Best true wireless earbuds to buy in 2024

We still highly recommend the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC (our previous top pick for the best affordable earbuds) if noise-cancelling is your top priority. However, after testing the Sony WF-C700N earbuds, we think this top pick is more of an all-rounder.

They’re ideal if you’re after high-quality earbuds under £100, and have a compact size, comfortable fit, and rich, detailed sound quality as some of your must-haves. They’ve also got highly effective noise-cancelling, silencing sounds below 80 decibels on test and handling low-frequency rumbles well. We’re also big fans of Sony’s Adaptive Sound Control feature, which adjusts the noise-cancelling mode based on your activity.

There are a couple of minor downsides, such as the lack of customization for the otherwise excellent button controls and the absence of in-ear wear detection. You can also get more battery life from the Liberty 4 NC, as well as better sound from a rival like the Nothing Ear (a).

Despite those small drawbacks, we still think the Sony WF-C700N earbuds are an excellent choice at under £100, with some of the best sound and noise-cancellation we’ve heard in this price range, along with a comfortable fit and super compact size. Not fussed about noise-cancelling? We also recommend the similar but even more affordable Sony WF-C500 for those after earbuds under £60.

Bluetooth multipoint is a key feature if you want your earbuds to be as convenient as possible in a home office setting. This means they can maintain a consistent connection to multiple devices at once, switch to the one playing audio or prioritise the one where a call is coming through.

The hi-fi brand Technics has delivered the first range of products offering multipoint connection to three devices, so you can keep the buds in touch with your desktop computer, iPad and smartphone without disconnecting and reconnecting. When a FaceTime call comes in on one device, the audio switches over.

The call performance is excellent on these, and they're overall some of the best all-rounders we've tried. As well as the class-leading three-device multipoint connectivity, you get a compact case with loads of battery and wireless charging, excellent dynamic sound, top microphone performance, decent noise-cancelling and a solid ambient mode.

The app is also more feature-packed than most rivals and they come with loads of ear tips for a good fit. With the multipoint capability, we kept them simultaneously connected to a laptop, tablet and phone, and they switched between devices seamlessly, all while delivering brilliant customisable audio and comfort. We think they’re an ideal all-in-one pair for frequent use. They’re pricey, but they’re also hard to fault – find out more in our Technics AZ80 review.

The Technics AZ60M2 are well worth considering too as they also have the three-device multipoint feature, while the AZ80 has a slightly better fit and sound.

They may not have an eye-catching design, but these budget Soundcore buds are one of the best deals in true wireless audio with a low price under £30. They’re the best cheap true wireless earbuds we’ve tested, and make for a well-rounded pair with good app controls and a lot of playtime from a single charge.

It’s impressive to see a pair with such comprehensive app support at a low price, with them offering a range of equaliser presets, a low-latency gaming mode, and customisable touch controls. They do miss out on extras like multi-device pairing, active noise-cancelling and wireless charging, though.

We like that they have a compact and comfortable design, long-lasting battery and that they come with a convenient lanyard. The default sound signature of the earbuds is quite bass-heavy without quite as much clarity as we’d prefer. However, it’s possible to change the sound with the range of options in the app, like “Acoustic”, “Podcast” and “Electronic” modes.

While these are great for those on a budget, it doesn’t cost too much more to step up to an option like the Soundcore Liberty 4NC when they’re on offer. And we’d also recommend the Nothing Ear (a) and CMF Buds Pro as better options that are still under £100. However, the P20i is great value and our top recommendation to anyone on a very tight budget.

There’s a lot of choice in the earbud market, but there’s a reason that Apple still dominates eight years after it launched its first AirPods. If you use an iPhone, iPad or Mac, the flagship AirPods Pro is our all-around top pick for noise-cancelling, transparency, sound quality and extra features.

The 2nd generation AirPods Pro are full of convenient features for Apple users, including personalised Spatial Audio, hands-free support for the Siri voice assistant, “Find My” support (for when you inevitably misplace one of the buds or the case) and audio sharing with other AirPod and Beats models.

They also deliver exemplary audio full of richness and detail, along with the best transparency mode in any wireless bud. However, it’s tricky to access settings and use them with Android devices, so we’d only recommend them for Apple fans.

The call quality is excellent too, so we’d recommend these for all your phone calls, FaceTime chats, and Zoom or Teams meetings if you work from an Apple laptop. It’s also worth mentioning that these earbuds are comfortable and lightweight, coming in a highly pocketable charging case.

We wish they were available in another colour other than white, but that’s such a minor drawback given that these are tremendous all-rounders for anyone with Apple devices – for more, read our AirPods Pro (2nd generation) review.

While we’d recommend Apple users pick up the AirPods Pro 2, it’s not worth getting those if you’re on an Android device. It’s possible to make them work and they sound good, but many features won’t be available and it’s harder to change settings. Apple doesn’t offer an app for Android, so it’s a non-starter.

But if you love your flagship Samsung smartphone, the tech giant offers high-end buds to match. These are the ideal options for Samsung compatibility, pairing seamlessly with a Galaxy S24 on test. They deliver crisp high-res audio, in addition to excellent microphone performance.

They also come with exclusive Samsung features including high-res and 360-degree audio, quicker pairing, automatic switching between Samsung devices, hands-free access to the Bixby voice assistant and location tracking via the SmartThings app.

You’ll notice these are comparable to the fast pairing and auto-switching of AirPods, along with Apple’s hands-free Siri access and spatial audio options. On test, we found the noise-cancelling was good enough to silence a busy office environment and decent for use on a loud tube carriage, although the sizing of the ear tips is a little friendlier to smaller ears.

Other rival buds from Bose and Apple are better for ANC, but we love the dynamic audio and these are worth it for Samsung fans who’ll use the perks.

These Bose buds don’t come cheap, but they’re worth it if your main priority is active noise-cancelling. We’re yet to hear any buds cut out background distractions this effectively, although Apple’s AirPods Pro and Sony’s WF-1000XM5 come incredibly close.

For top-notch ANC and sound quality, though, we think the Bose option makes for an appealing package, especially as the customisable fit helps them block more passive noise than others. They come in a compact and pocketable charging case, deliver a solid battery life, a comfortable design that we can wear for hours and an immersive mode to make the audio sound like it’s all around you.

We find these are able to deliver near-complete silence whether we’re in a busy cafe or needing to focus at the office. When testing them for our Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds review, we brought these on a flight and found that they thoroughly muted the cabin, just as well as in louder environments like certain sections of the London Underground. The customisation in the app is also impressive – we like how you can create different specific profiles (like “Home” or “Commute”) with different noise-cancelling levels.

It’s a shame the case doesn’t have wireless charging, but must-haves like the audio performance, fit and ANC are so impressive that we’d pick these over competitors with some extra features.

A built-in little screen on the charging case for a pair of earbuds is both innovative and useful. We’re fans of the smart case on the JBL Live Beam 3 earbuds, as it works like a tiny phone display to show you alerts and make controls easier to access.

It's useful for setting a custom wallpaper (such as the Good Housekeeping logo we added to ours), viewing notifications from your phone, checking battery percentages and controlling noise-cancellation, ambient modes, volume levels and playback without getting out your phone.

What about the other features? Well, we’re happy to say these are packed with useful additions that are both accessible on the case and the companion smartphone app. Some of our favourites include a personalised hearing test to get the sound just right for your ears, a safe volume limit and low-volume adaptations to keep the playlists sounding good without you needing to turn it up. We go in-depth on the features in our JBL Live Beam 3 review.

They’ve also got effective noise-cancellation and ambient modes, and the overall sound performance is engaging, energetic and detailed. Aside from the slightly larger case size, we’d struggle to find downsides to these inventive buds. They’re the full package with personalised sound, a comfortable fit, lots of battery life and a versatile charging case – and you get all this for under £200 too.

Comfort might not be the first thing at the top of your list of priorities when shopping for earbuds, but it probably should be. That’s especially true if you wear the buds all day long. Jabra’s best pair to date, the Elite 10s, feature an understated and minimal design and excellent comfort from the soft silicone body of the earphones and well-fitting oval ear tips.

These deliver impressive audio quality, spatial audio in collaboration with Dolby (and immersive head tracking), along with competitive battery life. The sound is well-rounded, engaging and vibrant, they do a great job of instrumental separation and it’s handy that you can tweak the equaliser, reliable button controls and call experience to your preference in the Jabra Sound+ companion app.

We like how the charging case has wireless charging and is small enough to fit in your pockets too. As mentioned, they use trusty physical buttons on the buds for control, rather than touch-sensitive surfaces, and these work for playing, pausing, controlling volume, talking to voice assistants and engaging the “HearThrough” mode that amplifies outside sounds.

When it comes to audio, we’ve played loads of Dolby Atmos music through Tidal including tracks from Billie Eilish, Bastille and Elton John. All are incredibly impressive and it feels like the sound surrounds you, as it does during movies and TV shows too. This effect doesn’t sound quite as good with non-Atmos tracks, so you’ll need to remember to switch it off and on as needed.

You’ll need to look at premium wireless earbuds if you want to be transported by your music and are prepared to pay extra for audiophile streaming services to make your playlists sound their absolute best. While expensive and boasting an unusual design, these premium earbuds from Japanese audio experts Final are the ones to go for.

They have their fair share of quirks, including an enormous charging case, a unique and unusual design that sticks out of your ears quite a lot, and less battery life than many rivals. However, when it comes to sheer sound quality, we’re yet to hear any wireless buds that beat them.

They sound incredible, with loads of high-resolution detail, highly-specific placement of instruments and an amazing soundstage to make you feel like you’re at a concert. While they’re decent at noise-cancelling, they’re not beating the class leaders, and we also find the touch controls so tricky that we end up turning them off.

The sound is far more natural and subtle than you’d expect from Bluetooth, though. If you’re serious about high fidelity, these top-notch buds excel with every single artist, playlist and album, especially when we play songs on the Qobuz streaming service.

The Ear is the latest launch from the London-based tech startup Nothing, and they’re a refinement of 2023’s Ear (2), which was already a massive improvement on the brand’s debut earbuds.

These deliver an impressive sound quality with just the right balance and natural reproduction of your playlist. They outperform several more expensive rivals in this department. These deliver a refined and dynamic rendition of everything from Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ to Dire Straits’ ‘Brothers in Arms’, never overpowering anything with overly boosted bass (as long as you turn off “bass enhance” in the app).

We continuously pick these up because that nuanced sound is still so evident at lower volumes too, something we can’t say about some of the more expensive competitor models. We also love the distinctive semi-transparent design (available in either black or white) and find these tiny earbuds comfortable to wear for several hours at a time. However, the battery performance isn’t quite as competitive compared to some rivals.

Overall, though, these are an excellent buy that gives you amazing sound, an eye-catching design and solid connectivity for £129. The noise-cancelling is decent too, but the real value here is in the audio quality itself. Read more in our comparison between the Nothing Ear and the Nothing Ear (a) earbuds.

These JLAB earphones are some of the best all-around buds we tried, with a solid metal charging case, active noise-cancellation, transparency, wireless charging and over nine hours of playback on a single charge with ANC. The reason that they’re our top pick for gamers, however, is because they come with a little USB-C dongle nestled away in the charging case.

Once you remove this and plug it into a USB-C port it delivers ultra-low-latency so that there’s far less lag between what you hear happening in the video game and what you hear through the buds, enabling you to respond quickly. We tested it on a MacBook Air, an iPad and a Nintendo Switch – and it’s designed to work with other PCs, tablets and consoles like the PlayStation 5. The milliseconds you save count when gaming and these reduce the lag to as low as 20ms when used with the adapter.

Beyond that, they’re comfy to wear for a long time (coming with both foam and silicone ear tips) and the sound is customisable in the app, with the addition of the built-in “Knowles Preferred Listening Response Curve,” an equaliser setting based on audio research of the most preferred sound for popular music.

In use, they sound terrific with whatever playlists we put on, delivering a lot of clarity, detail and richness from the dual-driver setup in use. We have also used these to silence background noise while on a flight and found them highly effective, and we appreciate that they have an IP55 water and dust resistance rating for extra peace of mind.

We don't all have the same ears, so we appreciate earbuds that include a hearing test to tailor your listening experience. The Denon PerL earbuds aren't the only pair to include a hearing test within their companion app, but these (and the PerL Pro) are the best at it.

Most tests demand input from you and can be tricky to understand, but not this one. When you first wear the buds, they'll make sure you have a perfect fit before you do an Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) check. They play a range of tones and measure for faint sounds in the inner ear. With this, they map your hearing sensitivities. It's very clever tech. The PerL buds use these measurements to create a personalised calibration, and you can save up to three profiles if you want to retake the test.

We love the detailed sound that enables you to hear intricacies within vocals and music you may have once missed. Like the PerL Pro, the Denon PerL delivers an exciting presentation of your music on a wide soundstage. We also like that you can adjust the amount of bass with the "Immersion" slider in the app.

While the circular design is unusual, they're secure to wear, the noise-cancelling is terrific and thanks to the personalised profile, we hear a lot of detail at lower volumes. We find the Denon PerL easier to recommend due to the lower price and slightly smaller design. However, there are some more niche features aimed at audiophiles that may make you tempted to step up to the PerL Pro earphones.

There’s a lot to love about the newest wireless earbuds from British brand Cambridge Audio, which have a comfortable design and a clean, detailed and rich sound signature.

When we listen to all our favourite test tracks on these earphones, we’re left noticing the balance of treble, bass and vocal separation that feels designed to keep music sounding its best. They’re balanced and lively, with an expansive soundstage to enhance the feeling of immersion within the best recordings.

Combined with ergonomic design and good fit, we found that the noise-cancelling can deal with the loud rumbles of our train journey, only struggling when the loudest sounds of the London Underground go up above around 85 decibels. Rival models have more convincing transparency modes, though.

The companion app includes a customisable equaliser, sleep mode and a low-latency gaming mode. We prefer when it’s possible to customise the touch controls on the earbuds, though. We appreciate that these have wireless charging and a sleek design that looks sophisticated. The buds are lightweight too, but they’re not the most compact option for smaller ears.

If you’re looking for a pair of earphones that don’t have a ridiculous price but deliver a lot of the features you’d expect from more expensive models, as well as a tremendous depth and richness to the sound profile, then we think the Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 is a brilliant option.

Jabra claims the Elite 8 Active are the "world's toughest earbuds" and to be fair, they might just well be. We look closely at IP (ingress protection) ratings when researching earphones, and the credentials here are some of the very highest we’ve ever seen.

These noise-cancelling buds are sweatproof, drop-proof, and come with an IP68 rating, meaning they have the highest level possible for dust and dirt protection, along with waterproofing to keep them going after continuous submersion in water beyond a metre for longer than 30 minutes. That’s not all, they also passed military-grade testing for shocks, pressure and temperature fluctuations.

In addition to all that, we found they fit comfortably, won’t fall out (they’re covered in an anti-shake coating), sound fantastic and cancel noise capably. If you need earbuds that will survive hikes, serious downpours or washing machine cycles. These are the ones we’d pick.

The only downside we can think of is that the deep in-ear fit can get a little uncomfortable after very long wear, but it’s not something you’ll notice until you’ve had them in for several hours on end.

In our view, most wireless earbuds don’t make sense for sleeping unless you’re sure you won’t turn over and dislodge them. There’s a chance AirPods would work for you, but we’re doubtful they’d be ideal for side-sleepers. The testing team at the GHI also checked out earwear for sleep, and we recommend looking into non-tech alternatives like the Loop Quiet and Sennheiser SoundProtex – these are brilliant for frequent travellers.

However, if you want to listen to soothing sleep sounds or podcasts as you drift off, you’ll want a pair designed for the job: a pair that’s small, comfortable and stays securely in place. Our tech editor’s pick is Soundcore’s Sleep A20 buds. They’re versatile, offering a “sleep mode” that stores calming sounds and white noise on the buds themselves (without any need for wireless tech) and a “Bluetooth mode” that also connects to your phone. Because of this, they’re ideal for podcasts, audiobooks or listening to your music before bed.

We like that the passive isolation blocks out a lot of external sounds – we found ourselves able to sleep with them when a fireworks display was happening nearby – but it is important to note that they don’t have active noise-cancelling. You might not always need it if you’re not in a loud environment, though. They’re comfy for side-sleepers, offer a lot of battery and aren’t too expensive, especially as these will probably be a secondary pair for most users – the audio isn’t quite good enough that we’d rely on it for general everyday use.

They also offer sleep tracking features in the app, an adjustable equaliser and customisable controls. Overall, these are good for sleep and versatile – the library of sleep sounds is impressive and they’re both tiny and lightweight.

At 3.3g per earbud and a mere 25g for the entire package including the charging case, these are easily the lightest earphones we’ve ever tried. The JBuds Mini best our previous pick of the 1More ComfoBuds Mini not only with a slightly smaller bud size but a much lighter charging case that still rivals the 1More for its battery capacity and performance.

We hope our hands-on photo conveys it but these are absolutely diminutive headphones and they’ll be ideal for those with smaller ears. They don’t give you active noise-cancelling but they do offer an effective seal that eliminates the loudest rumbles in a commuter train.

This pocketable pair delivers a selection of silicone ear tips, a pleasant sound quality that works well for pop music and podcasts, and a quick charge function that gives you an hour of battery life after 15 minutes of charging, which is extra helpful if they’re low on power and you’re dashing out the door.

We like how you can attach them to a keychain, we’re big fans of the comprehensive app that allows you to tweak the touch controls, and we like how you can set them to let ambient noise in so you feel safer when crossing the road or more aware when awaiting announcements on the train platform.