The Top Wireless Headphones 2024 Everyone is Talking About!

Wireless headphones come with all the bells and whistles – no wires, fast and easy Bluetooth pairing, a week-long battery life, always-improving sound quality, and, in a growing number of cases, active noise cancellation.

While some audiophiles won’t let go of wired headphones (they still sound great), we’ve reviewed more wireless pairs than we can shake a stick at over the years, thanks to our rigorous testing process and our How-Do-You-Feel Awards judging criteria. Wireless pairs come in all price ranges, so there’s no one-size-fits-all answer.

Of course, not every wireless headphone is created equal. For every good pair that walks through our testing rooms, there are a handful that don’t make it, whether that’s because of poor sound quality, mediocre ANC or careless touch controls. All of which can eat into your music listening time.

The best models don’t just excel in one of these areas, they excel in all of them, providing an overall level of sophistication in terms of performance, features, and design.

Apple AirPods Max

If you’re an Apple fan and you have more money than you need to spend on the Sony WH- 1000XM5 (see above), you’re in the right place to spend it on AirPods Max. Yes, they’re expensive by anyone’s standards, but they’re worth it over Sonys and the competition thanks to their superior sound quality and build quality, as well as Apple’s unique features that are hard to ignore for Apple fans.

AirPods Max are compatible with Bluetooth devices outside of Apple’s ecosystem using Bluetooth standard 5.0. However, in order to use them, you’ll need a compatible iPhone or iPad. Head tracking and spatial audio are two features that are exclusive to Apple.

What’s more, their crispness, detail, and spaciousness set them apart from the more budget-friendly competitors – and not in a bad way.

The AirPods Max aren’t the only top-of-the-line wireless headphones anymore (and they’re not the most expensive, either, as our T+As below show), but they’re still expensive. But if you’re serious about sound quality, you can’t deny that they are worth it.

These AirPods Max are the original AirPods, and they will likely drop in price once the AirPod Max 2 finally drops out of the box, but we’ve also seen them slashed at regular sales throughout the year.

Grado GW100x

As we said in our review of Grado’s original GW100 (and now out-of-print GW100x), the concept of open-back Bluetooth (and hence portable) headphones without noise cancelling puts them in an odd, somewhat counterintuitive place compared to the ‘closed-back’ noise cancelling market leaders like Bose and Sony. Who wears a pair of bluetooth headphones that blow as much noise out of the ear as it does in?

Even so, if you’re looking for a wireless pair of headphones that you’ll be using mostly in a quiet or private environment and prioritize excellent sound quality, you’re definitely going to want to keep an eye on these GW1000x. They provide outstanding sound quality regardless of whether you’re using a wireless or 3.5mm headphone jack, and have a battery life of up to 46 hours (at half volume).

They’ve also included 44mm drivers in the GW100’s well-balanced mix, new speaker housings, aptX adaptive codec support, and a host of other improvements and refinements, resulting in one of the best sounding wireless cans available at this price point.

T+A Solitaire T

Given their Solitaire name, it’s easy to see why. The T+A stand out from the crowd. They’re in a class of their own in terms of wireless performance. We’ve never heard of them before.

They’re also way more expensive than most people would want to spend on headphones, whether they’re wired or wireless. But if convenience and sound quality are important to you, and you’re willing to splurge a little, and you have the budget to spare, then you’ve come to the right place.

The first thing that strikes us about Solitaire T’s is how natural and clean they sound. These aren’t headphones that want to add character or color to your music, they want to tell your music the way it is, and that makes for a listening experience that we can’t describe as anything but pure – it feels like cans that are beginning to blur the line between wired and wireless as we’ve always known it.

Sony WH-1000XM5

We were a little more than a little taken aback when we first saw the first pictures of the new Sony WH-1000XL5 emerge from the media chrysalis. Was it a good idea to redesign one of Sony’s best-selling products of the last couple of years, the high-performance WH-1000XL4?

While it may not look as premium as its predecessors (which, by the way, are still available at an affordable price), the difference in sound quality is significant, and once again, competitors will have their hands full. Improved call quality and noise cancellation, along with a better design, make them attractive investments for anyone with money to spend.

If you’re looking for a top-of-the-line noise cancelling headphone, your auditioning process should begin here. The XM4 was already one of the best in the business – and still is if you can’t afford the top-of-the-line models – but there’s no denying that the XM5 is better for the people who can afford it.