Wi-fi headphones have come a great distance from the cumbersome designs of the previous. In the present day’s fashions are lighter, smarter and full of options that make them helpful for all the pieces from journey to lengthy workdays at your desk. Many provide robust noise cancellation, fast pairing and dependable battery life — all of which makes them a simple improve if you’d like extra freedom out of your units.
After all, not each listener has the identical wants. Some folks need portability, which is why our information to the best earbuds is price a glance, whereas others need one thing extra specialised just like the best gaming headsets or the best budget earbuds. However if you happen to’re after over-ear headphones that target consolation and immersive sound, this roundup of the very best wi-fi headphones highlights the highest selections we’ve examined.
Desk of contents
Finest wi-fi headphones for 2025
Billy Steele for Engadget
Noise cancellation: Sure | Multipoint: Sure | Battery life: 30 hours | Weight: 0.55 kilos | Water resistance: None | Assistant assist: Bixby, Siri, Google Assistant | Shade choices: Black, Platinum Silver, and Midnight Blue
Learn our full Sony WH-1000XM6 review
Sony’s 1000X line has been our prime choose for greatest wi-fi headphone for a very long time now. Till one other firm can pack in as many premium options as Sony, and accomplish that with a mixture of glorious sound high quality and efficient ANC, the crown is protected. With the WH-1000XM6, Sony subtly redesigned its flagship headphones, making them far more snug to put on for lengthy intervals of time. This is a crucial issue to think about when buying over-ear headphones. We additionally seen in our checks that the corporate made noticeable enhancements to the energetic noise cancellation, because of a brand new QN3 chip. There are actually 12 complete ANC mics as properly – the earlier mannequin solely had eight. This all combines to raised block background noise at medium and excessive frequencies, together with human voices.
The M6 additionally has improved sound high quality, because of new drivers, some assist from mastering engineers and spatial audio upmixing. Its battery life stays the identical 30 hours as its predecessor, which is greater than sufficient to get you thru a number of days of labor or lengthy worldwide flights. Converse-to-Chat nonetheless reduces quantity and prompts ambient sound if you discuss and the M6 can routinely change noise settings based mostly in your location or exercise. The one actual draw back is that they’re $50 greater than the WH-1000XM5 at full worth ($450).
- Improved sound
- Higher ANC efficiency
- Tons of helpful options
- Supremely comfortable
- Value has elevated once more
- Converse-to-Chat nonetheless wants work
- Name high quality suffers in loud environments
Billy Steele for Engadget
Noise cancellation: Sure | Multipoint: Sure | Battery life: 60 hours | Weight: 11.5 ounces | Water resistance: None | Assistant assist: Google Assistant, Siri | Shade choices: Black/Silver
Learn our full Noble Audio FoKus Apollo review
Noble Audio makes use of a novel driver configuration to supply extra detailed sound than the competitors. As a substitute of a single driver, the corporate makes use of two: one dynamic and one planar magnetic. The result’s the FoKus Apollo getting the very best of each, with thick bass, clear highs and excessive readability.
You received’t discover a variety of options right here. There may be respectable ANC efficiency, however it’s nowhere close to the very best. You’ll additionally get glorious battery life, which is the second greatest purpose to purchase these headphones. Nonetheless, you’re paying primarily for the unimaginable sound high quality, which will not be sufficient for the excessive worth.
- Ridiculously good sound high quality
- Premium design and supplies
- Lengthy battery life
- Cozy match
- Very costly
- Restricted options
- Common ANC efficiency
Billy Steele for Engadget
Noise cancellation: Sure | Multipoint: Sure | Battery life: 30 hours | Weight: 10.58 ounces | Water resistance: None | Assistant assist: Not specified | Shade choices: Anthracite Black, Canvas White, Indigo Blue
Learn our full Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review
Bowers & Wilkins continues its run of stellar audio high quality on the Px7 S3. The corporate made tweaks to its sound platform with new 40mm bio cellulose drivers, discrete headphone amps and a TrueSound mode. There are additionally upgrades to ANC and slight design adjustments. Plus, the corporate remains to be understating its battery life figures, so that you’ll get greater than anticipated by way of longevity right here.
- Wonderful sound high quality
- Cozy match
- Subtle design
- Costly
- Awkward button areas
- An absence of superior options
Audio-Technica
Noise cancellation: No | Multipoint: Sure | Battery life: 60 hours | Weight: 1.42 kilos | Water resistance: None | Assistant assist: Not specified | Shade choices: Black, White
Audio-Technica has launched inexpensive wi-fi headphones previously, and whereas they didn’t provide energetic noise cancellation, they’re nonetheless price contemplating. The corporate’s latest is the M20xBT, a Bluetooth model of the A-T’s common M20x wired cans. For simply $79, you’ll be able to count on a cushty match and as much as 60 hours of battery life. Bluetooth multipoint connectivity permits you to hook up with a number of units without delay and bodily buttons present dependable on-board management. The design isn’t as refined as the corporate’s pricer fashions just like the M50xBT2, however you get the majority of what makes Audio-Technica’s cheaper choices so good.
- Reasonably priced
- As much as 60 hours of battery life
- Multipoint connectivity
- Design is not as refined as opponents’
Bose/Engadget
Noise cancellation: Sure | Multipoint: Sure | Battery life: 30 hours | Water resistance: None | Assistant assist: Google Assistant, Siri | Shade choices: Black, White, Desert Gold, Driftwood Sand, Midnight Violet
Learn our full Bose QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2 review
The second-gen model of the QuietComfort Extremely Headphones aren’t a wholly new machine, however there are impactful upgrades throughout. With regard to the ANC particularly, Bose enhanced its ActiveSense tech to easy any changes to sudden spikes in ambient noise ranges. This bolsters what was already very good ANC efficiency, an achievement that provides the corporate a slight edge over the competitors.
The brand new model additionally consists of important updates to energy administration and battery life, with a minimum of 5 extra hours of use in all listening modes. You’ll additionally get lossless audio over USB-C, placing the QC Extremely Headphones on the identical stage at Apple’s AirPods Max and others. A snug match, dependable controls and folding design spherical out the spec sheet for this mannequin.
- Business-leading ANC acquired even higher
- Sound and energy upgrades are substantial
- Nonetheless costly
- Shiny end isn’t for everybody
Technics
Noise cancellation: Sure | Multipoint: Sure | Battery life: 50 hours | Weight: 0.65 kilos | Water resistance: None | Assistant assist: Amazon Alexa | Shade choices: Black, Silver
Back at CES 2022, Panasonic introduced the EAH-A800: a brand new set of energetic noise canceling headphones underneath the enduring Technics model. Whereas a lot of the options are what you see on any variety of wi-fi headphones, one determine stood out. The corporate says you’ll be able to count on as much as 50 hours of battery life on the A800, and that’s with energetic noise cancellation enabled. Whereas we have not put them via the total evaluate evaluation, I’ve already examined them on a long flight. The ANC is spectacular and so they’re snug sufficient to keep away from turning into a burden after a number of hours or many lengthy listening periods. Sound high quality can also be fairly good (there’s LDAC assist, too) and there are sufficient options right here to justify the premium price ticket.
- 50-hour battery life with ANC turned on
- Snug design
- Good sound high quality
MASTER & DYNAMIC
Noise cancellation: Sure | Multipoint: Sure | Battery life: 28 hours | Weight: 0.75 kilos | Water resistance: None | Assistant assist: Appropriate with native voice assistants | Shade choices: Silver Metallic / Brown Leather-based, Black Metallic / Black Leather-based, Silver Metallic / Navy Leather-based, Silver Metallic / Black Leather-based, Gunmetal / Black Leather-based, Gunmetal / Navy Leather-based, Silver Metallic / Gray Leather-based
Whereas Grasp & Dynamic is thought for its design prowess, the corporate’s over-ear headphones have been due for a refresh. With the MW75 that debuted in June, the corporate opted for a glance that takes cues from its MG20 gaming headphones and mixes them with a combo of aluminum, leather-based and tempered glass. The corporate’s trademark sound high quality returns with a number of ANC modes and ambient sound choices for a variety of conditions. At $599, the high-end seems don’t come low cost, however if you happen to’re searching for one thing past the pure plastic trend of most headphones, M&D has you lined.
- Luxurious design made with premium supplies
- A number of ANC modes
How to decide on the very best wi-fi headphones for you
In the case of purchasing for a great pair of wi-fi headphones, the very first thing you’ll have to resolve on is put on fashion. Do you like on-ear or over-ear headphones? For the needs of our purchaser’s information, we give attention to the over-ear fashion as that’s what most noise-canceling headphones are these days. Positive, you could find on-ear fashions with ANC, however over-ear designs are rather more efficient at blocking sound. Talking of noise cancellation, you’ll wish to decide early on if you happen to even need that. Should you regularly crank up the beats in noisy environments, you’ll wish to not solely ensure that it’s there, but additionally ensure that it’s good, ideally with adaptive ANC. Should you plan to make use of your new headphones in quieter areas, skipping ANC can prevent some cash.
The subsequent space to think about is options. We advocate attempting to get essentially the most bang to your buck, however as you’re buying round you need to decide which objects are must-haves and what you’ll be able to reside with out. And don’t take staple items like computerized pausing and Bluetooth multipoint connectivity without any consideration, as not all corporations embody them. We additionally recommend studying critiques to see how properly an organization’s extra superior options work. This may enable you to resolve if these are one thing you’re keen to (possible) pay further for. Keep watch over higher battery life estimates to keep away from disappointment, as some producers promise extra hours than real-world testing delivers. And don’t be simply swayed by lofty guarantees about name high quality with out verifying them.
Sound might be subjective, so we advocate attempting before you purchase if in any respect attainable. We perceive this isn’t simple at a time once we’re doing most of our buying on-line. However attempting on a set of headphones and listening to them for a couple of minutes can prevent from an costly case of purchaser’s regret. We additionally advocate being attentive to issues like Spatial Audio, Dolby Atmos, 360 Actuality Audio and different immersive codecs. Not all headphones assist them, so that you’ll wish to ensure that a perspective pair does if that type of factor excites you. Should you plan to make use of your headphones for different media apart from music, checking for latency can also be a should — some delay can affect playback for issues like motion pictures or video games, even when most true wi-fi headphones now provide minimal lag.
How we take a look at over-ear headphones
The first method we take a look at wi-fi headphones is to put on them as a lot as attainable. We choose to do that over a one- to two-week interval, however generally embargoes don’t enable it. Throughout this time, we hearken to a mixture of music and podcasts, whereas additionally utilizing the earbuds to take each voice and video calls. Since battery life for headphones might be 30 hours or extra, we drain the battery with looping music and the quantity set at a cushty stage (often round 75 %). As a result of longer battery estimates, we’ll sometimes energy the headphones off a number of instances and depart them throughout a evaluate. This simulates real-world use and retains us from having to continuously monitor the method for over 24 straight hours.
To evaluate the very best Bluetooth headphones, we give attention to higher-quality audio by listening to a wide range of genres and paying shut consideration to how every fashion sounds. We additionally take a look at at each high and low volumes to test for consistency within the tuning. To evaluate the standard of telephone calls, we’ll report audio samples with the headphones’ microphones in addition to have third events name us.
In the case of options, we do a radical evaluate of companion apps, testing every characteristic as we work via the software program. Any holdovers from earlier fashions are double checked for enhancements or regression. If the headphones we’re testing are an up to date model of a earlier mannequin, we’ll spend time getting reacquainted with the older set. Ditto for the closest competitors for every new set of headphones that we evaluate.
Different wi-fi headphones we examined
AirPods Max
Apple’s AirPods Max are premium, well-designed over-ear headphones that incorporate the entire greatest options you discover on normal AirPods: stable noise cancelation, spatial audio and simple Siri entry. Nevertheless, their $550 beginning worth makes them nearly prohibitively costly, even for Apple customers. There are higher choices accessible at decrease costs, however if you happen to can choose up the AirPods Max at a steep low cost, they is perhaps worthwhile for the most important Apple followers amongst us.
Dyson On-Trac
The On-Trac headphones have an nearly infinitely customizable design, and that’s what’s most original about them. The sound profile affords some good element, however lacks dynamic vary total. ANC is common at greatest and there aren’t any superior options that can make your life simpler. Properly, aside from the listening to well being monitor which is definitely helpful. All advised, that’s not rather a lot in a set of $500 headphones.
Sonos Ace
The Sonos Ace is a superb debut for the corporate’s first headphones. The mix of refined design, nice sound high quality and residential theater methods creates a novel method. Nevertheless, ANC efficiency is simply okay and key performance remains to be within the works for a lot of customers.
Sony ULT Put on
If most headphones don’t have the extent of bass you want, the ULT Wear is an choice to think about. The low-end thump isn’t for everybody, however there are additionally loads of helpful options and a refined look to make the $200 set extra compelling than many on this worth vary.
Sony WH-CH720N
Whereas the WH-CH720N are an incredible inexpensive choice, we choose the Audio-Technica within the funds class. Sony’s cans are light-weight with good sound high quality, however ANC struggles at instances and so they’re made with a variety of plastic.
Beats Studio Professional
The Studio Pro lacks primary options like computerized pausing, and multipoint connectivity is just accessible on Android. Furthermore, they’re not very snug for folks with bigger heads. General sound high quality is improved, although, and voice efficiency on calls is properly above common.
Bose QuietComfort Extremely headphones
Bose’s latest flagship model has rather a lot to supply, however its trademark Immersive Audio characteristic might be inconsistent throughout several types of music. There’s nonetheless world-class ANC, glorious consolation and a clearer transparency mode, however for the value, the non-Extremely mannequin is a more sensible choice proper now.
Grasp & Dynamic MH40 (2nd gen)
The MH40 are an incredible set of headphones if you happen to favor crisp, clear and pure sound that isn’t overly tuned. This pair showcases the corporate’s affinity for leather-based and metallic too, however restricted customization and brief battery life for non-ANC cans stored this set from making the reduce.
Bowers & Wilkins Px8
The corporate’s trademark pristine sound is on show here, however the Px8 are costlier and never practically as snug because the Px7 S2.
Wi-fi headphones FAQs
How are you going to inform the standard of wi-fi headphones?
I sometimes take a look at three elements: design, sound high quality and options. By way of design, I’m often seeking to see if the construct high quality of the headphones feels low cost and plasticky. Loads of corporations use plastic, however they will accomplish that in a method that doesn’t look or really feel like funds fashions. For sound high quality, I wish to hear a pleasant, even tuning the place highs, mids and lows are all properly represented. No overly boomy bass or scooped out mids. I additionally need good readability the place you’ll be able to choose up nice particulars and an open, immersive soundstage. Options is often a distant third, but when an organization doesn’t cowl primary performance (computerized pausing, transparency mode, multipoint Bluetooth, and so on.) it may be a sign of total high quality.
How do I select the very best quality wi-fi headphones?
“Finest” might be fairly subjective, however I at all times advocate going to a spot the place you’ll be able to hearken to the headphones you’re fascinated with shopping for earlier than you commit. Generally this isn’t attainable, so that you’ll wish to test return insurance policies. I additionally advocate doing a little analysis to find out what your priorities are in a brand new set. Are you an audiophile who desires the very best sound high quality? Is highly effective energetic noise cancellation (ANC) a very powerful? Would you somewhat have conveniences like computerized pausing?
Which model has the very best wi-fi headphones?
Sony persistently tops our record with its 1000X line. That is largely as a result of mixture of sound high quality, ANC efficiency and the truckload of options these headphones pack in. I’ll be the primary to let you know that there are higher sounding choices and different corporations, like Bose, provide more practical noise cancellation. However if you add all the pieces up, nobody comes near the total slate of instruments Sony places in its premium headphone line.
Do costly wi-fi headphones sound higher?
Exorbitant worth tags don’t imply higher audio high quality. Bowers & Wilkins’ headphones are on the excessive finish for wi-fi noise-canceling fashions and so they sound superb. Nevertheless, Audio-Technica’s M50xBT2 is rather more inexpensive and doesn’t have ANC, however these headphones have a heat, pure sound profile that I discover very inviting. On the finish of the day, it would come down to private desire, however you don’t want to spend so much to search out nice headphones.
