19 best wireless earbuds, reviewed by The Independent’s tech critic

Sony’s in-ears are astonishingly good, beating all newcomers for sound quality. The latest buds somehow manage to outdo the already splendid WF-1000XM4 (which are now discontinued). The new headphones are 25 per cent smaller and 20 per cent lighter than their predecessors, though the driver is quite a bit bigger, which helps with audio quality.

In terms of looks, the new design is as slick and premium as before. A bone conductor sensor knows when you are talking, and can pause the audio as a result – which is great unless you’re singing along to your music, in which case you need to turn this feature, called Speak to Talk, off. Meanwhile new touch controls mean it’s easy to change volume, noise cancellation and more with simple gestures and touches.

What really stands out, though, is the sound quality, with a level of deft clarity and forensic detail that makes every part of the music soar, from vocals to mid-range and bass. However, there are other earbuds here with more bass, if that’s your thing. The audio sounds even better with noise-cancelling off, but Sony’s ANC is exceptional, so you’ll probably want to keep it on most of the time.

When Panasonic’s earbuds first launched they were strong value, and they’re now a lot cheaper. They offer noise cancelling at a keen price, and it’s very good, not least because much of the technology comes from the sister brand Technics, which is rather pricier. The design is elegant and simple, and because there are five different sizes of ear tips to choose from, you can be sure of the perfect fit. The audio quality is strong with a powerful, direct sound. There’s a good amount of bass but it’s not overpowering and you can adjust that in the smartphone app. Battery life is decent and call quality is strong, making these headphones a great all-around choice at a low price.

Read the full Panasonic RZ-S500W review

The new in-ears from Apple take a successful design and leave it almost intact, but add considerable internal improvements...

The small earbuds fit the ear well and stay put securely and there are now four sizes of silicone ear tips to ensure decent sound isolation. In fact, it uses the camera on the iPhone to work out what you can hear best from the way your ear looks and can adjust the audio accordingly. Plus, when you pair them with an iPhone, a near-instantaneous process, the phone can play a sound that tells it if it’s a good fit. A faster chip in the earbuds has also helped improve the sound quality.

While the noise-cancelling was already among the very best in any in-ear headphones, it’s noticeably better here. Apple claims it can quell twice as much noise now, and in practice it works brilliantly. The charging case also now comes with Find My capabilities, that is, you can use your iPhone to find it when you misplace it and the case can even make a noise to help you locate it.

Read the full AirPods pro 2nd gen review

The elegant Pi7 earbuds look spectacular, with gold details and a striking, premium finish. There are three different sizes of ear tips supplied and the buds are comfortable in the ear as you twist them into position. Though the battery life isn’t huge at just four hours, there are another four full charges in the case and a quick charge of 10 minutes is enough for two hours of playback. There’s also a cool extra feature with these earbuds: the case works as a device to retransmit audio. You plug one of the supplied cables into your music source – your laptop, say – and the other into the case, and the audio plays wirelessly from the case to the earbuds. The audio quality is really terrific, with deft clarity and solid power. At this price, we should hope so.

Read the full Bowers & Wilkins PI7 true wireless earbuds review

Beats is Apple’s headphones brand that isn’t AirPods. It’s known for a bass-heavy sound and while the latest buds are more subtle than some earlier Beats cans, there’s still plenty of bass here. Unlike AirPods, Beats Studio Buds+ are designed to have more advanced features that are compatible with both iPhone and Android, rather than favouring Apple products. These include quick pairing and auto-switching between devices.

The first thing that stands out here is the design. Although it’s not worlds away from earlier Beats in-ears, it adds a head-turning transparent version which is splendid. Other colours are available, including ivory as well as black/gold, plus two just-released colours, cosmic silver and cosmic pink. The design updates include new acoustic vents to reduce pressure on the ears so they can be worn more comfortably for longer. The resulting sound is big and emphatic, rather than gentle or neutral. But overall, they certainly pack a punch. A five-minute charge gives an hour of playback, too.

Bose’s latest in-ears are pricier than most, but they also sound better than almost every competitive pair of headphones we’ve tested. The noise-cancelling here is astonishing, with the loudest of background sounds silenced effortlessly. The earbuds fit well, thanks to three sizes of ear tip and stability bands, which ensure an effective fit. A tone sounds each time you put them in your ear, as the earbuds calibrate the audio for your ears. As a result, the audio quality here is exceptional across the board, with strong, detailed sound that’s rich and faithful. They are comfortable for extended wearing and easy to use. Expensive, perhaps, but absolutely worth it.

The latest Sennheiser earbuds are the brand’s best yet with better performance, features and fit than the last pair. They are not cheap, and the design is almost unchanged from previous versions apart from new colours: silver, graphite and black copper. But inside, the design changes include improvements to audio stability, better antennas and better audio drivers. Using Qualcomm chips means there’s greater access to lossless streaming, which sounds terrific. New ear tips which are washable have also been added, and, like the Apple AirPods Pro, there’s an audio test to check you have the best fit. There’s a rich and present quality to the sound that’s highly attractive.

Samsung’s in-ears have a neat design that fits in the ear, without the stalk or overhang found in many buds. Like AirPods Pro, there’s a useful ear tip fit test so you can be sure you’re getting a snug fit that seals in the music. The Buds 2 pro are lightweight and fit the ear comfortably. Samsung owns audio company AKG, which has tuned these earbuds immaculately, so the sound quality is tremendous.

Active noise-cancelling is also strong, though no match for the Bose QC Earbuds II (£239.95, Bose.co.uk) or AirPods Pro second generation (£249, Apple.com). It’s worth noting that just as AirPods work best with the iPhone and iPad, you get the most out of these buds with Samsung Galaxy phones or tablets, though they do also work with Apple and Android devices. These Galaxy-only features include 24-bit audio.

Sony’s earbuds can be expensive but are often great – see the overall best buy above. But its latest release is a budget option, so you might expect less stellar results. In fact, the WF-C700N are so good you might wonder if it’s worth spending more. After all, these earbuds include active noise cancelling, which is still rare at this price point.

The earbuds are small and light and come in a charging case that snaps the buds magnetically back in place when you’re done listening. There’s no wireless charging for this case, mind. Also missing are advanced audio codecs for higher-quality sound. Still, these buds sound excellent, with plenty of power matched with subtlety and detail. The noise-cancelling is good, though not as good as the pricier models here.

Like Apple’s AirPods Pro, which cost £70 more, the Pixel buds pro have plenty of features, from a wireless charging case to active noise cancelling. There are three sizes of silicone tip and an eartip seal test which plays music to help you ensure you have the right one in place. Fitting is important and these can be fiddly until you learn the knack: rotate after you’ve put it in your ear until there’s a snug seal.

There’s no stalk on the buds pro – they sit entirely in your ear. Controls, then, are down to a tap, tap-and-hold or swiping forward or backwards. This last one controls volume. All are quickly intuitive and work well. The sudio quality is good, with plenty of bass but a balanced sound. Noise-cancelling is tremendous, though not quite matching the AirPods Pro (£249, Apple.com) or Sony WF-1000XM4 (£199, Johnlewis.com).

Choose from four colours: charcoal, which is dark grey, coral (pink), fog (pale blue) and lemongrass, a tasty citrus yellow-green. Though the case is an off-white, whichever you plump for.

Read the full Google Pixel Buds Pro review

The new earbuds from Nothing look very similar to the earlier Nothing ear (1), but there are two big differences. First, the audio has been improved. Second, the cost is a lot more than the launch price of the earlier headphones. That’s because the Nothing ear (1) originally had a £99 price sticker, but that went up, and the new headphones match the increased price of £129. Even so, they still represent good value. 

Nothing says it’s been able to put better components in the latest model. The design is very slightly changed, with a flatter lid to the case, for instance, but retaining the transparent earbud stalks and colour-coded dots to make it easy to tell them apart, both for the box and your ears. Noise-cancelling is better this time around and there is support for high-resolution audio codecs, so long as you are listening to music coming from a Nothing, Huawei or Oppo smartphone. There’s also a personalised audio setup, which is useful. The fit in the ear remains comfortable, even for long listening sessions.

Read our full review of the Nothing ear (2)

Beats powerbeats pro are highly unlikely to fall out of your ears, even when you’re running full pelt. That’s down to the over-ear hooks, which are secure and comfortable. Although there’s no noise cancellation, the audio here is excellent, partly down to the four different ear-tip sizes that help create a tight seal in the ear. The Beats logo is a button to control music playback or take calls. Beats is known for its proficiency with bass and that’s certainly the case here, though the earbuds are still capable of some subtlety and range. Beats, which is part of Apple, makes the powerbeats pro in six colours: glacier blue, navy, ivory, cloud pink, lava red and black.

Read the full Beats powerbeats pro review

Apple’s latest regular earbuds, without ‘pro’ in the title, are a huge step forward over the previous generation (which is still available, at a significantly lower price). But the third-gen model offers a lot more. There’s a complete redesign, with a shorter stem and a more bulbous earpiece, which fits more securely in the ear. Battery life is an hour better, at six hours compared with the second-generation’s five hours. Best of all, it includes the spatial audio also found on the pricier pro earbuds, with personalisation, so your individual ears get the best sound they can. There’s also a version with a wireless-chargeable case, for £10 extra.

Read our full AirPods review

Google’s latest in-ears offer great value and strong sound that’s easy to listen to. Though there’s no active noise cancelling, the tight fit isolates the ears pretty well. That said, there is some venting that prevents the claustrophobic feeling some earbuds cause, so some outside noise seeps in. The fit is helped by small fins that hold the buds in place well. These headphones do work for Apple iPhone users but the set-up is most seamless when used with an Android phone, where integration with Google Assistant is flawless.

Read the full Google Pixel buds A-series review

The simple twist-to-fit design of Grado’s first true-wireless in-ears means they are secure and ideal for working out. Controls are through a touch surface on each of the buds, which are versatile and easy to use. Grado is known for its open-backed headphones, but these are closed, perhaps because the need for sound isolation meant open wasn’t an option. Even without noise cancelling, though, the audio here is tremendous, with punchy sound that’s detailed and accurate. Though they lack the bass of some, there’s a lot to like here.

Open earbuds let you stay in contact with the outside world while still hearing your music clearly. Huawei’s FreeClip earbuds have a unique design that clips on to the ear, with the speaker in an Acoustic Ball that sits in your ear. It’s held in place by a flexible C-shaped clip and the whole thing is light but stays securely in the ear. Open earbuds can also lack bass but there’s a decent full-effect sound here. The design won’t appeal to everyone – they kind of look like you’re wearing earrings – but the two colours, black and purple look good. There are neat features: the buds are identical but you can put them in either ear and the software can figure out which bud went in which ear and adjust the audio accordingly.

If you’ve ever seen someone pop one just earbud out of their ear to have a conversation, you’ll understand the purpose of the ultra open earbuds. They’re like the Huawei FreeClip above but with a much more demure look.

The open design means you can hear the world around you as well as your music. A silicone arm connects the speaker to the battery and it clips around your ear securely. An auto volume feature means the earbuds compensate if the noise around you gets louder, maintaining the same listening volume and edging the level back to where it was when you’ve stepped out of the noisy store or away from the gusty wind buffeting your ears. The earbuds also have Bose immersive audio, which cleverly makes the sound seem to come from ahead and all around you. They come in two colours, black and white smoke, and are comfortable enough to wear all day long.

These earbuds come from audio masters Denon and they offer the option for audio personalised to your hearing by way of a listening profile test where the earbuds measure the sensitivity of your ears. Turning the personalised profile off and on reveals a big difference: overall the sound is more focused and appealing. The large size means they can look a bit daunting, and they’re heavier than many others here. There’s excellent noise-cancelling, though not quite matching that of the best here. The bass is decent but can be boosted in an immersion mode if that’s your taste. Overall sound is tremendous, and spatial audio sounds especially good. The touch controls make the most of the large flat surfaces and can be customised to your liking.

Just as AirPods work best with Apple devices, so these headphones from phone manufacturer OnePlus have extra features when connected to one of the company’s handsets. The noise cancelling is good, with three levels of sound reduction to choose from: max cancellation is especially effective. Audio overall is great, especially if you have the right content and the right OnePlus phone, where Dolby Atmos fidelity comes into play.

But the headline here is the battery life, which is remarkable. Not only do they play for up to 38 hours (without noise cancelling), they recharge quickly, with 10 minutes of cable-based charge offering almost 10 hours of playback.