The 6 Best True Wireless Earbuds - Black Friday 2024

The Sony WF-1000XM5 Truly Wireless are the best true wireless earbuds we've tested. These high-end buds are the next generation of the Sony WF-1000XM4 Truly Wireless and have improved overall performance. They use memory foam ear tips alongside their active noise cancelling (ANC) system to reduce a significant amount of ambient sound. The ear tips do most of the heavy lifting for those high-pitched noises like chatty neighbors and dish clatter, as the ANC mostly targets bass-range noise like bus rumbles or a clothes dryer.

With the ANC on, they last well over eight hours continuously, and their case holds a couple of extra charges if needed. Out of the box, their warm sound profile adds a touch of extra boom to mixes without overwhelming vocals and instruments. You can adjust this with their app's graphic EQ and presets. If you're looking for similar-sounding buds with slightly better noise isolation, consider the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Truly Wireless. These do a particularly good job of isolating you from sounds like rumbly train engines, so they're great for commuters and a bit more comfortable. On the other hand, they aren't quite as good at blocking out mid-range noise like chatty co-workers and don't support multi-device pairing or LDAC, which is Sony's proprietary codec for streaming Hi-Res audio.

If noise isolation is particularly important to you, check out our best noise cancelling earbuds article.

The Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 True Wireless earbuds are the best true wireless earbuds we've tested in the upper mid-range price bracket. Their superb ANC performs even better than the Sony WF-1000XM5 Truly Wireless and is great for blocking out everything from the rumble of bus engines to office chatter. On the other hand, the Jabra have a slightly piercing sound out of the box, unlike the Sony, which have a smoother treble. But fear not! The Jabra's sound profile is still well-balanced and will suit a variety of genres. Kick drums have plenty of thump and basslines have enough punch to keep hip-hop fans happy, while vocals and instruments are rendered with plenty of detail. Also, you can always tweak their sound to your liking using their companion app's graphic EQ and presets.

The Jabra are a great choice for working out, as their sweat-resistant 'ShakeGrip' coating and ergonomic design means they should stay securely in your ears during your workout. With their ANC on, they last almost eight hours continuously, and their carrying case supplies an additional three charges. Unlike our top pick, these don't support LDAC, but they do support Dolby Spatial Sound, which gives any audio you run through it a more 3D, immersive feel.

If you're looking for earbuds to accompany you while you exercise, consider our best earbuds for running and working out article.

The Sony LinkBuds S Truly Wireless are our mid-range pick that don't require you to make many compromises to suit your budget. Their battery life isn't quite as long as the Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 True Wireless, and the build quality is not as good, but these comfortable buds still have multi-device pairing and an app for customizing their sound. Out of the box, their sound profile is quite flat with a somewhat subdued low-end and treble. It supplies a fairly accurate reproduction of your music that suits most genres. If you like something with more rumble or a more excited tuning, their EQ is simple to adjust to taste.

To help you focus, the noise isolation and ANC do a great job of cutting out environmental sounds throughout the range. While they don't support Dolby Atmos, you do get access to Sony 360 Reality Audio, the brand's surround sound feature. However, it requires compatible media to work through subscriptions to platforms like TIDAL. Like our top pick, the Sony WF-1000XM5 Truly Wireless, these use the LDAC Bluetooth codec for high-quality audio streaming from your device to your buds.

If you're looking for affordable earbuds, the lower mid-range Anker Soundcore Space A40 Truly Wireless are a great model for starting your search. These earbuds don't have a virtual surround sound feature like the Sony LinkBuds S Truly Wireless. But their warm sound profile is similar to the Sony's and suits a wide variety of genres. They do lack a little thump and rumble, making them less well-suited for bass-heavy music out of the box, but you can use the app's graphic EQ and presets to customize their sound to your liking. They also support LDAC, Sony's codec for Hi-Res audio via Bluetooth.

These earbuds have an adaptive ANC system that adjusts to the noise around you. It does a fantastic job of blocking out ambient sound and filters out low-pitched noise, like rumbling engines, effectively. The earbuds last more than eight hours of continuous use with ANC on and have a case that holds an additional four charges.

The Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC True Wireless offer a similar performance but feature a stem design that protrudes from your ear, providing more stability. They have a bassier sound profile than the Space A40, which will suit fans of EDM and hip-hop, while their mic has a better recording quality. However, the Space A40 provide greater attenuation against bass range noise, and it's easier to achieve a consistent sound delivery with them.

Check out the JBL Vibe Buds True Wireless for wireless earbuds at an affordable price. Unlike many budget-friendly options, they have a companion app, which gives you more control over their performance. The sound adds some extra thump in the bass and a bit of brightness to sibilants (S and T sounds). You can change the tuning to your taste by using the companion app's parametric EQ and presets. Besides the app's EQ, the feature is pretty spartan, so if you care about multi-device pairing or LDAC support, consider the Anker Soundcore Space A40 Truly Wireless instead.

The JBL buds are decently secure and lightweight, with a durable IP54 rating against dust and water. Their long battery life of more than eight hours can get you through a workday's worth of continuous playback. The passive isolation can block a small amount of low-pitched rumble and a good amount of chatter, but they don't have ANC, so look at our lower mid-range pick to filter low-pitched noise. Their mic sounds decent in a quiet environment but struggles to separate noise from speech. For a slightly better mic, the JBL Vibe Beam True Wireless handle noise better. They have a lot of similarities, although these have a somewhat shorter continuous battery life and one less charge stored in the case. However, their case does have a lid.

The Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation) Truly Wireless are a great option if you're looking for premium buds that will integrate well with your Apple ecosystem. While they don't have sound customization features like the Sony WF-1000XM5 Truly Wireless, they offer a few features for iOS that you might appreciate if you're an iPhone or MacBook user. Their H2 chip helps with easy pairing to Apple devices, and they support Spatial Audio, a surround sound feature meant to create a more immersive listening experience with compatible content.

Their adaptive EQ results in a warm sound profile, so your audio has a bit of extra boom along with cozy-sounding vocals and instruments. They don't block out as much ambient noise as the Sony, but their ANC still offers great overall performance with a wide range of noise, including rumbling bus and plane engines. The earbuds last just under six hours of continuous use with ANC on and come with a case with four extra charges. They have a comfortable fit for most people, but you might find they wiggle out of your ears after a while and require repositioning.