Who wouldn't appreciate a good pair of headphones as a gift this holiday season? Here's a wide selection of top wireless models.
With a multitude of models to choose from, it's not easy to figure out which headphone to buy these days. With that in mind, we're highlighting several of our highest-rated wireless headphones -- not all of them are pricey -- to help narrow down your online gift choice this holiday season.
Sony's earlier WH-1000XM3 model was great. But if it had a weakness, that was its voice-calling capabilities, particularly in noisier environments. The new WH-1000XM4 improves in that area and also adds multipoint Bluetooth pairing so you can connect to two devices -- such as your phone and PC -- at the same time. That means that if a call comes in while you're using the headphones with your computer, the audio will switch to your phone when you answer the call.
The Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 probably still have a slight edge for voice calls, but the 1000XM4 headphones are arguably a tad more comfortable and also have some other slight improvements to noise cancellation and sound that make this model a great all-around choice. Read our Sony WH-1000XM4 review.
Water-resistant: Yes (IPX2 rating -- sweat-resistant and protects against light splashes).
Say what you will about the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live's bean-shaped design -- yes, they're affectionately known as the Beans -- but they might just be the most innovative new true wireless earbuds of the year. Like the standard Apple AirPods, they have an open design -- you don't jam an ear tip into your ear -- and they're quite comfortable to wear and fit my ears more securely than the AirPods (that said, they won't fit everybody's ears equally well). Additionally, they're discreet and basically sit flush with your ear without a little white pipe extending out from them.
They deliver good sound and work well as a headset for making calls, with good background noise reduction so callers can hear you clearly even when you're in noisier environments. While they feature active noise canceling, it's mild compared to the noise canceling in earbuds that have a noise-isolating design. In other words, buy them for their design and sound, not their noise-canceling features. Read our Samsung Galaxy Buds Live review.
Water-resistant: Yes (IPX4 rating -- splashproof).
Even if they don't sound quite as magical as you'd hope a $249 model would, the Apple AirPods Pro still manage to be a great pair of true wireless earphones with noise cancelation. That's largely due to their winning design and fit, improved bass performance and effective noise canceling -- and now they've been updated with spatial audio, a new virtual-sound mode for watching movies and TV shows (only works with iPhones and iPads running iOS 14).
They're an excellent choice when you want to make a call or listen to music during your workout. Yeah, they're expensive at $250, but the good news is they tend to sell in the $200 to $220 range. Read our Apple AirPods Pro review.
Water-resistant: Yes (IPX4 rating -- splashproof).
The second-gen Momentum True Wireless 2 aren't cheap at $300, but they're better all around than the originals, with a slightly smaller, more comfortable design, active noise canceling that rivals that of the AirPod Pro, improved battery life (up to 7 hours versus the original's 4) and better noise reduction during calls. And, if you don't like them in black, a white version is slated to follow later this year. Most importantly, though, the Momentum True Wireless 2 have the same stellar sound -- for true wireless earbuds, anyway -- offering clearly superior sound quality to the AirPods Pro. That makes them arguably the best true wireless earbuds on the market today and earns them a CNET Editors' Choice Award.
These use Bluetooth 5.1 with support for the AAC and AptX codecs (for devices that have AptX, such as Samsung's Galaxy smartphones). Read our Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 review.
