When asking around about the best true wireless earbuds, you’ll likely hear three names mentioned over and over: the Sony WF-1000XM4, Jabra Elite 85t, and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds. All of these earbuds are beloved by their passionate fans for their noise-canceling capabilities, comfort levels, and battery life. But which one is the best fit for you?
While each set of earbuds can be worn in any position, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. The Sony earbuds can be finicky when seating in-ear and may fail to provide a perfect seal, even with the included tips. The Bose and Jabra earbuds, on the other hand, are more stable in-ear and offer a better overall fit.
Of the three pairs, the Jabra earbuds come out on top for their physical controls and customizable commands. The Sony buds’ touch controls can be overly sensitive and register unintended inputs. They also don’t offer a way to customize which commands are activated with single taps.
The Bose earbuds do the best job of blocking out ambient sound, though they can be prone to picking up wind and voices when wearing them outdoors. The Sony earbuds are the least effective at noise cancellation, and their audio has a hollow quality that makes them feel like headset headphones rather than earbuds.
All three earbuds are easy to pair and can connect to multiple devices at once. The Jabra earbuds have the most flexibility for switching between active connections, while the Bose and Sony require that you disconnect a current device to make room for another.