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The best wireless Bluetooth headphones you can buy
The best wireless Bluetooth headphones you can buy
Christian de Looper,Brandt Ranj,Brandt RanjDec 18, 2018, 01:00 IST
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Headphones are evolving. When Apple first announced the iPhone 7, which dropped the headphone jack in favor of a wireless connection, many were more than a little frustrated. Traditionally speaking, wired headphones have been of a higher quality, both sound-wise and when it comes to reliability. Now, however, that's changing, and the gap in sound quality is closing.
If you've decided you want to ditch those annoying wires in favor of wireless headphones, there are a number of things to consider. The first thing you'll need to decide is what form-factor you prefer. Do you want over-ear headphones, on-ear headphones, or in-ear headphones? Over-ear headphones generally sound better and are more comfortable, while in-ears are far more portable, and on-ear headphones attempt to strike a balance between those two.
You'll also want to consider whether you want noise-cancellation, which helps cut out the background noise while you're listening. Last but not least, you'll want to think about your budget. These days, there are great Bluetooth headphones across most price ranges, but as is the case with most things, the more you have to spend, the better headphones you'll get.
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We've been testing as many wireless Bluetooth headphones as we can get our hands on over the past few years, and we've put together this list of the best wireless headphones we've tested. We'll continue to add to this list as we test more models and different types of wireless headphones. You can also check out all the other types of headphones we recommend in the last slide.
Here are the best wireless headphones you can buy:
Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Insider Picks team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at insiderpicks@businessinsider.com.
There are a number of things that make these headphones so good. For starters, they look beautiful. The headphones are built with premium leather, along with a strong metal frame and a rustic look. It’s a great combination, but the build doesn’t just make them good-looking — it also makes them nice and strong.
While the headphones do have an over-ear design, they are somewhat portable. They fold up and fit into a nice strong case, which is included in your purchase. The case is great for those of you who want to take your cans on the go. The Sennheiser headphones are comfortable, too. They have nice memory foam in the ear-cups, and while we would have liked to see a little more foam in the headband, that’s not a deal-breaker by any means.
Then there’s the sound, which is the highlight of these headphones. The Sennheiser Wireless over-ear headphones boast a deep, rich low-end, along with a well-tuned and accurate mid-range and crisp high-end. They also have noise cancellation, and while it’s a little annoying that you can’t deactivate it if you want, it well help keep that extra noise out so you can listen to your music in peace.
Why you'll love them: The noise cancellation technology on the Bose QuietComfort 35 headphones is the best around, but the headphones also sound great and are extremely comfortable.
Bose is a powerhouse in the headphone world and has been especially successful when it comes to noise cancelling headphones. In our testing, the headphones with the best noise cancellation technology are the Bose QuietComfort 35 headphones. When these cans are on, the noise cancellation is almost eerie.
The headphones aren’t just great for noise cancellation. They’re extremely comfortable and sound great, too. Sure, the design isn’t all that interesting, but for many people that doesn’t matter as much as the noise cancellation technology and sound quality. If you're into customizing your cans to suit your personality, you can design your own headphone on Bose's website.
The Bose QuietComfort 35 headphones also come with everything you’ll need to take them on planes and around town, including a nice carry case, plane adapter, and an aux cable for when you want to use them in wired mode. Speaking of which, wired mode is, unfortunately, the only time you can use these headphones without noise cancellation on. There’s no switch to turn it off when they’re connected through Bluetooth.
Why you'll love them: The AKG N60 NC Wireless headphones have an excellent design, feel comfortable, and sound great, but they’re also super portable and live safely in an included carry pouch.
Looking for something a little more portable than the over-ear Sennheiser Wireless headphones? The AKG N60 NC Wireless headphones could be the ones for you.
The headphones feature a super sleek design with a black and silver color scheme, along with an on-ear form factor, which makes them a lot more portable than over-ear headphones. They’re made even more portable with their swiveling earcups, which help the headphones fit nice and snugly in the included carry bag.
The AKG N60 NC headphones are comfortable, too. There's a good amount of memory foam in both the earcups and the headband. The best thing about these headphones, however, is that they sound great. There’s a ton of low-end frequencies, though the bass doesn’t go overboard. The high frequencies are nice and clear, too, which helps the music sound crisp.
Next up is the fact that these headphones also feature noise cancellation that's better than you’ll find on many other headphones. It’s not quite as good as the Bose QuietComfort 35’s tech, but it's good nonetheless. The headphones aren’t perfect. In the pair we tested, there was a small amount of Bluetooth noise, which came in the form of a very faint buzzing in the background. You couldn’t hear it while music was playing, but it was a little annoying.
Others liked the N60 NC Wireless headphones, too. They scored 8.7/10 on Headphone Review. The Verge also liked them during their preview, PCMag gave them 4 out of 5 stars, and Time also praised them. The headphones are a little pricey at $150 but more affordable than our top pick. — Christian de Looper
Pros: Portable, good noise cancellation, great sound, nice look
Why you'll love them: The JBL E55BT headphones come in a ton of different colors, are reasonably comfortable, and sound great for less than $150.
Looking to buy a great pair of Bluetooth headphones on a budget? Just because you don’t have a ton of cash, doesn’t mean you can’t get some great headphones. In our testing, the JBL E55BT headphones are the best headphones under $150.
For starters, unlike plenty of other headphones, these come with a very fun design. You can get them in a ton of colors, including red, black, blue, green, and white. They also fold up, so they’re somewhat portable and can be taken on the go.
The headphones don’t just look good, they sound good, too. They could use a little more in the high-mids frequency range, but apart from that, they offer plenty of bass and a crisp, concise high-end, which makes for some great-sounding music. They’re on the better end of the spectrum with battery life, too. A single charge will get you 20 hours of listening time.
The headphones have reviews like the 4/5 rating on PCMag and 8.1/10 on Headphone Review. And, as mentioned, the JBL E55BT headphones are relatively cheap with an original price of $149.95. At the time of writing, they were on sale for $109.95 on Amazon. — Christian de Looper
Pros: Sound great, fun design, comfortable, inexpensive
Cons: Could use more high-mids, don’t come with case or bag
Why you'll love them: If you appreciate excellent audio production and aren't concerned with budgets, you'll be happy with Master & Dynamic's MW50 headphones.
The best Bluetooth headphones need to sound great, feel nice, and look good — especially since they'll command a high price. Thankfully, Master & Dynamic delivered with the MW50. From the first time you put them on, you'll appreciate their feel and things will only improve when you actually start listening to music.
Because music has to get compressed when sent wirelessly from your phone to your Bluetooth headphones, you end up losing the little details that make songs special. No Bluetooth headphones (at least not right now) will give you every nuance you'll hear with a high-end pair of wired ones, but the MW50's performance is excellent.
I was able to pick up on sonic subtleties that would get lost or sound muddy on lesser pairs, and that was true regardless of what I was listening to. Music encoded at a lower bitrate would sound worse, but that was more a matter of the MW50's exposing flaws in the files rather than making them sound that way.
There is a new version of this pair or headphones, which has newer Bluetooth connectivity standards, but you'll pay a bit more for them at $399 as opposed to $295.99. — Brandt Ranj
Pros: Excellent sound reproduction, nice feel, great design
Why you'll love them: If you're just getting into Bluetooth headphones, iFrogz's Impulse Duo is a good place to start.
These iFrogz headphones made the best earbuds guide, so I'm just going to echo what I said there below:
Besides sounding pretty good for the price, the reason iFrogz Impulse Duo earbuds made the cut over all the other budget models I've tried is their design.
The dual driver construction is what gives these earbuds an audio-edge over the competition. But mostly, these earbuds succeed where most Bluetooth models fail: Instead of having all of their technology built into an unwieldy dongle that hangs off the cable connecting both buds, iFrogz built it all into a magnetic clip.
Clip the dongle onto your clothes, pop in the earbuds, and you're ready to listen to music. In terms of audio quality, you shouldn't expect a truly audiophile experience for less than $50, but don't expect a bad one, either. These are actually the upgraded version of the earbuds iFrogz released last year, and while the design is the same, time was spent in improving the sound quality.
I'll put it to you this way. These headphones are so easy to use and sound good enough, that they're my go-to pair between reviews. It's just so convenient to coil them up and pop them in my pocket after a commute, or once my friends finally make it to our meeting place. — Brandt Ranj
Pros: Excellent design, good sound, affordable, Bluetooth connection
Cons: The sound quality isn't as good as other options on this list
Why you'll love them: Noise cancellation is a big deal for daily commuters and avid international travelers alike — If you want to block out the world, you'll want Sony's WH1000XM3 headphones.
Noise canceling is becoming a common feature for many Bluetooth headphones, and for good reason. It's nice to block out the rest of the world during your morning commute or to block out the screaming kid in front of you on the plane.
Sony's headphones have the best noise cancellation of any headphones — Bluetooth or otherwise — that I've ever tested. On a plane ride from New York to San Francisco, the only thing I heard was the music I put on. Without any music, the noise canceling feature was able to block out a lot of ambient noise, which should also appeal to you if you're looking to sleep en route to your destination.
This pair of headphones also has a few "smart" features, thanks to touch controls on the right ear cup. Placing your hand on the ear cup activates the microphone, letting you hear noise (like a pilot's announcement) while lowering your music. As someone who put this feature to the test while traveling, it was surprisingly useful.
Noise-canceling aside, these headphones are comfortable to wear for extended periods of time and sound very good overall. The audio quality wasn't as high as some other pairs I've heard, but noise canceling actually does color the sound a little bit. Still, it's a fair trade-off for such a nice feature. — Brandt Ranj
Pros: Excellent noise canceling, comfortable to wear for hours
Why you'll love them: If you really care about headphone aesthetics, it's hard to recommend any other pair over Bower & Wilkin's PX Wireless.
This is the only pair of headphones that I haven't tried personally, kind of. I owned the wired version before but never made the leap to this Bluetooth model. Still, it retains the aesthetic qualities of its wired sibling, and if you care about how your headphones look, it's hard to recommend anything else.
Bower & Wilkins exclusively uses premium materials and designs its products with a high level of fit and finish. I've owned two pairs of its headphones over the years, and both have looked incredible. Even the way the cable is threaded between the aluminum connecting the headband to the ear cups is nice looking.
Of course, appearances are only skin deep, and people seem to enjoy how the wireless version of the PX's perform. I've always found Bowers and Wilkins headphones to have a very rich sound that isn't quite neutral, but still within the realm of reason.
It's not that bass or treble frequencies are misaligned, but more that everything takes on a slightly oversaturated sound that may bug purists. — Brandt Ranj
Pros: Beautiful look, good sound quality, comfort
Cons: You can find better sounding headphone at this price
True wireless earbuds offer ultimate convenience and ease-of-use because they eliminate wires entirely.
Perhaps the most famous of these wireless earbuds are the Apple AirPods, Apple's self-built true wireless headphones, which provide ultimate convenience and ease of use for iPhone users. But AirPods aren't the only true wireless earbuds out there, and many other companies have created great alternatives that work with both Android devices and iPhones. We've tested several wireless earbuds to find out which ones are the best you can buy.
Here are the best truly wireless earbuds you can buy:
Headphones used to be boring black things that looked okay and sounded amazing. Now, headphones look as great as they sound — if you get the right pair.
We test a lot of excellent sounding headphones at Insider Picks and many of them are very stylish, too. We've rounded up our absolute favorites below:
Audiophiles will be the first to tell you that it's easy to spend thousands on a great pair of headphones, but you're probably not looking for a pair of multi-thousand-dollar headphones. We've rounded up the best over-ear headphones in a variety of price points from $100 to $1,000 and everything in between.
Here are the best over-ear headphones you can buy:
Active noise cancelling headphones are a little different from normal headphones that simply have padding that physically blocks out noise. Instead, they have a microphone that picks up noise around you, and the headphones play a sound opposite to that noise to block it out. It's a pretty neat concept that has given rise to tons of noise cancelling headphones that are great for travel or simply getting a bit of peace and quiet.
Here are the best noise cancelling headphones you can buy:
Earbuds need to be well constructed to deliver the same kind of audio quality you'd expect out of a bigger pair of headphones. Master & Dynamic pulled it off with the ME05 earbuds. They are still the best earbuds I've used, delivering excellent sound quality in a nice, neat package.
On-ear headphones give you great sound in a portable package that's comfortable to wear. Master & Dynamic's MW50 are the best on-ear headphones we've tested yet. They're an investment, but you'll appreciate these headphones more each day, as you rediscover favorite songs and fully appreciate new ones.
If you don't mind wires, Status Audio's CB1 headphones offer the best audio quality I've heard in headphones costing less than $100. The headphones themselves are comfortable when listening for extended periods of time, and unlike most studio monitor-style headphones, the cable is manageable.
