The best noise-cancelling wireless earbuds in 2022

Google’s Pixel Buds Pro are some of our favorite ANC earbuds to get if you’re an Android user because they do everything you need them to and aren’t too expensive.

The ANC performance is pretty good, letting you easily drown out the low hum you might hear from the AC in your office or the running engine of a plane mid-flight, and the sound quality is quite pleasant. Even though the Pixel Buds Pro are stuck using either SBC or ACC codecs to listen to music, the sound was overall pretty balanced out of the box. The highs and mids are crisp and clear, and the bass is full and bouncy but not overpowering. Plus, if you want, you can adjust the EQ with the Pixel Buds app, so you aren’t stuck with the default sound profile if you don’t like it.

The biggest perk of the Pixel Buds Pro for Android users is Google’s Fast Pair feature, which makes pairing the earbuds to your Android phone a breeze. Just pop the Pixel Buds Pro charging case open near your phone, tap the notification, and you’re off to the races. Of course, they also support the audio switching feature, making switching between your Android devices easier.

Lastly, Google finally learned and made the battery life on Pixel Buds Pro ample enough to get through the workday. The earbuds offer seven hours of battery life with ANC enabled and about 11 hours without — pretty good for a set of earbuds that cost $200. Plus, the charging case holds two extra full charges for the buds, so you’ll get a lot of playtime out of them before you need a power outlet.

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Sony’s over-the-ear ANC headphones are often lauded as being best in class, and the Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds bring that premium experience into these excellent in-ear machines.

What makes it worthy of its $280 price tag? For starters, it has excellent battery life — 8 hours on the buds with ANC enabled and about 12 hours without ANC. The charging case, which charges via USB-C or wirelessly with your favorite Qi charger, holds roughly 16 more hours of battery life, so your Sony WF-1000XM4 won’t run out on you if you’re away from an outlet for a while.

There’s no doubt that Sony’s sound profile is a bit more bass-heavy than what Bose typically offers; however, the WF-1000XM4s can use Sony’s LDAC codec, which can stream audio at 990 kbps at 24 bit/96 kHz. If you can take advantage of that high-quality stream will largely depend on how or what device you’re using your Sony earbuds with. Still, it’s great to see this on a pair of Bluetooth earbuds for people who are serious about audio quality.

On top of all that, the WF-1000XM4s has some excellent extra features like Sony’s 360 Reality Audio for virtual surround sound and a companion app that lets you adjust EQ to change the sound of the buds to something you love.

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While Anker may not have the same name recognition as other companies on this list, it’s been making quality accessories for years, and its headphones are no joke. We loved a lot about the Anker Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro when we reviewed it because it did so many things right.

The sound quality will be pleasantly surprising for most users (unless you’re a real stickler), and the ANC works great. The rumble of a plane engine or the humming of the bus will stop once you pop these in your ears, making them great for commuters. Another surprise is the decent call quality. Often, the microphone is where companies like to skimp, but if you’re talking on the phone with the Liberty 3 Pro, you shouldn’t run into any major issues.

A few disadvantages: the battery life is pretty mediocre, with only about 5.5 hours on the buds (with ANC on), and they aren’t too much of a looker. They are also a bit big and bulky, especially the charging case. However, they aren’t low on the features of a good pair of earbuds. For instance, the IPX4 water-resistance will allow you to get a little sweatier or accidentally get caught in the rain without much worry. And they even support Sony’s LDAC codec, which is a nice touch.

You could do a lot worse for $170, and we’ve noticed that the Anker Liberty 3 Pro tend to go on sale quite often, even for about $100, making them an excellent budget buy.

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Yes, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II are the successor to our top pick, and the main reason is that $299 is a lot to spend. That doesn’t mean they aren’t worth it if you have the money, though. These are everything you would expect from a second-generation, and since they still have the Bose name on them, you know they sound delightful, and ANC is top-notch.

So, what’s changed? A newer and sleeker design makes the QuietComfort Earbuds II lighter, and they fit in the ear just a tad better, making wearing them around a more pleasant experience. The charging case still can’t be wirelessly charged, but it holds more battery, about 18 hours in total. Couple that with the 6 hours you’ll get on the buds themselves, and you’re looking at a whole day’s worth of battery in your pocket. Plus, a quick 20-minute charge gives the QuietComfort Earbuds II about 2 hours of listening time.

With the latest version of Bluetooth (5.3) onboard, you will have the best connection possible, and the IPX4 rating means you can take them to the gym and sweat all you want.

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With a decent amount of battery life on the buds (about 7 hours with ANC on) and an extra 21 hours in the charging case, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 are a great companion to carry with you anywhere. You can even wear them to the gym; they will hold up to getting a little sweaty, thanks to their IPX4 rating.

While the ANC performance and sound quality are excellent, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3’s Transparency Mode is a little lackluster, often making the audio a bit tinny. However, we love our control over the sound with the Sennheiser Smart Control app. On top of messing around with the EQ to make it sound just right, it lets you switch up the touch controls to personalize your experience further.

The standout feature of the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 is the support for Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive and aptX audio codec, which have superb audio quality and stable low-bit rate connections. There aren’t that many true wireless earbuds that give you this option, but this solves a lot of issues that Bluetooth audio can have using other, more standard codecs.

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If you’re looking for ANC earbuds to primarily use at the gym, the Jabra Elite 7 Pro are well worth a look. Thanks to their IP57 rating, these earbuds aren’t shy of a little water, as they can survive being completely submerged (though you shouldn’t make a habit of doing this). Still, even the most sweat you can muster up during your workout won’t be a problem for the Jabra Elite 7 Pro.

The battery life is also quite impressive, offering 8 hours of listening time with ANC activated and another 30 hours in the case. That makes the Elite 7 Pro an excellent pair of earbuds to use around the office because they should last you a whole workday when you need them.

The biggest drawback is their ANC performance; it’s fine but not nearly as good as the Sony or Bose earbuds on this list. However, the Sound+ app gives you a ton of controls over how the headphones sound and act, so you can customize it to your liking. What surprised us the most was the microphones, which were among the best we’ve tried on a set of wireless earbuds. If you make a lot of calls, these could be perfect for you.

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If you’re rocking a Samsung phone, we would be remiss not to mention the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, as they are the company’s smallest, lightest, and best earbuds to date. Their biggest standout is 24-bit audio support. If you use high-quality streaming apps like Tidal, you may appreciate it, but to most people’s ears, the discernable difference between 24-bit audio and the more standard 16-bit audio is negligible.

Still, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro nail all the basics. With decent battery life (5 hours with ANC and 8 hours without), an IPX7 rating to keep them safe from sweat at the gym, and a pleasant full sound profile, they certainly are worth a look. At $230, though, they’re among the more pricey ANC earbuds you can buy, and they are made to specifically work with Samsung Galaxy phones a bit better than anything else.

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At $260, Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 are very pricey and only worth it if you’re an Apple user. They have some really awesome features if you are heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem.

Apple’s virtual surround sound, Spatial Audio, is our favorite implementation of the feature we’ve heard across the various brands that offer it. Plus, the ultra-fast pairing with an iPhone is unmatched, and the seamless switching between your Apple devices is flawlessly executed. The touch controls, which require a little pinch of the earbud steam, work great once you get the hang of them too, and Siri is just a “Hey, Siri” away from completing just about any task you want.

With a stellar Transparency Mode, great ANC, and nearly 6 hours of listening time with ANC enabled, the AirPods Pro 2 are a great pair of buds for any Apple fan.

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If you don’t want to break the bank on a new pair of earbuds, the Anker Soundcore Life P3 are our favorite ANC earbuds for under $100. While their ANC performance won’t match top-end earbuds, it’s a decent implementation with three different ANC modes, allowing you to adjust how much of the outside world you want to hear.

The sound quality is pretty good, although it sounded slightly more bassy out of the box than expected. Good thing you can adjust the EQ with the Soundcore app and turn these buds into something pleasing to most people.

The battery life with ANC on is pretty run-of-the-mill, about 6 hours on the buds, but the buds can get up to 10 hours without ANC enabled, making it a good idea to only switch the ANC on when you need it. In addition, the charging case holds a whopping extra 40 hours of listening time with ANC off, which is an incredible amount of time to carry around in your pocket.

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