Update: View our most recent Best Wireless Earbuds: Editors’ Choice Awards here.
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The TWS Market in 2024
Just how large is the true wireless earbuds category? Although the category has been dominated by the Apple AirPods since their launch in 2016, the overall segment is projected to generate tens of billions of dollars annually by 2028 — high-end audio is a tiny drop in the bucket in comparison.
Because of its marketing budget and name recognition, Apple will continue to command a significant segment of the market for the foreseeable future but that still leaves a sizeable portion of the pie for other brands — and other superior TWS (True Wireless Stereo) earbuds to fight over. In fact, TWS has become the universal acronym for all wireless earbuds and earphones that are not Apple AirPods.
How many brands are currently fighting over the rest of the market? We count at least 100 right now — and some of them offer products that you should be considering instead of the AirPods and that includes the hundreds of millions of consumers who are tied at the hip to their iPhones.
The latest AirPods Pro (2nd generation) are good wireless earphones but to push them to the front of the line when there are superior options is nothing more than brand worship.
2024 was a pretty good year for the category with new models from Apple, Sony, Bose, Sennheiser, Bowers & Wilkins and Master & Dynamic jumping to the front of the pack.
Brands have added features like taking your body temperature and monitoring your heart rate whilst listening and some even claim to work underwater. We read the IP-rating on some of them and genuinely had to laugh.
Methodology
Eligible products must be currently shipping whether or not they were released in the current year. At least one eCoustics staff member must nominate a product within the category that they feel offers best-in-class performance at its listed retail price before it can be voted on by our Editors.
Best Wireless Earbuds Under $200
Sennheiser ACCENTUM ($199)
If your budget doesn’t allow you to spend a lot on a pair of true wireless earbuds, the Sennheiser ACCENTUM deliver a surprising amount of performance and features at their asking price — and you may be able to find them for $129 on sale.
Are they as good as the more expensive Momentum 4 which retail for $300? You already know the answer but it’s hard to not find a lot to like in these very affordable true wireless earbuds.
The Momentum 4 put up a rather strong challenge but ultimately lost to the Bose; getting most of that for only $129 (when on sale) is what makes the ACCENTUM so impressive.
ACCENTUM True Wireless’ Hybrid ANC and Transparency modes lets wearers block or listen to ambient surroundings on-demand via simple tap gestures or Sennheiser’s free Smart Control app.
The app also enables further customizations with a 5-band equalizer and user-definable touch controls for managing media, phone calls, and voice assistants. A guided preset creator uploads to the cloud to allow access on all of your iOS or Android devices.
Pros:
- Comfortable
- Support for Bluetooth 5.3
- Above average ANC performance
- 8 hours of playtime on a single charge
- Super affordable
- Good sound quality for asking price
Cons:
- Resolution could be better
Where to buy: $199 $129 at Amazon | Crutchfield
Best Wireless Earbuds Under $300
Bose QuietComfort Ultra ($299)
This might surprise some but the new Bose QuietComfort Ultra are the best at their asking price. My conclusion from our initial review was that they didn’t do enough to steal the crown from the Sony XM5 based on active noise cancellation (ANC) performance and slightly better performance in the midrange and lower treble. However, after having had the opportunity to spend a lot more time with both on the road traveling for work and whilst going about my day — the Bose is decidedly more comfortable to wear during longer listening sessions (like being stuck on an airplane for hours) and far less fatiguing.
Is that enough to pick them?
We think so because whilst the ANC performance might be slightly inferior, the typical buyer is going to spend a lot of time wearing them and when you are trying to focus whilst working on a laptop at a crowded airport gate in places like Atlanta or Orlando — comfort and fatigue matter a lot.
Pros:
- Seal and long-term comfort
- ANC performance
- No listening fatigue over many hours
- Battery performance
- Ideal for business travelers
Cons:
- ANC performance inferior to Sony
- Midrange and treble could have greater detail and presence
Where to buy: $299 $229 at Amazon
Honorable Mention
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 ($399)
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 did a lot of things really well and that made me feel comfortable recommending it to both readers and friends who cared more about features and sound quality than absolute noise cancellation — and it was quite good in that department.
The Pi7 S2 have been replaced with the new Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 ($399 USD) and there are a number of interesting features that you are unlikely to find from the competition.
You can read our recent review here and whilst I remain incredibly impressed with its build quality, features, and overall sound quality — connectivity issues with some devices made it hard to select it as one of our top choices for 2024.
Should Bowers & Wilkins fix the issue in the short term — they definitely need to be on your shortlist but a product has to work as one would expect out the box — especially for $400.
It’s definitely going to be a contender in our first mid-year 2025 update if the issues have been fixed.
Where to buy: $399 at Amazon | Crutchfield
Related Reading:
- Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 Earphones Review
- Master & Dynamic MW09 True Wireless ANC Earphones Review
- Sony WF-1000XM5 Wireless ANC Earbuds Review
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra Wireless Earbuds Review
- View all Editors Choice Awards
