Best Wireless Earbuds 2024: Amazing true wireless sound

If you’re after the absolute best audio quality, then the bearer of that standard is the WF-1000XM5.

Featuring the Dynamic Driver X set-up, the bass performance isn’t as powerful or as fun as the WF-1000XM4, but the latest flagship model is more detailed and clearer. The midrange has a better sense of finer detail, especially with voices, and the high frequencies are sharper, clearer and more detailed.

The noise-cancelling performance is an improvement on the WF-1000XM4, able to suppress voices and general noise better than its predecessor for a much more quiet performance. The transparency mode is clear and detailed, although we find the WF-1000XM4 is slightly clearer to our ears. And we would also say that the QuietComfort Earbuds II bests it in terms of noise-cancellation, though in the Sony’s favour is that it cancels noises with a more natural tone.

Battery life is the same as the WF-1000XM4, with 8 hours per earbuds and 24 in total with the charging case. However, the design is smaller and lighter, making for a more favourable and comfortable fit, and with the introduction of an extra small ear-tip size, there’s more room to fit a wider range of ears.

Wireless performance is good in both AAC and LDAC playback modes, and the WF-1000XM5 is bundled with an array features that make these earphones one of the most, if not the most, smartest pair of wireless earbuds on the market.

Call quality is decent but can be a little odd, leaking in background noise whenever we spoke but silent when we weren’t. It’s not as good as the AirPods Pro 2 for call performance.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Sony WF-1000XM5

It’s always been a tight tussle between Bose and Sony for the top noise-cancelling true wireless, but on the evidence of the QuietComfort Earbuds II‘s performance, Bose is currently the top dog.

The design has been changed from the original QuietComfort Earbuds, ditching the bulbous shape and Stay Hear tips for a shape that fits into the ear better. A slight disappointment is that we can still hear some minor wind noise, which we had hoped had been fully eradicated with the new design.

Nevertheless, the noise-cancellation performance is the best we’ve tested. The QuietComfort Earbuds II make mincemeat of most sounds that dare come in their direction. While not every sound was removed, they earbuds weren’t far off from leaving us in total total silence. They’re better at suppressing people’s voices, and the new design does help reduce the impact of ambient noise. This is a resoundingly good performance.

The Aware mode pumps in a clear, detailed, and natural sound that’s like you’re not even wearing a pair of earphones. Bose’s ActiveSense technology works similarly to the AirPods Pro 2‘s transparency mode in automatically reducing background noises to stop the wearer from being startled by sudden sounds. Using this feature on the London Underground, we found it worked very well when trying to have a conversation with another person.

Bose have found gains with the audio performance too, with the top end of the frequency range brighter and bass is bigger and punchier than before. Vocals carry more weight too, and there’s a better sense of depth and width than we can recall with the original.

Bose has never been one to stuff its headphones full of features, and QuietComfort Earbuds II follow the same path. There is a three-band EQ to change the sound profile of the buds within the app, and the wireless performance is excellent, with barely a hint of a dropout noted.

Battery has been improved to be match the Sony WF-1000XM5 with 24 hours available. There is the option of the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds which boast aptX Adaptive support and Bose’s Immersive Audio. Check out our review of those earphones very soon.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II

Back Bay is a Boston-based audio company that’s not well known in the UK, but they’ve been pumping several good headphones and Tempo 30 are one of its best yet.

For a cheap true wireless, we found the finish to be attractive with its marble-like look that looks great in (or out) of the ear) marble-like finish that certainly looks fantastic. The fit is very snug, which made them ideal for use on our runs and workouts, their IPX7 rating makes them both waterproof and sweatproof). With six different types of ear-tips, there are plenty of choices to find the best fit to block out external noises. The nature of the ear-tips can also affect the sound of the Tempo 30 as well.

For instance the default ear-tips offer crisp, detailed tones with less bass, while swapping them out for another brings a fuller sound with more weight, which is what we preferred. The audio here is energetic and vibrant with some good detail and good sense of scale that isn’t always present for earbuds at this price. The bass extension and power of those lower-end frequencies are where the Tempo 30 shine, making for a fun listen that we think runners and those on the move a lot will enjoy .

The battery life here is also excellent, with 8 hours for each earbud, and 32 hours in total – more than double the length of the Bose Sports Earbuds, which are much more expensive. At this low price, sacrifices have to be made with no wireless or fast-charging support, and only SBC Bluetooth quality.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Back Bay Tempo 30

For Apple users, the AirPods have become the go-to choice for wireless earbuds and for the best iOS experience, we’d recommend the Apple AirPods Pro 2.

They’ve replaced the original AirPods Pro and arrive on the scene with a bevy of improvements. However, the design is still pretty much the same but a couple of new additions. One is that the stem sensor could be used to change the volume (to mixed results in our opinion) and that there’s a new XS ear-tip size to help the AirPods Pro 2 fit a wider range of ears, which is a welcome addition.

The buds are still rated to IPX4 water resistance to ensure there’s protection from a light drizzle or sweat, and the charging case comes with a lanyard connector to keep them on your person (though an actual lanyard is not provided). They only come in white, so they are still rather susceptible to picking up dirt and grime. We would have hoped Apple had taken cues from the AirPods Max and brought out a variety of colours.

As always the integration with Apple devices is seamless, with instant recognition across iOS and MacOS devices, and they buds can now be connected to multiple Apple devices at the same time. The noise cancelling performance is a step up from the original, which we enjoyed at the time, but the AirPods Pro 2 clear out almost all the noise when used on a tube.

Battery is better at six hours per charge but that’s still behind even some cheaper true wireless earbuds such as the JBL Live Pro 2 and the same as the Sony LinkBuds S. In total they’re capable of 30 hours with the charging case, which is fine. Charging here is taken care of by a Lightning cable and not USB-C, or you can use the slower Qi wireless charging for cable-free charging.

They also sound better than the original AirPods Pro with their new H2 chip. Bass is still rich in tone, but voices are clearer than before, detail is more audible and instruments are defined with more clarity, avoiding the muddled sounding performance that can afflict Google’s Pixel Buds Pro rival.

Reviewer: Max Parker
Full Review: Apple AirPods Pro 2

The M100 wireless earphones are, by far, Cambridge Audio’s most ambitious headphones yet, packing in all sorts of flagship features at a mid-range price of £169 / $199, well undercutting the liks of Sennheiser, Sony, and Bose.

They are Cambridge Audio’s first headphones to support ANC, and they put in a very effective performance, reducing all sorts of noises to a whisper. However, the adaptive aspect of the ANC performance could be better as we found the strength of the noise-cancellation has a tendency to go in and out for no discernible reason. The same is true of the transparency mode, which is clear enough to hear your surroundings and have a conversation with someone else.

Battery life is claimed to be 10 hours and our tests confirmed that is the case. There is aptX Adaptive Bluetooth for Android users and while the connection is strong, we did find that it could falter in busy signal areas. Call quality is very good too, the earphones make sure that your voice is priority and clarity is good. Head into the new Connect app and there’s a nice surprise as you can switch the notification voice to Toast of London’s Matt Berry.

Of course the main reason to buy any headphone is the sound quality, and the M100 boast a rich, warm bass performance that gives plenty of energy to the low frequencies. It’s a wide soundstage to listen too, with good levels of detail an clarity, though we did find the Beats Studio Buds+ to be better in this respect. One area we feel could be improved is the treble performance. While fine on its terms, it lacks a degree of insight and definition compared to other true wireless models.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Cambridge Audio Melomania M100

Axel Grell is one of the most respected names in the headphone space, best known for his work at Sennheiser and with the TWS/1 he has embarked on his creating his own premium wireless earbuds. Since they first went on sale, they’ve fallen in price to around £99.

During testing we found the TWS/1 to proffer an expansive and well-defined soundstage, with excellent balance across the frequency range. The lows have impressive depth, while the mids feature plenty of detail and character, and the top end of the TWS/1 sounds crisp and substantial. They boast an energetic performance with a good level of dynamism.

While the audio here impresses, the ANC is not quite as good and certainly not Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II level of suppression. They can reduce ambient noise a fair whack, although when compared with the industry leaders from Sony or Bose, they leave us wanting more. It’s less a case that these cancel out noise, but simply reduce it down to a more tolerable level.

On the front of design though, the TWS/1 look decent, with a premium feel to both the earbuds and their aluminium charging case. We also found them to be rather comfortable to wear, the vast range of foam and silicone ear-tips provided should mean most can find their comfort level.

The battery is pretty good, the TWS 1/ able to last for 34 hours with ANC on, which is better than the AirPods Pro 2 and WF-1000XM5. Charging is a choice of USB-C and via any Qi-enabled wireless charging pad, and with the IPX4 resistance against moisture, you can consider these as an option for runs and workouts, too.

Reviewer: Simon Lucas
Full Review: Grell TWS/1

The Urbanears Boo Tip are a topical pair of earbuds for those of us looking to be environmentally-conscious with their headphone picks.

They’re comprised from recycled plastic materials, in a similar vein to the more expensive Sony LinkBuds. The composition here is 91% recycled plastic, but they’re lightweight and feel comfortable enough to wear according to our reviewer, although they are fit a little on the loose side, which meant that their noise isolation wasn’t always the best during testing.

That said, the fit was secure enough that the buds never felt they were going to fall out, with an IPX4 resistance that deals with splashes of water and sweat, so these could be used for exercise if you wanted to. The case itself is nicely compact and can be slipped into our pockets with ease, which helps with portable use. 

With regards to sound quality, we found the Boo Tips to offer crisp vocals and a decent sense of brightness and clarity in the higher frequencies alongside a natural portrayal of instruments in the mid-range and a fair amount of punch. The looser fit here did impact the extension and depth of the bass, although there’s a nice sense of width to the soundstage here with a good amount of separation between voices and instruments.

Battery life is total of 30 hours with the case, with 4.5 hours per bud, and because of that long overall stamina we didn’t need to charge the case as often as we thought we would. You don’t get fast charging or any form of wireless option that you can get with similarly priced EarFun Free Pro 2 or Creative Outlier Air V3 but to emphasise their eco-outlook the charge can be limited to 80% to help prolong use.

When it comes to connectivity, the Urbanears utilise Bluetooth 5.2 for a strong tether between the buds and our smartphone, with minimal drop outs in overly crowded areas. The dual mic set-up for calls offered decent clarity but apart from that, there is not much in the way of features. These Urbanears keep things simple.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Urbanears Boo Tip

The JLab Go Air Pop are the cheapest wireless earbuds on this list, but even with their immensely low price in mind, they still offer some great quality.

The design is not the most stylish not, but the Go Air Pop are functional and offer a comfortable fit. During 1-2 hour stints of testing them, we found the fit to be great with no discomfort at any point. There is the choice of small, medium or large ear-tips in the box to fit a range of ears, too, and changing these proved to be nice and easy.

The fit of these buds also meant we could use them for HIIT workouts without fear of them falling out. Touch controls did prove to be fiddly, but generally speaking they’re never going to be as precise or reliable as physical buttons.

You won’t find ANC here, but that’s not expected at this price. What you do get is great battery life that punches above their weight, as during testing we found JLab’s claims of 32 hours total playtime to largely ring true. They should be good for a week’s use before you need to plug them in, an easy feat with the built-in charging cable.

Of course, the audio from a $24.99 / £19.99 pair of earbuds is not going to set the world alight, but as wallet-friendly pairs go these sound great. Their ‘Signature’ sound mode delivered a warm bass and smooth mids without any noticeable harshness until you crank the volume up.

Doing so made the top end a little harsh, although not enough that it made the Air Pops unlistenable. There’s also a Bass Boost sound mode designed for working out, and a Balanced mode for classical music and spoken word audio that we found worked well with good detail and separation.

Reviewer: Mike Sawh
Full Review: JLab Go Air Pop