16 best wireless earbuds of 2025, tested by our tech expert – UK Times

While over-ear headphones often deliver superior sound quality thanks to their larger drivers, the best wireless earbuds win on comfort, portability and convenience. Plus, they spare you from sweaty ears and dreaded headphone hair in the summer.

Major phone makers like Apple, Samsung, OnePlus and Google offer some of the best wireless earbuds, with AirPods, Galaxy Buds and Pixel Buds designed to match their respective ecosystems. These earbuds pair seamlessly with their brand’s phones, enabling voice controls and instant notifications on the go.

But if sound quality and noise cancellation are your top priorities, brands like Bose, Sony and Sennheiser are hard to beat. Their earbuds consistently rank among the best, offering premium audio, top-tier ANC and deep integration with voice assistants—so you can control music, get directions and reply to messages hands-free.

You have a lot more options to choose from however with renowned audio brands like Bose, Sony and Sennheiser all producing wireless earbuds that consistently top our list of the best. Not only do they tend to offer the best possible sound quality and active noise-cancellation (ANC), but many are just as integrated with your phone’s voice assistant, meaning you can control music, ask for directions and respond to messages hands-free.

We’ve put the latest earbuds to the test across phones, laptops and tablets to bring you our top picks for 2025. Read on to find the best pair for you.

How we tested

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From the second we took each pair of earbuds out of its box, we tested comprehensively. How easy were the buds to set up, did they pair easily with an iPhone, or better with an Android handset? Did they need you to download an app and if so, was that app the best way to control the volume, track selection or other features, or are there physical controls? If there were, we checked how easy it was to swipe, slide or double-press these to get what you want.

There was comfort to be considered: we looked at the fit, to see if they’d dislodge easily if you were listening while running, or fit so tightly that they’d start your lugholes aching before long. And then we started looking at the sound quality, noise-cancelling, if included and audio on phone calls.

After that, there was the most important consideration of all: how do the earbuds make the music sound? Is it weighed down with bass, or lyrical enough to hear mid-tones and high notes clearly? We listened to different kinds of music to check where the earbuds excelled. And we noted how long the battery lasted. After all, it’s fine to have earbuds that are so light you hardly know they’re there, but not so good if that means you have to recharge them every hour or two.

The best wireless earbuds for 2025 are: