The best wireless headphones/best noise-canceling headphones: Sony WH-1000xM3
Why you should buy them: Beautiful wireless sound, plush comfort, and excellent noise canceling.
Who they’re for: Anyone who wants a top-tier wireless experience, and loves silencing the world around them.
Why we picked the Sony WH-1000xM3:
Sony’s technologically advanced WH-1000xM3 are the third generation of Sony’s flagship wireless headphones (following the excellent WH-1000xM2 and MDR-1000x models) that offer top-tier noise canceling, excellent quality wireless audio, and plush comfort. This enticing combination earned the model a rare five-star rating in our initial review, and — thanks to a few notable improvements — makes the latest version the best headphones you can buy.
At the heart of the WH-1000xM3 is outstanding wireless sound. Sony’s LDAC technology delivers a wireless signal at what the company claims is three times the quality of standard Bluetooth streaming, and the headphones also support the latest aptX HD codec (with supported devices). The 1000xM3 even “upscale” wireless music from high-resolution audio devices using a special chip, helping to make music sound dynamic and beautiful, with authoritative bass and clear treble response held together by a well-rounded midrange.
The WH-1000xM3’s excellent noise-canceling technology ranks second only to the Bose QC35 II, from the brand that has long dominated the market in terms of sheer noise-blocking abilities. That said, the Sony cans sound much better than the new bass-forward Bose option, and offer numerous features that help to create a much better overall experience.
The WH-1000xM3’s advanced control systems allow you to let in various levels of ambient sound, with advanced features like voice-only mode, which helps filter through vocal frequencies so you can hear your music and the voices around you while blocking out other sounds. Responsive touch controls let you navigate volume, make calls, and play and pause music with ease, all while helping to maintain a clean aesthetic. Best of all, the WH-1000xM3 offer a staggering 30 hours of battery life, providing even heavy users with days of use from a single charge, and have a quick charge feature that allows you to enjoy five hours of listening after just 15 minutes of charging.
If you’re looking for a pair of extremely comfortable wireless over-ears with great sound and a massive number of features, these are the best you’ll find.
The best earbuds/best under $100: 1More Triple Driver
Why you should buy them: These earbuds are premium in every way but their price.
Who they’re for: Anyone who wants a really great-sounding set of earbuds but is unwilling to spend hundreds of dollars for the pleasure.
Why we picked the 1More Triple Driver:
The adage that you get what you pay for is generally true for audio products like headphones. What has made us big fans of the 1More brand is its ability to redefine that expectation in surprising ways. The 1More Triple Driver in-ear headphones are a great example of this: They exhibit all of the hallmarks of high-end, expensive earbuds, yet manage to keep the price highly affordable for most people.
Their combination of dual balanced-armature drivers matched with a dynamic driver to pump up the lower end are kind of engineering normally found on products that cost more than double the price of the 1Mores. Even the smaller details are very well ironed out, such as Kevlar-wrapped cables that increase resistance to wear while simultaneously reducing tangles.
Boasting materials like cast aluminum that has been polished and sandblasted for a luxurious feel, even the included carrying case — normally a throwaway pouch that people ignore entirely — has been obviously crafted and built with care.
The headphones sound amazing, with a wide and complex soundstage that warranted an official THX certification. In fact, when we went backstage at a recent Aerosmith concert, it was the 1More Triple Drivers that the band and THX selected for the best possible listening experience.
The best wireless earbuds: Amazon Echo Buds
Why you should buy them: An amazing set of features that simply don’t exist on any true wireless earbuds at this price.
Who they’re for: Those who want the very best features in a set of true wireless earbuds without paying a fortune.
Why we picked the Amazon Echo Buds:
Until now, the best true-wireless earbud features like noise cancellation or hands-free access to voice assistants were something you could only have if you spent well over $200. So when Amazon introduced its Echo Buds for just $130 with onboard Bose active noise reduction, IPX4 water-resistance, hands-free Alexa access, and a customizable fit, our only question was: Do they sound good?
Much to our surprise, they do… much better in fact, than true wireless earbuds that can often cost much more. The Bose noise reduction works extremely well, and we really like that you can use one or both earbuds at any time and the Echo Buds will automatically switch between them, and pause the music when you pull one out of your ear.
We still wish you could control volume using the same touch gestures that control playback, but then again, you can always ask Alexa to adjust the volume instead. Battery life at 5 hours per charge is about average these days, as is the 20 hours of total playtime enabled by the charging case. Both are minor drawbacks to what is by far the best value in the true wireless market today.
