The Best Wireless Headphones
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Whether you're listening to the latest episode of the Gadget Lab podcast, jumping on a transatlantic flight, or hitting the trail with Taylor Swift on repeat, the right pair of wireless headphones can make your day. The only problem is that there are so many to choose from, with more arriving almost daily. My colleague Ryan Waniata and I are constantly testing new models—these are the best wireless headphones we've found.
Be sure to check out all our audio buying guides, like the Best Wireless Earbuds, Best Workout Headphones, Best Noise Canceling Headphones, and Best Bluetooth Speakers.
Updated August 2024: We've added the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8, Edifier Stax Spirit S5, Dyson OnTrac, Logitech G Pro X 2, Beats Solo 4, and the Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2.
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- Photograph: Sony
Best Overall Headphones
Sony WH-1000XM5Sony's flagship noise-canceling headphones are now in their fifth generation, with a more elegant look to go with improved sound and noise canceling. The WH-1000XM5 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) offer 30 hours of battery life and some of the best sound quality you'll find, courtesy of Sony's clever processing and advanced 30-mm drivers. They cancel out the world better than nearly all competitors, and they even sense when you're talking and automatically pause audio—you'll rarely reach for the pause button. Sony continues to sell the still-excellent XM4 predecessor, but the XM5 provide a more premium experience that's hard to beat.
Best Noise-Canceling Headphones
Bose QuietComfort UltraIn the ongoing race for noise-canceling supremacy, Bose again takes pole position with the powerful yet elegant QuietComfort Ultra (9/10, WIRED Recommends). These headphones provide astonishing noise canceling that stands above rivals, able to dissolve everything from footsteps and lawnmowers to rushing traffic and even high-frequency annoyances. They supplement these skills with slick and lush sound quality, a posh and supremely comfy design, and Bose’s spatial audio digital signal processing aimed to create a deeper sense of immersion from stereo audio. You’ll pay a premium for the ride, but those looking for the ultimate in headphone tranquility won’t regret going all in.
If you need something more affordable, check out our detailed Best Noise Canceling Headphones guide for more options.
Best Noise-Canceling Earbuds
Bose QuietComfort Ultra EarbudsThe Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are properly competitive in many ways—sound quality, battery life, comfort, and control options. But when talk turns to active noise-canceling, these buds leave most rivals in the dust. Their ability to utterly cancel external sounds of all kinds has to be heard (or, rather, not heard) to be believed. If you spend time on noisy airplanes, buses, or high-traffic areas, get a pair of QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. The world will never sound the same again. —Simon Lucas
- Photograph: Apple
Best Earbuds for iPhones
Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) With USB-CThe latest AirPods Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends) come with USB-C and a revamped audio architecture but otherwise retain everything we loved about the previous generation for iPhone owners. With six hours of juice and a case with a speaker to help use Apple's Find My feature, they have touch controls for volume. Noise canceling and call quality are among the top of the market, while their natural-sounding transparency mode adapts to your environment to help keep your ears safe when you're out walking in the street. Plus, a new IP54 rating means they're resistant to dust and water for workouts. If you own an iPhone, these buds should be at the top of your list.
- Photograph: Brenda Stolyar
Best Over-Ears for iPhones
Apple AirPods MaxThey're still some of the most expensive wireless headphones on the market, but Apple's AirPods Max (8/10, WIRED Recommends) will reward you with fantastic sound. They have rich bass, a massive soundstage, and excellent noise cancellation. My favorite part? The large Apple Watch–like knob atop the right ear cup, which lets you easily adjust the volume. Apple users will love how well they integrate with iOS devices, and especially how well they handle video. When watching via certain apps (Max, for example), they can track your head to simulate full object-based surround sound.
- Photograph: Google
Best for Android
Google Pixel Buds ProThe Pixel Buds Pro (9/10, WIRED Recommends) are a perfect AirPods Pro alternative for Android fans like me. The cute multicolored earbuds have solid noise canceling, a super comfortable fit, and an hour more playtime (seven) than the AirPods. They also switch quickly between multiple paired devices, which makes it nice for everything from work to workouts. Updated features like Conversation Detection and Bluetooth Super Wideband for better call quality (read more here) improve the package. The only downside is that they don't work super well with iPhones. Too bad.
- Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft
Best Gaming Headset
Logitech Pro X 2The Logitech G Pro X 2 adds Bluetooth to the older Pro X model (8/10, WIRED Recommends), making them now our favorite wireless gaming headphones as well as our favorite gaming headphones overall. That's great for you: These over-ear headphones use Logitech's Lightspeed wireless connection to maintain ultrafast, low-latency audio, but you can also pair via Bluetooth. They also have the option for a 3.5-mm wired connection. This makes it truly excellent with PC, consoles, and even your cell phone.
This headset comes with a 7.1 surround soundstage, Logitech software for customizing your microphone quality, and memory foam earpads that remain soft all day. Logitech-owned Blue (of Blue Yeti fame) contributed to the microphone, so you'll sound great.
- Photograph: Amazon
Best-Sounding Wireless Headphones
Edifier Stax Spirit S5The Edifier Stax Spirit S5 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) boast a pair of planar magnetic drivers, where thin sheets of metal are suspended via magnets to create sound. This is different than the more common piston-like drivers in headphones and speakers, because it allows the membrane to operate with less phase incoherence, meaning you get a cleaner, more enthralling soundstage and what can only be described as God's own bass.
The low end on these headphones is deeper, clearer, and more expressive than anything we've tested so far in the wireless headphone space, with the Stax Spirit S5 easily competing with wired headphones around the same price range (you can also use them with a cable). The only thing you compromise to get such insane portable sound quality is noise canceling, which these unfortunately don't have.
- Photograph: Ryan Waniata
Best Wireless Earbuds Under $100
Anker Soundcore Space A40The affordable Anker Soundcore Space A40 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) are a surprisingly great pair of wireless earbuds. For well under $100, you get solid noise canceling, multipoint pairing (connecting to multiple devices), and a case that supports wireless charging. The sound is solid, with an app that allows you to customize your experience, and they last up to 10 hours per charge. The only faults are that they don't have auto-pause when you remove the buds from your ears, and the touch controls aren't the best I've ever used. But if you want AirPods Pro–like performance for much less, these are a great pair.
- Photograph: Amazon
Best Cheap Wireless Earbuds ($25!)
JLab Audio Go Air PopJLab has a knack for making shockingly affordable earbuds that work surprisingly well, letting you dip your toes in the wireless waters with little risk. The Go Air Pop are the epitome of this approach, offering up to eight hours of battery (32 total with the case), responsive controls, and even basic EQ controls for a pittance. Their accessible sound won't inspire, but I'm a picky listener and I found it just fine for baseline music listening and podcasts. At this price, it's hard to find much room to complain.
- Photograph: Dyson
Best for Custom Looks
Dyson OnTracThese noise-canceling headphones from Dyson (8/10, WIRED Recommends) allow you to customize your look with different earpads and outer ear cup colors, which makes them nice for folks who don't want to look like the rest of the AirPods Max crowd. They compete on sound with the best from Apple, Sony, and Bose, with an awesome 55 hours of battery life to power you through even the longest trips.
I'm especially impressed with the noise canceling on these headphones, with beam-forming microphones that seem to pick up and silence the lowest sounds of the world better than other industry leaders (high frequencies are a bit harder to catch, so glass clinks do sometimes make it through). Pairing is quick and painless. The app that connects to the OnTrac alerts you when you're listening to music loud enough that it might cause hearing damage, which is a nice touch from the folks who make the vacuums that may have given you mild tinnitus. The only downside is that they have touch controls for noise canceling, which I found oddly easy to bump.
- Photograph: Bowers & Wilkins
Best High-End Earbuds
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8Bowers & Wilkins made its name as one of the finest producers of loudspeakers in the world, slowly extending its reaching into headphones (via Apple stores no less) in the early 2010s. Since then, it has stayed on top of the headphone game, with the new Pi8 Earbuds (8/10, WIRED Recommends) amounting to the finest high-end earbuds we've reviewed so far.
The real party piece of these earbuds is that you can plug the smart charging case into devices that don't have Bluetooth built in and stream to the buds, which is super helpful for travelers. The elegant earbuds come in four colors and can play lossless CD-quality audio via aptX lossless. The hybrid active noise cancellation is excellent, and the headphones come with six and a half hours of play time from its wireless charging case (which has another three-ish charges after you drain them once). With David Beckham as the face of its advertising campaign, the headphones are marketed toward active listeners with refined taste, and they deliver on the brief.
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- Photograph: Focal
Best If Money Is No Object
Focal BathysThe Focal Bathys (9/10, WIRED Recommends), with their bespoke French drivers and comfortable leather earpads, are the best premium wireless headphones I've heard yet. They look fantastic, with light-up logos on the outside of each ear cup, but they sound even better. DNA from Focal's higher-end headphones trickles down heavily here to provide some of the clearest, most fun sound quality you can buy.
When you don't want to listen wirelessly, the Bathys have a high-quality digital-to-analog converter that will make your laptop or cell phone sound much better if you plug it in via the USB-C port. Thirty hours of battery life means they'll last for even the longest trips, plus rapid charging means you can plug them in for 15 minutes and get five quick hours. They're perfect for the stylish traveler if you can stomach the price.
- Photograph: Belkin
Best for Kids
Belkin Soundform MiniThey come in pink! According to reviews editor Adrienne So, this is an all-important option for many an 8-year-old. The build quality is sturdy, and we like that the ear cups have decent padding. Volume is limited to the OSHA-recommended 85 decibels, so your kiddos can't accidentally damage their ears. They're rated for ages 2+, but So was able to get her head in her daughter's pair (albeit with a tight fit), so these should last growing kids for a while with proper treatment.
Check out our Best Kids Headphones guide for more picks.
Other Wireless Headphones We've Tested
Honorable MentionsWireless headphones are the default these days, and there are roughly one gazillion of them (and counting). We do our best to test them all, but not everything we test can make the big list. Here are some other great options worth trying.
Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 for $280: These earbuds from Jabra (7/10, WIRED Review) are too expensive when compared to options that sound (and cancel sound) better. This is Jabra's last consumer earbuds, so new features are unlikely. We do like that they have a wireless transmitter case, like the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 above, which makes them good for connecting non-Bluetooth sources (looking at you airplanes) to the earbuds.
Sonos Ace for $449: The Sonos Ace (8/10, WIRED Recommends) are a pricey but impressive first effort from Sonos, with fantastic noise canceling, great sound, and one of the comfiest designs (if not the comfiest) you'll find in the game. A few initial software bugs hinder their performance upon release, including trouble with the TV Swap feature that lets you pass sound from a Sonos soundbar to the Ace, but I expect Sonos to address this via firmware update.
Beats Solo 4 for $150: We like Beats headphones these days, but this pair was just a bit lacking in features for us at its standard $200 price (7/10, WIRED Recommends). Now that they've come down, we can heartily recommend them to folks who are looking for a pair of wireless headphones that don't have noise canceling.
Technics EAH-AZ80 for $298: The AZ80 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) are great earbuds. Their most noteworthy feature is conveniently pairing to three devices at once, but they finish strong with good noise-canceling tech, top-tier sound quality, and seven different ear tip options for a remarkably comfy fit.
Beats Studio Pro for $350: The Studio Pro (7/10, WIRED Recommends) offer quality performance, including surprisingly clear sound, good noise canceling, and refreshingly natural transparency mode. The design feels a bit cheap, and they skip features like auto-pause, but extras like Hands-Free Siri and head tracking with spatial audio help pad their value—especially since their sale price sometimes drops to around half of the original $350 MSRP.
Sony WH-CH720N for $150: These Sony cans may have a silly name, but their sheer value makes up for it. They're not as pliable as top options and don't come with a case, but their sound quality and noise-canceling are excellent for the money. They are also built to last and have battery life that goes on and on, making them a great option for prudent shoppers.
Sony WH-1000XM4 for $267: Sony's XM4 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) remain a top headphone, even after being supplanted by the fancier XM5. For a fairly sizable price reduction, you'll get still-fabulous noise-canceling tech, great sound, and luxe comfort in a supremely portable package.
Master and Dynamic MH40 for $399: M&D's second-gen MH40 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) pack gorgeous sound into an equally gorgeous design, with luxurious trappings like lambskin leather and metal parts in place of plastic. Their lack of advanced features, excluding even noise canceling, makes them a pricey portal to minimalism, but they've got style for days.
Audio Technica ATH-M50xBT for $199: The original ATH-M50X (9/10, WIRED Recommends) provide balanced sound and great durability, making them ubiquitous in music and film studios. But what if you want to take them with you between takes? Enter the ATH-M50XBT, which partner a wired studio connection with Bluetooth for wireless freedom. They don't offer noise canceling or other advanced features but they're great for melding art and play.
Sony Linkbuds for $128: The Linkbuds (8/10, WIRED Recommends) have a neat trick: speakers with holes in the middle that let in the world around you for environmental awareness. They're not so hot for noisy environments, making them something of a one-trick pony, but they're among the best options in the growing open-ear trend.
JLab Jbuds Mini for $40: These micro-buds from JLab offer so-so sound, but their adorably teensy design that fits on a key ring makes them a fun accessory for those who need some cheap buds to take on the go.
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 2 for $160: Samsung's top Galaxy buds (9/10, WIRED Recommends) are getting a bit long in the tooth, but they're still among the best buds for Galaxy phones, offering solid noise canceling, clear and vivacious sound, and a few Samsung-only features. Their app won't work with non-Samsung phones, though, and their battery life of just five hours is now bottom of the barrel.
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What to Know When Shopping for Wireless Headphones
Technical TermsIf you're new to wireless headphones or need a refresher, here are some helpful pointers to know before you buy.
- Noise canceling is a technology that employs exterior microphones and digital processing to take in the sounds around you and flip their frequency polarity, essentially canceling them at rapid speeds to create an impression of silence.
- Transparency mode, aka "hear-through" or “ambient” sound mode, is the opposite of noise canceling, using your headphones' exterior microphones to bring in the sound around you. This can keep you aware of your surroundings, especially helpful when working out, walking in high-traffic areas, or just having a quick conversation.
- Bluetooth is the wireless format used by all portable wireless headphones to connect to and play sound from devices like a phone, computer, or tablet.
- Bluetooth Multipoint connection allows Bluetooth headphones to connect to more than one source device (like a phone or computer) at a time. This helpful feature lets you seamlessly switch between your connected devices to do things like take phone or video calls or watch a video on your computer between Spotify sessions on your phone.
- Find My is an Apple feature that lets you track down devices like your AirPods from the web. Many non-Apple wireless headphones also have some form of Find My feature, though it's usually reserved for earbuds due to their small size.
- IP ratings are used to certify electronics are dust and water-resistant. Generally, the higher the IP rating a device has, the better the dust and water resistance. You can learn more in our IP-ratings explainer.
- EQ stands for equalization, which in the case of wireless headphones, uses digital processing to adjust parameters like bass, midrange, and treble. EQ presets are most common, but multi-band EQs are better for those who want advanced control over each sound register.
- Charging cases are included with virtually all fully wireless earbuds, letting you set the buds in the case for recharging on the go. Most charging cases offer two or more charges, and to recharge the case itself, you can usually use a USB-C cable or a wireless charger.
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