Here are the best wireless headphones you can buy, including compact earbuds from Apple to chunky over-ear headphones from Sony, and much more
Picking out the best wireless headphones for you can be a complicated business. You need to consider what style or size you want with a wide range of options. Whether you’re looking for the best wireless earbuds or the best over-ear headphones, we’ve got them here. It all depend on what you prefer to use, with both potentially offering immersive listening or music-on-the-go. Each of the Bluetooth headphones listed below offer great connectivity, fantastic audio quality, and stylish designs. Some headphones also offer useful extras like active noise cancellation and AI assistants that you can control with your voice. You may even need to consider the best waterproof headphones if you’re a keen swimmer, or the best workout headphones aimed at fitness fans. Before you dive in, it’s useful to know what your budget is and what your preference happens to be with how they fit. We’ve spent a long time trying out the best headphones on the market right now, so you can trust that we know what to look for when it comes to the perfect pair of wireless cans. Our number one choice is the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones. They’re comfortable, offer some of the best-sounding audio of any over-ear headphones, easily making them our favorite Bluetooth headphones. They also have extra features like active noise-cancellation and spatial audio. You may prefer to try the best cheap headphones if you’re on a tight budget, however. To help you figure out what’s best for you, we’ve divided our guide into wireless over-ear headphones, wireless earphones, and true wireless earbuds. Each is similar in how they work compared to regular headphones with wireless over-ear and on-ear models losing the wire connecting them to your device. They still give you the same noise-isolating prowess of regular headphones. Wireless in-ear models, earphones, or earbuds (depending on how you like to refer to them as) have a neckband connecting each earbud, which makes them ideal for runners who want the security of a wire keeping their earbuds together but the freedom of a wireless connection. Otherwise, you have true wireless earbuds which have no cables whatsoever. Each bud connects to your device independently, or one primary bud connects to your phone while the other connects to the primary earbud. Whatever your intentions, read on while we take you through the best wireless headphones, or opt to jump straight to your favorite style to find the recommendation for you. Wireless over-ear headphones are the best choice if you’re looking for the ultimate audio quality, thanks to their large drivers and sound-isolating earcups. They’re also a good choice if you love to switch between listening with a wired connection and over Bluetooth, with most offering a 3.5mm audio port as well as wireless connectivity. The Sony WH-1000XM5 are the best wireless headphones you can buy this year. Sporting improved noise-cancellation, supreme sound quality, and an even more lightweight wireless design, Sony has even surpassed last year’s WH-1000XM4. While they aren’t a massive departure from their predecessors, the Sony WH-1000XM4, a number of new features including a second noise cancellation processor, four beam-forming microphones for improved call quality and three-minute charging all help propel the WH-1000XM5 to the top spot on our list. By every possible metric, the Sony WH-1000XM5 are a wonderful pair of wireless noise-cancelling headphones. They deliver exactly what they promise and then some thanks to their exceptional noise cancellation and cutting-edge codec support. Even with the driver change, the soundstage remains spacious and capable of giving all elements of a mix room to breathe and shine. There’s very little sound leakage, too. Sat in the office next to a colleague, they didn’t register any sound even with the volume ramped up to its highest setting, which is an improvement over last year’s version. On top of the adjustments listed above, the Sony WH-1000XM5 support Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format that enables spatial audio on stereo headphones plus the LDAC codec that can send a bitrate of up to 990 kbps. The unfortunate bit there, though, is that it no longer supports aptX or aptX HD, so your hi-res audio support mileage may vary. Read more: Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Headphones review
Bose has really outdone itself with the Headphones 700 – and a big part of these cans’ appeal, is their sophisticated noise cancellation, which is applied to your voice during phone calls, as well as your surroundings. Impressively, you get the choice of 11 different noise cancellation modes so there’s something for every potential scenario here. As an alternative to the Sony WH-1000XM4, these Bose headphones sound fantastic, with a vibrant, lively character and well-balanced soundstage and offer the same great noise-cancellation you’d expect from Bose. We tested them out on Mark Ronson’s latest album, Late Night Feelings. In Truth (feat. Alicia Keys and The Last Artful, Dodgr), they forcefully conveyed the bubbling sub bass as smoky vocals soared above the clattering industrial drum beats. When we used the headphones during phone calls, we found the call quality to be remarkably clear, even when walking on a busy London street. They don’t have the same dexterity as the WH-1000XM4 and the battery life is also 10 hours less than the Sony headphones despite costing more, but they’re perhaps the best wireless headphones for making calls with or for when working in a busy (and loud) office.
