The best wireless headphones you can buy today are comfortable, have great sound, and connect to your devices via Bluetooth. That means you no longer have to plug in a wireless connection to watch or listen to your favorite music, podcasts, or TV shows.
Once upon a time, Bluetooth headphones weren’t as good as wired ones. Thanks to advances in technology, that’s no longer the case, and many of the wireless headphones on this list are also our top picks in our ultimate guide to the best headphones. Many audiophiles may still prefer wired over-ear headphones, but most people will get the quality and clarity they need from any one of the best wireless headphones in this guide.
Every pair of headphones here has spent many hours over our professional reviewers’ ears, and they’ve been tested with every kind of music in every kind of listening environment in order to discover the ones that really sing. We’re very serious about our music, and that means we know exactly what makes a really musical pair of ‘phones and what features are really worth looking (and listening) for.
1. Sony WH-1000XM4
This is not a mistake. Even though the WH-1000XM5 is newer, we still think that most people should buy the XM4. The Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones deliver excellent noise-cancellation and sound quality in a wireless design that we found extremely comfortable and lightweight throughout every step of our testing. The XM5 do all of this better, no question, but they also do it for a lot more money, and we think the XM4 are the better balance right now.
The Sony XM4 are crammed with features, including impressive audio upscaling, and Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format, which delivers spatial audio on stereo headphones, plus the LDAC codec that can send a bitrate of up to 990 kbps. But they don’t support aptX or aptX HD, so your experience with high-resolution audio support may vary.
We like the Sony WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones because they do exactly what they say they will. The standout features are the excellent noise cancellation, which we found to work very well in all kinds of noisy situations, including noisy commutes and planes. We also really like the support for cutting-edge codecs.
Usually, you have to choose between noise-cancelling headphones that do a good job of blocking outside noise and ones that do a great job of playing music. You don’t have to choose because the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones are great at both.
2. Sony WH-CH510
If you like the idea of Sony wireless headphones but don’t need a high-end set like the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones above, the Sony WH-CH510 headphones are a much cheaper option with all the features most people will need.
The Sony WH-CH510 offer solid audio, great battery life, and Bluetooth connectivity, meaning they’re great value for money at $59 / £50 / AU$89. At this price they don’t have the build quality or the frequency range of headphones costing nearly ten times as much, but they are an excellent pair of all-rounders for a very impressive price.
Since these are on-ear headphones and not over-ear headphones, the soundstage isn’t quite as immersive as it would be with a pair of over-ear headphones. You might also hear some background noises, but this could be a good thing for people who work in an office or need to stay awake at home.
There is a built-in microphone for calls, which we tested and found to work fine. Sony says you can play them for up to 35 hours, and when we looked at them, that was true. A full charge takes about four hours, but you can listen for about 90 minutes after just 10 minutes of charging. There’s no 3.5mm audio jack, though, so you can’t listen to music if the battery dies.
3. Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless
These Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless headphones are very impressive. In our review, we said they were a great deal for the price and said, “The adaptive noise cancellation is strong, the feature set is as complete as you’ll find at this level, the design is simple but well thought out, and the sound is supremely talented.”
They are one of the best wireless headphones you can buy right now and one of the best headphones ever, period.
Even though there were a lot of things we liked about testing the Momentum 4 Wireless, the best thing about it was how long the battery lasted, especially compared to the competition. Even with ANC on, you’ll get 60 full hours. In comparison, Sony’s XM4 and XM5 wireless headphones, which are at the top of this list, only last 30 hours.
4. Bowers & Wilkins PX8
If you want a pair of high-end headphones that make a statement and sound great, we recommend the Bowers & Wilkins PX8. In our review, we called them “exceptional.” When we tried them out, something magical happened, so we wrote, “Putting on these headphones gives you a sense of ownership that is rarely felt, even at this level.”
Not only is the build great, but the sound is so clear, energetic, and agile that it will blow your mind. We found that the PX8’s energy, depth, and immersion put it in a different league than the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless. They have an amazing sound.
Of course, that’s not a fair way to compare them since they cost twice as much as the Momentum 4. At $699, £599, or AU$1150, they are even more eye-poppingly expensive than the already pricey Apple AirPods Max. In our review, we talked about why some of the choices here made the price so high: “A new carbon cone 40mm drive unit replaces the bio-cellulose driver in the cheaper Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2, and the die-cast aluminum arms, diamond-cut bright metal detailing, and Nappa leather trim raise the build to high-end territory.”
All View
All of the best wireless headphones on this list have been tried out by us. For them to be in our guide, they had to meet a number of important criteria.
First, you can connect via Bluetooth. Wireless is a given, but the quality of wireless is also very important. We want our connections to be stable and reliable, and we don’t want them to stop working right when we get to the good parts.
Fit and style are also important. We wore them for long periods of time to see how comfortable they were for long listening sessions or long commutes. We also looked at their style to see if they made you look like a music fan or like one of the Cybermen from Dr. Who.
The days when wireless headphones got a free pass on sound quality because they were more convenient are long gone. We expect all Bluetooth headphones to have sound that is clear and loud.
