Every Major Wireless Earbuds Brand Ranked Worst To Best
Wireless earbuds have quickly become a mainstay of the modern world. While they may have taken some time to catch on, truly wireless earbuds have bloomed in popularity and availability. Of course, with a product becoming more widely available than ever, it's only natural that there's a wider variety in the quality of what is available.
Going to any store that sells tech products, there's sure to be a truly unruly amount of brands to sift through for wireless earbuds. Like most products, it is easier to point some major brands out as better than the rest.
When push comes to shove, what makes one brand great may not be all that important to you. While browsing the various options available to you, it's important to remember your needs before spending money on features you don't need, or a product that won't hold up for your use. What makes a truly great wireless earbud brand is consistency between features and a good value for the price paid. While some brands offer great sound quality at the cost of a separate feature, the best brands offer no compromise across the board.
12. Raycon
If you've spent any significant amount of time listening to podcasts or watching videos on YouTube, chances are you've seen or heard an ad reel for Raycon's wireless earbuds. In the three years after the creation of Raycon in 2017, the company passed $100 million in sales, thanks in no small part to its aggressive online ad campaigning.
The big question is, are they worth it? Well, the unfortunate answer is probably not. Take the Raycon Everyday Earbuds for example, which starts at $79.99. The E25s are simply far overpriced for the value provided. The earbuds don't have a great sound, they look and feel cheap, and they lack some essential quality-of-life features that are commonplace on other sets such as intuitive controls and fast charging.
Going up in price for some of the company's more expensive sets grants access to more feature-rich earbuds that include the likes of active noise cancellation, lower latency, and overall better fits. The biggest deal breaker for the Raycons is the sound quality you get for the price you pay. The same sound quality can be bought for less, and for the same price as the cheapest Raycons, you can do much better.
11. Skullcandy
Skullcandy is a recognizable brand in terms of affordable headphones, and for the realm of wireless earbuds, it's no different. A pair of truly wireless earbuds can be yours for less than $30 from Skullcandy, which is a very good price within the market. However, for as little as $30 you will get what you paid for, but that's not necessarily a negative. Getting your money's worth is never a negative, so long as you're not spending a little and expecting a lot.
With the right expectations, Skullcandy's line of wireless earbuds such as the Dime 2 and Push True Wireless can be great sets within their price range. Both sets have issues, such as the Push True Wireless charge case only holding a single charge for the earbuds, but none of them are beyond the pale for a value set of wireless earbuds. The Dime 2s in particular shine with a feature as useful as a mono mode for either earbud available, and that's coming from a $28 set. For a cheaper pair of earbuds, a Skullcandy set will prove to be worth the money spent, just so long as you're not expecting a luxury pair for non-luxury prices.
10. Bang & Olufsen
Bang & Olufsen as a brand name packs a punch in the world of headphones and speakers, but the company's wireless earbuds on offer simply don't hold up. Between the lackluster, yet expensive, wireless earset offering, and the pedestrian E8 True Wireless earbuds, there's not a lot of reason to shell out for these earbuds.
Granted, the wireless earbuds they make do sound good. However, for the price that the E8s pack at $249, there needs to be more going on. Specifically, a wider range of use in addition to a better suite of features and controls would go a long way in bolstering the value of the E8s. For a set as expensive as Bang & Olufsen's E8s, you wouldn't be blamed for expecting some form of active noise cancellation, but it simply isn't there.
While Bang & Olufsen offers some earbud sets that genuinely sound great, the pricing on those wireless earbuds sounds a lot less great for the sound quality and feature set packed into the earbuds themselves.
9. JLab
JLab makes some of the best cheap wireless earbuds on the market, bar none. When it comes to picking up a cheap set of wireless earbuds, there really is no better option than JLab. One of the best examples of a bang-for-your-buck set of JLab earbuds is the JLab GO Air POPs.
Starting at just $19, the Air POPs have a truly great sound quality for that cheap of a price point, even borderline unbeatable. There is no active noise cancellation or anything of the sort, and the microphone quality on the set is dodgy, but it all circles back to the price. For how low it is, the fact that the Air POPs successfully maintain basic functionality is the only bar they really need to clear.
Going up in price to the $49 JBuds Air, the earbuds still maintain great sound quality and overall build quality for the price you pay. However, with JLab's more expensive sets, some issues become less forgivable, such as the high latency and the long charge times on the JBuds Air. All-in-all, for a bargain-priced set that may sound and feel a little better than the Skullcandy sets, JLab is the easy choice among budget options.
8. JBL
For a full range of quality in the world of wireless earbuds, JBL offers a very good selection that can cater to almost any listener. Although you won't be finding quite the same bargains within JBL's selection as you will with other brands in this tier, what you will find is good quality and a wide variety of available features to bolster the sound quality of any given set.
JBL's variety of sets offer a wider range of features that can vary in usefulness depending on the user. For example, the JBL Reflect Pros come with an IP68 water and dust resistance rating, making them a superb choice for users who want to take them on intense workouts or the occasional, impromptu trip into the kitchen sink. There's also the much cheaper JBL Tune 230NCs, which pack a decent active noise canceling experience alongside a superb active battery life. On the even cheaper end, there's the JBL Vibe beams which offer a very low monetary barrier of entry in exchange for a good (not great) sounding set that's lacking in some basic features.
What both of the previously mentioned sets have in common is a markedly good, but not excellent, sound quality. Within the variety of JBL's lineup, there is bound to be a set worth your time. However, if a truly excellent sound profile is on your list, it may be worth looking elsewhere.
7. Anker
Anker's wireless earbuds are some of the best in terms of value and range on the market. While they make for a great budget option, they also make some of the most easily recommendable sets of wireless earbuds.
For those in need of a good set of workout headphones that come at a bargain, the Anker Sport X10s are a solid offering. On the other hand, for something a little pricier, but much nicer, there's the Anker Soundcore Space A40s. For just $99.99, the Space A40s offer great sound quality with a huge range of options and very negligible drawbacks, such as a less-than-stellar hinge on the case.
Other Anker options, such as the Anker Soundcore Life A1s, offer a more middle-of-the-road price, but at the cost of a more middle-of-the-road listening experience. However, for the price and generally sound quality across the company's range of products, Anker's offerings are great. What holds this company back, for the most part, comes down to convenience features and falling short of the above-and-beyond sound quality that other brands provide. For a mid-range price, you won't do a whole lot better than some of Anker's wireless earbud sets.
6. Samsung
With Samsung's wireless earbuds, there's not a lot of variety to be seen. As a matter of fact, it really comes down to the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. However, the lack of variety does not take away from either set of wireless earbuds.
Both sets pack fantastic sound quality, and both fit great. The Galaxy Wearable App also greatly helps to enhance the experience with either set by allowing a greater deal of control towards the active noise cancellation and Ambient modes on the Galaxy Buds. In fact, the noise cancellation in these particular earbuds is some of the best on the market for wireless earbuds. Furthermore, the integration with other Samsung devices makes these a must if you're fully wired into Samsung's mobile ecosystem.
Of course, that integration with Samsung's ecosystem is a double-edged sword. While the Hi-Fi audio and seamless connectivity both make for nice features within the Galaxy Buds' arsenal, both of those features sail out the window at Mach speed the moment you stop using a Samsung device. So while the Samsung lineup of wireless earbuds is definitely worthwhile for those using Samsung devices, they may be worth reconsidering if you don't use a Samsung phone. Perhaps worst of all, if you have an iPhone these are a less than ideal choice. A lot of the core features are flatly unavailable on iOS due to the lack of the Galaxy Wearable App's availability.
5. Jabra
Jabra has a wide offering of wireless earbuds, and they all have one glaring weak spot: Active noise cancellation leaves something to be desired. Beyond that singular weakness shared across the vast majority of Jabra's lineup, it's no struggle to call these great or beyond wireless earbuds.
The Jabra Elite 4s offer a more mid-range experience at $99.99, and they have a fantastic sound quality with a great feature set such as being compatible with both Google's Fast Pair and Microsoft's Swift Pair. For a slightly higher range set of wireless earbuds, there's also the Jabra Elite 7 Pros. Although they pack the same middling active noise cancellation as the rest of the Jabra lineup, they also pack a superb sound quality with an impressive battery life to boot.
For a more active pair, there's also the Jabra Elite 7 Actives. Once again, aside from the lackluster active noise cancellation, this offering is a great, rounded wireless earbud experience with impressive sound quality and good comfort for working out. However, a single word of caution on the Elite 7 Actives may be to wait, as the Jabra Elite 8 Actives appear to be just around the corner.
For the Jabra lineup, it's easy to single them out for superb sound quality. However, if great active noise cancellation is an absolute must on a pair of wireless earbuds, there unfortunately really isn't a good option within Jabra's lineup. Short of that need, Jabra offers fantastic wireless earbuds for fairly reasonable prices.
4. Apple
Apple carries a distinct advantage when it comes to any measuring of wireless earbuds, or even headphones, brands. That distinct advantage is that Apple owns Beats.
That's not to discredit the AirPods lineup either. If you own an iPhone, the AirPod Pros 2 are some of the best wireless earbuds on the market for their active noise cancellation and sound quality. For further ecosystem integration, the Pros 2s' seamless functionality with Find My makes them easily the best of the AirPods lineup by and far. But that's also not to discount their more affordable sibling, the AirPods 2. The AirPods 2, despite lacking some of the key functionality of the Pro models, are still fantastic wireless earbuds within the Apple ecosystem.
Stepping out of the Apple bubble, there are the Beats Fit Pros. The Beats Fit Pros come packed with great sound quality and active noise cancellation, an Apple H1 chip to match up with certain Apple functionalities, and a design made to keep the earbuds firmly in your ears during any activity. Although there are some slight negatives, such as a lack of wireless charging and a clunky case, the Fit Pros remain a fantastic set.
If Apple only made the AirPods, they would have the same warts as Samsung and the Galaxy Buds. Although the AirPods have a slightly better time traveling outside of the Apple bubble than the Galaxy Buds do traveling away from the Samsung Galaxy, they still just aren't as good outside of Apple. Fortunately, Apple produces Beats headphones as well. The Beats lineup offers great products and ultimately pushes Apple from a great brand of wireless earbuds to one of the best.
3. Bose
Bose is well-known for its noise-canceling headphones, and its noise-canceling offerings in earbuds are just as impressive. The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds in particular are one of the best sets available on the market. However, aside from their less-than-stellar sequel set, the QuietComfort Earbuds are the only set sold by Bose. However, the superb sound quality and fantastic active noise cancellation make Bose a formidable brand to be reckoned with.
Despite not being able to live up to the originals, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II are still some of the best earbuds of 2022. The sequel set, while maintaining the great noise cancellation expected from Bose, takes a dip in sound quality from their predecessors. Additionally, the price and bulkiness when combined with the sound quality are a definite hit to the set's value overall.
Ultimately, it's hard to pass up the superb noise cancellation offered by Bose as a brand. Within the QuietComfort wireless earbuds lineup, there is an obviously better choice. But that doesn't mean the other choice is bad, both are great sets to pick up. However, amazing active noise cancellation isn't everything. At the end of the day, you are trying to drown out noise to be able to listen to something, and it's well worth being able to listen to that something with great sound quality.
2. Sennheiser
Sennheiser is one of the best headphone brands there is, as its headphones are truly some of the top-of-the-line products when seeking a crisp and clear listening experience. Where other brands with great headphones have failed, Sennheiser manages to pull some of that quality into its wireless earbuds.
The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless Earbuds 3 are a fantastic set of earbuds, and they combine truly top-of-the-line noise cancellation with truly top-of-the-line sound quality. Other considerable factors for the Momentum True Wireless 3s are comfort, fast charging, and charge options.
One of the truly unique features of the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3s is something called "sound zones." The feature is accessed through Sennheiser's app, and it allows you to pick specific sound settings for specific locations. One example would be to flip active noise cancellation on when you get home, but to make sure it's turned off whenever you leave your house.
Sennheiser also offers the Sport True Wireless earbuds, which are a fantastic set of active earbuds with stellar sound quality. The only real drawback to the set is a lack of active noise cancellation. Sennheiser's lineup also includes the CX True Wireless Earbuds, which are by and far the weakest choice of the three. However, even as the weakest link, the CX True Wireless Earbuds are still a stellar set.
When stacked up, it would be very easy to go ahead and call Sennheiser the best in class for wireless earbud brands. All three pairs offered by Sennheiser offer great sound quality, but the Momentum 3s stand out as the best of Sennheiser's offerings by far. Due to some minor shortcomings and the major leap in quality that comes with the top of the ladder, they have to remain firmly in second.
1. Sony
In recent years, Sony has built a reputation for superb wireless earbuds, and rightfully so. The Sony lineup of earbuds has some truly great offerings and some of the best sound quality, noise cancellation, and feature sets available on any wireless earbuds.
The Sony WF-1000XM4s, and follow-ups such as the Sony WF-1000XM5s, are easily two of the best sets of earbuds available on the market. The experience is well-balanced, with excellent sound, superb comfort, and the best of the best in active noise cancellation. The only real negative to speak of with either set is the price point at nearly $300. However, the price is well worth the value the earbuds offer.
While not as out of this world as the WF-1000XM4s, the Sony LinkBuds WF-L900s offer a wholly unique experience in the world of wireless earbuds. At a glance, the LinkBuds look a little ridiculous, but their concept and comfort more than make up for the initial look. The comfort of the open-center concept is beyond what you might expect, and the hole is there with the idea that ambient noise passes through. Naturally, the LinkBuds lack active noise cancellation in favor of allowing you to hear the world around you. While the LinkBuds aren't as fantastic as Sony's other offerings, the innovation is completely unique within the wireless earbud sphere.
The innovation of the LinkBuds and the superb quality of the WF-1000XM lineup help to propel Sony as the best major wireless earbud brand there currently is, and with the steep climb in consistency Sony has taken above the competition, they are creating distance on the competition.