The best wireless earbuds in 2025, all real-world tested: I've covered wireless buds for 10 years, and I've picked the best for all budgets

Right earbud of the LG Tone Free T90S in charging case with left earbud on counter
(Image credit: Future)

I’ve been writing and managing guides to the best wireless earbuds for five years, and testing and reviewing earbuds for well over a decade, so I understand more than anyone just how many options there are, and how confusing it can be to find the perfect one for you at the right price.

I’ve crafted this guide to the best wireless earbuds alongside our Audio Editor, Becky Scarrott, to make choosing a new pair of buds as simple as possible. You’ll see that each pair was championed by one of us, and we’ve written about specifically why we chose them. The selections are based on around 600 hours of testing by us and our expert reviewers of the buds in this guide – and we tested many more earbuds beyond this, directly comparing the earbuds to each other, and using our earbuds testing methodology.

I wanted to make sure we covered all the key needs – different budgets, different phone platforms, and different levels of audiophilia. I want to talk more about budget for a moment, though: these days, few people buy earbuds full price, but instead wait until the (very regular) sales events. In some ways, those are the real prices of earbuds, so I’ve tried to include what price you should aim to pay in our write-ups of each the wireless earbuds.

The best wireless earbuds of 2024

The best wireless earbuds overall

The best wireless earbuds balancing beautiful sound and advanced features

Specifications

Weight: 5.9g (buds)
Frequency response: 20-40,000Hz
Drivers: 10mm
Battery life: (Up to) 12h (earbuds); (up to) 29h (charging case)

Reasons to buy

+
Balanced and convincing sound
+
Amazing feature list
+
Great comfort and fit

Reasons to avoid

-
Noise cancelling can be bettered
-
Notable sound difference with ANC on or off

1-minute summary: I'm blown away by what the Technics EAH-AZ100 can do. Even though they're far from cheap, they're somehow amazing value, because they not only pack in so many great features (including triple-point Bluetooth connectivity, which is extremely rare), but they sound absolutely phenomenal with the active noise cancellation turned on, thanks to their Magnetic Fluid speaker driver, which has been borrowed from some of Technics' (much) more expensive in-ear monitors. It's a bit of a shame that they sound noticeably worse with the ANC turned off, though I personally never have it turned off, so this minor flow won't stop me from loving these buds. I should also note that if the best possible noise cancellation is your priority, then Bose still has these beat – but the ANC is very good in general. The Technics are just such incredible all-rounders, and offer so much: they're comfortable and fairly light, they switch instantly between three devices of any platform, they support Dolby Atmos from any compatible device, they sound good enough to satisfy audiophiles, the 10-hour battery life with ANC on is great… their faults are real picky stuff, and I think they're the real deal for most people.

Read our full Technics EAH-AZ100 review

Recommended by
Matt Bolton
Recommended by
Matt Bolton

Reasons to buy

✅ You want a vibrant and revealing sound: With the ANC turned on, these walk the very fine line between being insightful and honest to the music, and being energetic and just plain fun to listen to.

You want to switch between devices easily: The triple-point connectivity is almost unique, and makes it seamless to move between phone, tablet and laptop without re-pairing no matter what company they're from.

You want comfortable and fairly small buds: Technics has fit all of this tech into lightweight and pretty small earbuds, so they're good for people for small or larger ears, and stay comfortable for long periods.

Reasons to avoid

You like to listen without noise cancellation turned on: The sound is immediately and clearly weaker when you turn the ANC off, so if you like to do that often, they're not such a hit.

You need the absolute best noise cancellation: They don't do this badly at all, but the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds at #4 on the list can do it just that bit better.

You're on a budget: They're so good that they're easily worth the price of $299 / £259, but several premium options here – plus their predecessor, the Technics EAH-AZ80 – can be found for significantly less.

The best mid-range wireless earbuds

The best wireless earbuds under $100 / £100

Specifications

Weight: 4.7g
Frequency response: Not listed
Drivers: 11mm
Battery life : 5.5 hours (buds) 24.5 hours (case)

Reasons to buy

+
Energetic and expansive sound
+
Good-quality active noise cancellation
+
Small case and cool design

Reasons to avoid

-
No wireless charging
-
Middling battery life

1-minute summary: I cannot believe the price of these earbuds for what you get. Not only do they look the absolute business, they sound it too. Nothing's 2024-issue earbuds are the cheaper siblings to the flagship Nothing Ear (which launched on the self-same day), but unless you want the hearing test and subsequent personalized sound profile reserved for the flagship set, I'd save your money and opt for these. You do get in-ear detection, excellent ANC, a low-lag toggle for gaming, detailed sound quality, issue-free multipoint to two devices, an ear tip fit test plus a Find My Earbuds feature, which issues a rattlesnake-style sound from whichever bud you're trying to locate. They're a joy to listen to, especially given their lowly sub-$100 / £100 asking fee – and let's not forget that those pinch-able stems now offer you a direct line to ChatGPT whenever you need it, as long as you have a Nothing phone with the latest Nothing OS installed. Hardly nothing worth shouting about, I think you'll agree…

Read our full Nothing Ear (a) review

Recommended by
Becky Scarrott
Recommended by
Becky Scarrott

Reasons to buy

✅ You want great ANC for less: These offer the best noise-nixing power we've heard for the price.

You go for serious sound quality: The Ear (a) are a seriously fun and zealous listen, aided by their support for LDAC higher-res wireless tech.

You like your tech bold-looking: I've never had so many people stop me and ask what my earbuds are (I had the yellow set).

Reasons to avoid

You want spatial audio support: The similarly priced Sony WF-C700N offer this from certain services, but you won't find it here.

You need top-tier stamina: 5.5 hours with noise cancellation on is distinctly average – again, the Sony buds mentioned above offer 7.5 hours.

You'd like Nothing's hearing test and personalized sound profile: for that, you'll need to shell out a little more, for the flagship Nothing Ear.

The best wireless earbuds on a budget

The best wireless earbuds for a budget price

Specifications

Weight: 31g
Frequency response: 20Hz - 20,000Hz
Drivers: 6mm
Battery life: 11 hours (buds) 11 hours (case)

Reasons to buy

+
Punchy, talented audio
+
Sony 360 Reality Audio support
+
Great in-bud battery life

Reasons to avoid

-
A few missing features
-
Confusing custom equalizer mode
-
Limited case battery life

1-minute summary: I'm a big fan of Sony's more affordable headphones and earbuds, because even if they end up missing a few features, you always know that the company will offer an excellent balance to the sound, so you'll get the most from your music despite the low price. The Sony WF-C510 continue that tradition, dropping a few mod-cons in exchange for sound that's really engaging and well-defined, and Sony's DSEE upscaling tech really improves tracks from places like Spotify. The very comfortable design is a big win in my book., too. It's a shame not to have active noise cancellation in particular, but if you can live without it, this is basically the best sound quality you'll find for the price.

Read our full Sony WF-C510 review

Recommended by
Matt Bolton
Recommended by
Matt Bolton

Reasons to buy

✅ You need cheap buds: They're our budget pick for a reason. If you want affordable buds, this is the best choice around right now balancing price and sound.

You value longevity: It's not the best battery life you'll find. But we measured essentially 11 hours of playback, which is great for the price.

You want sound over features: We love the audio quality for the price, but it's clear Sony has focused on this over offering ANC or wear detection.

Reasons to avoid

You want noise cancellation: There are budget buds with active noise cancellation (see the Earfun in this list), but these miss out.

You want to take them travelling: So the battery in the buds is great, but the case battery? Not so much. If you want to use them without charging for days, look elsewhere.

You want hefty bass: The sound is great, but is lighter on low-end – and custom EQ doesn't make it super-easy to adjust it.

The best wireless earbuds for ANC

The best wireless earbuds for sheer noise-cancelling power

Specifications

Weight: 6.24g per earbud
Frequency response: Not listed
Drivers: 10mm
Battery life: 6 hours (buds) 24 hours total (with case)

Reasons to buy

+
Excellent head-tracked immersive audio
+
Lossless audio codec support
+
The best noise cancelling in earbuds

Reasons to avoid

-
Wireless charging needs a paid extra accessory
-
Bulkier than most earbuds
-
Battery life is average

1-minute summary: When I originally reviewed the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, I was impressed by so many elements of them, but for their very high price, I didn't think they were worth it when Bose's older earbuds were so good, and so much cheaper. Since then, the Ultra Earbuds have become regularly a much lower price, and a July 2024 software update addressed one of the biggest drawbacks by adding multi-point connectivity for two devices, so now they've rightfully taken center stage as our top pick for noise-blocking power. These earbuds deliver exceptional ANC, and also offer exciting Immersive Audio spatial