Justified or not, Apple’s AirPods have develop into the default selection for many iPhone homeowners out there for brand spanking new wi-fi earbuds. In the event you’re looking for an Android cellphone, nevertheless, the choices aren’t so apparent. That’s the place we might help: We’ve examined dozens of wi-fi earbuds through the years, so we’ve damaged down our high suggestions for Android customers beneath. Whether or not you need highly effective noise cancellation, a pair that’ll survive within the fitness center or simply one thing that works significantly properly with a Galaxy or Pixel cellphone, listed here are our favourite AirPods alternate options for Android.
Desk of contents
Greatest Android earbuds for 2025
Learn our full Sony WF-1000XM5 assessment
The Sony WF-1000XM5 hit on nearly every little thing we wish from a premium set of wi-fi earbuds. Their small, rounded design ought to really feel comfy and safe in most ears. They’re almost unmatched at muting outdoors noise, due to a strong ANC characteristic and reminiscence foam eartips that do a exceptional job of isolating sound passively. They sound nice out of the field, particularly when you like a hotter profile with elevated bass, however you may simply customise the EQ curve by Sony’s app, they usually do properly to attract out treble-range element both manner. They’re additionally loaded with additional options, together with multipoint connectivity, Google Quick Pair, LDAC and spatial audio help, the flexibility to swap between ANC and ambient sound modes robotically and extra. The wi-fi charging case is conveniently tiny, whereas the eight- to 12-hour battery life offers little to complain about.
Nonetheless, the XM5s nonetheless aren’t a whole slam dunk. The built-in mics aren’t the clearest for cellphone calls. The IPX4 water-resistance score could possibly be increased. Some folks would possibly discover the reminiscence foam eartips somewhat too full-feeling. Additionally they price $300, which is much from inexpensive. However no different wi-fi earbuds we’ve examined have managed to tick so many bins.
- Sturdy, customizable audio high quality
- Needs to be comfy to most
- A great deal of useful bonus options
- Costly
- Reminiscence foam eartips aren’t for everybody
- No battery life enchancment over predecessor
Learn our information to the finest price range wi-fi earbuds
In the event you don’t have a whole lot to spend, our favourite wi-fi earbuds within the price range bracket are the Anker Soundcore Area A40. Incessantly priced between $45 and $60, this pair has the form of options we’d anticipate from earbuds that price twice as a lot: genuinely highly effective ANC, multipoint connectivity, wi-fi charging, a stable eight to 10 hours of battery life, LDAC help, respectable (if not nice) IPX4 water resistance and a usable ambient sound mode. They don’t have probably the most resolving or detail-rich sound of the field, unsurprisingly, however their heat profile affords nice, thumpy bass with out completely blowing out the low-end. If you wish to add extra treble presence, you may customise the EQ by a clear and easy-to-read companion app. The precise earpieces are small, spherical and comfy as properly.
The primary trade-off is name high quality, because the built-in mic can lose your voice in noisy environments and doesn’t deal with sibilant sounds very properly. There’s no put on detection both, so your music received’t auto-pause if you take away an earbud. Additionally they don’t help Google’s Quick Pair tech, although the earbuds ought to keep in mind your system and robotically reconnect after you pair them for the primary time. However for the value, it’s onerous to complain.
- Wonderful ANC for the value
- Heat, nice sound
- Comfy and compact
- Good battery life
- No automated put on detection
- Mediocre name high quality
- Would not sound as detailed as higher-end choices (as anticipated)
Learn our full Noble FoKus Rex5 assessment
Figuring out which set of headphones has the “finest” sound high quality is a idiot’s errand — on the finish of the day, it’ll all the time come down to non-public style. But when we needed to decide one pair we’ve significantly loved for music, it’d be the Noble FoKus Rex5. Its distinctive five-driver design helps it draw out a exceptional degree of element and correctly separate the instrumentation in any given observe. It’s a balanced sound profile, with tight however not overindulgent bass, a natural-sounding midrange and relaxed highs that don’t fatigue over time. The soundstage is wider than most true wi-fi earbuds we’ve examined, whereas help for LDAC and aptX Adaptive solely help with element retrieval. You possibly can set a private EQ when you want it, however we’ve discovered the inventory tuning to swimsuit any style properly by default.
The FoKus Rex5 helps ANC and multipoint connectivity, whereas its IEM-style, metal-and-acrylic housing matches comfortably within the ear. However you’d purchase it for the sound high quality firstly: Noise cancellation isn’t on Sony’s degree, the ultra-green end isn’t for everybody, the five- to seven-hour battery life isn’t excellent and there’s no auto-pausing if you take away an earbud. Most prohibitively, these items are rattling costly at $449. If you would like one thing a little much less expensive, the Technics AZ100 and Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 are compelling (if bassier) choices as properly. However for self-proclaimed audiophiles with money to burn, the FoKus Rex5 are a deal with.
- Detailed, immersive sound
- Comfy match
- Customized audio profiles that save on to the buds
- Very costly
- Only one colour and it isn’t for everybody
- Subpar ANC efficiency
Learn our full Beats Match Professional assessment
Most of our picks above will work simply fantastic within the fitness center, however when you’re shopping for a pair for exercises firstly, strive the Beats Match Professional. Sure, we’re recommending a set of Apple-made earbuds in an Android shopping for information. However whereas they work finest with iPhones, most of their AirPods-style options are additionally accessible on Android by the Beats app. You possibly can pair them with one faucet by a pop-up card, view a map with their final recognized location, swap between ANC and ambient sound modes from the house display, remap controls and examine their battery degree from the notification tray. There’s no hi-res codec help, however generally the drop-off from iOS to Android isn’t almost as nice right here as it’s with AirPods.
The primary cause we advocate the Match Professional is their light-weight design, which is supplied with flexible silicone fins that preserve the earbuds safe in place whilst you’re shifting round. Their IPX4 water-resistance score isn’t the very best, nevertheless it needs to be sufficient for all however the sweatiest gymgoers. (Simply don’t use them within the pool.) We additionally like that the Match Professional makes use of bodily buttons to regulate quantity or skip tracks, since contact controls can really feel finicky if you’re attempting to maintain up with a exercise. Their punchy sound is well-suited to the fitness center as properly, with a noticeable however not overwhelming push within the bass and treble. It’s not one for purists, nevertheless it’s energetic.
In the event you aren’t particularly in search of exercise earbuds, you may nonetheless do higher. The Match Professional lack wi-fi charging and multipoint connectivity, and there’s no option to customise the EQ when you don’t just like the default sound. Their built-in mics aren’t something particular for cellphone calls, and the five- to six-hour battery life is on the sting of satisfactory. The charging case is considerably giant as properly. Plus, whereas the ANC mode is beneficial sufficient for tamping down the noise of a fitness center, it’s a transparent step down from the very best choices in the marketplace.
- Safe design for exercises
- Punchy sound is well-suited to the fitness center
- Bodily management buttons
- No wi-fi charging or multipoint connectivity
- Battery life is simply OK
- ANC is not fantastic however nothing particular
Learn our full Google Pixel Buds Professional 2 assessment
The Pixel Buds Professional 2 are explicitly designed to work in concord with different Pixel units, so that they’re price contemplating when you’re a devoted fan of Google’s telephones. They arrive with a bunch of helpful bonus options, from distant ringing and a “dialog detection” mode to a customizable EQ and automated switching between units paired to your Google account. (You additionally get hands-free entry to Google’s Gemini AI bot, although we wouldn’t name that important.) You possibly can nonetheless entry a lot of the Pixel Buds’ perks on different Android units by downloading a separate app, however the entire performance is baked into Pixel telephones natively. This implies you may handle the earbuds, examine battery standing and the like proper out of your system’s settings menus. It’s much like how Apple integrates AirPods with iOS.
The earbuds themselves are completely competent past that, with a tiny but comfy design, respectable ANC for the value, eight-ish hours of battery life, satisfactory name high quality and an fulfilling sound with punchy bass and prolonged treble. That mentioned, you’ll nonetheless get richer audio high quality and extra sturdy noise cancellation from our Sony and Noble picks above, so those that aren’t all-in on Google {hardware} can be happy to look elsewhere.
- Tight integration with Pixel telephones
- Tiny, comfortable design
- Agreeable sound
- Smaller contact panels require precision
- ANC is not on par with Sony WF-1000XM5
Learn our full Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Professional assessment
Alongside these traces, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Professional are to Galaxy telephones what the Pixel Buds Professional 2 are to Pixel telephones. Utilizing them with a Samsung handset unlocks a number of ecosystem-specific perks, together with the hi-res Samsung Seamless codec, a real-time translation device and a “Sport Mode” that reduces latency. That’s on high of options like spatial audio, a graphic EQ, a misplaced system finder, adaptive ANC, simplified voice instructions and automated switching between Samsung units.
This type of walled backyard strategy is irritating; keep in mind when you could possibly plug your headphones into any system and it’d work the identical manner each time? However, as with the Pixel Buds and AirPods, the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional are undeniably handy when you’ve already purchased into their chosen platform.
The remainder of the bundle will get extra proper than flawed, although there are some points price calling out. The stem-style design just about rips off the AirPods Professional — that is significantly evident with the white end — however provides bizarre, pointless LED strips down the stems. It’s comfy, however Samsung isn’t beating the copycat allegations right here. The ANC isn’t on par with the Sony XM5s both, and the six-hour battery life is shorter than many different premium pairs. There’s additionally no hi-res codec help with non-Samsung telephones. On the plus aspect, the ambient sound mode works properly. And most significantly, these items sound wonderful out of the field, with full, meaty bass complemented by amply detailed highs and upper-mids.
It’s price noting that Samsung froze shipments of the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional proper round launch on account of high quality management considerations (primarily concerning the inventory eartips), however these look to have been resolved, and we haven’t seen something out of the abnormal with our assessment unit.
- Tight integration with Samsung telephones
- Nice audio high quality
- Comfortable match
- Pure ambient sound
- Want a Samsung cellphone to get probably the most out of them
- Battery life is shorter than some rivals
- Copycat design with gimmicky LED lights
What to search for in wi-fi earbuds for Android units
For probably the most half, the options you need from a set of “Android earbuds” are the identical as what you need from any headphones. Pleasing sound high quality, a snug match and enough battery life are nonetheless the foundations. Sufficient water resistance is sweet for exercises, and no one desires a crummy mic for making calls. When you strategy the $100 vary, options like lively noise cancellation (ANC), wi-fi charging, an ambient sound mode (which helps you to higher hear outdoors noise with out turning off your music) and multipoint connectivity (the flexibility to pair with a number of units concurrently) needs to be anticipated.
For Android units particularly, there are a number of extras to contemplate. A devoted app that makes it straightforward to modify sound modes, customise the audio profile, find your earbuds in the event that they ever get misplaced or modify different settings is strongly most well-liked. Options like Google Quick Pair or NFC-based pairing, which might help you keep away from having to dig by your Bluetooth menu to attach your earbuds for the primary time, are additionally good perks. Some Android units can even make the most of higher-quality Bluetooth codecs similar to aptX Adaptive or Sony’s LDAC — these aren’t almost as vital to audio high quality because the precise structure of your earbuds, however they might help wring out somewhat extra element if the buds are succesful sufficient and also you’re streaming lossless information. AptX Adaptive can even assist scale back latency, which is sweet for streaming video or gaming.
Range is Android’s biggest energy, nevertheless it additionally implies that some wi-fi earbuds play nicer with sure units, sometimes these made by the identical firm. Current Samsung earbuds, as an example, include a number of perks which are solely accessible when you use a Galaxy cellphone. We have now a few suggestions associated to this concept above.
How we check Android earbuds
One of the simplest ways to check earbuds is solely to put on them as a lot as attainable, in order that’s what we do. We sometimes do that over a one- to two-week interval, although embargo instances sometimes drive us to complete our assessment course of a bit sooner. We take heed to a check playlist that features a number of musical genres and podcasts, paying shut consideration to how every pair approaches the bass, mid and treble frequencies to get an correct sense of its sound profile. We additionally check at excessive and low volumes to examine for consistency within the tuning. We do not need entry to a dummy head to take extra goal measurements, however we’ll typically look to websites like Rtings, SoundGuys and others that do exactly to make sure our impressions will not be wildly off-base. If a mannequin helps customized EQ, we’ll tinker with that and use the accessible EQ presets to see if one sounds dramatically higher than the others — although generally we base most of our impressions on the inventory tuning every pair makes use of by default.
To evaluate microphone high quality, we report our personal audio samples and take a number of calls with a associate each indoors and out of doors. For battery life, we play our check playlist on a loop with the quantity round 75 p.c and measure how lengthy it takes for every set to empty. The place relevant, we do an intensive assessment of a pair’s companion app and check every accessible characteristic. Whereas consolation is finally subjective, we pay attention to how safe every pair feels whereas we’re on the transfer. We additionally use sure pairs in particularly crowded public areas to get a greater sense of their passive and lively noise cancellation, in addition to their means to take care of a constant Bluetooth connection.
Current updates
April 2025: We’ve checked this information to make sure our high picks nonetheless stand and famous a pair alternate options to the Noble Fokus Rex5, since that pair has had inventory problems with late. We’re additionally keeping track of how the Trump administration’s tariff coverage impacts the pricing and inventory of our suggestions (and the buyer tech business as a complete). All of our picks are nonetheless accessible of their regular value ranges immediately, however we’ll replace this information if that adjustments.
February 2025: The Noble FoKus Rex5 is our new “finest for sound high quality” decide, changing the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 4. Our different suggestions stay unchanged.
December 2024: We’ve evenly edited this information for readability and ensured that our present picks are nonetheless correct.