Remove cables with these amazing true wireless earbuds

Smartphones are slowly but surely getting rid of the 3.5mm audio jack from smartphones and tablets, so users are turning to wireless as the next viable option. The Jabra Elite 75t are currently the best overall true wireless earbuds around for Android. They feature solid sound, long battery life, and they're incredibly comfortable and portable.

Best Overall: Jabra Elite 75t

The Jabra Elite 75t features a very bass-heavy sound out of the box, which is surprising. The bass is boosted quite a bit that some may dislike the bass overall. For bass heads, this will be the earbud for you. The mid-range is slightly recessed as a result, and the treble is smooth and neutral. If you dislike the boosted bass, Jabra's companion smartphone application will do the trick. Soundstage is good for a truly wireless earbud, and the dynamic range is excellent.

Battery life is excellent here as well with up to 7.5 hours of listening on a single charge. The included charging case gets you roughly 20 additional hours of listening, totaling around 28 hours of listening time with the charging case. Unfortunately, they still don't feature wireless charging for the case, but it does charge over USB-C which is a welcome improvement.

Comfort is equally as great. The Jabra Elite 75t is surprisingly really comfortable, easily in our top 5 most comfortable truly wireless earbuds. You won't experience fatigue or discomfort with them, even over long periods of time.

The Elite 75t are also IP55 water and dust resistant which means they'll have no issues with things such as sweat, rain, snow or other light activities. Just don't shower or swim with them.

Pros:

Customizable sound
Long battery life
USB-C for charging
Water and dust resistance
Excellent comfort

Cons

No wireless charging
Bass-heavy sound is a bit much for some

Best Overall

Jabra Elite 75t

$180 at Amazon

Inexpensive wireless sound

The Jabra Elite 75t are by far the best value when it comes to sound quality, battery life, comfort and portability.

Best Runner Up: Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus

Samsung's Galaxy Buds Plus take what was great about the Galaxy Buds and improves in almost every way. The real focus here was to take the popular ease-of-use and comfort of the originals and improve the fundamentals: sound quality, call quality, and battery life. And Samsung has largely succeeded.

Despite starting at slightly more expensive than their predecessors, the Galaxy Buds Plus boast an impressive 10-hours of battery life per charge, with another full charge in the case. The glossy case, available in four colors — black, red, white, and blue — charges quickly via USB-C or Qi, and the Tic-Tac shape makes it easy to slip into a pocket.

The side gestures can be a bit sensitive, but they're very useful, and can be easily configured inside Samsung's excellent Android or iOS app. With the emphasis on sound quality here, Samsung decided to partner with Spotify to make it easy to begin playing a playlist without taking out your phone — and while that sounds gimmicky, I've benefited from that feature more times than I can count. And while the sound improvements aren't massive over the originals, the addition of a second speaker adds robustness to the low-end and clarity to the mids.

Samsung's also spent some time improving call quality with a second external microphone to cancel out additional noise. It's still not great, and definitely one of the earbuds' worst aspects, but at least you'll be comprehensible on the other end of the line this time — you couldn't say that with the originals.

Pros:

Long battery life
Great sound
USB-C and wireless charging
Spotify features are great
Gestures are customizable on Android

Cons:

Glossy case gets messy
Sound not customizable on iOS
Poor call quality

Best Runner Up

Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus

$150 from Amazon

Balanced, convenient audio

The Samsung Galaxy Buds feature excellent battery life and sound, convenience features, and a wireless charging case.

Best For Apple Users: AirPods Pro

Despite being somewhat limited on Android (no auto-play/pause, Google Assistant, or customizability), the AirPods Pro feature some of the best active noise-canceling for an earbud on the market right now. The AirPods Pro's ANC performance is fantastic for its class. No, it won't beat out the top end over-ear headphones such as the Sony WH-1000XM3, but it gets close to almost everything else on the market. If we had to draw a comparison, the ANC on the AIrPods Pro compare favorably to the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700.

Sound quality is solid with the AirPods Pro, with a slightly underemphasized but flat bass. The low- and mid-mids are neutral and flat while the upper-mids are slightly pushed forward, and the treble is neutral and flat as well. Dynamic range is excellent, and soundstage is narrow but still sounds spacious.

The earbuds get 4.5 hours of audio playback with ANC enabled, and five hours with ANC disabled. The included charging case is rated for 19 hours of additional listening time. The case charges over the proprietary Lightning connector, which is great for Apple users but not for Android ones. However, the charging case is wireless charging capable, which means you can bypass Lightning entirely if you're already invested in wireless charging.

Comfort is some of the best we've tested as well. Unlike other earbuds that have a plastic "stem" that the ear tips attach to, the AirPods Pro attach directly to the bud's speaker. This means the ear tip is completely on its own and can truly mold to your ear without anything getting in the way.

Pros:

Long battery life
Good sound
Wireless charging case
Superb ANC performance
Media controls & ANC toggles work on Android

Cons:

No customizability on Android
Lightning for charging

Best For Apple Users

AirPods Pro

$249 from Amazon

Great package

The AirPods Pro have nailed the fundamentals with great battery life, sound quality, convenience, and comfort.

Best For Noise Canceling: Sony WF-1000XM3

There aren't many ANC truly wireless earbuds out there outside of the Sony WF-1000XM3 and AirPods Pro. This is why the Sony WF-1000XM3 is an easy pick when it comes to ANC performance. The design isn't the prettiest, and they're rather bulky, but they get the job done.

Battery life is excellent with up to six hours alone and up to 19 hours with the charging case. For a pair of truly wireless ANC earbuds, the WF-1000XM3 perform surprisingly excellent in this department. Of course, as with most ANC headphones, the WF-1000XM3 offer an ambient sound mode that reverses the ANC microphones to allow the outside world in, therefore preserving battery.

Sound quality came out of left field with the WF-1000XM3s. Rather than having a bass-boosted sound and recessed treble which is typical with Sony headphones, the WF-1000XM3s have a tame bass that's only slightly boosted, with mids and treble being excellent and neutral.

In terms of water and dust resistance, the WF-1000XM3 get a basic IPX4 rating. This means that they are "splash-proof" which covers sweat, but it's not recommended in rain or similar situations.

Pros

Great sound
Active Noise Cancelation (ANC)
Ambient sound mode
IPX4 water and dust resistance
USB-C charging

Cons

Not as water-resistant as other options
Bulky design

Best For Noise Canceling

Sony WF-1000XM3

$228 at Amazon

Killing it softly

The WF-1000XM3 features superb ANC and an ambient sound mode that allows you to have conversations without removing your earbuds.

Best Sound Quality: Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless

You can't go wrong with Sennheiser when it comes to any audio gear, and the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless are no exception. These earbuds make the list for those who enjoy dance, hip-hop, or any other bass-heavy genre of music.

The Momentum True Wireless has a super harsh boost in the bass. It gives it an overall darker sound signature, with a clear and even midrange and a rather underwhelming treble response overall. The excellent news is Sennheiser's mobile app (available on both iOS and Android) allows you to customize the sound signature to a certain extent.

They offer six hours of usage, with up to 12 hours of use using the included charging case. Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Buds, the case is missing wireless charging of any kind, but it still offers USB-C for charging.

They are also one of the biggest genuinely wireless earbuds out there. But that's not a huge deal since they're still much more portable than any on-ear or in-ear headphones. At the very least, they're still pocketable even with the rather large charging case.

Overall, if you have the money to spend on Sennheiser earbuds and want that great bass, this is the choice for you.

Pros:

Super sound quality
6-hour battery life
Charging case with USB-C
App for iOS and Android

Cons:

Case and buds bulky
Bass boosted

Best Sound Quality

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless

$211 from Amazon

High definition audio

Sennheiser offers some of the best audio gear on the market, and the Momentum True Wireless are no exception.

Best Value: Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2

Anker's Soundcore brand has been offering its Liberty true wireless earbuds for a few years now, and the second version of its Liberty Air is its best yet. While the resemblance to Apple's AirPods can't be overstated, the Liberty Air 2 come with a few handy features that set it apart from the rest of the category.

For starters, the sound that comes out of these earbuds, available for under a hundred dollars, is astounding. Unlike AirPods, Soundcore outfits the Liberty Air 2 with silicone tips — five sizes in the box — that help with isolation and low-end. The case, which holds three additional charges of the seven hours the earbuds offer, charges via USB-C or Qi wireless charging, and the top opens and closes with a satisfying magnetic slap.

The sides of each bud offer customizable gestures that make play/pause, next and previous track, and even volume, a cinch to use. And you can even use the earbuds in the rain — they feature an IPX5 water resistance rating.

Pros:

28 hours of battery life with case
Really good sound for the price
IPX5 water resistance
Qi wireless charging or USB-C
Great comfort

Cons:

Case feels cheap
Call quality is underwhelming

Best Value

Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2

$99 at Amazon

Solid inexpensive tunes

The Soundcore Liberty Air 2 feature 28 hours of listening time with the charging case, excellent sound, and IPX5 water resistance.

Best For Workouts: Jaybird Vista

When it comes to working out, the newly announced Jaybird Vista is the best solution. They offer great battery life while also giving superb passive isolation. The design allows them to fit most people's ears and with better isolation means a more consistent sound signature. They feature the latest Bluetooth 5.0 protocol for better overall efficiency between the buds and your phone.

In terms of Bluetooth audio codecs, you only have SBC here which is fine in terms of quality for most people. Battery life is better than most with up to 6 hours with the buds alone and up to 10 additional hours with the included charging case. The charging case charges via USB-C and takes roughly 2 hours to charge from dead. No wireless charging here on the case.

Sound quality is decent here. The Vista has a solid V-shaped sound signature with boosted bass, neutral mids, and boosted treble. The sound isn't overly boomy or heavy in the bass and the treble isn't boosted to the point where they sound piercing or sharp.

The Jaybird Vista offer IPX7 water resistance so it should be able to withstand practically any sort of water you throw at it. You can do practically anything but swim with these things.

Pros:

Solid, fun sound
Battery life
Bluetooth 5.0
USB-C for charging
IPX7 water resistance

Cons:

No wireless charging for case
No auto pause

Best For Workouts

Jaybird Vista

$160 from Amazon

Fitness junkies

The Jaybird Vista offer a fun sound signature for working out, Bluetooth 5.0, great battery life, and IPX7 water resistance.

Best Value Workout: TaoTronics SoundLiberty 53

They feature IPX7 water resistant, which is great for more intense workouts (sans swimming). However, the most impressive part of the SoundLiberty 53 is its battery life. The buds themselves get up to five hours of audio playback before needing to recharge. The included charging case is not only super tiny, but also packs in an additional 35 hours of listening time. This means you'll get 40 hours of audio playback between the buds and case.

That great battery life won't be wasted because the SoundLiberty 53 are super comfortable. It's unlikely you'll feel any discomfort or fatigue when wearing them. They come with several ear tip sizes in the box just in case the preinstalled buds don't seal well.

With a good seal, though, the SoundLiberty 53 sound good. The overall sound signature has a boost in the bass and mids, bringing instruments such as bass and vocals forward. Fortunately, the sound doesn't drown out the treble, which is neutral and flat. Dynamic range is excellent and soundstage is decent for true wireless earbuds. You can still make out individual instruments but may have trouble with more complex tracks.

The SoundLiberty 53 does come with two major drawbacks though. For one, it still uses the aging Micro-USB connector for charging and lacks wireless charging, making charging the earbuds slightly more annoying than it should be. Secondly, the earbuds use an old-fashioned setup that only allows you to use the left earbud independently. The right earbud is basically a dumb earbud and relies on the left earbud to play audio. If you ever lose the left earbud, the right earbud is practically worthless until you replace it.

Pros

Long battery life
Superb comfort
IPX7 water resistance
Great sound

Cons

Micro-USB for charging
Lacks wireless charging
Can only use left earbud independently

Best Value Workout

TaoTronics SoundLiberty 53

$50 at Amazon

Long battery life

With the SoundLiberty 53, you'll get strong battery life, class-leading water and dust resistance, and a great sound.

Bottom line

Truly wireless earbuds have gained popularity over the past several years, and are now some of the most popular headphones you can buy. Choosing a pair is difficult right now because many tech companies are rushing to get their own versions out. As the technology matures, great earbuds will come down in price, and sound quality will continue to evolve.

For most people, the Jabra Elite 75t are going to be the best option. The earbuds themselves are small, and the case is extremely rugged, with strong magnets that keep everything in place. They also sound excellent, have superb call quality, decent battery life, and feature a useful app on iOS and Android.

They lack active noise cancellation, but the passive isolation is more than good enough for most people. And there are physical buttons on the side, which mean you don't have to mess with gestures while walking or running.

Jabra's hit a home run with its latest true wireless earbuds. While they may not be the best in every category, they're consistently great and are a joy to use. What more can you ask for?

How to choose the best true wireless earbud

Choosing earbuds can be difficult, especially truly wireless ones. They come in varying shapes and sizes, and comfort can vary greatly depending on how big your ears are.

But that's only the tip of the iceberg as headphone manufacturers continue to make custom-designed earbuds for specific scenarios. Wireless earbuds are a lot more complicated than simply cutting the cord.

Sound Quality

Not surprisingly, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless takes the top spot for having the best overall sound for truly wireless earbuds. They features excellent dynamic and a wide soundstage compared to other earbuds, let alone truly wireless ones.

The Sony WF-1000XM3 sound surprisingly fantastic. Despite Sony having a reputation for making dark-sounding headphones, the WF-1000XM3 turn the tide here. You get an overall more neutral sound signature with only a small bass boost and neutral mids and treble, giving it a rather impressive sound for ANC earbuds.

Jabra has also done a good job balancing its output on the Elite 75t. They have a very bass-heavy sound, but not at the expense of mids and highs. They're easy-listening and, best of all, incredibly comfortable to wear for long periods.

Best true wireless earbuds, ranked by sound quality

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless
Sony WF-1000XM3
Jabra Elite 75t
Samsung Galaxy Buds
AirPods Pro

Comfort

Comfort plays a huge role in choosing a pair of true wireless earbuds. Comfort is arguably more important than anything else because if they don't fit your ears or you can only wear them at 20 minutes at a time, what's the point?

Our overall pick, the AirPods Pro, are comfortable for long periods of time. They don't cause any sort of ear fatigue and are very light. You definitely shouldn't have an issue with the AirPods Pro, thanks to them not having a plastic stem that gets shoved in your ear.

If you're looking for something a bit more isolating but equally comfortable, the Jabra Elite 75t are the earbuds for you. They are very small, 20% smaller than the previous model, and form a tight seal in the ear canal thanks to its rounded, contoured shape.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds are also comfortable for long periods of time. They don't cause any sort of ear fatigue. Similar in shape to the Jabra Elite 75t, getting a good seal with the Galaxy Buds may require a bit of experimentation with the ear tip sizes and wing shapes, but once you find a perfect fit, you'll be good for hours.

Fourth on our list is the Sony WF-1000XM3, and they are rather large in size and a bit heavy. However, with the right ear tips, they can be super comfortable. You won't ever not notice they're there but you won't feel any sort of ear fatigue, even over extended periods of time.

Best true wireless earbuds, ranked by comfort

AirPods Pro
Jabra Elite 75t
Samsung Galaxy Buds
Sony WF-1000XM3
Jaybird Vista

Noise isolation

The AirPods Pro surprisingly take our top pick for best noise isolation performance. While it's comparable to the WF-1000XM3, and the two are pretty close, the AirPods Pro are simply more consistent when it comes to its active noise canceling (ANC) performance. Technically, both earbuds would classify as class-leading ANC performance, but there aren't many other truly wireless ANC earbuds out there in the first place.

So in third and fourth place are the Jabra Elite 65t and Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless. Neither of which feature active noise cancelation but are solid when you crank the volume up to a decent level. You'll still hear a decent amount of environmental noise but it's greatly reduced when you crank up the volume.

Best true wireless earbuds, ranked by noise isolation

AirPods Pro
Sony WF-1000XM3
Jabra Elite 75t
Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless
Jaybird Vista

Smart Features

The Sony WF-1000XM3 are probably one of the smartest earbuds on the market. The earbuds themself feature auto-play/pause when you remove them, auto-connect when you put them in your ear, and hands-free Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. You'll also get an ambient sound mode which lets you quickly hear the environment around you without removing your earbuds. This feature uses the great ANC microphones already onboard the earbuds and reverses them.

The earbuds can be configured in the Sony companion app even further, allowing you to customize the sound signature, how much ANC you'd like to be pumped in, and choose if you want Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.

Jaybird has one of the most robust earbud smartphone apps out there. While the earbuds themselves don't have any smart features aside from auto-connecting when you take them out of the case, the features the smartphone app makes up for it. The app lets you adjust your sound signature, as well as find your earbuds if you've lost them.

The AirPods Pro make the list because they're smart but only if you use an iOS device such as an iPhone or iPad. You get hands-free Siri, they automatically play and pause when you remove them from your ear and put them back in, and you'll also get seamless pairing and device switching across any Apple device paired to your iCloud account.

Best true wireless earbuds, ranked by smart features

Sony WF-1000XM3
Jaybird Vista
AirPods Pro
Samsung Galaxy Buds
Jabra Elite 75t

Battery Life

The one standout when it comes to battery life are the TaoTronics SoundLiberty 53. Combining the buds and case battery life, they get an impressive 40 hours. This is nearly double that of our second and third pick.

Our next two contenders all have really amazing battery life with anywhere between 24-26 hours with their respective charging cases. Battery life is an interesting topic when it comes to true wireless earbuds as you have to take into account the earbuds' battery life but also how much juice the charging case gives you.

The Sony WF-1000XM3 have 25 hours of battery life between the earbuds and charging case. However, the WF-1000XM3 edges the AirPods Pro's in this case as they can last up to six hours on a single charge compared to the AirPod Pro's 4.5 hours on a single charge. Both of these picks are impressive in their own rights considering the rated battery life is when ANC is enabled. Naturally, they both get slightly better battery life when ANC is disabled.

Best true wireless earbuds, ranked by battery life

TaoTronics SoundLiberty 53
Sony WF-1000XM3
Jabra Elite 75t
AirPods Pro
Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2

Microphone Quality

The best true wireless earbuds in terms of microphone quality is easy. This category goes to the Apple AirPods Pro. While they don't have the greatest sound reproduction, Apple nailed it when it comes to the microphone quality. No matter the environment, they're able to isolate your voice well from the environment around you. We never once had an issue with the person on the other end not being able to hear us, even in super loud environments. The noise isolation algorithm here is superb and isn't overly aggressive to the point where your voice sounds robotic.

The Jaybird Vista are also pretty good when it comes to its microphone quality. While not as great as the AirPods Pro, the Vista are able to block out a considerable amount of background noise and the noise isolation algorithm keeps up and doesn't clip your voice or make it sound robotic. The person on the other end can still hear a decent amount of background noise but it's not too bad.

Lastly, the Jabra Elite 75t. They're pretty good in this department as well. However, if you have a higher-pitched voice, the noise isolation algorithm will more than likely cut some of your voice out. While it's not too terrible, it is worth noting if you have a higher-pitched voice. For everyone else, the Jabra Elite 75t compares favorably to the Jaybird Vista. The algorithm itself is great at blocking out background noise and isolating your voice. You can still hear a good amount of background noise but that's too be expected.

Best true wireless earbuds, ranked by Microphone Quality

AirPods Pro
Jaybird Vista
Jabra Elite 75t
Sony WF-1000XM3
Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless

Credits — The team that worked on this guide

Peter Cao has been an audio enthusiast for a number of years. He's tested over a dozen headphones and is excited to continue on his audio journey.

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