For a lot of people, buying a pair of wireless earbuds is a pretty straightforward decision. If you’ve got an iPhone, you buy AirPods. If you’ve got a Samsung phone, you grab Galaxy Buds. And If you’re deep into Google’s ecosystem, Pixel Buds probably make the most sense.
But, if you take a look around, you’ll realize that there are actually loads of other options now, and some of them are surprisingly good.
But I also wanted to throw something a little different into the mix this time.
Alongside the usual flagship options from Apple, Samsung, Sony, Bose and Google, I decided to include one of the newest budget-friendly challengers on the market: the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro.
I'd heard good things about Soundcore from readers of my newsletter, and with these earbuds launching at a significantly lower price than most of the competition, I was curious to see how they would hold up against some of the biggest names in wireless audio.
After testing them all side-by-side in real-world situations, I came away with a few surprises.
The Earbuds I Tested
Over the last few weeks I’ve been testing:
- AirPods Pro 3
- AirPods 4 ANC
- Galaxy Buds 4 Pro
- Sony XM6
- Bose QC Ultra 2
- Pixel Buds Pro 2
- Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro
And rather than obsessing over tiny spec-sheet differences, I wanted to focus on the stuff that actually matters in daily life, like audio quality, battery life, mic quality, comfort, and overall value for money.
If you’d rather watch than read, I’ve also put together a full side-by-side comparison over on YouTube below.
First Impressions
Before we get into the categories like sound quality, ANC, comfort, and battery life, here’s a quick look at my first impressions for each pair I tested.
Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro
The most affordable earbuds in this comparison at £149.99, and honestly, probably the biggest surprise overall.
The Liberty 5 Pro supports higher-quality wireless audio codecs, has strong ANC, excellent bass response, and a really unique smart case design with a built-in screen for controls and pairing.
There’s also a more premium Liberty 5 Pro Max version, which adds a larger display and some AI-powered features like voice recording and transcription.
AirPods Pro 3
The AirPods Pro 3 is still probably the safest recommendation for iPhone users. Apple’s ecosystem integration remains excellent, ANC is incredibly strong, and the overall experience is just so easy if you already use Apple devices daily.
They’re expensive though, and battery life still isn’t class-leading.
AirPods 4 ANC
The AirPods 4 ANC are interesting because they’re tiny, lightweight, and surprisingly comfortable. They don’t sound as full as some of the competition, and battery life is pretty weak, but if comfort matters more than absolute audio quality, they’re worth considering.
Galaxy Buds 4 Pro
Samsung continues to make some of the best earbuds for Android users. The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro have strong ANC, good sound quality, excellent comfort, and deep Samsung ecosystem integration make these a really solid all-round option.
Sony XM6
Sony’s audio tuning and EQ flexibility are excellent. If you love fine-tuning your sound profile, a pair of Sony XM6s are probably the most adjustable earbuds here, although I did find the EQ controls slightly frustrating to use at times.
Bose QC Ultra 2
The Bose QC Ultra 2 has some of the best physical fit and stability of the bunch, especially for travel or longer listening sessions. But for the most expensive earbuds here, I was surprised by how limited the EQ options were.
Pixel Buds Pro 2
The Pixel Buds Pro 2 make the most sense if you’re fully inside Google’s ecosystem. The big downside though is codec support; they still don’t support LDAC or higher-quality wireless audio standards, which may matter if you care about audio quality.
Audio Quality: Most Premium Earbuds Sound Good Now
What I found after testing all of these is that once you properly EQ them to your liking, most premium earbuds sound genuinely very good now.
We’re well beyond the point where expensive earbuds automatically sound massively better than cheaper ones.
Instead, the differences (in my opinion) come down to:
- Tuning preferences
- Bass response
- EQ flexibility
- Codec support
- Soundstage
- Comfort over long sessions
The Soundcore earbuds stood out for me because they have a really punchy bass response without becoming muddy.
I also really liked Soundcore’s EQ setup process in the app. It plays different audio profiles and gradually narrows down your preferred sound signature based on your choices, which is a genuinely smart approach.
Sony’s EQ system is probably the most advanced overall, but ironically I also found it one of the most frustrating to use because the sliders are very sensitive when you’re trying to make fine adjustments.
Meanwhile, Bose only offering a basic 3-band EQ on their most expensive earbuds feels like a weird oversight in 2026.
The AirPods 4 also felt noticeably more mid-heavy than the others.
But overall, I honestly wouldn’t buy any of these purely based on sound quality alone; the differences in daily use just aren’t massive anymore.
Noise Cancellation Compared
Noise cancellation is still one of the biggest reasons people upgrade earbuds, especially if you travel a lot like I do.
To get a proper feel for how these performed in real life, I tested them in all the places earbuds usually get put to work: on trains, at the gym, walking through busy cities, sitting in noisy coffee shops, during flights, and while working remotely.
And there were definitely differences.
For me, after testing, this is how I’d rank the strongest ANC overall:
- AirPods Pro 3
- Sony XM6 / Bose QC Ultra 2
- Galaxy Buds 4 Pro
- Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro
- Pixel Buds Pro 2
- AirPods 4 ANC
What surprised me most was how close the Soundcore earbuds got to some of the premium flagship options despite costing significantly less. The Pixel Buds unfortunately lagged behind pretty noticeably in noisier environments.
That said, all of these are perfectly usable for everyday commuting and travel.
Mic Quality Matters More Than Most People Think
Most earbuds sound good enough for music these days. Not all of them sound good when you're taking calls.
And because I spend a lot of time travelling, working remotely, and jumping between meetings, microphone quality is something I pay a lot more attention to than most people probably do.
To test this properly, I recorded call samples while walking along busy roads, in windy conditions, around traffic, and in a variety of noisy real-world environments. And the differences were much bigger than I expected.
The biggest surprise for me was Soundcore. In fact, Soundcore currently holds the Guinness World Record for call clarity, so I was curious to see whether that actually translated into real-world performance.
After listening back to all of the recordings, I was genuinely impressed. Both Soundcore models did an excellent job of isolating my voice and cutting through background noise, even in challenging conditions. In terms of pure voice clarity, they were some of the strongest performers in the entire comparison.
Interestingly, the AirPods Pro 3 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro sounded slightly closer to my natural voice, but they didn't suppress background noise quite as aggressively. Depending on where you take most of your calls, you may actually prefer Soundcore's approach.
At the other end of the scale, the Sony XM6 microphones were probably the biggest disappointment for me, particularly once wind and traffic noise entered the equation.
This is one of those areas where spec sheets don't tell you much. If you regularly take calls while commuting, travelling, or working remotely, microphone quality can make a bigger difference than audio quality ever will.
Comfort, Fit & Sleeping With Earbuds
This is probably the most underrated category.
I travel constantly, and I know loads of people use earbuds while flying or sleeping, including me.
And if you’ve ever tried sleeping with uncomfortable earbuds, you’ll know how annoying it is when they constantly fall out, accidentally trigger touch controls, activate voice assistants for absolutely no reason, randomly pause your music, or somehow decide that 3am is the perfect time to start blasting audio into your ears.
For sleeping specifically, the standouts for me were:
- AirPods
- Galaxy Buds
- Soundcore
Mainly because you can either disable controls completely or avoid accidental touches easily.
The Soundcore earbuds were especially good here because you can fully disable the touch controls entirely. The Bose earbuds fit very securely, but I couldn’t completely disable playback controls, which became annoying. Sony’s earbuds also became uncomfortable for me on harder surfaces during side sleeping.
Oddly enough, the AirPods 4 stayed in my ears really well despite being so small and lightweight.
Battery Life Comparison
Battery life still varies more than you might expect.
The best performers overall were:
- AirPods Pro 3
- Sony XM6
- Pixel Buds Pro 2
All offering around 8 hours with ANC enabled.
The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro came in at around 6.5 hours, which is still very respectable considering the lower price point.
At the bottom end were the AirPods 4 ANC, which barely lasted around 4 hours with ANC enabled during my testing.
For flights and long-haul travel, that difference genuinely matters.
Ecosystem Features Matter More Than Specs
One thing that became really obvious during testing is that ecosystem integration is actually still very important.
Apple users will absolutely get the smoothest experience with AirPods. Samsung users will benefit from Galaxy Buds features. Google users will naturally get tighter integration with Pixel Buds.
It really is the small things that start adding up over time: automatic switching between devices, smooth handoff when moving from your phone to a laptop, spatial audio features, codec compatibility, app quality, and even how reliably firmware updates roll out. All of that tends to work noticeably better when you stay inside one ecosystem.
But, if you’re open to stepping outside your ecosystem a little, there are now some genuinely excellent alternatives.
The Biggest Surprise Was Soundcore
I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect the Soundcore earbuds to hold up this well.
They’re not necessarily the absolute best in any single category. But they might be the most rounded package overall for the money.
The ANC is strong, sound quality is genuinely enjoyable, the fit is excellent, battery life is solid, and the app experience is surprisingly good.
And they massively undercut some of the competition on price. That combination makes them very easy for me to recommend, especially if you want premium features without spending nearly £300 on earbuds.
Which Earbuds Should You Buy?
After weeks of testing these side-by-side, the slightly annoying answer is: it depends what you actually care about.
There isn’t one perfect pair of earbuds anymore. Most premium options are genuinely very good, so the better question is which earbuds fit your priorities, whether that’s travel, sleeping, noise cancellation, ecosystem features, or simply getting the best value for your money.
Here’s where I landed after testing them all:
- Best for iPhone: AirPods Pro 3
- Best for Samsung Users: Galaxy Buds 4 Pro
- Best for Android Overall: Sony XM6
- Best Noise Cancellation: AirPods Pro 3
- Best for Travel: Bose QC Ultra 2
- Best for Sleeping: Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro
- Best Value: Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro
While there’s no universal winner here, there are definitely better choices depending on what matters most to you.
Final Thoughts On the Best Wireless Earbuds in 2026
The key takeaway here is that most premium earbuds sound very good. So instead of focusing purely on audio quality, I think, as buyers, it’s worth paying the most attention to things like:
- Comfort
- Ecosystem integration
- Battery life
- ANC
- Travel usability
- Mic quality
And last but not least: value for money.
This is why the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro impressed me so much. Not because it dominates every category, but because it does almost everything well, while costing less than most of the competition. And in my opinion, that’s a really compelling combination in 2026.
What earbuds are you actually using daily right now? Let me know in the comments!
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