Best wireless earbuds of 2022, from budget to high end options

True wireless earbuds - those that come as two independent units without a wire connecting them - are extremely popular right now, with every electronics manufacturer falling over itself to get a pair on the market to compete with Apple’s Airpods.

With their distinctive look and white finish, the Airpods are common among iPhone users, but Android devotees, or anyone who prefers a more understated look, might prefer to get their earbuds from somewhere else.

The evolved offspring of the Bluetooth headset, wireless earbuds have become extremely complex pieces of technology, and a good fit is required in your ears to prevent a heartbreaking experience that terminates with a small crunch under your foot. Luckily, most earbud sets come with multiple tips, so you can find the pair that best matches the shape of your ears.

Earbuds come with charging cases - a box with a battery in it that charges the buds when they’re placed inside. You charge the case, usually over USB-C, and can use it to top up the earbuds’ power levels while you’re out and about. Look out also for smartphone apps, the ability to tweak equalisation settings or adjust noise cancelling is an important one. And the best wireless earbuds come with digital assistant support, so you can talk to Alexa, Siri or the Google Assistant just by tapping one bud.

Shop the best below.

Sony WF-1000XM3

Recently replaced at the top of Sony’s earbud lineup by the XM4s, these are currently the bargain of the line, available with up to £100 off that recommended price. Offering six hours of playback, with another 18 provided by the charging case, you get ambient noise cancellation and an app that’s full of options to tweak the sound to the way you like it. As a result, they sound great, and the restrained black design doesn’t stick out too far in public.

There are downsides, of course - the battery case is rather large, and the USB cable provided is very short. Plus there’s no high-quality Aptx support (they use the AAC Bluetooth coding favoured by Apple instead) or waterproofing. As a result, these are for the commuter rather than the triathlete, but they’ve got it where it counts, providing huge sound from tiny drivers, and digital assistant support too. They’ve even got L and R written on them, for those times you forget.

Buy now £98.00, Amazon

Airpods Pro

These have rapidly become the baseline against which other earbuds are judged, such is their prevalence among iPhone users. Airpods have improved greatly since their first iteration, and the Pro variant now sport noise cancellation, IPX4 sweat resistance, and replaceable tips so you can get the fit just right.

Battery life is one of the Pros’ weaker elements, with only 4.5 hours quoted when using noise cancellation. This tech takes its toll on every pair we tried, but on the Airpods Pro, it seems particularly bad. Perhaps it’s the slim and svelte design of the buds, leaving little room to cram in batteries. The charging case is a good one, however, powering up the ‘Pods for an hour’s use from just five minutes in the case. Sound is balanced with good bass, and is distinctly superior to that from cheaper earbuds.

Buy now £187.11, Amazon

Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro

Soundcore has a reputation for punching above its weight, and the Air 2 Pros are no exception. Taking design cues from Apple, but adding a few extra colours, they look amazing when you take them out of the packet and continue to impress when you put them on. The battery case has a sliding top instead of the flip-up lid employed by almost everyone else, and we found this slightly wobbly and prone to feeling like it was going to fall off - but it never did.

There’s no Aptx, instead relying on AAC, but you’d never know it, with the app full of equalisation and noise cancelling options so you can adjust the sound to your taste. They also come with the largest number of replacement tips we’ve seen - 10 in total - to really get that fit nailed down. Battery life is decent, at about six hours, and you get enough juice in the case for two and a half full charges.

Buy now £103.83, Amazon

Jabra Elite 75T

Remarkably comfortable, even though they may not be the best-looking earbuds on the market (they’re rarely going to be in your eyeline, so how much does this matter?) the 75Ts are the best value compact and waterproof model from a brand that’s making waves in the world of earbuds. Newer 85Ts are creeping in at a much higher price, but even the older 65Ts still sound excellent, though suffer from a lack of noise cancellation and poor battery life. Not so these - you’ll get 7.5 hours, 28 with the help of the case, of playback before you need to retire to a wall socket.

Sound quality is clear, but defaults a bit too much to the mids and bass, making them good for louder styles of music, but can lack subtlety. And although there’s no Aptx, there is noise cancellation to lock you in with your unsubtle music, and a decent amount of personalisation from the phone app.

Buy now £118.00, Amazon

JLab Go Air Sport Running Headphones

Following the success of the Go Air Pop earbuds, JLab are back with the latest product designed specifically for sport. The earhook design and three interchangeable gel eartips ensures they will stay in even during the most extreme of sprints.

Despite being at the budget end of the spectrum, at an affordable £29.99, they have a refined style and boast a whole host of handy features. You get everything you could want - sweat and splash proof, touch controls, and eight hours of playtime boosted to an impressive 22 hours thanks to the case. Unlike previous models, there is now digital assistant integration. Noise cancellation also isn’t as isolating as more expensive models, though it deals with background hums very well.

Buy now £29.99, Amazon

Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+

Cambridge Audio is a high-end brand, so to see its earbuds going for such a low price is remarkable. They’re not quite impulse purchases at this level, but you won’t feel too guilty if you lose them on the train either.

Sleek and bullet-like, the Melomania 1+s take a slightly different direction than most other designs. You’d expect a short battery life from such a tiny volume, but at nine hours, and 45 if you use the charging case, playback time is really very good. What you’re missing out on here are digital assistant support and noise cancellation, so getting a good fit is more important than ever: medium and large tips are provided, they’re very comfortable to wear, and there are plenty of equalisation options in the app to get things just right.

Listen somewhere reasonably quiet and sound is excellent, with plenty of thickness at the bottom end but not enough to dominate. If it’s music you want to hear, and you don’t care about the other stuff, then these are well worth a look.

Buy now £49.95, Amazon

Beats Fit Pro

Showing the influence of parent company Apple, these are great all-rounders and very reasonably priced. Somehow, Dr Dre’s clever engineers have managed to squeeze enough battery for six hours with active noise cancelling on or up to 24 hours with the charging case that is compact and sleek. There are no awkward stalks or bits that stick out and make you look like an alien. Instead, they taper gracefully.

Tips in three sizes mean you can get a good fit, and there’s enough waterproofing to survive a workout or a walk in the rain. The on-device controls allows you to manage calls, control music and be voice activated. Sound is a mixed bag. It’s generally fine, but when the bass is pumping the mids get squeezed, while the treble is overblown. Customers can enjoy six months of Apple Music for free with each purchase.

Buy now £174.45, Amazon

Huawei FreeBuds 4i

Frequently seen at least £20 below their RRP, these are a bit of a bargain for those who might not have such a free-flowing wallet. Very clearly Airpods-influenced, these are available in an absolutely livid red that you’ll find hard to lose but might not pair well with a grey suit. Black and white are also available, along with a very restrained ‘silver frost’. They’re lightweight, and comfortable to wear.

You get noise cancelling, and ten hours of playtime from a charge, topped up to 22 hours with the case, which is low compared to others on test but still perfectly acceptable for a week’s commuting, and you can get four hours of playback form a ten-minute charge. Sound is good, but can be lacking in lower frequencies, and there’s no equalisation in the app or digital assistant support. They also don’t detect when one is removed from your ear, which almost every other pair does, pausing the music until it’s reinserted. Noise cancelling is present but decidedly weak, better at blocking out hums than sharper noises.

Buy now £45.00, Amazon

Adidas Z.N.E. 01 ANC True Wireless

Sports fanatics after a durable and comfortable pair of earbuds can’t go too far wrong with this pair from Adidas. The noise cancelling feature works particularly well and helps create an immersive sound experience - whether you’re working out in the gym or going for a run in the park. The customisable fit ensures comfort and security throughout the day and they helpfully come HIIT-ready by being both sweat-proof and water-resistant.

The three colours offered - grey, black and indigo - are all equally as stylish and the charging case is compact and sleek. For those that forget about charging until the last minute, fear not as just 15 minutes of charge will give you an impressive one hour of playtime. There is also the possibility of enabling eco-charging mode in the Adidas Headphones App.

Buy now £149.99, Adidas

1MORE EVO Noise Canceling Earbuds

Oozing absolute class from the second you open the packaging, the 1MORE earbuds are stylish, light and almost undetectable when in your ears. Until, that is, they start making a noise.

The audio is excellent, giving sound to rival a top quality home speaker. However, the real stand-out is the noise-cancelling feature. There are four noise cancelling and two transparency modes that reach a depth of 42dB - making these headphones perfect for enjoying your latest playlist or podcast no matter how noisy the background is.

No need to disconnect your headphones when a call comes in as the six built-in microphones will amplify your voice even in the most crowded of environments. A single charge provides eight hours of non-stop music and it can be extended to 28 hours with the case. Wireless charging and fast charge are also available.

Buy now £159.99, Amazon

Master & Dynamic MW08

Oozing absolute class from the second you open the packaging - styled like a hardback book with a protective cover - the MW08s’ solid battery case is one of the heavier units we’ve tested, but the earbuds themselves are light and almost unnoticeable when in your ears. Until, that is, they start making a noise.

Audio is excellent, though the lack of equalisation options in the app is a bit of an annoyance, but you also get Aptx support to keep that quality high. Ten hours of playtime from a charge is claimed, but we had them going for 12 - it depends on how hard your environment is making the noise cancelling work - and you can get three full charges out of the case before it needs topping up. The buds are waterproof, and a multifunction button on the right bud can access your preferred voice assistant. For the price, you’d expect a good product, but apart from the case’s tendency to attract greasy fingerprints, there’s not too much to criticise here.

Buy now £280.00, SSENSE

Verdict

It seems you can get everything you want from a pair of wireless earbuds - you just need to pay for it. Despite the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pros sounding better than they have any right to at their price point, it’s the higher priced Sonys, that carry the day in terms of sound quality, noise cancelling, and other features.