Subj : The best wireless earbuds, all real-world tested: I've covered wi (2/2) To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Tue Sep 30 2025 16:45:08 drivers, so that's one tech element you don't have to thing about. This is the most common kind of speaker technology in everything from big loudspeakers to over-ear headphones to earbuds. To explain how dynamic drivers work, and why theyre so dominant in wireless earbuds, we spoke to Andy Kerr, Director of Product Marketing and Communications at Bowers & Wilkins, which has over 60 years of experience creating these kinds of drivers in both headphones and loudspeakers. Dynamic drivers use a magnet, a voice coil (typically made from winds of copper wire wound around a circular form), and a diaphragm/drive unit (a thin cone of material that makes the sound). The narrow end of the diaphragm's cone is attached to the voice coil; the wide end of the diaphragm is held in place by a rubber surround, also called suspension. When electrical current is supplied to the voice coil, it becomes electromagnetic. This creates a push-pull interaction between the coil and the magnet, which it is coiled around, causing the coil to move up and down over the magnet rapidly. Since the coil is attached to the bottom of the drive unit, its movement pushes the drive unit up and down in response, creating sound pressure waves that your ears and brain translate into sound, explains Kerr. A single dynamic driver can be made very compact, is light, and is highly efficient in terms of battery life, which is of course hugely relevant in the age of wireless earbuds. Dynamic drivers are also very popular in headphone designs essentially because they give companies like Bowers & Wilkins a way to use our knowledge and experience from designing and manufacturing them for both loudspeakers and headphones while customizing and continually improving the technology over time. For example, our approach to drive unit design combines stiffness in the material (for accuracy and fast response) plus good excursion (meaning how far the diaphragm is capable of moving, for deeper bass performance) that's equally important for both earbuds and loudspeakers." Dynamic drivers are not the only earbuds driver technology available: planar magnetic is the most common other type, and were about to see the launch of more earbuds using a new solid-state driver . Some earbuds also combine a dynamic driver with a smaller solid-state driver to create a wider sound range, which is often known as dual-driver technology. Its possible to have more than two drivers in earbuds, but its very uncommon in wireless earbuds. What is noise cancellation in earbuds? One of the hottest features in wireless earbuds right now is active noise cancellation (ANC) this used to be the preserve of premium buds, but is now common even among many budget models. All in-ear earbuds block some noise thanks to the seal formed between the ear tips and your ear canal. This stops a lot of noise coming in, and is known as 'passive' sound isolation. But active noise cancellation goes a step further to remove outside noise from what you're hearing. The technology was introduced by Bose, and the company has been making ANC tech for over 30 years, so we asked John Rule, Senior Engineer at Bose Corporation, to explain noise cancellation. "Today, noise cancellation in the majority of headphones and earbuds is achieved through a combination of both active and passive technologies. For active noise reduction, sophisticated electronics work with microphones both inside and outside the earcups to sense the sound around you and then measure, compare, and react instant by instant to produce an opposing cancellation signal," says Rule. Imagine you're trying to walk in a straight line, and someone is pushing you from one side to stop you walking straight. That's outside noise, interfering with what speakers are trying to do. Now imagine someone pushes you from the other side in a way that exactly balances out the first push, so you're walking straight again that's active noise cancellation, counteracting the interference by 'cancelling' it out. Bose's John Rule emphasizes that it's not just the circuitry doing the work, though. He says, "Passive noise reduction also plays a role in headphone performance. When you place an earcup over your ear or an earbud in your ear, some noise is physically blocked. The cup or bud design, materials used, clamping force of the headband, shape of the ear tips, and many other factors contribute to a comfortable fit while providing a good seal against incoming noise. When active and passive elements are combined, the result is cancellation of the noise you dont want to hear, such as a plane engine or annoying vacuum. This lets you hear what you want, whether thats your music or silence." Wireless vs true wireless: what's the difference? Wireless earbuds have existed for a while now, basically since Bluetooth was invented. Though battery-powered and not physically connected to your phone, they have a cord connecting both buds and sometimes a band around the neck too. True wireless earbuds have no cord whatsoever. While wireless allows us to wear headphones a few feet away from our music players, True Wireless cuts the cord between the earbuds, giving us true freedom. If you're looking to go full wireless, we also have a round-up of the best true wireless headphones , but you'll find our top picks here, too. Wireless headphones are traditional over-ear or on-ear headphones without the wire the two earcups are connected by a headband. Check out the best wireless headphones for more. Which brand of wireless earbuds is best? In this guide we've included all of the best audio tech and earbuds brands on the market today. But the question of which brand is best depends on what you're looking for. Sony is certainly one of the best wireless earbuds brands, and one of the best audio brands generally. It consistently brings out great-sounding products and has led the way with fantastic true wireless earbuds year-on-year. The Sony WF-1000XM5 didn't make it into this list for reasons given a little above, but we still gave them a very positive review! You really can't go wrong at any budget with Sony's range right now. If you're looking for a pair of premium wireless earbuds and have a high budget for a new pair, then check out high-end brands like Bose though Technics is a great audio name that's currently having a fantastic product run. Otherwise, if you're looking for a budget pair of earbuds, the Nothing Ear (a) are currently our best budget choice. But Earfun and JLab also make some of our favorite cheaper wireless earbuds. Which wireless earbuds are best? Right now, we currently rate the Technics EAH-AZ100 as our favorite balancing price, sound quality and features. They're not cheap, but they're worth every penny. However, if you have more specific priorities, you might want to consider other buds in our list. Like the the Nothing Ear (a) if you're on a budget. Or the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds if you want the best ANC buds you can buy. What are the best value for money wireless earbuds? All of the options in our best wireless earbuds guide are good value for money. However, if you're looking for a budget pair of buds we've got some of those too. The Nothing Ear (a) are our top budget pick because they're cheap, offer great audio and they're comfortable. Top value all round. If you're looking for super budget, the JLab Go Air Pop are incredibly cheap at under 20/$20. They sound great for the price and are light, small and comfy. If you want a pair of budget buds that also pack in ANC, take a look at the Earfun Air Pro 3 , which are discounted at the time of writing to $79 / 79. Which is better: Bose or Beats? In the battle between Bose and Beats, it depends what you're looking for. In our opinion, Bose is the better option for sheer audio performance and noise cancelling tech. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds can't be beaten in terms of ANC. However, Beats earbuds offer a great fit and excellent sound. Particularly the Beats Fit Pro , which we highly recommend if you're looking for a pair of earbuds for working out. They're also a little more affordable than Bose options and have a more stylish design. Which wireless earbuds are just as good as Apple AirPods? The most recent AirPods Pro 2 are excellent if you want a comfy fit, quality audio and have an iPhone as there are some feature only iOS users can access. They're even a little cheaper than a lot of the competition, which is not something we get to say about Apple a ton However, the Technics EAH-AZ100 have them beaten for cross-platform support and sound quality. In terms of ANC, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are a little better than AirPods Pro 2. When it comes to the cheaper AirPods models, we think there are lots of better option, especially for value. The Nothing Ear (a) are the big alternative we'd point you towards if you're looking at non-pro AirPods. What are the best wireless earbuds for Android? Our top three picks in this guide are all a perfect match for Android phones, and cover a broad range of budgets: we think the Technics EAH-AZ100 are the best overall, but at a premium price; the Nothing Ear (a) are an incredible option that's more affordable but still has premium features for a budget option. However, if you have a Samsung phone in particular, you should strongly consider the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro , which have special features that specifically work with Samsung phones, including great spatial audio and higher-quality audio support. ^ Back to the top How we test the best wireless earbuds Why you can trust TechRadar More than 2,400 audio reviews 16 years of product testing Over 16,000 products reviewed in total Nearly 200,000 hours testing tech We've tested every pair of wireless earbuds in this guide to ensure they meet some key criteria, all detailed in our full reviews. But to give you an insight into our process, weve detailed what were looking for below. You can read our full article on how we test earbuds if you want to learn more. AI: When you see AI mentioned with earbuds or headphones, it usually means machine learning and algorithms are being used to enhance some part of your listening experience. Read our AI in your earbuds guide to find out exactly what this means and what to look out for. ANC: In terms of active noise cancellation , we want to find buds that work well to drown out ambient noise day-to-day in a variety of environments. We test them in our pretty typical office environment, out walking in city traffic, and on public transport. Audio: We're looking (listening?) for earbuds that sound good first and foremost we want to hear clear, rich audio that does justice to every genre. We listen to both high-quality source music, as well as lower-quality streams, as well as movies and videos. Voices should be natural, instruments should stand out from each other, and there should be a good sound balance overall between bass, mid-range and treble. Comparison: This isn't the only music our reviewers will listen to, obviously but by using these songs as the starting point, we can make specific and direct comparisons between earbuds, while will make it easier for you to follow the subtlety of their differences, we hope. Then our reviewers can use other tracks to explore the individual nuances of each pair of earbuds. Features: We also consider battery life, testing claims ourselves to ensure that most of the buds we pick will last long enough to not be annoying. And then we look at extra features, such as sound personalization and other app support this can make a big difference to the overall value of two earbuds that are the same price. Microphone testing: We also test the microphones, and to help you choose the right earbuds, we record ourselves reading a particular passage, and embed them here, so you can simply play back the recordings and see what you think. These are recorded indoors and to a basic recording app, for consistency we'll also test them out in the wind and with background noise, during cellular calls, as part of our overall judgment. Sound quality testing: The starting point of our process is that our reviewers use a particular playlist of songs as their first port of call for listening to the sound quality of the earbuds. We'll listen to these songs with active noise cancellation turned both on and off, to see if there are any differences in the detail or balance. The playlist is available for anyone to copy on your streaming service of choice, with notes on elements to listen out for, if you'd like to try it. Value and comparison: Of course, all of our testing is then balanced against lots of other factors, not the least of which is price. We know that a pair of cheap earbuds won't sound as good as premium ones so we're judging them against competition at the same kind of price, not against something wildly different. Read TechRadar's review guarantee ^ Back to the top Latest updates to the best wireless earbuds September 30, 2025 Refreshed the introduction. Added in details of the next generation of products we're reviewing, including the AirPods Pro 3 and Nothing Ear (3), just in case readers want to wait to find out how we rate them before they buy our recommendations here. Refreshed our 'how we test' section and adding in mention of AI. Added the JLab Go Pods ANC buds to our 'also consider' section, after recent testing. August 4, 2025 Switched the Nothing Ear (a) to our 'Best budget' option after recent price drops. Added the Cambridge Audio A100 as our 'Best mid-range' pick. Removed the 'Best cheap ANC' entry, because that's now well covered by the Nothing. Added the new Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2nd Gen as our best pick for active noise cancellation. Added several new entries we've recently tested into the 'More we've tested' section based on recent reviews. June 3, 2025 Added the Huawei FreeArc as the top pick in a new 'best open earbuds' category. Also added a handful of new product recommendations into our list of other earbuds we've tested based on recent reviews. Read more updates May 2, 2025 Added several new recommendations into our 'also consider' section based on recent testing. April 10, 2025 Added a new 'Quick List' to the top of the guide to make it easier for readers to quickly find what they're looking for. Checked to make sure all copy is bang up to date and reflects our current top picks. March 17, 2025 Updated the intro to reflect current tech trends and designs. Added new recent entries to our list of other products we've tested, including one from Xiaomi. February 17, 2025 Checked all products against our latest reviews. Added new recent entries to our list of other products we've tested. Updated our explanation of how we test to be easier to read through. January 17, 2025 We have a new pair of buds at number one! The Technics EAH-AZ100 replace the Technics EAH-AZ80, thanks to their improved sound quality, strong battery life, and the addition of great extra features including Dolby Atmos spatial audio. December 24, 2024 Checked all products against our latest reviews. Added more information to our list of other earbuds we've reviewed. November 26, 2024 Replaced the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 as our 'best for ANC' pick with the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds based on our testing. The Ultra buds are newer and are now reduced, making them a better option for most people the older model is also now largely out of stock. November 22, 2024 I rewrote the introduction to this guide to explain more about how we choose and compare the wireless earbuds, and what kind of testing and development backs up our recommendations. November 13, 2024 Removed some links from this guide. Added a dedicated Black Friday advice section, to better direct readers to potential deals I'm already seeing. November 1, 2024 We rewrote and redesigned this guide with more information about each product, to make it easier to see which buds will be the best fit for you. October 7, 2024 Replaced the JLab JBuds Mini with the Sony WF-C510 as our 'best budget' pick based on our review. September 19, 2024 Replaced the Samsung Buds 2 Pro with the Samsung Buds 3 Pro based on our review. Refreshed our guide to other earbuds worth consideration. September 3, 2024 Corrected an error with the product listings in this guide. August 6, 2024 Updated our note on other earbuds to consider based on our latest reviews. July 12, 2024 Added the JBL Live Beam 3 as the best wireless earbuds for a long battery life, based on our recent review. June 12, 2024 Added test result scores from our real-world testing methodology to each product, as well as a comparison table, to make it easier to see which earbuds sound best, and have the best real battery life. You can also listen to samples from the microphones on each pair of earbuds. May 22, 2024 Updated the 'Also consider' section with information on recently reviewed earbuds and why they didn't make the list. April 23, 2024 Swapped Sony WF-C700N for Nothing Ear (a) based on our reviewer's experience with both products. Updated the 'Also Consider' section with information about other recent earbuds that didn't make the list. March 21, 2024 Removed Sony WH-1000XM4 due to stock running extremely low. Moved Technics EAH-AZ80 as our new #1, and reordered other products to round out our selections. February 29, 2024 Checked all products against latest reviews and pricing. Updated the 'Also consider' section with new products, and added more information to our 'How to choose' section'. January 29, 2024 Added the Final ZE8000 as the best option for excellent sound quality. Checked all other products against out current reviews, and added a new 'Other wireless earbuds to consider' section to help provide context to our choices. December 20, 2023 Updated the list to remove the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus, which is no longer available to buy. Rewrote some entries to add more comparisons between products on our list. November 10, 2023 Checked all products against our latest review. Added more at-a-glance buying advice for all earbuds in the list. October 5, 2023 Updated the order of rankings and completely refreshed the format of the guide to include a new quick menu to make it easier to find right buds to suit your needs. ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/audio/earbuds-airpods/best-wireless-earbuds --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .