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Best Wireless Headphones 2024

If you want to be immersed in your audio from just about anywhere, wireless headphones are the way to go, delivering a performance that’s just a notch above the best wireless earbuds. Take our favorite pair, the Sony WH-1000XM5, and you’ll enjoy spectacular ANC, excellent sound quality, and comfortable fit. Even if that’s not for you, the best headphones come with different styles, features, and price tags, and we’ve narrowed the pool of wireless offerings down to nine solid picks.

TL;DR – These Are the Best Wireless Headphones:

The best wireless headphones will be comfortable on your head, deliver excellent sound quality, and seamlessly connect to your devices. From there, features like ANC, support for high-res codecs, and spatial audio can improve your listening experience. But unfortunately, there are a lot of duds out there, so we’re bringing the best of the best wireless headphones below – and click here to see them in the UK.

The Best Wireless Headphones

1. Sony WH-1000XM5

Best Wireless Headphones

Pros:

Outstanding ANC
Support for the premium LDAC codec

Cons:

Less portable than older models

Sony continues to one-up itself with its latest, the WH-1000XM5. This update makes some of the most dramatic changes to the headphone since the WH-1000XM2. Most notably, you get improved noise cancellation with eight microphones on board that monitor the noise around you, optimizing the sound using AI to drown out all the distractions around you. There are even activity and location smarts baked in, so it can detect when you’re walking or at a location you frequent – like a coffee shop – and adjust the sound based on your preferences.

Beyond the ANC improvements, you get a whole new design with the WH-1000XM5, including a headband that does not fold up, making it slightly less portable. However, that headband is wrapped in pleather and memory foam to rest comfortably on your head for hours. It also totes slightly tweaked earcups with various intuitive on-ear controls for easy listening. Of course, the audio quality on these pair of cans is unmatched, with a wide sound stage and warm sound for insane sonic clarity. Sony even includes DSEE Extreme to improve the quality of compressed audio files, like MP3, so you can take full advantage of the wide frequency response range of the drivers and enjoy the premium LDAC codec.

2. Razer Opus

Best Budget Wireless Headphones

Pros:

Long 40-hour battery life
Surprisingly good ANC

Cons:

No custom EQ

Razer has done some more dabbling in the on-the-go headphone business with the Razer Opus. These headphones offer many of the premiums you'll find on high-end headphones at a slightly more affordable price point. Namely, you'll get a long, 40-hour battery life (32 with ANC on) over a Bluetooth connection and active noise cancellation to cut down on ambient sound. The headphones can let you hear your surroundings with Quick Attention Mode as well, giving you multiple ways to use the headsets built-in microphones.

The Razer Opus features leatherette coverings for the headband and ear cups along with memory foam padding for your ears. While Bluetooth 5.0 may be the star of the show, the Razer Opus also offers up a standard 3.5mm wired connection whenever you need it. And, these headphones charge over USB-C, so you won't need to carry around any outdated micro USB cables to keep them charged.

3. Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700

Best Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones

Interface: Wireless, wired | Connections: Bluetooth 5.0, 3.5mm audio cable | Design: Closed-back + ANC | Battery life: 20 hours | Weight: 254g

Pros:

Superior active noise-cancelling
Excellent design

Cons:

Battery life could be better

The Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 are a few years older but offer an elegant and lightweight package that lets you take your music with you wherever you go while avoiding the headache of background noise disrupting it. Bose’s noise-cancelling technology trades blows with Sony’s, and the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 offer a particularly compelling experience for commuters thanks to their ability to cut down on low droning sounds – think the loud hum of airplanes. Bose also lets you dial in that noise cancelling with multiple levels of intensity, and you can activate a transparency mode to hear your surroundings without having to take the headphones off.

With 20 hours of battery life, these headphones are ready for your longest days. Even if the battery does run low, you don’t have to stop listening to your tunes, as the headphones feature a backup 3.5mm connection. You also can keep your headphones, charging cable, and audio cable all together when you’re on the move in Bose’s included carrying case.

4. Bose QuietComfort Ultra

Best Closed-Back Wireless Headphones

Pros:

Extremely customizable
Support for Bluetooth multipoint

Cons:

ANC adds slight pressure to ears

These headphones offer a high-end audio experience and incredibly effective ANC, making for one of the best Bose headphones you can buy. If you like listening to loud music in the office, while exercising, or when traveling, these are going to tick all of the boxes, while offering some pretty awesome features too.

Using the companion app, you can customize the headphones’ sound quality to suit your audio tastes. You’ll get a full array of connectivity options too, including Bluetooth 5.3, and support for AAC, AptX Adaptive, and SBC codecs. If you own an Android phone, you’ll be pleased to know that the Bose QuietComfort Ultra also features Google Fast Pair, alongside multipoint pairing, so you can quickly switch between devices.

But what you’re really investing in here is the ANC. For the price, you can almost entirely block out low and mid sounds from busy environments, with just a peep of a few highs here and there.

5. Beats Solo 4

Best Wireless Headphones For Apple Users

Interface: Wireless, wired | Connections: Bluetooth 5.3, 3.5mm jack, USB-C | Design: Closed-back | Battery life: 50 hours | Weight: 217g

Pros:

Pairs seamlessly with Apple and Android devices
Spatial audio with head tracking support for Apple devices

Cons:

No ANC

If you’re not fully in the AirPods camp but want headphones that work seamlessly with your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, the Beats Solo 4 is the way to go. Rather than going with an Apple chip like in previous models, the Solo 4 is powered by Beats' own processor, which supports Google Fast Pair for an easy connection to Android devices as well. But you can still link these headphones to an iCloud account for speedy pairing and auto-switching between Apple devices. However, the spatial audio with head tracking is exclusive to Apple users.

Beats has made a few other improvements with the Solo 4, starting with a 50-hour battery life and USB-C support for lossless high-res audio and charging. The design keeps the headphones securely on the head, aiding in the excellent passive noise isolation – a nice perk considering there’s no ANC. As for the sound performance, the 40mm drivers produce crisp highs with punchy bass. Unfortunately, you can’t customize the EQ settings to tweak the headphones to your liking.

6. Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4

Best High-End Wireless Headphones

Pros:

Impressive 60-hour battery life
Great sound quality

Cons:

On-ear touchpad is sensitive

The Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4 are classy and comfortable headphones with heavily cushioned leatherette ear cups and a padded, fabric-lined headband. Even with the lightweight build, you still get a wild 60-hour battery life along with easy-to-operate on-ear controls using both physical buttons and a touchpad. Just be aware it’s easy to accidentally trigger that touchpad.

As far as sound quality goes, the Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4 delivers booming bass and crisp, pleasant highs, though you can customize your audio further using the Sennheiser Smart Control app. The headphone’s ANC does a decent job of blocking outside distractions to immerse you deeper in that sound but still can’t compete with Bose or Sony. You’ll also enjoy listening to some high-end audio files over Bluetooth 5.2 with support for AAC, AptX, AptX Adaptive, and SBC codecs.

7. Audio-Technica ATH-S220BTWH

Best Long-Lasting Wireless Headphones

Pros:

Ultra affordable
Durable, lightweight build

Cons:

No ANC

Many of the best wireless headsets are lucky to last 20 hours on a charge. However, the Audio-Technica ATH-S220BTWH blows past the competition with a dreamy 60-hour battery life at an insanely affordable price. You even get a quick charge feature, giving you over three hours of juice in just 10 minutes.

Though these headphones are cheap, they don’t feel it, toting a surprisingly durable, lightweight build with a well-cushioned headband and earcups, making them perfect for travel. Those earcups also deliver impressive sounding audio for the price and do a decent job of muting outside noise, which is handy, as you don’t get ANC on this pair of cans. The only major downside is the muffled sounding mic, but if you slide in the 3.5mm cable with an inline mic, that issue is easily remedied.

8. Apple AirPods Max

Best High-End Wireless Headphones for Apple Users

Pros:

Stunning design and build quality
Solid ANC with a transparency mode

Cons:

Some features won’t work with non-Apple devices

Apple users don't get left out when it comes to high-end headphones made for their devices anymore. Apple has made its own pair of premium headphones with the AirPods Max. They come at a pretty premium, even for the best AirPods models, but what you get is nothing short of luxury. The AirPods Max headphones offer massive, circumaural earcups to provide plenty of cushion for long-term comfort. The headband design, which Apple is calling the canopy, is akin to what we've seen from SteelSeries recently, with what's effectively a stretchy mesh band that evenly distributes pressure across the top of the head to prevent any sore spots.

Naturally, since these are coming at a premium even over the AirPods Pro, they aren't lacking in features. The AirPods Max headphones support active noise cancelling to cut out unwanted background noise and they also support an ambient passthrough mode, so you can hear what's going on around you without having to take the headphones off. When you're listening, you'll get powerful sound from Apple's specially designed drivers. And, with Apple's H1 chips, the headset can offer spatial audio and head tracking, so you'll get even more when pairing these other Apple products.

9. Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal

Best Wireless Headphones for Gaming

Pros:

Ample connectivity options
Solid audio quality

Cons:

Expensive

Who says you have to buy the best gaming headset and Hi-Fi headphones separately? The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal headphones serve dual purposes with an array of connectivity features to use on the go and native support for Xbox Wireless to connect directly to an Xbox Series X/S for game audio and chat. You can also take advantage of the headphones' multiple connections at the same time to play music over Bluetooth while you're gaming. With both connections active and ANC on, the headset will run for 12 hours, which is longer than anyone should play in one go anyway.

This headset can connect to a wide variety of devices over Bluetooth 5.1 and supports the aptX Adaptive and AAC codecs to deliver high-quality audio. It also supports wired connections over USB-C and 3.5mm audio cables. It'll pump out sound through its 40mm speaker drivers and shut out outside noise with active noise cancellation technology. While you're gaming, you'll also be able to benefit from virtual surround sound with Dolby Atmos. And, the Beoplay Portal's Own Voice technology will help you hear yourself so you don't shout at your teammates on accident.