The Best Wireless Earbuds of 2020

The winning follow-up to Samsung's original Galaxy Buds, the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ debuted in 2020 and checked off a lot of the right boxes where true wireless headphones are concerned.

While they don't cancel noise or sound as good as the Apple AirPods Pro, the Galaxy Buds+ still sound plenty good, and also offer a heap of great features for as much as $100 less. Key Galaxy Buds+ features include their own credible version of transparency mode called "Ambient sound," basic water resistance, and a whopping 11 hours of max playback per charge (and up to 22 hours total with the case).

We also really enjoy their simple and comfortable form factor and compact charging case, available in multiple colors.

This is the hill we're prepared to die on: these may be a better choice for many folks than the classic AirPods, especially if you use them alongside the minimalist and intuitive Samsung Wearables app. The only major drawback is that they don't work with older phones, so check those requirements before you pull the trigger.

Sennheiser’s new-and-improved Momentun, the Momentum 2 True Wireless offer the best sound in the category, though their amazing performance comes with a hefty price tag.

First, the good stuff: The Momentum True Wireless 2 offer a rich, dynamic listening experience regardless of genre, thanks in part to their mild (but effective) noise cancellation.

In fact, they sound so good that you might find yourself discovering sonic details in songs you thought you knew like the back of your hand. Listening to music on the Momentum 2 is an altogether inviting experience, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a better sounding pair of wireless earbuds of any kind in 2020.

Compared to the original Sennheiser Momentum, the Momentum 2 offer a vastly improved selection of touch controls on the outside of each earbud. And as a bonus, Sennheiser’s Smart Control app has also seen a host of improvements this year, making the customization experience painless and surprisingly granular, allowing you to change up the controls in any configuration to dial up your favorite combination.

There are a few drawbacks that must be reckoned with, should you decide to shell out the dough for a pair. For one thing, while the Momentum 2 True Wireless offer better battery life than their predecessor, they top out at around seven hours (or a little over five with noise cancellation enabled), which is better than Apple's AirPods Pro, but less than we'd like for their $300 price point.

In addition, the Momentum 2 aren’t quite as durable as some of the more affordable true wireless earbuds we’ve tested this year, and while they're relatively easy to use, the interface isn't quite as dead-simple as Apple's AirPods Pro.

Still, if you’ve got the means and value high-quality sound first and foremost, the Sennheiser Momentum 2 are a fantastic pick. They’re better than their predecessor and stand toe-to-toe with Apple’s AirPods Pro in a wide range of categories.

Priced similarly to Apple's AirPods Pro, the Powerbeats Pro are impressive true wireless earbuds in their own right, checking off a lot of the right boxes where this headphone type is concerned. They're relatively stylish (as you might expect from Beats), available in ivory, black, navy, or moss colors, and feature adjustable ear hooks to help keep them in your ears during just about any workout.

They also offer vastly improved sound quality over previous Beats earbuds, making them a good choice for general use, though their ear-hook design can get uncomfortable over time. Like most true wireless earphones, they come with a pocketable charging case (thanks to their ear hooks, it’s larger than most), but their 9 hours of battery life per charge allows you to leave the case behind for most activities.

Like other Beats headphones, their sound profile is still bass-forward—but it’s thankfully restrained here for impressive clarity. As you’d expect for fitness headphones, the Powerbeats Pro are also sweat- and water-resistant so you won’t have to worry about going for the gusto, while a three-button control system present on both earbuds makes it easy to use them with both ‘buds in or just one earbud at a time.

The Powerbeats Pro are less minimalist than Apple's AirPods, and come at a premium price point—especially for headphones that don’t include active noise cancellation or transparency mode. Still, if you’re looking for fitness first, the latest Beats earbuds are a fine choice.

The 4th-gen Beats Powerbeats are basically the same headphones as the Powerbeats Pro—they simply aren't "true wireless," featuring a small cable that runs between the two buds and behind your neck.

However, what you're sacrificing by way of true wireless freedom, you're making up for in price. People love the Powerbeats Pro, but they're just too darn expensive (at full price anyway). The Powerbeats are a great stand-in, priced well below the Powerbeats Pro's suggested retail price.

Outside of the wire situation, Powerbeats fans will be very glad to know that the connected Powerbeats sound just as good, and offer similar levels of flexibility and style (i.e., they come in a bunch of colors), as well as shockingly good connection quality that outdoes their sibling, as well as any other true wireless earbuds you'll find right now.

These are an excellent addition if you've been after the workout-ready, sound-forward style of the original Powerbeats Pro but didn't want to shell out a ton of cash. Heck, if you don't mind the addition of one little wire, there's really no reason not to buy these instead.

If you're buying wireless headphones, you're likely doing it for the convenience above all. Like the AirPods Pro, Apple's standard AirPods excel at that, with connection quality that’s as good or better than any true wireless earbuds we've tested.

These earbuds have awesome range, a small but powerful charging case for 24 hours of listening time in total, and they are incredibly easy to pair with Apple devices, though they work great with Android and Windows devices, too.

One drawback is that they are still designed like the solid plastic earbuds Apple has included with its products for years, meaning fit can be finicky. Sound quality is also merely so-so (in part because of their lack of a tight seal in your ears) and they don't offer water resistance.

Still, their intuitive usability makes them a go-to choice for Apple fans, as does their combination of price, dependability, connectivity, and convenience. If you like the sound of all that, but still need something more, we suggest stepping up to the pricier Apple AirPods Pro.

If you're looking for true wireless earbuds with great sound quality, the Bose SoundSport Free are a good choice for the money. Once you get the fit right, they offer excellent bass response, good sound isolation, and impressive sound quality that excels at every genre, from classical to rock to hip-hop.

The Bose Soundsport Free do have one key design flaw, as described by one user review from Bose's site: they stick out of your ears like bolts from Frankenstein's neck. Unlike most earbuds that dig into the nooks of your ears, these jut way outward. They felt secure enough in our testing for running, but they look a bit goofy.

Part of this design is to make room for physical buttons on the buds themselves rather than just touch controls. It's nice, but the force required to push the buttons down can cause the buds to shift out of place.

However, if you can ignore those flaws, the SoundSport Free are a great buy. They offer a decent five hours of battery life on a charge (with another 10 hours from the included case) and the sound quality is so good it's worth mentioning again.

Look, most true wireless earbuds look a bit off. Plenty has been written about Apple's AirPods and their golf-tee design. But the Soundsport Free might be the weirdest-looking of the bunch. If you can live with that, though, the Soundsport Free are definitely worth consideration.