Best earbuds for iPhone 2026: Our top picks for sound, comfort & value

The AirPods Pro 3, Apple’s newest high-end wireless earbuds, arrived in September 2025. They succeed the AirPods Pro 2 and feature enhancements in audio quality, health tracking, waterproofing, and fit, while maintaining a similar design.

The 2025 AirPods Pro’s headline feature is the new heart rate sensor that uses invisible light to measure heart rate during workouts. Apple claims that the heart rate sensor provides accurate data in the Fitness app for up to 50 workout types. 

Side-by-side comparisons reveal differences with the AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 have new ‘foam-infused’ eartips that are better-fitting. There are now five eartips, including a new XXS option. These eartips create a tighter seal in the ear and rotate inward for a more secure fit. They also deform less than the old silicone flanges. The charging case is slightly larger and has a higher light. Internally, Apple has added ‘next-generation Ultra Wideband technology’ that increases Precision Finding distance by 1.5x.

The AirPods Pro 3 have improved sound quality compared to the previous generation. Apple has enhanced Active Noise Cancellation with new ultra-low noise microphones, eartips, and computational advances, resulting in twice the ANC of the last generation and four times better than the first. They claim it’s the world’s best in-ear Active Noise Cancellation. 

Adaptive EQ and a new multiport acoustic architecture allow for deeper bass and a wider soundstage for greater clarity. Apple promises “next-level Transparency,” which lets in some sound for better awareness of surroundings. New microphone arrays produce more natural-sounding voices, and Adaptive Audio adjusts noise cancellation to allow sounds to be heard. Call quality should improve with better voice and background sound clarity during Transparency mode. 

The AirPods Pro 3 also have improved battery life, with 8 hours of playback on active noise cancellation and 10 hours in transparency mode. Additionally, the AirPods Pro Hearing Aid feature provides an extra 4 hours of playback. After 5 minutes in the case, the AirPods Pro 2, 3, and 4 can play for about an hour.

Some of the new features are available on other AirPods too. For example, Live Translation, a feature of Apple’s iOS 26 update, is also available on the AirPods Pro 2. It introduces live translation in Phone, Messages, and FaceTime apps, translating spoken and written text in real-time. Pause when sleeping is another new feature that applies to AirPods Pro 2 and 3, AirPods 4, and some Beats headphones. If you fall asleep while using AirPods, they will automatically turn off playback to prevent battery drain. Similarly, Camera remote means you can press and hold the AirPods stem to take a photo or start and stop a video recording on iPhone or iPad. This works with AirPods Pro 2 and 3, AirPods 4, and some Beats headphones.

Bose’s QuietComfort range has long been a market leader thanks to its combination of high-quality sound and impressively effective noise cancellation. It’s been a while since we looked at the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, which launched with an improved design as well as a new immersive mode for spatial audio in late 2023, but we still highly rate them – with the bonus being that they are often discounted now they are more than a year from launch. This is good news, because they’re not the cheapest earbuds around.

The design of the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds is sleek and streamlined, with a smart metallic finish that is available in black or Smoke White. Bose has 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 great, 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.

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 had to check the airport noise test file was playing!

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 extra for the optional wireless case.

The Momentum True Wireless 4 earbuds arrived in 2024, and are the fourth-gen version of Sennheiser’s popular range of Bluetooth earbuds (and not to be confused with the larger Momentum 4 over-ear headphones).

The TW4 was quite a big update – as it should be, given that the price increased as well. It was one of the first sets of headphones to support Bluetooth 5.4, which includes new features such as Auracast, which is a kind of public announcement system based on Bluetooth. Auracast still isn’t widely used – most 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.

You’ll also find 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.

The Pi8 earbuds from Bowers & Wilkins support AAC, so you can simply connect your Apple devices to the earbuds using the standard Bluetooth settings on your Mac, iPad or iPhone. However, the Pi8 also supports aptX Adaptive and the latest aptX Lossless, so Bowers & Wilkins has come up with an innovative solution that allows Apple users to enjoy aptX audio quality as well. The Pi8 come with a smart case that can both charge the earbuds and be used as an aptX transmitter. 

Compared to their predecessor (the Pi7) the Pi8 has a more curved shape to the earpieces, to fit more comfortably and to angle the sound directly into the ear canal for the best sound quality. The earpieces are a little on the large size, but B&W includes ear-tips in four sizes to help you get a good fit. The size means they can fit high-quality 12mm drivers and a larger battery. The Pi7 only lasted five hours on a charge, even with noise-cancellation turned off, but the Pi8 lasts for 6.5 hours with noise-cancellation turned on (compared to six hours for the AirPods Pro). The smart charging case tops that up to 20 hours.

Bowers & Wilkins includes a standard USB-C cable and a second with a 3.5mm connector. The 3.5mm cable allows you to connect the smart case to a wired audio device, such as an in-flight entertainment system on a plane. You can also use the USB-C cable to connect the smart case to a USB-C port and transmit wireless audio using aptX. The sound quality is great with both AAC and aptX, though. 

We think that the noise-cancellation on the AirPods Pro works a little better at blocking high-frequency sound. However, the Pi8 does a great job of eliminating low-frequency sounds, such as the rumble of engine noise in an airplane cabin. And, if you don’t really worry about technical details such as AAC and aptX, then B&W has a less expensive model called the Pi6, see below.

The Pi8 is more expensive than the AirPods Pro 2, but B&W’s high-quality sound and the versatile smart case ensure that the Pi8 can earn its keep.

There were a few minor external changes for the second-generation Apple AirPods Pro, which arrived in September 2022. The AirPods Pro 2nd gen were updated a second time in 2023 to add USB-C charging capabilities and over time they have also gained various capabilities, including Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Personalised Volume, Head gestures, Voice Isolation, and the ability to perform a hearing test and use the AirPods Pro 2 as a hearing aid.

Those features join 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.

The 2022 model came with four sets of eartips adding extra small (XS) to the mix – the original AirPods Pro only came with three tips. We find 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 AirPods Pro 2 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 original AirPods Pro to handle, but the new model had no trouble keeping up.

The battery life, at 6 hours, 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.

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.

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 were, 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 ANC-equipped 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 stay in your ears.

The Powerbeats Fit are a revamped version of the popular Beats Fit Pro and a decent alternative to Apple’s AirPods Pro 3. 

Powerbeats Fit are built with sports and workouts in mind. Beats redesigned the wingtip to be more flexible, which gives them a more secure fit for running or gym sessions. The case is also smaller than the old Beats Fit Pro, though it still charges only via USB-C, not wirelessly. Unfortunately, there is no XXS ear tip option, but the Powerbeats Fit have flexible wingtips and a more rugged design, making them perfect in the gym.

The Powerbeats Fit use Apple’s H1 chip, so their sound quality and noise cancellation are roughly on par with the first-generation AirPods Pro. There’s also decent Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Transparency modes. Compared to Powerbeats Fit, AirPods Pro 3 have a more immersive and clear sound with their H2 chip. The ANC in AirPods Pro 3 is also much more efficient. Both AirPods Pro 3 and Powerbeats Fit support Adaptive EQ.

Powerbeats Fit deliver up to 7 hours of playback on a single charge. Combined with the charging case, you can use them for up to 30 hours.

Powerbeats Fit supports “Hey Siri,” Announced Notifications, fast pairing with iOS, automatic device switching, auto-pause, and Find My support, like the AirPods. Powerbeats Fit are more universal when it comes to working with other platforms

The Beats Studio Buds +, introduced in 2023, might be from a subsidiary of Apple, but they beat 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. In comparison though, the 2nd-gen AirPods Pro deliver a superior audio experience.

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, but I still find the AirPods Pro easier to recommend.

Beats’ Powerbeats Pro are arguably the most popular fitness-oriented earbuds of all time and they are our favorite earbuds for working out. The earhooks, which is what makes the Powerbeats so good for the gym, are 50 percent smaller than on previous models, but still keep everything locked in place.

With smaller hooks comes a smaller case; 33 percent smaller, in fact. It is still considerably bigger than an AirPods case, but slightly easier to slip in a pocket than it was.

The 2025 models include a brand-new technology not even found on Apple’s latest AirPods Pro, and that’s despite coming from an Apple subsidiary. They also include Apple’s H2 chip, so offer many of the same improvements and features of the AirPods Pro 2 such as sound quality, greatly improved noise reduction, and an AirPods Pro matching transparency mode. However, you don’t get the AirPod Pro hearing health features (hearing test/aid, hearing assistance, hearing protection), there is no personalized volume, no conversation awareness, no adaptive audio (the self-adjusting transparency/ANC mode) and no head gestures for accepting or declining notifications. You do get personalized spatial audio and Adaptive EQ though.

There are rumors that heart rate monitoring will be coming to the AirPods Pro 3 when they launch, so we were surprised to see Apple introduced it first on the Beats line. Beats has worked with Nike Run Club, Runna, Open, Slopes, Ladder, Peloton, and YaoYao to integrate support. You can also sync with bikes and treadmills that connect via Bluetooth. One negative is that battery life drains a lot faster when using the heart rate monitor. If you are wearing an Apple Watch you’d heart rate data from that will override the earbuds.

The charging case gets a few upgrades too, including USB-C, wireless charging (Qi, but not MagSafe or Qi2), and a speaker for pairing and Find My sounds. Android users get a much better set of features than they would with AirPods: One-touch pairing, firmware updates in the Beats app, switching listening modes, and Find My Beats location service.

Music playback quality is not quite on par with AirPods Pro 2, sounding perhaps a little too bright. Still, they sound appropriate clear, and punchy for earbuds in this price range.

Beats claims 10 hours for the buds in normal playback, which gets cut down to 8 hours if you use ANC or transparency mode.

You can get Powerbeats Pro 2 in Jet Black, Quick Sand, Hyper Purple, and Electric Orange.

We were really impressed by the Pi8 earbuds (above) that Bowers & Wilkins launched earlier in 2024, but the Pi8, which arrived later that year, is the company’s flagship model, with a higher price than Apple’s AirPods Pro and an innovative smart-case that doubles up as an aptX transmitter. If you want the high-quality sound associated with B&W at a more competitive price then you could opt for the new Pi6 instead, which at $249/£219, the company says are its “most affordable earbuds ever”.

The Pi6 look very similar to the Pi8, with both models housing large 12mm drivers. They do look a little chunky, but – like the Pi8 – the earbuds are more streamlined than previous models, and we found that they fit well and are comfortable to wear for long periods of time. There are four sizes of ear-tips included and a rubber ring moulded onto the body of the earpieces that fits into your outer ear and helps to hold them firmly in place.

The earbuds are rated IP54 for water and dust-resistance, so you can wear them outdoors or in the gym. 

Like the Pi8, the Pi6 uses Bluetooth 5.4, with support for Apple’s AAC codec for wireless audio (it also supports aptX Adaptive, although that is only for Android users). 

You can turn noise-cancellation on and off with a quick tap on the left earbud. The app lets you change the controls so that the buttons on the earbuds adjust the volume instead, and there are bass and treble controls for adjusting the sound. You can pair the earbuds with two devices and switch between them.

There are some compromises needed to keep the price down. The Pi6 does without the smart-case that is included with the Pi8, so there’s a conventional case that uses USB-C for charging. Battery life is good, lasting for eight hours when using noise-cancellation – compared to six hours for the AirPods Pro. The case lets you recharge for 24 additional hours of listening time.

Neither the Pi6 or Pi8 supports spatial audio, but the B&W team says that’s because they don’t feel that the technology adds to the sound quality rather than any attempt at cost-cutting. The noise-cancellation on the Pi6 isn’t as effective as that of the Pi8: the earbuds do a good job of blocking out low frequency sound, but let in voices and higher frequency sounds. 

If noise-cancellation is your top priority then there are other earbuds and headphones that have the edge. However, the Pi6 earbuds do provide strong sound quality and respectable battery life at a price that can compete with rivals such as the AirPods Pro.

Designed as a more affordable alternative to its Momentum earbuds (above), Sennheiser’s Accentum True Wireless (which arrived in mid 2024) 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.

The cheapest AirPods (the AirPods 4 without ANC, below) cost $129/£129 and are good at that price, but for even less you can get the Beats Solo Buds (released in mid 2024) which are also from Apple (though probably few people are aware of that).

The Beats Solo Buds are little stemless buds that fit snugly in your ear and rest in a charging case when not in use. They come in four colors instead of just white: matte black, storm grey, arctic purple, and transparent red (the earbuds are not transparent).

Beats Solo Buds are just little buds, without stems, so they fit snugly in the ear. On each earbud is a physical button that’s easy to press when you need to. Unlike the plastic AirPods, they have rubberized ear tips (in four sizes), which not only makes for a more secure fit but improves bass response.

The charging case is quite small, it doesn’t have a battery though so you will need to plug it in to charge your Solo Buds. The battery in the eartbuds is rated to 18 hours though, which is pretty good.

The sound is clear and punchy with sound quality is pleasantly surprising, given their price. Obviously they don’t hold up to the clarity and kick of earbuds that cost twice as much.

Call quality is fine, but the voice isolation is behind that of more expensive buds. As you would expect at this price, there’s no active noise cancelation. But you get a lot for your money with these earbuds.

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

They replace the $129/£129 2nd generation AirPods, 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 as the ANC model though. The AirPods 4 have an H2 chip like the ANC model as well as the same audio quality, fit, and features. At this low price this is a big leap from the 2nd gen AirPods that Apple sold at this price point until September 2024.

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 2024 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.

Logitech’s Zone True Wireless earbuds from 2023 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.

Sony’s WF-1000XM5, which we reviewed in 2023, 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 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.

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, sometimes you’ll see a 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 2023 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.