• The smart ring market is exploding, with options available at Costco and Walmart.
• Rings aren't perfect health monitoring tools, but they can help detect patterns and some illnesses.
• Healthcare companies and the US military are increasingly interested in harnessing the tech.

The rich and famous have been wearing them for years, and competing for the very best sleep scores. Longevity doctors swear by them too. But 2025 may just be the year that smart rings become the "it" tracker for the masses.

"We call it a 'check engine' light for your body," Oura CEO Tom Hale told Business Insider. "It's a tool for you to become literate in the dynamics of your biometrics as they relate to your behaviors."

Oura has been the longtime leader in smart rings — the Finnish company debuted its first ring in a Kickstarter campaign 10 years ago. The undeniable giant in the smart ring space (for now), Oura recently debuted a slimmer and smoother 4th generation ring model, priced from $349 to $399.

Oura says it has been profitable for 14 months after many years in the red. On Thursday, the company announced a $200 million series D funding round, bringing its valuation to $5.2 billion.

There's also been an explosion of competitor rings, including the $349 Ultrahuman Ring Air, which debuted in 2022. In 2024, we've seen Samsung's $399 Galaxy ring enter the market as well as smaller devices like the longevity-focused and David Sinclair-backed $200 Virtusan ring.

It all heralds the beginning of a new wearables category that may eventually help people eat, exercise, sleep, and avoid illness a little better than we do now.

"I welcome all the competition," Oura's Hale said. "It makes us better, it's good for the market."

Every smart ring has a different competitive claim

Each smart ring company seems to have its own differentiator, the thing that they say makes them better than the rest, whether it's the thinnest ring band, the best battery life, or the biggest dataset.

They each generally track steps, monitor temperature, and log heart rate.

Dr. Daniel Kraft, a Bay Area-based physician-scientist and founder, says that's probably enough for the general consumer. We don't all need FDA-approved medical devices on our fingers. Instead, there's value in the consistency of the data a ring provides, monitoring trends day after day, learning about our bodies.

"We're all quite different and it's often the change from baseline that is most important," Kraft told BI.

Longitudinal trend lines can be useful for tracking things like how exercise, supplements, or stress are impacting a person's overall health. In Kraft's case, he watched his resting heart rate drop eight points over a roughly three-month period of daily exercise sessions.

"That gets people engaged, like, 'Wow, I make these small incremental changes and I'm going to see changes that show up in weeks and months and years,'" he said.

Until now, interest in Oura rings has largely been driven by word-of-mouth recommendations from friends, colleagues, and some longevity-focused physicians. Oura's friend referrals (a 10% discount) drive a lot of the business; almost half of Oura members were referred by a friend or family member, according to the company.

A smart ring is also "considered a little premium," Jeffrey Kim, Samsung America's senior product lead for the Galaxy smart ring, told BI.

2025 is shaping up to be the year that smart rings could go mainstream in a big way.

Multiple projections show the market for smart rings taking off, growing more than 20% year over year, until 2030. Over the past six months, Ultrahuman has started stocking its ring at major brick-and-mortar retailers in the US, including Best Buy, Verizon, Costco, and Walmart, and the company says more than 15,000 people in the US are picking up a new Ultrahuman ring each month.

Smart rings are about more than fitness tracking — they're being used for period tracking and to predict illnesses

Already, studies have shown smart rings are good at picking up when someone is about to get sick with a viral illness like COVID or the flu, by combining metrics like heart rate variability with temperature and breathing rate while asleep.

Some brands have also been carving out a niche among women, playing up their potential impact on women's health. In the US, women were not required to be included in medical research until 1993.

"We need more data," Dr. Umbereen Nehal, a fem-tech founder and pediatrician, told BI. "I would like to have accurate, personalized care. I would like to prevent bad things happening to me."

Women now make up the majority of Oura and Ultrahuman users (55% and 60%, respectively). Beyond sleep and fitness, a ring can use temperature to track a period — not a failsafe technique, but it's a non-invasive option to help people better plan when to have sex to conceive or avoid a pregnancy.

Nehal hasn't bought into the ring hype yet. In part, she says it's because the current rings are too "ugly" for her. But she also cautions consumers to maintain a "healthy skepticism" toward their wearables, and not take the data insights or recommendations as health gospel.

"Try to understand: who was this tested on? Who was this built for? How do you want to use it? Do you think this is a good way for what you want to know?" she said. "Recognize that when you buy a product, you are still in the driver's seat of deciding what to do with that information."

Having more at-home data on everyday health may prove useful, but it doesn't have to come from our fingers or wrists. Kraft said we can also harness health insights from cameras, voice recorders, and other easily accessible tech.

Ultrahuman founder and CEO Mohit Kumar imagines that his customers will use the Ring Air as an entry point into what can be a whole body and house health monitoring system, complete with a CGM for tracking blood sugar and a CO2 scrubber for cleaning the air.

Oura has recently partnered with CGM-maker Dexcom and inked a $96 million deal with the Department of Defense. Some US Army airmen have been trying out Oura rings in an attempt to optimize performance by helping make decisions about when they might need more rest, or a caffeine boost.

Medicare Advantage plan Essence Healthcare says it will start offering free Oura rings to seniors in 2025, in the hopes of reducing healthcare costs.

"If I see Mrs. Jones's resting heart rate went from 65 to 95 over the last month, and it's not just because she's been climbing stairs, it's when she's sleeping, boy, I might want to call and figure out what's going on cardiopulmonary-wise," Kraft said. "A lot of our healthcare issues, they show up in subtle ways weeks, months, or years early, and they're just not picked up on, they can't be picked on that short clinical visit — if you're lucky enough to have primary care doctor at all."

Smart ring vs smartwatch

Smart ring pros

• Small, inconspicuous, and unobtrusive
• Great for sleep tracking
• Long-lasting battery (~1 week)

Smart ring cons

• Not as ideal for sports like weightlifting or running; you can't track your pace, and it gets in the way when you're lifting weights
• Can't pick up a phone call or respond to a text
• Expensive

You might be tempted to get a Chromebook as your next laptop and we wouldn’t blame you. Chrome OS has come a long way: Chromebooks today have a good combination of build quality, battery life and power while also supporting years of software updates that will take you years into the future. If you primarily browse the web, or don’t need a ton of extra software on a regular basis, a Chromebook can be a powerful daily driver.

While Google did make things simpler last fall by introducing the Chromebook Plus initiative (more on that below), there are still multiple things to keep in mind when shopping for a new Chromebook. The market is saturated with machines at different price points and power levels; I’ve been testing and reviewing Chromebooks for years and know what you should be looking for, and what you can expect out of these laptops.

What is Chrome OS, and why would I use it over Windows?

This is probably the number one question about Chromebooks. There are plenty of inexpensive Windows laptops on the market, so why bother with Chrome's operating system? Glad you asked. For me, the simple and clean nature of Chrome OS is a big selling point. Chrome OS is based on Google’s Chrome browser, which means most of the programs you can run are web based. There’s no bloatware or unwanted apps to uninstall like you often get on Windows laptops, it boots up in seconds, and you can completely reset to factory settings almost as quickly.

Of course, simplicity will also be a major drawback for some users. Not being able to install native software can be a dealbreaker if you’re a video editor or software developer. But there are also plenty of people who do the majority of their work in a web browser.

Google and its software partners are getting better every year at supporting more advanced features. For example, Google added video editing tools to the Google Photos app on Chromebooks – it won’t replace Adobe Premiere, but it should be handy for a lot of people. Similarly, Google and Adobe announced Photoshop on the web last year, something that brings much of the power of Adobe’s desktop apps to Chromebooks.

Chromebooks can also run Android apps, which greatly expands the amount of software available. The quality varies widely, but it means you can do more with a Chromebook beyond just web-based apps. For example, you can install the Netflix app and save videos for offline watching. Other Android apps like Microsoft Office and Adobe Lightroom are surprisingly capable as well. Between Android apps and a general improvement in web apps, Chromebooks are more than just portals to a browser.

What do Chromebooks do well?

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Put simply, web browsing and really anything web based. Online shopping, streaming music and video and using various social media sites are among the most common daily tasks people do on Chromebooks. As you might expect, they also work well with Google services like Photos, Docs, Gmail, Drive, Keep and so on. Yes, any computer that can run Chrome can do that too, but the lightweight nature of Google Chrome OS makes it a responsive and stable platform.

As I mentioned before, Chrome OS can run Android apps, so if you’re an Android user you’ll find some nice ties between the platforms. You can get most of the same apps that are on your phone on a Chromebook and keep info in sync between them. You can also use some Android phones as a security key for your Chromebook or instantly tether your laptop to use mobile data.

Google continues to tout security as a major differentiator for Chromebooks, and it’s definitely a factor worth considering. Auto-updates are the first lines of defense: Chrome OS updates download quickly in the background and a fast reboot is all it takes to install the latest version. Google says that each webpage and app on a Chromebook runs in its own sandbox as well, so any security threats are contained to that individual app. Finally, Chrome OS has a self-check called Verified Boot that runs every time a device starts up. Beyond all this, the simple fact that you generally can’t install traditional apps on a Chromebook means there are fewer ways for bad actors to access the system.

If you’re interested in Google’s Gemini AI tools, a Chromebook is a good option as well. Every Chromebook in our top picks comes with a full year of the Google One AI Premium plan — this combines the usual Google One perks like 2TB of storage and 10 percent back in purchases from the Google Store with a bunch of AI tools. You’ll get access to Gemini in Gmail, Docs and other apps, Gemini Advanced (which runs on the 1.5 Pro model) and more. Given that this plan is $20/month, it’s a pretty solid perk. Chromebook Plus models also include tools like the AI-powered “help me write,” the Google Photos Magic Editor and generative AI backgrounds you can create by filling in a few prompts.

As for when to avoid Chromebooks, the answer is simple: If you rely heavily on a specific native application for Windows or a Mac, chances are you won’t find the exact same option on a ChromeOS device. That’s most true in fields like photo and video editing, but it can also be the case in law or finance. Plenty of businesses run on Google’s G suite software, but more still have specific requirements that a Chromebook might not match. If you’re an iPhone user, you’ll also miss out on the way the iPhone easily integrates with an iPad or Mac. For me, the big downside is not being able to access iMessage on a Chromebook.

Finally, gaming Chromebooks are not ubiquitous, although they’re becoming a slightly more reasonable option with the rise of cloud gaming. In late 2022, Google and some hardware partners announced a push to make Chromebooks with cloud gaming in mind. From a hardware perspective, that means laptops with bigger screens that have higher refresh rates as well as optimizing those laptops to work with services like NVIDIA GeForce Now, Xbox Game Pass and Amazon Luna. You’ll obviously need an internet connection to use these services, but the good news is that playing modern games on a Chromebook isn’t impossible. You can also install Android games from the Google Play Store, but that’s not what most people are thinking of when they want to game on a laptop.

What are the most important specs for a Chromebook?

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Chrome OS is lightweight and runs well on fairly modest hardware, so the most important thing to look for might not be processor power or storage space. But Google made it easier to get consistent specs and performance late last year when it introduced the Chromebook Plus initiative. Any device with a Chromebook Plus designation meets some minimum requirements, which happen to be very similar to what I’d recommend most people get if they’re looking for a laptop they can use every day.

Chromebook Plus models have at least a 12th-gen Intel Core i3 processor, or an AMD Ryzen 3 7000 series processor, both of which should be more than enough for most people. These laptops also have a minimum of 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which should do the trick unless you’re really pushing your Chromebook. All Chromebook Plus models have to have a 1080p webcam, which is nice in these days of constant video calling, and they also all have to have at least a 1080p IPS screen.

Of course, you can get higher specs or better screens if you desire, but I’ve found that basically everything included in the Chromebook Plus target specs makes for a very good experience.

Google has an Auto Update policy for Chromebooks as well, and while that’s not exactly a spec, it’s worth checking before you buy. Last year, Google announced that Chromebooks would get software updates and support for an impressive 10 years after their release date. This support page lists the Auto Update expiration date for virtually every Chromebook ever, but a good rule of thumb is to buy the newest machine you can to maximize your support.

How much should I spend?

Chromebooks started out notoriously cheap, with list prices often coming in under $300. But as they’ve gone more mainstream, they’ve transitioned from being essentially modern netbooks to the kind of laptop you’ll want to use all day. As such, prices have increased: At this point, you should expect to spend at least $400 if you want a solid daily driver. There are still many cheap Chromebooks out there that may be suitable as secondary devices, but a good Chromebook that can be an all-day, every-day laptop will cost more. But, notably, even the best Chromebooks usually cost less than the best Windows laptops, or even the best “regular” laptops out there.

There are plenty of premium Chromebooks that approach or even exceed $1,000 that claim to offer better performance and more processing power, but I don’t recommend spending that much. Generally, that’ll get you a better design with more premium materials, as well as more powerful internals and extra storage space. Of course, you also sometimes pay for the brand name. But, the specs I outlined earlier are usually enough.

See Also:

• Best Laptops for 2025

• Best Gaming Laptops

• Best 2-in-1 Laptops for 2025

• Best Cheap Windows Laptops

• Best Laptops for College Students

Best Chromebooks in 2025

Other Chromebooks we tested

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus

Samsung’s new Galaxy Chromebook Plus is one of the more unique Chromebooks out there. It’s extremely thin and light, at .46 inches and 2.6 pounds, but it manages to include a 15.6-inch display in that frame. That screen is a 1080p panel that’s sharp and bright, but its 16:9 aspect ratio made things feel a bit cramped when scrolling vertically. Performance is very good, and the keyboard is solid, though I’m not a fan of the number pad as it shifts everything to the left. At $700 it’s not cheap, but that feels fair considering its size and capabilities. If you’re looking for a big screen laptop that is also super light, this Chromebook merits consideration, even if it’s not the best option for everyone.

Google said that it is launching a new Android-based XR platform on Thursday to accommodate AI features. The company said the platform, called Android XR, will support app development on different devices, including headsets and glasses. The company is releasing Android XR’s first developer preview on Thursday, which already supports existing tools, including ARCore, Android […]

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• The Biden administration secured commitments from top semiconductor chipmakers to build US factories.
• Building chip factories can take years, and some factories have faced delays.
• Hiring for roles in semiconductor manufacturing could come under the Trump administration.

The Biden administration's efforts to boost US semiconductor manufacturing and employment could bear fruit during the Trump administration.

During his term, Biden secured commitments from five of the world's leading chip manufacturers —TSMC, Intel, Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix — to build factories in the US as part of an effort to shore up production of the critical technology. Semiconductor chips power a wide variety of products, including iPhones, pickup trucks, washing machines, and military equipment.

However, many of these factories are still in various stages of construction, and for some, it will be years before they're producing chips. Much of the hiring for manufacturing roles could come under president-elect Donald Trump or a future administration, experts told Business Insider.

Jeff Koch, an analyst at the semiconductor research and consulting firm SemiAnalysis, told Business Insider that the current building of US chip factories has already created construction jobs. However, Koch said that the anticipated boost in semiconductor manufacturing employment hasn't materialized yet.

Koch and Stephen Ezell, the vice president for global innovation policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said manufacturing jobs would likely be realized during the Trump administration.

"The longer it takes to get the funds disbursed and the projects fully underway, then the longer it takes to get to full hiring for construction of the facilities and the operational staffing of them once they're complete," said Ezell, referring to CHIPS Act funding that the five leading chipmakers — in addition to other semiconductor companies — have been allocated from the Biden administration.

The chipmakers are expected to receive some of the $39 billion in manufacturing incentives tied to the CHIPS Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022. The Biden administration is trying to finalize funding agreements before Trump — who has criticized the CHIPS Act — takes office in January.

The US could see about 42,000 direct jobs at the companies building these factories and 101,500 indirect jobs at chipmakers' suppliers, per a report published in 2021 by the Semiconductor Industry Association — a trade association and lobbying group — that said a $50 billion investment would help create an estimated 10 additional chip factories in the US.

To be sure, it's not uncommon for the benefits of a president's policy initiative to see gains after the leader leaves office. This is a reality Biden understands.

"Much of the work we've done is already being felt by the American people, but the vast majority will not be felt, will be felt over the next 10 years," Biden said in November about his administration's policies.

Additionally, the construction of chip factories is particularly complicated, and it often takes years for these projects to be completed.

"This is the world's most complex technology," Jimmy Goodrich, senior advisor for technology analysis to the RAND Corporation, said of semiconductors. "You're talking about producing transistors — billions on a single chip — each of them is 20 to 30,000 times smaller than the human hair."

Business Insider reached out to TSMC, Intel, Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix to confirm the latest status of their US-based chip factories under construction. The table below shows where the chipmakers have committed to building factories in the US. Intel declined to provide estimated completion dates for its four factories.

When reached for comment, the Trump-Vance transition team didn't respond to a question about Trump's plans to boost US semiconductor manufacturing employment.

Building chip factories takes time

Koch said Taiwan-based TSMC began hiring over two years ago. The company is expected to begin full production levels — BI previously reported it already started making chips for Apple — at its first Phoenix factory early next year after facing some delays.

TSMC is projecting that its second and third chip Phoenix-based factories will begin production in 2028 and by the end of the decade, respectively. The second factory was initially slated for a 2026 opening.

Micron, which is based in Boise, Idaho, has five factories in the works — four in Clay, New York, and one in Boise. The Boise factory is expected to begin production in 2026, the company told BI, but Micron's Clay factories have faced some delays.

SK Hynix, which is based in South Korea, expects to begin mass chip production at its West Lafayette, Indiana factory in the second half of 2028. Samsung is projecting that it will begin chip production at its chip factory in Taylor, Texas in 2026. In October, Reuters reported that Samsung has postponed taking deliveries of chipmaking equipment because it has yet to land any major customers for the project.

The Commerce Department said that TSMC, Intel, Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix, and TSMC are "five of the world's leading and most advanced leading-edge logic and leading-edge memory chip manufacturers." The Commerce Department added that building chip factories is a very intensive and complex construction project — and that it often takes three to five years before factories are fully constructed and operational.

While creating US semiconductor manufacturing jobs would be good news for the people who eventually land these roles, Chris Miller, a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who focuses on semiconductors, told BI that he thinks the Biden administration's main goal was to boost US chip manufacturing. Doing so could help secure US supply chains and make the country less reliant on advanced chips made in Taiwan.

"The point is to have more chip manufacturing, which will mostly come over the next few years," he said.

Do you work in the US semiconductor industry? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].

Joe Biden's final move to stop China from racing ahead of the US in AI may be too little too late, reports say.

On Monday, the Biden administration announced new export controls, perhaps most notably restricting exports to China of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI applications. According to Reuters, additional export curbs are designed to also impede China from accessing "24 additional chipmaking tools and three software tools," as well as "chipmaking equipment made in countries such as Singapore and Malaysia."

Nearly two dozen Chinese semiconductor companies will be added to the US entity list restricting their access to US technology, Reuters reported, alongside more than 100 chipmaking toolmakers and two investment companies. These include many companies that Huawei Technologies—one of the biggest targets of US export controls for years—depends on.

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While you could say the Bluetooth earbuds space is thriving, you could also say the amount of variety in the market can make it confusing to decide which pair will be the best Bluetooth earbuds for you. There are plenty of high-quality options out there, with solid active noise cancellation (ANC) like the AirPods Pro 2, sound quality and designs, so for many, the decision will come down to unique features that big companies like Sony, Bose, Apple and Samsung put in their products.

I've tested and reviewed dozens of sets of earbuds a year for Engadget, constantly pitting new models against the previous best across all price ranges to keep this list of the best true wireless earbuds up to date. This guide explains why my current selections for the best wireless earbuds made the cut, and offers some shopping advice in terms of everything you need to know before choosing the best true wireless earbuds for your needs.

If earbuds aren’t your jam, however, you can check out our best headphones buying guide, covering our favorite wireless, over-ear headphones, noise-canceling headphones and more.

Table of contents

• Best wireless earbuds of 2024

• What to look for in wireless earbuds

• How we test wireless earbuds

• Other wireless earbuds we tested

• Wireless earbuds FAQs

Best wireless earbuds

What to look for in wireless earbuds

When it comes to shopping for earphones, the first thing to consider is design or wear style. Do you prefer a semi-open fit like AirPods or do you want something that completely closes off your ears? If you’re shopping for earbuds with active noise cancellation, you'll want the latter, but a case can be made for the former if you want to wear them all day or frequent places where you need to be tuned in to the ambient sounds. The overall shape of earbuds can determine whether you get a comfortable fit, so can the size and weight, so you’ll want to consider all that before deciding. And remember: audio companies aren’t perfect, so despite lots of research, the earbud shape they decided on may not fit you well. Don’t be afraid to return ill-fitting earbuds for something that’s more comfortable.

As wireless earbuds have become the norm, they’re now more reliable for basic things like consistent Bluetooth connectivity. Companies are still in a race to pack as much as they can into increasingly smaller designs. This typically means a longer list of features on the more premium sets of earbuds with basic functionality on the cheapest models. Carefully consider what you can’t live without when selecting your next earbuds, and make sure key items like automatic pausing and multipoint connectivity are on the spec sheet. You’ll also want to investigate the volume and touch controls as you’ll often have to sacrifice access to something else to make that adjustment via on-board taps or swipes. Some earbuds even offer app settings to tweak the audio profiles or firmware updates to improve performance over time.

For those in the Apple ecosystem, features like auto-pairing with devices, especially with AirPods Pro 2, can be an added advantage, while Android users may want to look for models that offer similar cross-device functionality.

When it comes to battery life, the average set of earbuds lasts about five hours on a single charge. You can find sets that last longer, but this is likely enough to get you through a work day if you’re docking the buds during lunch or the occasional meeting. You’ll want to check on how many extra charges are available via the case and if it supports wireless charging.

Companies will also make lofty claims about call quality on wireless earbuds. Despite lots of promises, the reality is most earbuds still leave you sounding like you’re on speakerphone. There are some sets that deliver, but don’t get your hopes up unless reviews confirm the claims.

Sound can be subjective, so we recommend trying before you buy if at all possible. This is especially true if you're an audiophile. We understand this isn’t easy when most of us do a lot of shopping online, but trying on a set of earbuds and listening to them for a few minutes can save you from an expensive case of buyer's remorse. If a store doesn’t allow a quick demo, most retailers have return policies that will let you take earbuds back you don’t like. Of course, you have to be willing to temporarily part with funds in order to do this.

We also recommend paying attention to things like Spatial Audio, Dolby Atmos, 360 Reality Audio and other immersive formats. Not all earbuds support them, so you’ll want to make sure a perspective pair does if that sort of thing excites you, especially if you plan to use them for playback of high-quality audio.

How we test wireless Bluetooth earbuds

The primary way we test earbuds is to wear them as much as possible. We prefer to do this over a one- to two-week period, but sometimes embargoes don’t allow it. During this time, we listen to a mix of music and podcasts, while also using the earbuds to take both voice and video calls. Since battery life for earbuds is typically less than a full day, we drain the battery with looping music and the volume set at a comfortable level (usually around 75 percent).

To judge audio quality, we listen to a range of genres, noting any differences in the sound profile across the styles. We also test at both low and high volumes to check for consistency in the tuning. To assess call quality, we’ll record audio samples with the earbuds’ microphones as well as have third parties call us.

When it comes to features, we do a thorough review of companion apps, testing each feature as we work through the software. Any holdovers from previous models are double checked for improvements or regression. If the earbuds we’re testing are an updated version of a previous model, we’ll spend time getting reacquainted with the older buds. Ditto for the closest competition for each new set of earbuds that we review.

Other wireless Bluetooth earbuds we tested

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3

The Galaxy Buds 3 combine ANC with an open-type design, which renders the noise-blocking abilities of the earbuds mostly useless. Still, there’s great low-end tone with ample bass when a track demands it. There are also lots of handy features, most of which require a Samsung phone. But at this price, there are better options from Google, Beats and Sony

Sennheiser Momentum Sport

I really like the overall shape of the Momentum Sport earbuds. They’re more comfortable than the Momentum True Wireless 4 and fit in my ears better. What’s more, the body temperature and heart rate sensors work well, sending those stats to a variety of apps. However, that sport-tracking feature works best with Polar’s app and devices, so there’s that consideration. Also, the audio quality and ANC performance isn’t as good as the MTW4, and these earbuds are pricey.

Beats Solo Buds

There’s a lot to like about the Solo Buds for $80. For me, the primary perk is they’re very comfortable to wear for long periods of time thanks to some thoughtful design considerations. You only get the basics here in terms of features and, as expected, the overall sound quality isn’t as good as the pricier models in the Beats lineup. You will get 18 hours of battery life though, since the company nixed the battery in the case and beefed up the listening time in the buds themselves.

Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

Bose created something very unique for this set of earbuds that allows you to stay in-tune with the world while listening to audio content. The clip-on design is very comfortable, but sound quality suffers due to the open-type fit, especially when it comes to bass and spatial audio.

Audio-Technica ATH-TWX7

These stick buds have a compact design that’s comfortable to wear and the warm sound profile is great at times. However, overall audio performance is inconsistent and there’s no automatic pausing.

Master & Dynamic MW09

Retooled audio, better ambient sound mode and reliable multipoint Bluetooth are the best things the MW09 has to offer. They’re expensive though, and you can find better ANC performance elsewhere.

Beats Studio Buds +

Updates to sound, ANC and battery life top the spec sheet here, and the new clear color option has some throwback energy I love. But there are some basic features missing, and Beats doesn’t come close to Apple’s natural audio quality in transparency mode.

JBL Tour Pro 2

These earbuds are feature-packed, including a touchscreen “smart case.” They aren’t the most consistent in terms of overall performance though, and I’m not convinced that case provides a lot of utility just yet.

Wireless earbud FAQs

What is considered good battery life for true wireless earbuds?

Most wireless earbuds will last five hours on a single charge, at the least. You can find some pairs that have even better battery life, lasting between six and eight hours before they need more juice. All of the best wireless earbuds come with a charging case, which will provide additional hours of battery life — but you'll have to return each bud to the case in order to charge them up.

Is sound quality better on headphones or earbuds?

Comparing sound quality on earbuds and headphones is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. There are a lot of variables to consider and the differences in components make a direct comparison difficult. Personally, I prefer the audio quality from over-ear headphones, but I can tell you the sound from earbuds like Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 3 is also outstanding.

Which wireless earbuds have the longest battery life?

With new models coming out all the time, tracking the hours of battery life for each this can be difficult to keep tabs on. The longest-lasting earbuds we’ve reviewed are Audio-Technica’s ATH-CKS5TW. The company states they last 15 hours, but the app was still showing 40 percent at that mark during our tests. The only downside is these earbuds debuted in 2019 and both technology and features have improved since. In terms of current models, Master & Dynamic’s MW08 offers 12 hours of use on a charge with ANC off (10 with ANC on) and JBL has multiple options with 10-hour batteries.

What wireless earbuds are waterproof?

There are plenty of options these days when it comes to increased water resistance. To determine the level of protection, you’ll want to look for an IP (ingress protection) rating. The first number indicates intrusion protection from things like dust. The second number is the level of moisture protection and you’ll want to make sure that figure is 7 or higher. At this water-resistance rating, earbuds can withstand full immersion for up to 30 minutes in depths up to one meter (3.28 feet). If either of the IP numbers is an X, that means it doesn’t have any special protection. For example, a pair of wireless earbuds that are IPX7 wouldn’t be built to avoid dust intrusion, but they would be ok if you dropped them in shallow water.

Which earbuds stay in ears the best?

A secure fit can vary wildly from person to person. All of our ears are different, so audio companies are designing their products to fit the most people they can with a single shape. This is why AirPods will easily fall out for some but stay put for others. Design touches like wing tips or fins typically come on fitness models and those elements can help keep things in place. You’ll likely just have to try earbuds on, and if they don’t fit well return them.

What wireless earbuds work with PS5?

PlayStation 5 doesn’t support Bluetooth audio without an adapter or dongle. Even Sony’s own gaming headsets come with a transmitter that connects to the console. There are universal options that allow you to use any headphones, headset or earbuds with a PS5. Once you have one, plug it into a USB port on the console and pair your earbuds with it.

Recent updates

July 2024: Updated our list to include the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro.