Latest Wireless Earbuds in 2025: Our Preferred Choices from Sony, Bose, and Other Brands

In the ever-evolving world of wireless earbuds, active noise cancellation (ANC) has become a sought-after feature. Here's a roundup of some of the best ANC earbuds available in 2023, catering to both premium and budget-conscious consumers.

Premium ANC Earbuds

The Sony WF-1000XM5 are widely acclaimed as the best overall ANC earbuds, offering excellent sound quality, strong noise cancellation, and reliable Bluetooth performance.

The Apple AirPods Pro 2 are renowned for their superior ANC and voice calling, while the Apple AirPods (4th gen) offer effective ANC in an open earbud design. Both are popular choices for Apple users.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) have recently been recognized as top-tier ANC earbuds, boasting excellent noise cancelling capabilities.

Budget ANC Earbuds

For those on a budget, the Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC and OnePlus Buds 4 stand out with impressive noise cancellation, solid battery life, and good call quality. The OnePlus Buds 4, in particular, perform exceptionally well in windy outdoor conditions.

Another budget-friendly option is the Cambridge Audio Melomania M100, which offers effective ANC and long battery life at a lower price point, with a mix of silicone and foam tips for a better seal.

Other Notable Mentions

The Skullcandy Rail ANC earbuds offer advanced ANC features suited to active users, while the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro deliver solid ANC performance with bright sound and good call quality.

For Android or Google Pixel users, the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 offer stellar noise canceling, great sound quality, and fun Google Gemini integration, although they lack hi-res codecs and have limited spatial audio.

Sports and Athletics Earbuds

The Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 are designed for sports and athletics, offering solid sound, an extremely secure and comfortable fit, physical buttons, and heart rate monitoring. They work well with both iOS and Android OS.

Open-Ear and Sleep Earbuds

The Sony LinkBuds Open are premium open-ear wireless earbuds, offering a comfortable fit, much better balanced sound, surprising passive isolation, and plenty of custom options. However, their spatial sound is terrible, and phone calls can be tough with background noise.

The Ozlo Sleepbuds are wireless sleepbuds, offering a supremely comfortable fit, a battery that lasts for multiple nights, high-quality Sleep Sounds, and Bluetooth audio streaming. However, they currently lack a sleep monitoring feature, and the initial connection process can be slow.

Other Features and Specifications

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds support hi-res Audio, as do the Sony WF-1000XM5, Technics EAH-AZ100, and Master & Dynamic MW09.

The Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 do not support hi-res Audio, nor do the Ozlo Sleepbuds.

The Soundcore AeroFit 2 are budget open-ear wireless earbuds, offering wireless charging, Bluetooth Multipoint, and a comfortable and secure fit, but they lack LE Audio or Auracast, and their mics will pick up wind noise.

The Master & Dynamic MW09 are high-end wireless earbuds, offering beautiful design and materials, excellent sound quality, capable noise-canceling, huge amounts of battery life, Bluetooth Multipoint, and wireless charging.

The Technics EAH-AZ100 offer ambient sound modes of ANC and transparency, while the Sony LinkBuds Open feature always-on ambient mode.

The Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 have a weight of 6 grams per earbud and 65 grams for the case, similar to the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 (8 grams per earbud and 69 grams for the case) and the Apple AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C (5.3 grams per earbud and 50.8 grams for the case).

The Technics EAH-AZ100 have a weight of 5.9 grams per earbud and 42 grams for the case, while the Soundcore AeroFit 2 weigh 10 grams per earbud and 65 grams for the case.

The Sony WF-1000XM5 have a battery life of 8 hours with ANC (12 hours without), and 36 additional hours with the case. The Technics EAH-AZ100 offer 7.5 hours with ANC and 25 total with the case.

The Ozlo Sleepbuds do not specify their weight, but they have a battery life of 10 hours on a single charge. The Sony LinkBuds Open have a battery life of 5.5 hours, up to 17.5 hours with the charging case. The Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 have a battery life of 7 hours for ANC (11 hours with ANC off), up to 31 hours with the case.

The Apple AirPods (4th gen) with ANC have a battery life of 4 hours for ANC (5 hours with ANC off), and up to 30 hours with the case. The Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC have a battery life of up to 10 hours with ANC, and up to 50 hours total with the charging case.

Latest Wireless Earbuds in 2025: Our Preferred Choices from Sony, Bose, and Other Brands