RS Recommends: The Best Sounding Earbuds

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A great-sounding pair of earbuds can be a life-changer, whether you’re a professional musician or just a casual music fan. And, while a number of audio brands are making decent wireless earbuds these days, only a few stand out when it comes to producing outstanding audio for your favorite music, podcasts and any other content streamed from your devices.

What Are the Best-Sounding Earbuds?

There are more features than ever packed into these wireless earbuds nowadays, but sound quality was the primary focus for our rankings here.

Best for Most: Sony WF-1000XM4

Best Luxury Pick: Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2

Best ANC: Apple AirPods Pro 2

Most Comfortable: Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II

Best Battery Life: Jabra Elite 7 Pro

1. Sony WF-1000XM4

These Sony earbuds deliver hi-res audio in a comfortable, compact bud.

The portable earbuds have a warm sound and strong midrange, with bass that can crank up powerfully and highs that hold their clarity. The DSEE feature is able to upscale compressed music files in real-time, and calls come through loud and clear, utilizing bone conduction to pick up your voice.

Sony’s V1 processor invokes a richer soundscape, and the dual-sensor microphones adjust to ambient sound around you, allowing you to hear important things like announcements and car horns. Just like their WXM headphones, you can even save your preferred sound settings to kick in at different locations.

Newly-updated drivers deliver truly balanced and rich audio, while automatic wind reduction and a water resistance and sweat-proof rating of IPX4 make this great for taking your tunes outdoors.

One charge gets you about eight straight hours of listening time, or 24 with a fully-fueled case; a five-minute charge will net about an hour of playtime. The earbuds’ shape gives them the ability to fit comfortably up against any ear, making this an easy pickup for everyone.

Amazon

Buy Sony WF-1000XM4 $278.00

Editor’s picks

2. Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2

Bowers & Wilkins are known for creating some of the best sound, whether that be in cars or the best headphones. Recently, they gave their Pi7 buds a refresh, designed with better battery life and an improved Bluetooth range.

I tested these buds and was impressed by the punchy bass, balanced mids and highs and overall sound experience — on vocal-heavy and beat-heavy songs. They have decent noise cancellation — they won’t drown out every sound but will tune out just enough to keep you from getting disturbed — and feature up to five hours of battery life per charge (compared to last gen’s four).

While these buds don’t have an EQ adjuster (yet), they’re still some of the best-sounding earbuds you can buy. Set up was super easy and I personally love how lightweight these buds are, feeling almost weightless when I put them on. I could wear the Pi7 S2 during the gym, while stuck in traffic, or even as I was typing away at work and each time, I kept going back for more.

If you are looking for a pair of well-rounded, well-designed, lightweight buds, go with the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2.

Buy Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 (2023 Model) $397.99

3. Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen)

Apple’s H2 chip takes center stage in these buds, along with their custom drivers for a big, immersive sound.

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The Active Noise Cancellation is excellent, and adaptive EQ automatically adjusts levels to the shape of your ear, instantly cancelling out interfering noise. Siri capability is thoughtfully integrated, and vents in the eartips keep it from getting too uncomfortably suction-y, balancing out the pressure both in and outside. The new buds also have four ear tip sizes available, including an XS ear tip size for individuals with small ears.

Battery life gets an upgrade too, now lasting up to six hours on a total charge — the charging case holds an additional 24 hours, giving you a total of 30 hours of battery life. You’ve also got sweat and water resistance, on the buds *and* the charging case, so you can easily wear them to the gym.

Adaptive transparency is also a new feature, which automatically adjusts for background noises, such as construction or the noise of the subway for minimum annoyance.

If you liked the sound on the first-gen AirPods Pro, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the Gen 2s, which deliver the same bass-forward, clear sound you’ve come to expect from Apple earbuds — and easily the best noise cancellation on the market.

Apple

Buy Apple AirPods Pro 2 $234.95

4. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II

We loved the original Bose QuietComfort earbuds lauding their well-balanced sound and level of personalization and the QuietComfort Earbuds II deliver that and more.

We had a chance to demo their noise-cancellation and were pleasantly surprised at how they could minimize both airplane and subway noise till they were barely noticeable — even without the music on! The buds feature noise-rejecting mics specially tailored to minimize ambient sound around you, so even when you’re taking a call, your voice stays crystal clear.

Music sounded crisp and punchy without the bass ever seeming overwhelming, even with songs blasting at high volumes. The fit felt decent too, and you will get three ear tip sizes for added customization.

Other features include IPX4 water and sweat resistance and a six-hour battery life on a single charge — the charging case will get you an additional 24 hours. Plus, Bluetooth 5.3 means no connection drops — allowing you to listen to your favorite songs for longer with no interruptions.

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Buy Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II $249.00

5. Jabra Elite 7 Pro

Along with awesome sound, Jabra’s big strength has always been their connectivity. After the first pairing, these Bluetooth 5.2-enabled buds connect fast, often before you can even put them in your ears.

They’re noticeably smaller than previous gens of Jabras, providing a more snug fit that doesn’t fall out. The four mics and VPU Voice Pickup kicks in when it’s windy or noisy around you, and Mono Mode lets you listen with one bud, keeping one ear open.

Five minutes of charging will get you an hour playtime, and a full charge will deliver eight nonstop hours with an additional 30 from the case.

Amazon

Buy Jabra Elite 7 Pro $149.99

How to Shop for the Best Sounding Earbuds Online

Here’s what to look for when shopping for the best-sounding earbuds online.

Sound: There’s no point in buying a pair of earbuds if the sound quality isn’t good. When it comes to the best-sounding earbuds, audio should ideally be smooth and balanced, not grating or abrasive. You want your music’s details to shine through on the higher end, with warm, clear and textured mids, and bass that makes it feel complete – strong but not overpowering.

On cheap buds, the top can sound “rolled-off,” and a lack of highs can affect things like the sound of cymbals crashing. The perfect pair of earbuds would have such high-quality equalization and engineering that no adjustments to any settings would be needed to make music sound great, but that’s not always the case, and not necessarily a bad thing. Fidgeting with the EQ can make a budget pair of buds sound infinitely better, or if you just like your bass booming or treble shimmering, you can set it to your desired amounts.

Settings: Speaking of settings, things like Active Noise Cancelling technology (ANC) have become so common they’re pretty much standard in most high-end earbuds nowadays, and it helps you focus on the music coming through your buds, especially in noisy settings like planes or walking around a city. Each manufacturer has their own app now to go along with the buds, which can feel like an extra step when you just want to start listening, but there are benefits too, like being able to adjust the EQ to your liking and save your preferred settings.

Fit: On a set of headphones, the cup design and material can really affect the acoustics that hit your ear. But on a set of buds, your ear itself is what sound is being pumped into. Changing out the included silicone tips can have a major effect on the sound, not to mention these should be snug anyway so they won’t fall out during activities like exercising. For an extra secure hold, some buds have hooks that sit above and around your ear, though we found that most of them got uncomfortable after lengthy listening sessions.

Case: This is what your buds will be sitting in when they’re not in your ears, and not every case is the same. Cases are increasingly being made with the ability to charge up the buds, even when you’re far from a power source. A case with a port on the back, or Qi wireless charging, makes things much easier to get a boost of battery life when it’s needed most, and since these are compact, just a little juice should power it up for a decent amount of time – sometimes just five minutes of charging for an hour of music.

Pairing: Wired isn’t an option with these like on some headsets, so your device will need to have Bluetooth capability. A pair that connects up instantly as soon as you take it out of the case, and remembers your devices, can save time and headaches fumbling around with your phone’s settings. Having the ability to link up with two or more devices is even better, and some can even handle multiple simultaneously.