While a great pair of headphones will always offer better sound quality thanks to their larger drivers, you can’t beat wireless earbuds when it comes to comfort, portability and convenience. Not to mention avoiding sweaty ears and headphone hair during the summer months.
Major phone makers like Apple, Samsung, OnePlus and Google make some of the best wireless earbuds around. The AirPods, Galaxy Buds and Pixel Buds not only match the style of their respective phones, but they’re designed to pair seamlessly, giving you voice-activated controls and notifications on the go.
You’ve a lot more options to choose from however, with renowned audio brands like Bose, Sony and Sennheiser all producing wireless earbuds that consistently top our list of the best. Not only do they tend to offer the best possible sound quality and active noise-cancellation (ANC), but many are just as integrated with your phone’s voice assistant, meaning you can control music, ask for directions and respond to messages hands-free.
We’ve been testing earbuds on our phones, laptops and tablets to bring your our list of the best wireless earbuds in 2024, so keep reading if you’re in the market for a new pair.
From the second we took each pair of earbuds out of its box, we tested comprehensively. How easy were the buds to set up, did they pair easily with an iPhone, or better with an Android handset? Did they need you to download an app and if so, was that app the best way to control the volume, track selection or other features, or are there physical controls? If there were, we checked how easy it was to swipe, slide or double-press these to get what you want.
There was comfort to be considered: we looked at the fit, to see if they’d dislodge easily if you were listening while running, or fit so tightly that they’d start your lugholes aching before long. And then we started looking at the sound quality, noise-cancelling, if included and audio on phone calls.
After that, there was the most important consideration of all: how do the earbuds make the music sound? Is it weighed down with bass, or lyrical enough to hear mid-tones and high notes clearly? We listened to different kinds of music to check where the earbuds excelled. And we noted how long the battery lasted. After all, it’s fine to have earbuds that are so light you hardly know they’re there, but not so good if that means you have to recharge them every hour or two.
Check out the best earbuds deals in the Amazon Prime Day sale
