the beach. These Sony earbuds are pricey and generally more worthwhile to those expecting to take and make phone calls while wearing them throughout the day.
Compact size with bold sound, the Vista 2 proved easy to slip into packs and most pockets without being a hindrance.
These buds performed so well during athletic performance tests, our testers didn't want to give them back.
Analysis and Test Results
Freedom from earbud wires is a surprisingly liberating and indulgent luxury, but ditching the leash brings up a slew of new considerations. We've tested every aspect of these buds, from battery life and comfort to athletic performance and overall sound quality, to make sure your transition to the wireless realm is as seamless and pleasant as possible.
Value
Bluetooth earbuds are a product category where you don't necessarily get more if you pay more. For instance, the Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen), the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, and the Sony WF-1000XM4 models all offer similar levels of performance. But, the Amazon Echo buds are nearly half the price and offer all-around performance, which the Bose and Sony offerings are more specific in their intended uses. For the very best sound quality, top-notch noise cancellation, or excellent microphone clarity, you will pay more. But for coming pretty close, you do not have to fork over as much and possibly be just as pleased. It should also be noted that our favorite model overall falls right in the middle of the price range of all models tested. For value and performance, the Jaybird Vista 2 is truly the best.
Hey Alexa, these earbuds are exceptionally good for their price point.
Credit: Laura Casner
Sound Quality
Whether you're powering through another set of burpees or the last hour of a long-haul flight, you'll want your Bluetooth earbuds to have some real audio punch. We listened to every genre of music imaginable, from bass-heavy hip-hop tracks to twangy country ballads, to assess our earbuds' various musical proficiencies. We also made phone calls with each model to evaluate the quality of their embedded microphones.
High up on our sound quality podium is the Bose QuietComfort, which have a clear and bright sound. Unfortunately, their lack of a consistently secure fit can sometimes distract from their excellent sound.
Enjoying the full range of customizations available to him through the Bose Music App.
Credit: Laura Casner
Several other models shared the second step on our sound quality podium, with each of their strengths slightly differing. The Powerbeats Pro offers a very well-rounded sound that makes most music sound full-bodied. The Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) and Jaybird Vista 2's both have impressively deep and powerful bass, making them great for the kind of pump-up soundtracks that accompany the workouts they're designed for. This 2nd generation of Bluetooth true wireless earbuds impressed us with their general trend towards a consistently secure fit.
Our testers enjoy using the Vista 2 earbuds for extended periods of comfortable wear and great sound. The EQ settings in the Jaybird app, with many presets or custom options, make dialing in the sound an easy feat.
Credit: Laura Casner
The Sony WF-1000XM4 impressed us with its consistently high-end sound quality during phone calls. Combined with its reliable smart ANC capabilities, these buds are a great choice if you intend to use its microphone with any sort of regularity. We still think the bass power and overall fullness of the Bose QuietComfort creates better overall sound quality. Still, the noise cancellation gives the Sony WF-1000XM4 a leg up in noisy scenarios like cafes and airports.
We love the call quality offered by the Sony WF-1000XM4.
Credit: Laura Casner
Comfort
Ears come in all shapes and sizes, and earbud preferences vary widely. Therefore, we had more than a dozen people try on each pair and share their thoughts on comfort. We also wore each pair for an entire workday to see how they fared in long-term use. Finally, many buds offer different-sized earpieces. In our final comfort score, we considered each model's sizing options and how easy it is to switch between them.
To no surprise, the models that offer more sizing adjustments tended to do better in our comfort testing. All of the top scorers come with swappable ear fins (small rubber finger-like projection that nestles into that flap of skin and cartilage above your ear canal) or earpieces (the rubber tip that goes into your ear) sizes. These include the Jaybird Vista 2, the Bose QuietComfort, the Sony WF-1000XM4, the Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen), and the Apple AirPods Pro. This wide array of sizing options meant that almost everyone we gave the earbuds to was able to get a comfortable and secure fit.
The Vista 2 buds come with three interchangeable earpieces with ear fins, all but ensuring you will be able to find a secure and comfortable way to wear them.
Credit: Jason Peters
In terms of comfort, the Beats Powerbeats Pro buds are hit or miss. The over-ear hooks add a lot of security and eliminate any inner-ear tugging that can occur when running or walking briskly. However, a few testers found that the ear hooks pushed the buds into their ear, which created a bit of pressure that became uncomfortable when wearing the buds for more than an hour or two. For most workouts, this is fine, but they could get annoying if you want to use them during a cross-country flight.
Athletic Performance
The compact and convenient shape of the earbud often makes them the perfect gym companions. To find the models most likely to keep up with your workout, we used each pair while mountain biking, doing jumping jacks and burpees at the gym, and sweating profusely on long trail runs. In doing so, we noted how securely they felt in our ears, whether high-impact activities created uncomfortable tugging sensations, and considered each model's water and sweat resistance rating.
Much like their predecessor buds, the Jaybird Vista 2 proved to be the most athletically inclined earbuds in our testing group. Our cadre of testers almost universally reported a secure and comfortable fit, even on long runs and mountain bike rides under a sweltering, sweat-inducing sun. Even the big bumps encountered on the mountain bike rides failed to jostle the Vista 2 buds from our testers' ears. Combine this with the buds' full booming sound quality, and you've got a pair of Bluetooth earbuds that are perfect for a pump-up jam.
No earbuds we have ever tested are as good as the Jaybird Vista 2 buds when it comes to use while exercising.
Credit: Laura Casner
The Beats Powerbeats Pro was the only model that could compete with the athletic prowess of the Jaybird Vista 2 in our testing. Thanks to over-ear hooks that provide rock-solid stability, these buds feel more secure than any others during hard-charging and high-impact activities. However, the drawbacks are that they interfere with sunglasses and eyewear that also rest on the tops of ears and that they were less comfortable than the Vista 2 for multiple hours of wear.
Thanks to over ear hooks and featherish weight, the Powerbeats Pro are great buds to reach for when mountain biking or partaking in other high-impact activities.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
The Amazon Echo Buds (Second Gen) and the Bose QuietComfort Bluetooth earbuds both also score fairly well in terms of athletic performance. While they both tended to fall out during high-intensity workouts, they stayed secure during moderate exercise. Whether or not these buds are good choices for working out is wholly dependent on how you exercise. If you're somebody who enjoys more moderate exercise with less shaking around, either of these models could be the choice for you.
The Echo Buds are a secure-fitting companion for moving around town and most moderate exercise. High-intensity physical activity tends to jostle them out of place, though.
Credit: Laura Casner
During most of our workouts, the IPX4 water-resistant Apple AirPods Pro felt quite secure and comfortable. Some testers reported the earpieces slipping when things got particularly sweaty on a run. Without ear fins, though, this model isn't as secure as earbuds that come with them.
We would not recommend the Sony WF-1000XM4 models if you're looking for athletic performance in a Bluetooth earbud. While they feature multiple earpiece options, these buds forgo ear fins. As such, they just don't hold securely in your ear once you start moving around. They only sport an IPX4 water resistance rating, and they're just pretty easily poised to be knocked away during any sort of higher intensity activity.
The perfect gear for blasting just the right song to get you through the last stage of your workout.
Credit: Jason Peters
Earbuds and Bikes
Not only is it dangerous to ride your bike on the street while wearing earbuds, but in most states, it is also illegal (some states allow you to wear a single earbud, but not two).
Make sure you are comfortable with the security of your buds before starting a high intensity workout.
Credit: Jason Peters
Battery Life
Having to remember to charge the battery is perhaps the most significant disadvantage of Bluetooth earbuds compared to their wired companions. The longer the battery life, the less likely your music will cut out mid-workout. We tested battery life by streaming music at 75% volume until each pair bit the dust.
The Powerbeats Pro registered an impressive battery life of 11.25 hours. The included charging case also holds an additional 2 charges worth of battery.
A long battery life means one less thing to worry about through your workday. The Bose QuietComfort lasted 6.5 hours of continuous streaming at 75% volume in our battery test.
Credit: Laura Casner
The Jaybird Vista 2 and the Sony WF-1000XM4 performed very well in our battery life testing. Both models slightly exceeded their advertised 8-hour battery life. The Jaybird model ran nine hours on a single full battery charge. Its charging case also has three lights that indicate how much battery it has, a handy feature that most cases lack. The Sony was able to last about 8.5 hours on a single charge. While not having the strongest batteries in the pack, these two models are likely to comfortably last through your entire workday. You'll also get multiple charges out of their charging cases.
Lasting longer than a typical work day, the Sony WF-1000XM4 buds also have a charging case that make charging on the go a simple and convenient feat.
Credit: Laura Casner
The Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) lasted only 5 hours in our tests, which was one of our few qualms with the product. The Airpods Pro fell a bit short of their predecessors, lasting 5 hours with active noise cancellation turned on. It's important to note that the models that come with charging cases allow you to top them off while they're not in use. Consequently, depending on how continuously you use the buds, they can provide functionally longer battery lives before you need to find an outlet. You can also charge one bud while listening on the other, which although it can diminish your listening experience, will extend your listening time.
Some of these cases even come with adjustable lanyards and wrist straps. The Vista 2 has lights that indicate the battery level of the charging case.
Credit: Jason Peters
Portability
Not all Bluetooth earbuds are created equal in terms of portability and packability. While some can easily be shoved in almost any pocket, others use rigid neckpieces or earpieces that require a bit more forethought if you're hoping to tote them into your carry-on. We evaluated each model's weight and shape and examined them for potential long-term durability issues to determine which ones could keep up with a mobile lifestyle.
The clear winners in our portability testing were the Apple AirPods. Both the original and Pro versions pack into sleek carrying/charging cases that easily slide into small pockets. Those cases also make them great for travel use because the buds can be charging in your pocket while you're winding your way through the airport, trying to figure out how to get to your terminal. The case for the Pro version is slightly larger than the original, but we were still able to easily fit that case into even the smallest pants pockets. That case is also smaller than most of the charging cases of competing truly wireless buds.
We've found AirPods to be quite portable and pocket-friendly.
Credit: Ian Pearman
Apart from the super-sleek carrying cases of the Apple models, most of the true wireless models we tested provide similarly sized cases, all of which fit into most front pants pockets. Though technically larger than the wired models, we still think the true wireless design's self-contained nature is more portable than the often tangled wires of the wired models.
The Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) sport a hard case that, while a bit larger than their competitors' average case size, is shaped specifically to easily fit in your pocket. The Jaybird Vista 2 also sport a charging case that, while still larger than an Airpods case, is still incredibly tiny. The case also comes with an optional lanyard that some may find convenient.
The Echo Buds are lightweight, and the small charging case slips into pockets and packs easily.
Credit: Laura Casner
While not the most portable, the Sony WF-1000XM4 model notably scores much higher than its predecessor in our portability metric. The hard charging case is much smaller now, and it can stand up on its own with the lid uncovered (the previous model couldn't do this).
Ease of Use
Arguably one of the nicest things about switching to wireless buds is the fact that you don't have to pull your phone out of your pocket so often. And the easier it is to control your music and other basic functions from the earbuds themselves, the less you'll have to fumble around with your phone.
In our testing, we found all the tethered buds (those with a wire connecting the two individual buds) to be nearly identical in their ease of use. Almost all have a few basic buttons embedded into the wire. Where we saw real differences were in the truly wireless models, as packing controls into such small devices presents more of a challenge.
While the Apple AirPods Pro used to be our uncontested winner in the truly wireless Bluetooth earbud race, new version releases of multiple buds now offer a challenge to the throne. The Jaybird Vista 2 grants excellent ease of use that relies on a truly classy interface. These buds sport buttons that give you actual tactile confirmation that the buds have recognized your command. With their uncommonly good reliability and ability to adjust three different commands (via single and double taps and long holds) to your preference, these are the definition of user-friendly buds. The accompanying Jaybird app has perhaps the most user-friendly EQ customization, too.
The Jaybird Vista 2 earbuds boast many features that help them integrate into your daily life, such as noise cancellation, tactile buttons to skip, pause, control volume, and more, and a great accompanying app. You can also use the "Find My Buds" feature if you ever misplace them.
Credit: Jason Peters
The Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) and the Bose Quiet Comfort both scored fairly in our ease of use metric tests. Both models feature touch sensors that while providing generally good and reliable functionality, don't offer much of anything in the way of tactile feedback. You're just going to have to trust that the sensors read your command. The touch sensors on Amazon's buds might actually be a little too sensitive, as several of our testers recorded them interpreting every little bump as a command.
Touch sensors (instead of buttons), find my buds, a charging case, and Alexa voice assistant are all features that add to the Echo's convenience.
Credit: Laura Casner
For anybody who's looking for a fun, reliable user interface that's engaging for users of every level, look no further than the Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds. These buds feature easy-to-find, reliable touch sensors that give audible confirmation when they've registered a command. While the Sony app isn't a required download to utilize these buds, it does unlock a bunch more in the way of customization and advanced functionalities. These buds are a clear step above the other models in regards to customization, with the ability to set your preferences down to fairly minuscule details. The diverse options to fine-tune your earbud experience to your liking make them very fun earbuds to play around with.
Conclusion
It's the simple things in life, like not having to deal with a wire running from your pocket up to your ears, that can put a pleasant grin on your face. We hope our testing results have helped you weed through the multitude of wireless earbuds out there and find that cord-free ecstasy you were seeking.
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Max Mutter, Michelle Powell, Steven Tata, and John Giammona Wilber
