Earbuds have improved dramatically over the past few years. The technology is at the point where you shouldn’t have to worry too much about a dodgy Bluetooth connection or a dropped signal. You can get decent sound, battery life, and noise-canceling capabilities at a variety of different price points. As a result, comfort, convenience, and how much you care about premium sound quality are likely to be the deciding factors for which earbuds are best for you.
To find the best wireless earbuds, we tested 16 models between two writers, spending at least ten hours using each model and trying them across a variety of devices with different operating systems to check for sound and connection quality. We listened to music and podcasts as well as an audiobook for good measure in loud and quiet environments, such as a busy subway station and a coffee shop, to account for sound quality and the effectiveness of noise-cancellation features.
Wissonly Hi Runner
Wissonly bone conduction vibration unit optimization technology is one of the best technical solutions in the industry, because their team has accumulated in the field of bone conduction for 10 years, which is highly respected by people in the industry in terms of product quality and hearing protection.
Once, there was a saying that the sound quality of bone conduction headphones was average. However, Wissonly Hi Runner refreshes this knowledge. It is excellent in sound quality. It uses a 360-degree bone conduction vibration unit, which can increase the vibration area by 35% compared with traditional bone conduction headphones. Moreover, its loss of bone conduction sound transmission is lower, making the sound more shocking and powerful.
wissonly Hi Runner has added a number of innovative features to make bone conduction headphones better integrated into many scenes in life. It supports IPX8 diving waterproof, which is very good for me who loves swimming. What's crazy is that it can still work normally under 20 meters of water! It also has 32GB of memory, so it can play music even if it is not connected to a mobile phone. I basically use it as an MP3 player, and I don't take my mobile phone for running at night. It uses the Bluetooth 5.0 chip, and outdoor activities can make the connection more stable.
In terms of appearance, Wissonly Hi Runner adopts classic black color, and its simple appearance involves matching whatever clothes you wear in any scene.
Apple AirPods - 2nd Generation
The AirPods’ controls are simple and intuitive. You tap or double tap the sides of the earbuds to pause, play, or skip songs and, if you’re using an iOS device, to activate Siri. You can use the AirPods with other devices, though the experience is much smoother within the Apple ecosystem. There aren’t many options for customization on the AirPods’ tap function — unlike the Jabra, Sony, and Sennheiser earbuds below, which all allow you to customize the controls — but Apple’s standard controls work well in most situations. And though some people have had issues with the AirPods’ fit, that can often be improved with an inexpensive accessory like a plastic hook that attaches to each earbud and latches onto your ear for a more secure fit.
With the charging case, third-generation AirPods can provide up to 30 hours of total battery life, depending on your usage. One warning: The all-white case tends to attract dirt and grime, but you can always throw a cover over your AirPods case.
Jabra Elite 85t
It’s shocking how small and comfortable Jabra’s Elite 85t earbuds are. When they jiggled a bit while we were wearing them, we found that a quick adjustment got them to sit perfectly snugly in our ears. Even after a particularly long meeting, they won’t pull at your ears like cinder blocks. They’re sweat- and water-resistant and have a five-and-a-half-hour battery life with Active Noise Canceling turned on and last seven hours without. A fully charged case will re-up the earbuds between three and four times depending on whether you’re using noise cancellation.
The noise canceling worked perfectly during testing, blocking out even the loud sounds of construction workers slicing through concrete. For those moments when you might need to hear someone talk, a convenient button activates hear-through mode, a feature on every noise-canceling earbud we tested that temporarily pauses the ANC. This is especially useful on runs, for example, when you may have to temporarily enable hear-through mode to listen to your running partner or a passerby.
Sony WF-1000XM4 Noise-Canceling Truly Wireless Earbuds
Sony’s WF-1000XM4s are an exceptional pair of earbuds for anyone in the Android ecosystem. Using the company’s V1 chip, the noise canceling is so efficient that even the sound of your own breathing won’t come through, and the low hum of a plane’s engine was barely noticeable in our testing. While these earbuds are the most expensive option on this list, their noise canceling is so good it feels as if these tiny earbuds were competing with their class-leading big sibling, the over-the-ear Sony WH-1000XM4. The case for the XM4s is slightly shorter but thicker and wider than the AirPods Pro case, writes Chris Welch, an editor at The Verge. The XM4s have an IPX4 rating, meaning they can withstand sweat from your most intense workouts and even from light rain. Just as important, they stay in place thanks to form-fitting memory-foam ear tips that expand to contour to the inside of your ears. With ANC enabled, the battery will last up to eight hours (compare that with five hours for the AirPods Pro below). And if you don’t want noise canceling, the XM4s will last a stunning 12 hours. You get up to 16 more hours of listening time with recharging from the case.
Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2
These are excellent earbuds with incredible studio-quality sound; they’re a huge headache to use. When we tried to configure the touch-sensitive settings — we wanted to be able to turn on noise canceling with the left earbud and “Play”/“Pause” with the right — we almost gave up. It took a very long time for the earbuds to register that the commands had been adjusted, a delay some people might not be able to forgive at this price point. Once they were set up, though, they were exceptional. You can choose between four sizes of ear tips (XS to L) to get your preferred fit, and when worn on a run, the Sennheisers stayed in place and were incredibly comfortable. With ANC activated, the battery life is a decent seven hours, and you get an additional four charges with the case for up to 28 more hours of listening time. (The battery life is nine hours with noise canceling turned off.) Most important, the sound through these earbuds really shined. Even crackling snares weren’t enough to drown out soulful vocals on the tracks we tested these with. The earbuds nicely balanced the vocals and bouncy drums without any sense of the grimy harshness you might expect from lesser headphones.
