17 Best True Wireless Earbuds of 2023 [Tested and Reviewed]

The WF-1000XM4 are Sony's first model to support LDAC, which is a high-quality codec developed by the company. When we tested sound quality, we found that they could reproduce subtle details, which offered a sense of realism.

The bass has a quality where every detail of the lower frequency ranges can be felt, even if any heavy bass is accompanied by a high volume. Midtones had clarity that allowed vocals to sound beautiful, which felt quite good to listen to. They can reproduce instrumental sounds at a high level with wonderful treble, and it essentially felt like the music was being played right in front of us. These feature high sound resolution and the distance and direction of the sounds are accurately depicted. This results in an immersive music experience during use. Overall, the sound from these wireless earbuds is flat and not too loud, but the reverberations produced are beautiful, with quite excellent sound quality.

In terms of functionality, they support Sony's original stereo sound technology called 360 Reality Audio to enjoy three-dimensional sound optimized to the user's liking. In addition to customizable sound quality via a smartphone app, these wireless earbuds support in-ear detection, loss prevention tracking, wireless charging, and multiple device pairing, so they can be said to support a bountiful number of features.

On the other hand, microphone performance isn't too great, and the high-pitched tones for both male and female voices aren't stressed all too well. While the mic does resist picking up background noise, we can't exactly call the mic clear.

When testing battery performance, we found they have a continuous playback time of 36 hours with the charging case, and can be used without daily charging. They also support wireless fast charging, and overall, can be said to have great battery performance.

The QuietComfort Earbuds II were released in September 2022 by Bose. These wireless earbuds emit a sound when first worn to analyze your ear canal shape in order to customize sound settings to best fit you. We tested sound quality and found that deep, heavy bass is this model's allure. The music played was given a certain profoundness. For midtone frequencies, the sound carried for female vocals was a bit lacking, but both female and male vocals were expressed clearly, and did feel as if they were actually present. Treble tones are sharp, and the sounds felt like they carried.

The vast sound spread is another characteristic of these wireless earbuds. It feels as if the sound spreads to the outside of our headspace, which provides a comfortable and immersive experience. There's a high degree of sound resolution felt, as this model has excellent expression of delicate instrumental sounds and vocal reverberations.

As far as functionality, it was sad to see that when adjusting sound settings using the exclusive smartphone app, there were only four loose preset options, such as bass enhancement and treble damping. However, on top of being able to minutely adjust noise cancellation intensity, these wireless earbuds also support in-ear detection. Although they do not support wireless charging or multipoint pairing to simultaneously connect to multiple devices, it can be said they come with the bare minimum of functionality.

Microphone performance showed that they don't pick up too much background noise. Sounds transmitted are understandable in any frequency quite evenly. They can pick up high-frequency tones for both male and female voices, and allow for clear audio quality during phone calls. They don't have wireless charging, but do support quick charging. Continuous playback time is adequate at 24 hours of battery life.

The Elite 3 true wireless earbuds come from Jabra, a brand of the sound equipment manufacturer GN Audio, which is based in Denmark. They have an ergonomic Nordic build. These wireless earbuds are attractive for their ability to produce fine sounds with high resolution. It's a sound you'll naturally enjoy in any frequency range. The natural sound spread is one that isn't exaggerated, thanks to an overall sound quality that is faithful to the original audio file.

We felt these wireless earbuds expressed high-frequency ranges well by carrying the sounds of female vocals and instruments. While they lack some depth in the bass and midtone ranges, these zones are still clearly outlined and easy to listen to. On the functionality side, these wireless earbuds come with Fast Pair support, and can be paired with ease if connecting to an Android device. They have a high feeling of convenience with the included noise cancellation, external sound capture, and fully customizable equalizer.

On the other hand, they don't support in-ear detection or multipoint pairing to connect to multiple devices simultaneously. The microphone can pick up male and female voices up to the high frequency ranges and is easily able to transmit a clear voice audio. Female voices in particular were thoroughly picked up in any frequency range, and calls can be made with clear, easy-to-hear audio.

Battery performance tests showed average results, with 28 hours of continuous playback time, including case charging. Wireless charging may not be supported, but it does have fast charging, and just 10 minutes of charging will give one hour of playback time.

The AirPods Pro 2nd generation were released in September 2022 by Apple. They are equipped with the new H2 chip that claims to have improved sound quality and performance compared to the previous model. When in use, the sounds from these wireless earbuds spreads well, and feels like it's even being emitted on a scale outside of our immediate headspace.

There's also sharp bass for a powerful and varied sound. For midtone ranges, female singing voices are carried extremely well and felt natural. Relative sound quality is good, although the way that deeper tones and delicate treble sounds were expressed, such as with metallic cymbal sounds and subtle nuances of string instruments, were a little unsatisfactory. Sound resolution is clear, overall, and has a quality to enjoy music uniformly. Treble tones aren’t piercing, so any type of music will be enjoyable with this model.

Functions include support for volume adjustment, which was not available on the previous model, and basic playback control using on-device operation. The charging case has a built-in speaker which will conveniently sound an alarm when lost. In-ear detection can only be used when connected to an Apple device, but otherwise, this model of earbuds is convenient.

Microphone performance testing showed resistance to picking up background noise, and it's easy to hear even in high frequency ranges. Female voices are picked up easily, which allows for a crisp and clear phone call even while outside. The battery performance allows for 30 hours of use with charging case. These wireless earbuds even support wireless charging. However, the charging terminal is limited to Lightning cables, so those who ordinarily use Android devices won't be able to use these seamlessly.

The Beats Fit Pro are wireless earbuds by Beats by Dr. Dre, an Apple-affiliated brand established in 2006. They're made with comfort in mind, and the earbuds come with flexible wings. Sound quality is crisp and energetic. Bass tones are effective and outstanding to provide a firm sense of rhythm. Reproduction of midtones show weak balance, but the audio in this range is outlined well and easy to listen to.

On the other hand, the reverberations and sound carriage in high frequencies aren't the best, and we could sense the difference in quality compared to other frequency ranges. Sound resolution for this model has slight distortion for things like guitars and pianos, and is therefore probably not best for expressing nuances. But, these earbuds offer a realistic sound, which gives the feeling of being surrounded by music. We recommend these earbuds for rock and live music due to how effective the low bass is.

It was a shame to see that the earbuds lack the functionality to adjust volume directly with on-device operation. If the settings are changed, volume can be adjustable, but in exchange, noise cancellation can't be operated using on-device operation. On the other hand, they do have some convenient functions, such as multiple device connection and spatial audio, if used on an Apple device.

Our microphone performance tests found that these wireless earbuds do pick up a little background noise, but they pick up high frequency and vocal frequencies completely, so a phone call with good clarity is possible regardless of voice register. These earbuds aren't capable of wireless charging, but they do support fast charging. Including the charging case, they have a continuous playback time of 24 hours.

Tune 230NC are wireless earbuds by JBL. This model won the 2022 Red Dot Design Award for international product design. We found that sound quality covers a good extent, meaning that wide breadth of sounds can still be felt properly. On the other hand, sound lacks depth and some qualities lack impact, so there's a low sense of realism. There’s volume to the bass frequencies, but the sounds that constitute it weren't high quality, and some portions of our music were distorted. Vocals come through sounding natural, but the vocal reproduction quality is low and sounds flat. The musical compositions played with these wireless earbuds weren't captured as needed, resulting in low sound resolution ratings. This showed us that this model isn’t fit for expressing subtle sounds.

These wireless earbuds allow volume adjustments using on-device operation and preset or fully customizable equalizer options to customize the sound. However, they lack in-ear detection and loss prevention. They have a microphone that didn't pick up much background noise, which resulted in clear sound quality. The mic is able to pick up sounds, not only in the vocal frequencies, but also in high frequency ranges. We found it extremely easy to listen to.

There's no wireless charging, but they do have fast charging available, and also have a continuous playback time well above the average at 40 hours. This is a battery performance for those who want long-term use without worrying about charging.

The T6 wireless earbuds come from Tozo, a smart accessory company founded in the USA in 2016. They emphasize an ergonomic design to fit the curves of the ear. Sound quality is balanced overall, with no quirks to worry about. They're especially characterized by how far the sounds produced spread, and you can enjoy a sense that the music is being played all around you.

Sound resolution was characterized by a lack of any peculiarities, where all frequency ranges sounded natural. The dense bass tones bring out the good qualities of music, while the high quality midtones possess depth and stand out for vocals, regardless of the register. On the other hand, these wireless earbuds don't carry treble tones too well, which made us believe these aren't fit for reproducing the sounds of string instruments or pianos.

This model has limited functionality, allowing only play/pause control via the on-device operation, and doesn’t come equipped with noise cancellation, external noise transparency, or a customizable equalizer. The lack of convenience was noticeable. But we found that these earbuds have a mic that picks up little environmental noise and sufficiently captures sounds up to the treble frequencies of 2,000 to 4,000 hertz. This performance is sure to come in handy when making phone calls out in public.

These wireless earbuds have the longest lasting battery performance among all tested products, with 45 hours of use including case charging, all while supporting wireless and fast charging. We feel they have a reliable battery life, and like that they won't require constant charging.

The Soundcore Life P3i wireless earbuds are made by Anker. They claim to provide crystal-clear phone calls no matter the location, using four microphones and a noise-isolating AI algorithm dedicated to accurately picking up sounds. They have overall low sound resolution, and there are some cases where sound distorts when playing prominent noises, such as string instruments and pianos. Sound spread is also subdued, as these wireless earbuds essentially produce a flat sound.

However, this is balanced by strong low tones that are quite enjoyable with music, although they can't quite capture the sounds of drums and bass. There's a certain unnaturalness when midtones are stressed, and although treble tones come out clear, we felt something was out of place when female vocals used vibrato.

In terms of functionality, you'll find convenient features like an equalizer supporting fine-tuned adjustments through an app, and earbud tracking. However, they lack in-ear detection and multiple device pairing. The microphone performance is very high, as it picks up vocal frequencies accurately and captures plenty of treble tones for both male and female voices. This microphone will cut out all surrounding sounds besides those in the vocal frequency range, which makes it an easy-to-use device for calls even in places with environmental noise.

These earbuds allow for quick charging, and 10 minutes of charge will provide 2 hours of use. The continuous playback time with the charging case offers 36 hours of playback, which exceeds the average. This model, however, does not support wireless charging.

The Tune 125 true wireless earbuds claim to provide an enjoyable, pure bass using the sound technology cultivated by JBL over many years. Sound quality chimes through naturally and in every frequency range, and they feature a well-balanced sound without any peculiarities. These wireless earbuds have a stable sound resolution that properly captures subtle sounds. The sound doesn't have much depth, but the dense bass tones produce deep sounds, and the midtones, which even capture vocal nuances, seem natural and easy to listen to. Treble tones like the sounds of cymbals and backup singers are reproduced well, which drew out the charm in our music. They're also characterized by a sound spread that feels like it thoroughly expands out in any given space.

The earbuds only allow on-device operation to play and pause music, but support Fast Pair to quickly pair with Android devices. Besides this, these wireless earbuds feel hard to use, as they don't have noise-canceling, external sound capture, or other convenient functions like an equalizer or multipoint pairing.

In addition to picking up almost no background noise, the microphone captures treble tones well, so phone calls can be made with clarity. It's especially easy to pick up female voices, delivering vocal audio that’s crisp and not drowned out by background noise. Battery performance permits a continuous playback time of 32 hours with the charging case. Additionally, this model supports quick charging, and one hour of playtime after a 15-minute charge.

These are the Galaxy Buds2 Pro by Samsung Electronics. They support the Galaxy Seamless Codec aimed at Galaxy smartphones. When testing these wireless earbuds, we found they can fully reproduce even the smallest spaces between individual sounds for an immersive and realistic experience. The lively treble quality excels at expressing instrumentals and female vocals. While it feels that midtones blur together slightly, these wireless earbuds offer a sense of presence to enjoy when expressing vocal sounds, and the deep bass provides impact given off by any drums and bass. Although, depending on the type of music, there were some areas we found not suitable for expressing finer detailed sounds.

We found it unfortunate that the functionality of these wireless earbuds doesn't allow for noise cancellation and external sound capture using on-device operations. On-device operation can be customized using the dedicated smartphone app. However, enabling noise cancellation and external sound capture using the wireless earbuds will forfeit the ability to adjust volume settings. There's no multipoint pairing either, so functionality can be said to be lacking.

Microphone performance testing results showed that this model isn't the best for vocal audio, as it picks up a lot of background noise. The microphone doesn’t pick up treble tones of either female or male voices easily. They wouldn't be the best for calls in places with lots of background noise, such as public spaces. These earbuds support wireless and quick charging, but the continuous playback time is below the average, at 21 hours with the charging case.

The 3rd Generation AirPods, compared to the previous 2nd generation model, have many new features, including spatial audio that provides an enjoyable 3D sound and adaptive equalization that optimizes sounds according to the surrounding environment. In our test for sound quality, we found that there is a sharp sound for kick drums, and found the deep bass to be an attractive feature for these. The bass quality’s depth is easily felt, regardless of the fact that these earbuds are the open kind that don't completely seal off the ear canal.

While looking at midtone quality, we felt that vocal sounds had depth and texture to them. The quality of female vocals, in particular, stands out. Treble sounds quite natural with things like instruments and vocals, and it's enjoyable audio without any sense of discomfort. Sound resolution tests proved that all frequency ranges come through clearly, and the sharpness of instrumental or vocal sounds is easily felt. These wireless earbuds have a sound spread that feels like it is playing all around the listener’s headspace, which gives you a sense a realism like being wrapped in the music.

But they lack volume adjustment using on-device operation. And because these earbuds are the open type, they aren't equipped with noise cancellation. They even lack multipoint pairing, which left us feeling the functionality was unsatisfactory. Although vocal frequencies are picked up sufficiently, the microphone wasn't able to pick up the treble qualities of either male or female voices, which made us feel it won't be easy to hear calls. The mic mainly picks up deeper-toned background noises, and may not be easy to use in public spaces.

The battery permits 30 hours of continuous use with the charging case, and they also support wireless charging. On the other hand, anyone other than iPhone users may find them difficult to use, as the charging terminal only uses Lightning cables.

The WF-C500 are wireless earbuds from Sony. They sport trendy colors, such as ice green and coral orange, plus basic ones like white and black. Sound quality tests showed that these wireless earbuds have insufficient bass depth, with a slightly unsatisfactory impact. On the other hand, the sound spreads well, which creates a realistic feeling of being wrapped in the music. Midtone quality is crisp with a vibrancy delivered directly to the ears. Treble quality is also characterized as sounding smooth, with no harshness to it. Sound resolution received high ratings, as the natural sounds of any song can be reproduced with this model.

These earbuds allow on-device operation for volume adjustment and track skipping, and sound quality can even be fine-tuned using the associated app. On the other hand, they aren't truly multifunctional, as they lack noise cancellation and external sound capture. They also have a microphone that picks up a lot of background noise in all frequencies, and have difficulty capturing treble tones. We found this made them tough to use for calls in crowded or noisy spaces.

Although we found that this model doesn't have wireless charging, it has quick charging, to give 60 minutes of playback with a 10-minute charge. Continuous playback time using the charging case was found to be 20 hours.

Galaxy Buds2 are true wireless headphones by Samsung. They are equipped with two-way dynamic speakers that claim to produce a powerful, deep bass and transparent treble. When testing these wireless earbuds, we found the resolution to be high, and enjoyed relishing in the realistic sounds. Vocal sounds are fully reproduced with all detailed nuances and tones, and we sensed a good midtone quality. Bass had a lack of depth, so we couldn't really feel the presence of these tones. Classical string instruments, which are difficult to express well with speakers, could be heard beautifully within treble quality testing. The spread and three-dimensionality of these wireless earbuds is excellent, and using them provides a realistic experience.

They don't allow fine-tuned adjustments in every frequency range, and have an equalizer with simple preset options. There's no on-device operation for noise cancellation and external sound capture, and we found it unfortunate that changing these settings in the dedicated app means losing the ability to adjust volume settings. They do have in-ear detection and wireless charging support, but besides this, the functionality is limited.

Microphone performance testing shows these earbuds pick up a lot of bass-toned background noise. They are able to pick up the vocal frequencies of 100 to 1,000 hertz, albeit quietly, but they can hardly pick up the treble frequencies of either male or female voices. It'll be difficult to talk in a clear voice during phone calls with these. Wireless and quick charging are both possible. Continuous playback time with the charging case is 20 hours, which is below average, but may be sufficient.

The Pixel Buds A-Series are wireless earbuds by Google. They are equipped with an adaptive sound function, which automatically adjusts volume settings according to the surrounding noise level. In our test for sound quality, we found that, although the bass has some depth, they can't fully capture deep bass tones. The powerful drum sounds produced are decent, but the outline of them sound blurred. However, both female and male vocals hold a sense of realism, and there we could feel the good quality of midtones with these earbuds.

Treble quality comes through with a natural, enjoyable sound, where the intense characteristic sound of metallic instruments such as cymbals is not present. We didn't feel that these wireless earbuds could reproduce subtle sounds too well, but they still provide enjoyable, natural resolution. Sound spread is mild, but not enough where it feels like being enveloped by the music.

We were sad to see that they also lack major features often found in true wireless headphones, such as external sound capture and noise cancellation. The range of equalizer customization is limited, and these wireless earbuds don't support multipoint pairing. We believe functionality is rather poor. As far as microphone performance goes, the end result was a difficult-to-hear sound, as they picked up so much background noise. They won't be easy to make phone calls with, given that they couldn’t pick up treble tones. The battery provides 31 hours of continuous playback time with the charging case and they have support for quick charging, but not wireless charging.

These Studio Buds from Beats by Dr. Dre come in a colorful array of red, blue, pink and other colors, which makes it easy to choose a favorite shade. Sound quality is characterized by rich bass with a good tone. Unfortunately, overall sound resolution is low, and sounds barren. These wireless earbuds can express treble tones a little, but it contains a shrill harshness to it. Although there was some sound spread, we found that singing vocals lacked a sense of realism, and midtone quality was also not that good. These are not great at expressing the subtleties of string instruments.

They're also inconvenient, as they lack not only in-ear detection and multipoint pairing, but also wireless charging. They aren't equipped with an equalizer function, so sound settings can’t be personalized. Although they do feature mainstream functions, like noise cancellation and external sound capture, functionality still felt unsatisfactory.

Our microphone performance tests found that lots of background noise was picked up in the mid and treble tones, resulting in a poor rating. They reproduce the vocal frequencies, but aren't the best at picking up treble tones, and have a muffled sound quality that won't be easy to listen to. Battery performance was of average quality, with 24 hours of continuous playback time. They do support quick charging and will allow one hour of playback time after five minutes of charging.

The Galaxy Buds Live are wireless earbuds by Samsung. The distinct form and ergonomic design claim to allow a fit to the ears that captures surrounding sounds. We found the sound resolution to be low overall, where the contours and finer details of musical sounds produced seemed insufficient. This may be due to the design of the non-sealing earbuds, which means they aren't suited to express subtle sounds.

Bass quality comes with volume, but the overall quality isn't very high and sounds muddy. The quality of singing vocals and instruments is low, and the shallowness of midtones is not easy to listen to. In addition, there is little quality to treble tones, so the sounds of things like cymbals feel buried. There is also little sound spread, and a subsequent lack of realistic audio. For features, this model supports Fast Pair, as long as an Android device is being used, which means they can be paired easily just by opening the charging case. On-device operations allow volume adjustment and playback control. On the other hand, these wireless earbuds do not have a fine-tuned equalizer or compatibility for multipoint pairing.

Our test for microphone performance showed that these wireless earbuds pick up background noise for bass tones, have trouble picking up both male and female vocal frequencies, and hardly capture treble tones, which we believe means they won't allow for clear conversation during phone calls. Although they support both wireless and quick charging, continuous playback time with the charging case is somewhat unsatisfactory, at only 18 hours.

The X17 True Wireless Earbuds are made by Mifa, an acoustics manufacturer established in 2013. They claim a design to fit the ears better for comfort over a long period. Sound quality testing found poor resolution to be a concern. The overall sound produced was muffled and difficult to listen to. Bass quality is too light and lacks depth, while midtones don't express the sounds of singing vocals and instruments well. Sound spread is low and they lack any sense of realism. Treble tones could be reproduced, but only for choruses and echoed sounds. Overall sound resolution is low and sound quality is not great.

These wireless earbuds only support on-device play/pause operations. They have no other prominent functions such as noise cancellation or an equalizer. Microphone testing found that these wireless earbuds pick up background noise in almost all frequencies, and showed that voice audio is difficult to listen to. While the mic does pick up treble tones, a lot of background noise will be relayed too, which means these wireless earbuds won't be great for phone calls outside. On the other hand, they come with high battery performance. They support wireless and quick charging, and continuous playback time with the charging case gives 30 hours of usage time, which makes them fit for long-term use.