Best wireless earbuds - finding your perfect pair

They’re the small white earbuds you see almost everywhere – Apple AirPods (3rd generation) are easily one of the most popular headphones on the market. And for good reason. Personalised Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking places sounds all around you and creates a three-dimensional listening experience, while the adaptive EQ automatically tunes music to your ears. As always, setup is effortless and there’s up to six hours of battery life with one charge, and up to 30 hours total listening time with the Magsafe Charging Case. The touch control lets you easily control your entertainment, answer or end calls, and enjoy quick access to Siri by saying “Hey Siri”. In a step up from previous iterations, they’re now sweat and water resistant too.  

And now we level up to the Apple AirPods Pro. Apple describes them as “more immersive by every measure” and this is due to the new Apple-designed H2 chip, which drives the advanced audio performance. This delivers two times more noise cancellation, superior three-dimensional sound and a more efficient battery life, all in one hit. Plus, they have adaptive transparency mode which minimises the intensity of loud environmental noises like sirens or jackhammers, without completely blocking them out. Perfect for softening the bustle of everyday life whilst staying aware of your surroundings and protecting your hearing. Now let’s talk about something important – not everyone has the same sized ears. Strange, but true. This version of the Apple AirPods Pro now comes with four pairs of silicone tips (including the new extra small) to fit a wider range of ears and create an acoustic seal that closes in sound and secures the AirPods in place. All in all, they’re widely considered to be a joy to use by almost everyone who reviews them, and we roundly agree.

Founded in 1945, Sennheiser is one of the oldest and most respected audio brands on the market, who say that the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 3 ANC in-ear headphones were inspired by music. For a top-level overview, they feature Sennheiser Signature Sound, adaptive noise cancellation that automatically adjusts to your environment, high-quality voice pick up with three advanced microphones on each earbud to ensure absolute clarity, and a tailor-made fit with a variety of earbud adapters and silicone fins. Plus, there’s splash resistance, up to 28 hours playtime and wireless charging. Where it gets interesting is when you download Sennheiser Smart Control, this companion app is your passport to advanced features and incomparable fidelity. The app allows you to fine tune your listening experience by customising your sound with the integrated equaliser, a variety of presets and even a guided listening test. We feel the MOMENTUM True Wireless 3 from Sennhesier not only meet but exceed any expectations you can throw at them.     

This next pair comes from 150-year-old Danish tech brand, Jabra who bring you their sleek Elite 3 True Wireless in-ear headphones. Brilliantly engineered to breathe new life into your music and with 4-microphone technology for crystal clear calls, these wireless headphones are here to set your sound free. Specifically designed for noise isolation, the Elite 3 features a closed acoustic design so you can stay immersed in your listening experience, wherever you are. Conversely, when you need to be aware of your surroundings, their HearThrough technology uses the bud’s built-in microphones to pick up external sounds and play them in your ears. How clever is that? Probably one of the most important things to note with these earbuds is their price point – they are, comparatively, very affordable. And because we know you’ll ask, there’s up to seven hours of battery in a single charge and up to 28 hours with the charging case. And if you’re short on time, you’ll squeeze one hour of battery from 10 minutes of charging.

Is it at all surprising that the company who brought the world portable music now excels at the headphone end of the spectrum? The award-winning Sony WF-1000XM4 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones are widely thought to be one of the best in market – an exceptional listening experience that takes noise cancelling and audio quality to the next level. These upgraded earbuds feature evolved digital noise cancelling with the new Integrated Processor V1, ergonomic surface design for a stable fit, incredible and dynamic sound quality with High-Resolution Audio Wireless, water resistance and a long battery life for everyday use. We particularly love the Adaptive Sound Control, which provides automatic wind noise reduction and a bone-conduction sensor for voice pick up only and clearer phone calls, which makes talking while walking all the better, for everyone.

Since 1925, Danish icon Bang & Olufsen has created iconic audio products to the highest standards of sound, craft and design. And their BEOPLAY EQ Adaptive Noise Cancelling Wireless Earphones are no exception. Tuned by acclaimed sound engineers, this pair of wireless earbuds produce authentic Bang & Olufsen Signature Sound delivered by a 6.8mm driver for powerful audio. The Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Acoustic technology creates the capacity for total silence and crystal-clear calls, while compensating for a wide variety of background noises. The earbuds support the use of Bluetooth 5.2 and have an advanced battery life of up to 20 hours (or 6.5 hours with ANC), with a fast charge of 20 minutes for two hours playtime. As with any B&O product, high-quality materials are evident in the build – think anodised aluminium, sweat-resistant textured housing and a carrying case with a rubber-coated base for optimised Qi charging. And don’t forget ergonomics, the interchangeable ear tips come in a variety of sizes to allow for a snug fit.

Touted as best in class, the Klipsch T5 II True Wireless Sport earbuds are as rugged as they are stylish. Here’s the rundown: a 5mm custom driver with high-resolution diaphragm, six sizes of patented oval ear tips for your perfect fit and ear wings for maximum staying power, battery with 8 hours of charge and another 24 in the wireless charging case, 4 beamforming microphones to deliver crystal clear calls and a signal-boost antenna for long-range Bluetooth® 5 connectivity. They sport an IP67 rating – which means they provide complete protection against dust over an extended period of time and will provide protection for short periods of immersion in water. Even better, they’ve doubled down with a moisture-removal system inside the case to ensure your earphones stay dry. The earbuds also offer transparency mode, so you can hear your surroundings with the press of a button for outside noise pass-through. And if you’re wondering, the case is available in green, white and black – fitness never looked so good.

The Klipsch T5 II True Wireless Sport PGA Tour Edition comes with everything you expect including legendary Klipsch sound, patented oval ear tips, high-clarity dynamic driver, exceptional battery life, transparency mode, beamforming microphones, signal boost antenna and an IP67 rating. With the PGA Tour Edition, golf fans can show their pride with the signature blue and red colour scheme of the PGA, the swinging golfer logo and the putting-green inspired charging pad. This lightning-fast wireless charging pad features NuCurrent, which uses inductive and resonant charging technology to deliver charging speeds that are two times faster than any other product in the industry.

Welcome to the speed of sound with the Klipsch T5 II True Wireless ANC headphones, the McLaren Edition. With a two-mic hybrid design for feedforward and feedback ANC to deliver maximum noise cancellation, integrated Dirac HD Sound, Voice Awareness and Bragi-enabled features like Noise Shield, short cuts and smart actions, this collaboration between two iconic brands has birthed a truly premium product. Klipsch also offers an app to help tailor your experience – the Connect App has customisable EQ with sound presets, access to advanced features, set up guides and, excellently, product firmware updates. The earbuds feature McLaren accents in their signature papaya colour, real carbon fibre and an outer shell that mimics the intermediate tread of the McLaren F1 tires. And, we love that the device includes a wireless dual-positioning charging pad for both your earbuds and your phone.

And now for American tech giant Bose to enter the list with their Bose Sports Earbuds. Much like the Bose QuietComfort earbuds, they’re designed from the ground up to combine high-performance audio and a secure fit, and we know they’ll be your new best workout buds. They feature Volume-optimised Active EQ for balanced listening, StayHear (TM) Max tips to create a tight seal with your ear canal (with three sizes so you can find the right fit for you) and touch controls to keep you moving. Designed to resist moisture from weather and sweat, Bose Sports Earbuds are rated IPX4 – which means they’re only protected against splashing water (think getting caught in the rain). Here’s something fun, they have a feature called Spotify Tap (TM). Set up a shortcut to “Spotify” in the Bose Music app to enable and with a simple double tap of the left earbud, you can access your favourite Spotify playlist. These earbuds provide up to five hours of battery life, with another two full charges available in the case. And a quick 15 minute charge gives you up to two hours of battery life.

The Jabra Elite 7 Active earbuds are here to free your workout. And what’s truly the most important thing for anyone when they’re exercising? Headphones that stay firmly in place. With that in mind, they re-engineered their sports earbuds for the ultimate active fit with their unique ShakeGrip (TM) technology. Made with a special Liquid Silicone Rubber compound, this ingenious material feels incredibly soft and holds the earbuds more securely without the need for ear wings. As for the rest, adjustable Active Noise Cancellation can be set to your own preference, HearThrough technology means you can be aware of ambient sound when you’re on a run or crossing a road, and the MySound feature in the Jabra Sound+ app personalises the sound to your hearing. Perfect for both the outdoors and the gym, these bad buds are rated IP57, so they’re waterproof, sweat proof and there is a massive 8 hours of listening time.

It’s a truth universally known that most wireless earbuds are completely unsuited to gaming. Even high-price, premium buds don’t have the specific set of features that most gamers are looking for – enter the Monster Mission V1 Wireless Gaming Earbuds. They’re relatively new to market and have been getting great reviews across the board for one very specific reason, they prioritise latency. Quick tech term rundown: latency (or ping) refers to the total amount of time it takes your gaming device to send data to the game server and then receive it back again, it’s measured in milliseconds. Lower latency equates to less lag time, smoother gameplay and a better gaming experience. These great sounding earbuds offer an ultra-low latency of 48ms or a near-zero delay. Other key product features include dual gaming and music modes, noise cancellation for crystal-clear calls and voice chat, USB C and fast wireless charging.

It’s no surprise that Razer, who are well known among gaming and esports communities globally, have skin in the game when it comes to wireless earbuds for gamers. From Razer comes the Hammerhead True Wireless X Earbuds. Not only are these earbuds modestly priced, but they also deliver sound that has been described as fantastic, powerful and assertive as well as a suite of features that are sure to please. This pair boasts bluetooth 5.2 with auto-pairing, touch controls, a water resistant design, mobile-app customisation and 24 hours of battery life (6 in the earbuds and another three full charges in the case). Need more battery than that? Switch off the illuminated Razer logo which is donned on each of the earbuds and you can expect up to 28 hours of battery (7 in the earbuds and another 3 full charges in the case). For the gamers out there it’s most important to mention that on top of all of these features, these earbuds also have a 60ms low latency gaming mode which delivers a noticeable difference to audio response for a seamless and lag-free gaming experience.

Explore the full range of headphones and earphones available on Qantas Marketplace.