They’re not the cheapest earbuds around, but Bose’s QuietComfort range has long been a market leader thanks to its combination of high-quality sound and impressively effective noise cancellation. The recently released QC Ultra continues that trend, but introduces an improved design as well as a new immersive mode for spatial audio.

The design of the Ultra is a little sleeker and more streamlined than previous models, with a smart metallic finish that is available in black or Smoke White. Bose has also modified the way that its rubber stability bands fit into each earpiece, helping them to sit inside your ear more securely. You get three sets of stability bands, and three sets of rubber eartips in different sizes, so the combination of the different bands and eartips should allow most people to get a good fit. The Bose app also includes a Seal Test option that can check the way that the earbuds are fitted and provide tips on getting a good fit.

Sound quality is as good as ever, with the Ultra catching the sharp, shimmering sound of the cymbal crash that kicks off Blondie’s Rapture. The bass guitar riff bounces along like a playful puppy, and there’s a bright jangling sound to the lead rhythm guitar, but the Ultra has a keen ear and also picks out the quiet chugging guitar riff that hides further back in the mix. The immersive audio isn’t entirely convincing, but it does add a little extra reverb and spacey ambiance to more atmospheric tracks such as Cut by Low.

And, of course, Bose’s noise cancelation is still ahead of the pack. It stamps down on the deep rumble of aircraft engine noise so effectively that I have to check the settings on my office iMac to make sure the audio file is still playing. The higher frequencies in our airport noise test are more challenging for most headphones, but the Ultra works well here too, leaving only a slight murmur of sound lingering way off in the background. Battery life is around six hours when using noise-cancellation, but spatial audio reduces that to just four hours. The charging case does provide three additional charges, though, and our only real complaint is that the standard USB-C case doesn’t provide wireless charging as well, so you’ll have to pay $49/£49.95 extra for the optional wireless case.

I’ve always been a fan of Sennheiser’s headphones, so I was a bit worried when the company was taken over a couple of years ago by Sonova – a medical company that makes hearing aids. I needn’t have worried, though, as Sennheiser has been on a roll lately, launching new products on an almost monthly basis. Its latest update is the Momentum True Wireless 4 earbuds, which, as the name suggests, is the fourth-gen version of this popular range of Bluetooth earbuds (and not to be confused with the larger Momentum 4 over-ear headphones).

The TW4 is quite a big update too – as it should be, given that the price has increased from $249.99/£219.99. It’s one of the first sets of headphones we’ve seen that supports the latest Bluetooth 5.4, which includes new features such as Auracast, which is a kind of public announcement system based on Bluetooth. Auracast isn’t widely used yet – most Apple devices are still on Bluetooth 5.3 – but it can be used in public places such as airports or gyms to transmit music or audio announcements to lots of people all at once, so it will be an important accessibility feature in the future. Additional Bluetooth features include support for the latest high-quality aptX Lossless, and the new LC3 codec. Sadly, Apple still doesn’t support aptX, but – like previous models – the TW4 also includes the AAC codec for Apple devices too.

Other improvements include a sturdy IP54 rating for water and dust resistance. And, along with four sets of ear-tips in different sizes, the TW4 also includes three sets of rubber fins, which fit into the outer ear and help to hold the earpieces in place, so the TW4 will be a good option for outdoor use and exercise. Battery life gets a small boost too, now lasting for seven hours when using noise-cancellation, and you can use the wireless charging case to fully recharge three more times as well.

And, as always, the Momentum earbuds sound really great. They handle the sonic mash-up of Sturgill Simpson’s Sing Along with ease, finding room to pick out the taut, ticking percussion, fuzz-laden guitars and fizzing electronic keyboards so that you can hear each set of instruments clearly. You can hear the country drawl in Simpson’s voice as he snarls – “carve my name in the barstool baby – I’m gonna be here a while” – and the swooping bass drop that follows is guaranteed to get you dancing. Even the noise-cancellation seems to have improved on this model, and comes close to matching noise-cancellation leaders such as the AirPods Pro and Bose QC Ultra.

In September 2024 Apple announced that the AirPods Pro 2 will soon get the new hearing aid support.

There are a few minor external changes for the second-generation Apple AirPods Pro, but most of the changes are on the inside.

The 2022 model comes with four sets of eartips adding extra small (XS) to the mix – the original AirPods Pro only came with three tips. We found the extra small tips more comfortable, your experience may differ.

The charging case now comes with a small metal lanyard loop – although Apple doesn’t actually sell a lanyard. There are speaker holes a the base of the case that can make a sound if you lose the AirPods while they are in their case.

The original AirPods Pro lacked an easy way to control volume, so the fact that the second-gen model adds the ability to detect up and down swipes on the little flat area of the stem is useful. A swipe up or down changes the volume.

As for what’s inside, the H2 chip in the 2022 AirPods Pro enables Adaptive Transparency, which is an enhancement of the Transparency mode on the original model. As a result of this mode you can choose to hear things that you might need be able to hear in your vicinity, but you won’t be deafened by them. In our tests the AirPods Pro 2 blocked more outside sound than the originals.

We were impressed by how much better the new second-generation AirPods Pro sound compared to the first generation. Clarity and sharpness is improved and bass response is vastly improved. The bridge of the Beastie Boys’ “Intergalactic” at 2:30 was just way too much for the old AirPods Pro to handle, but the new model had no trouble keeping up.

The battery life is longer than it was for the original AirPods Pro and you can now use your Apple Watch charger in addition to charging via Lightning and other wireless charging methods.

As with the iPhone 14-series and the 2022 Apple Watches, Bluetooth 5.3 is supported, however, it doesn’t appear that it’s being used for anything in particular right now. Perhaps a software update will bring new features in the future.

Like the originals the AirPods Pro 2 offer Spatial Audio with head tracking, Conversation Boost to amplify speech in the direction you’re facing, one-tap pairing, audio sharing with another pair of AirPods (or Beats), quick switching to other Apple devices your Apple ID is logged into, and hands-free Siri.

We felt that the original Beats Studio Buds outclassed AirPods Pro in several ways but lacked some Apple-specific features. 2023’s new Beats Studio Buds + improve on the originals.

The Beats Studio Buds + beats Apple in terms of color choices with its retro frosted transparent plastic for both the buds and case. They are available in black and ivory too.

The charging case is a bit larger than that of AirPods or AirPods Pro. There’s a USB-C charge port, but no wireless charging.

The buds are average in size and fit and come with four sizes of eartips, so it’s easy to get a good seal, although in our testing we did lose the seal a couple of times while working out at the gym.

There are actual physical buttons on the side of each earbud, which we found to be easier to use than Apple’s “squeeze the stem” AirPods control system.

Beats says that these earbuds offer 1.6x better noise canceling and 2x better transparency than their predecessors. They still don’t match the AirPods Pro, but they are priced closer to the standard AirPods, which don’t even offer those features. The transparency feature isn’t adaptive.

These second-gen earbuds offer improved ventilation and bigger batteries than the predecessors (battery life is rated at six hours with ANC, or nine without). Sound quality is also better than that of the previous generation thanks to new microphones and transducers. They sound better than 3rd-gen AirPods, but the 2nd-gen AirPods Pro deliver an overall superior audio experience all around.

Some Beats products use Apple’s own headphone chips, but the Beats Studio Buds + do not. Because they lack Apple’s H1 or H2 chip, they miss out on many of the features of Apple’s ecosystem. Hands-free “Hey Siri” is there, as is instant pairing with your iPhone and support for the Find My app. But you don’t get instant switching between Apple devices, support for spatial audio with video, personalized spatial audio, Conversation Boost, or the in-ear detection that pauses playback if you take an earbud out. Instead, these buds support some Android features including Google Fast Pair, Audio Switch, and Find My Device. Surprising from a company owned by Apple.

I enjoyed the design and usability of these Beats earbuds, and I’d take them over the AirPods any day, but I still find the latest AirPods Pro easier to recommend.

Designed as a more affordable alternative to its Momentum earbuds, Sennheiser’s Accentum True Wireless is excellent value for money, providing good sound quality and noise-cancellation at a much lower price than Apple’s AirPods Pro.

The Accentum also introduces a new design that is lighter and more streamlined than the rather chunky Momentum. The earbuds feel very light and comfortable to wear, and Sennheiser includes four different sizes of ear-tips to help you get a good fit. They’re sturdy too, with an IP54 rating for water and dust-resistance, so they can cope with life outdoors in this rather wet and windy summer that we seem to be having. The earbuds support AAC for Apple devices and aptX for Android, and the Sennheiser app includes some useful features, such as a five-band equalizer for fine-tuning the sound, and an adjustable ‘transparency’ control that lets in just as much sound as you need.

Despite the lower price, the Accentum earbuds use the same 7mm drivers as the Momentum, which provide a healthy frequency response of 5Hz – 21kHz, and produce very good sound quality. The Accentum shows a delicate touch on the slow strings that open Madonna’s Frozen, allowing them to rise slowly and elegantly through the air. There’s a warm, silky tone to Madonna’s voice, but the Accentum can turn around suddenly and land the sharp drum beats with dramatic impact. Switching to something less ethereal, the deep electronic bass on Prime Evil by The Orb glides along with a firm, sinuous rhythm that gets the shoulders moving, while the jangling percussion adds an eerie, nervous energy to the track. The noise-cancellation features work well too – they don’t stamp out background noise quite as effectively as some of the Accentum’s more expensive rivals, but they’ll be fine for daily use when you’re out and about. Battery life is similar to the AirPods Pro, lasting for six hours when using noise-cancellation, while the wireless charging case gives you 2.5 additional charges. So while it might not be the best choice for long-distance travellers, the Accentum is a really good, affordable option for general day-to-day use when you’re wandering around town.

Bowers & Wilkins’ Pi5 was previously on our list of best earbuds, and the new Pi7 S2 is even better, boasting improved sound quality and noise-cancellation and an innovative smart charging case that does more than just top-up the battery.

Available in black, white or dark blue, the Pi7 S2 earbuds are a little more compact than their predecessors, providing a more comfortable fit, along with three sets of ear-tips in different sizes. They’re sturdy too, with an IP54 rating for water and dust resistance, so they’ll be a good option for exercise as well as traveling.

The earbuds support both Apple’s AAC and the aptX Adaptive codec for Bluetooth audio, so they’ll work with a variety of computers and mobile devices. However, B&W has come up with an ingenious smart charging case that makes the Pi7 S2 even more versatile. The charging case has a USB-C port for charging – and also supports Qi wireless charging too – but the USB-C port can also accept a wired audio input as well. There are USB-C and 3.5mm audio cables included, so you can connect the charging case to a wired music system, such as the music system in a gym, or the in-flight entertainment system on a plane, and the case can then act as a Bluetooth transmitter that streams the audio to the earbuds. This is a great idea, as it combines the convenience of Bluetooth wireless audio with the ability to connect to wired audio systems when you need to.

The noise-cancellation features also work well when you’re in noisy environments such as a gym or on a plane – although they’re not quite as effective as the latest AirPods Pro. However, the Pi7 S2 wins hands-down when it comes to sound quality, with a wonderfully clear and balanced sound that works well for a variety of different musical styles. The bouncing bass on Bad Guy by Billie Eilish combines a relaxed, infectious rhythm with a firm, taut bass beat, but it copes equally well with the delicate violins and soprano vocal on Max Richter’s The Waves. The only real disappointment – especially at this price – is that the battery life is a modest five hours on a single charge. Fortunately, the charging case lets you recharge the earbuds three more times, so it should still be able to cope with some long plane flights when it needs to.

Active noise-cancellation (ANC) is a standard feature with many modern earbuds and headphones, but it’s still an expensive feature that adds quite a lot to the overall price. For instance, Apple’s AirPods start at $129/£129, but you have pay $179/£179 to get ANC in the AirPods 4 with ANC, or $249/£229 to get ANC from the AirPods Pro, so we were impressed when Creative launched its new Zen Air Pro earbuds, which offer ANC for a very competitive $69.99/£59.99. And, unlike many more expensive models, the Air Pro even manages to include a wireless charging case as well.

As you might guess from the name, the Air Pro bears more than a passing resemblance to Apple’s AirPods Pro, with rubber eartips and a small stalk that hangs down from your ears. Admittedly, the plastic earpieces and charging case don’t feel quite as sturdy as their Apple rivals, but the earpieces are rated IPX5 for water resistance, so they can cope with life outdoors when they need to. Battery life is also quite respectable, lasting for nine hours on a single charge, although using ANC does reduce that to six hours. The charging case brings the total battery life to 33 hours, or 22 hours with ANC.

We were pleased to find that the Air Pro supports Apple’s AAC codec for Bluetooth audio (although the low cost means that there’s no aptX for Android users). It does a good job of handling the grinding, fuzz-drenched guitars on Supermassive Black Hole by Muse, but also shows a light touch on the fast percussion that skips through the chorus. It’s not fazed when I jump ahead a couple of tracks on the Black Holes album for the gentle Soldier’s Poem, catching the smooth, warm tone and all the details in Muse’s Queen-esque harmonies as they intone – “there’s no justice in the world…”

The noise-cancellation feature also proves surprisingly effective for such a low-cost set of earbuds. It’s not quite as effective as some of its more expensive rivals, but the Air Pro still does a good job of reducing the low rumble of an aircraft engine during our listening tests. It does let in some of the more varied sounds in our test of airport background noise, but that’s also the case with many other headphones and earbuds, and the Air Pro’s noise-cancellation features represent excellent value at this price.

The AirPods 4 with ANC offer many of the features found in the AirPods Pro 2, have a better fit than their predecessor, the AirPods 3, and have the same $179/£179 price tag.

With each generation, Apple promises a better fit and Apple says these are “the most comfortable AirPods ever.” We did find them closer to being a proper fit than the AirPods 3, but every ear is different and your experience may vary. We find the AirPods Pro with silicon ear tips fit a lot better and securely, but they cost a lot more and some prefer the more open design of the AirPods.

Apple offers the AirPods 4 in two variations: the $179/£179 model with active noise cancelation, and a cheaper $129/£129 model without that feature (below). The active noise cancellation feature includes two sound isolation modes: Adaptive Audio and Transparency. You also get Conversation Awareness, which was previously only available on the AirPods Pro. You’ll have to decide whether the extra features are worth the extra $50/£50. We think they are. 

The effectiveness of the AirPods 4’s active noise cancelation is heavily affected by the open design, though. The AirPods 4 don’t absolutely cancel the noise around you. If you want “full” noise cancellation and you’re comfortable with silicon ear tips inside your ear canal, the AirPods Pro (above) are a better choice.

We love the Conversation Awareness feature, where the volume automatically lowers when the AirPods 4 detects you are talking. It works better with one-on-one conversations rather than groups of people. 

Sound quality is delightful for general-purpose, open earphones. The AirPods 4 handle loaded tracks like 311’s “Need Somebody” with ease; the bass in Real Boston Richey’s “Help Me” is clean, heavy, and lacks distortion. The guitars in acoustic tracks like Fog Swamp’s “Split the Sky” are crisp and clear.

We were impressed with the clarity and volume of voice recordings in podcasts and during phone calls. They weren’t quite as good as with the AirPods Pro, but it was close. 

The AirPods 4 USB-C case that comes with the $179/£179 model has a speaker to play alerts through Find My. It also supports USB-C or wireless charging and works with the Apple Watch charger as well as Qi chargers. (It doesn’t support MagSafe like the AirPods Pro case, but a MagSafe charger will work if placed correctly.) The cheaper model’s case only offers wired USB-C charging.

If you use active noise cancelation, it shortens the AirPods 4’s battery life. When fully charged, Apple states a 4-hour listening time with the earbuds and 20 hours of charge with the case. Turn off ANC, and fully charged earbuds can last 5 hours, and the case adds 30 total hours. We got a bit better than that. The earbuds lasted 4 hours and 16 minutes. In the fully-charged case, their battery life was at 27 percent after five minutes–Apple says a five-minute charge provides an hour of life.

The AirPods 4 with ANC offer numerous pro-level features, sound great, fit better than previous AirPods and offer extremely useful active noise cancelation. In short, the AirPods 4 are a great, all-around set of earphones. As long as they can stay in your ears.

Logitech’s Zone True Wireless earbuds are even more expensive than Apple’s AirPods Pro, but they’re absolutely loaded with useful features, and there’s a particular emphasis on remote working as well as simply listening to music.

Available in black or pink, the Zone earbuds make a great impression straight out of the box, as they arrive in a sturdy charging case that includes a little lanyard to help keep them safe. The earbuds are also rated IP68 for resistance to water and dust, so they’ll be ideal for running in the park or working out at the gym, and the outer section of the earbuds is covered with a mesh fabric to reduce wind noise during voice calls. Logitech even includes an additional padded carrying case, with room to hold the charging case and cables, so you can keep the entire kit safe when you’re traveling.

I often have trouble getting earbuds to stay in place, and I was initially a little worried about the rather chunky design of the Zone earbuds, but they did fit more firmly than I expected and Logitech provides three sets of ear-tips in different sizes to help get a comfortable fit. The size of the earbuds also means that each earbud is able to house a 12mm driver, as well as three microphones to help with active noise-cancellation (ANC).

Even the Logi Tune app impresses with its extensive range of features – starting with the fact that it’s available for Mac and Windows as well as iOS and Android, so you can use it to set up the earbuds when you’re preparing for a video call at work. The noise-cancellation features include an ambient mode that lets you hear some of the background noise around you if required. You can pair the earbuds with two devices at the same time and then quickly switch between devices as required, and there’s a five-band equalizer for fine-tuning the sound quality. The Zone is also certified for use with Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet for video calls.

But, of course, none of those features would matter if the Zone didn’t deliver on sound quality. You’ve actually got two options here, as the Zone can be used as a conventional set of Bluetooth earbuds with your mobile devices, but also includes a USB wireless transmitter that can be used with Macs and PCs to provide greater range and reliability than Bluetooth. The sound quality is very good in both modes, and the Zone does well to dig right down to the gravelly rumble of Leonard Cohen’s voice on You Want It Darker. There’s a taut, rhythmic sound to the song’s slinky bass guitar too, but it still keeps an eye on lighter details, such as the crisp tap on the snares.

Battery life is good too, providing 10 hours when listening to music with noise-cancellation turned off, or six hours when using noise-cancellation. The battery life is a bit lower for talk-time on video and voice calls, but still lasts for six hours without noise cancellation or five hours with noise cancellation, which should be more than enough for most work-related calls. The charging case also lets you fully charge the earbuds two more times, and there’s a QuickCharge feature that gives you one hour of battery life after just five minutes of charging time. There’s a USB-C connector on the case for charging, but it also supports Qi wireless charging too. Alternatively, if you’re a die-hard lover of wired headphones, then Logitech is planning to release a wired version of the Zone soon as well.

The AirPods 4 gain all the same design improvements as the AirPods 4 with ANC included above. They have a better fit than their predecessor, so should stay in your ears.

They replace the $129/£129 3rd generation AirPods that used a Lightning port to charge, at the same price. Like the AirPods they replace these AirPods don’t offer wireless charging, but they do offer one hour more battery life than the AirPods 4 with ANC do.

If you want Active Noise Cancelation you need to pay $50/£50 more to purchase the AirPods 4 with ANC, or look at one of the other options in this round up, many of which offer ANC for less.

As well as missing out on Active Noise Cancelation, the standard AirPods 4 don’t offer Adaptive Audio and Transparency mode, Conversation Awareness, or a speaker on the case for Find My alerts. As mentioned they are not capable of wireless charging either.

Otherwise, they’re the same though. The AirPods 4 have an H2 chip like the ANC model as well as the same audio quality, fit, and features.

.

Sony’s XM5 have better design, fit, battery life, and sound than their predecessor (the WF-1000XM4, which you can find below).

We were glad to find a fourth ‘SS’ size of extra small eartips, and every size is polyurethane foam rather than silicone, which creates an airtight seal in the ear.

The buds are a glossy plastic, but the touch-sensitive outer part is matt, as is the compact charging case. The buds are IPX4 splashproof (the case isn’t).

That touch area allows for taps or holds to do things such as pause or play audio, toggle noise canceling, or change volume. Unfortunately, you can’t swipe to change volume, instead tapping four times on left for down and four on right for up – which isn’t the most intuitive.

The WF-1000XM5 produce incredibly full, clear, detailed and balanced sound. They deliver exceptionally good audio range. ‘Speed of Plight’ by Loyle Carner is well rounded with humming bass and the crackle of vinyl record at the beginning crystal clear. I’d never noticed the light reverb on the drums on Violent Femmes’s ‘Blister in the Sun’ before I listened on the WF-1000XM5.

The XM5 play audio using the common SDC or AAC codecs, but you’ll get the best sound quality if you are using an Android phone – iPhones do not support Sony’s LDAC Hi-Res codec, which is why these don’t rank higher in our chart. The XM5 are so good that I still enjoyed the audio quality when using an iPhone with bog standard bitrate Spotify streams.

Sony says the XM5 have 20% better noise cancellation chops than predecessors, the XM4. They are very good indeed. The XM5 have three mics on each bud, up from two, to better help capture ambient noise. These mics also grant improved call quality. Wind reduction is also decent.

You can connect two devices (iOS, Android, Windows, or Mac) at once, but you still need to manually connect each device if you are cycling between more than two. Unfortunately they aren’t clever enough to switch from iPhone to iPad if you start using that, even if they are already a paired device.

The XM5 have great battery life and fulfilled Sony’s promise of eight hours on a full charge. The case can provide another 24 hours of total listening time. Those times are with ANC on, turn it off and the battery will last even longer. A three-minute charge gives an hour playback. Henry Burrell.

Most earbuds include several sets of rubber eartips that are designed to fit firmly inside your ear canal, in order to provide good sound quality and block out background noise (and also to stop them falling out every five minutes). But, just recently, we’ve seen the introduction of a new type of ‘open ear’ earbuds, which tend to sit quite loosely in the outer ear instead (rather like Apple’s basic AirPods, whereas the AirPods Pro opt for a ‘closed’ design that does use rubber eartips).

These open-ear earbuds tend to be designed with sport in mind, so that you can hear what’s going on around you while you’re jogging through the park, or working out in a crowded gym. That’s very much the case with the AeroFit Pro earbuds from Soundcore (which is a division of Anker, well-known for its docks and other accessories). Priced at $169.99/£149.99, and available in a variety of colours, the AeroFit Pro also has the hooked design that is common with many sports earbuds, and wraps around the back of the ear to hold them in place. And, just to be extra safe, the AeroFit Pro also includes a detachable neckband as well. I didn’t really need the neckband, though, as the hooks on the earpieces held them in place pretty well. However, I did find that the earpieces sat quite high in my ears, which felt a little odd, so it might be worth trying the AeroFit Pro in a store or a showroom to see how they fit you before buying.

These open-ear designs can sometimes sacrifice a little sound quality in order to ensure that you remain aware of your surroundings, but Soundcore has made a good effort to provide the best possible sound quality. The AeroFit Pro houses 16.2mm drivers, which are far larger than most rival earbuds in this price range. It doesn’t quite provide the ‘thumping bass’ that Soundcore boasts about, but the electronic bass on Bad Guy by Billie Eilish did have a taut, firm beat to it. The bass didn’t overpower the sound either, with the AeroFit Pro lending a sharp snap to the finger-clicking on the chorus, and catching the breathy tone in Billie’s vocal. And, without noise-cancellation features to drain the battery you’ll get around 14 hours on a single charge, while the charging case lets you recharge three more times. Our only minor complaint is that the case doesn’t support Qi for wireless charging as well.