2022 - BEST True Wireless Earbuds for Call Quality, ANC and Sound
Hey guys, we’ve now come to the end of 2022, and it’s time to talk about the best earbuds I have tested. Admittedly, I have not tested every single product, and I’m sure that some of you will disagree with my choices so let me know in the comments what your choices are, and why. Also, I’m not just going to say, here, this is the best earbuds for everything, because there is no such thing. Most earbuds are great at some things, and some are great at most things, but there is not a single product for me that meets ALL my expectations. So I’m going to break this video down into categories. Hopefully this will help you decide which TWS buds to buy.
Best Call Quality (Quiet Conditions) - AirPods Pro 2
Testing these earbuds in a quiet room, my voice on the AirPods Pro 2 sounds very clear and loud. Other earbuds tend to make my voice sound distant, muffled, nasal or robotic. But these AirPods have crisp voice pickup that sounds closer to a lavalier mic than others. I’m not saying it’s comparable to a lapel mic, it’s still got a long way to go to match that kind of voice pickup, but it’s much closer than all the others I’ve tried so far.
Best Call Quality (Noisy Conditions) - Sony LinkBuds S
In the near future, I will be testing a whole bunch of earbuds side by side in an actual outdoors environment. But so far, testing it in a controlled environment, the Sony LinkBuds S seems to be the best at suppressing background noise and wind noise, while keeping my voice sounding intelligible. I know that it may not have the AirPods Pro 2’s crispy voice pickup. And I’m sure that some of you will comment that the AirPods sound nicer. But when I’m gauging mic performance in noisy scenarios I prioritize noise suppression and how much it impacts voice pickup, not the quality of the voice itself.
Best Active Noise Cancelling earbuds - Bose QC Earbuds II
Testing it against the most popular noise cancellers, both in controlled environments and outdoors, it was better able to deal with mid-range noises. This means that, if you are in a noisy coffeeshop, or mall, you are going to get more silence from the QC Earbuds II. Watch this video if you want to hear the difference for yourself. Of course, it has its issues which I also covered in that video, but if it is just about noise cancelling, this is one of the best, if not, the best right now.
Best Transparency - AirPods Pro 2
My benchmark for transparency is very simple. I wear the earbuds, stand in a noisy place, put them into transparency mode, then I take just one earbud out - and only the AirPods Pro 2 sounded like there was no difference between earbud on, and earbud off. Others do come pretty close. The Bose QC earbuds II and the Sony LinkBuds S, for example. But they don’t feel as transparent as the AirPods Pro 2.
Best Sound Quality
Now, this is going to be a contentious one. So before anyone gets emotional, I have to say that this is just my opinion. Sound is very subjective and I really don’t mean to ruffle any feathers. I will nominate 2 for best sound quality - the AirPods Pro 2 and the Sony WF-1000XM4.
(From Left) AirPods Pro 2, Sony WF-1000XM4
If you’ve been following my content over the past couple of weeks, this may sound surprising given the issues I’ve had with my preorder WF-1000XM4 unit. The one I have now is a replacement unit, and I’ve found that this new unit’s sound is a bit different compared to the preorder unit that I’ve had for the past year. (For more details about the differences in sound, watch this video)
But in terms of the dynamics, soundstaging, bass performance, it still sounds as musical and as punchy while vocals sound crisp and clean compared to my preorder unit. So, yeah, I’m still pretty much enjoying its sound. On top of that, it supports Hi-Res streaming. So when I’m listening to music on my Android device, it’s always on LDAC streaming with DSEE Extreme. That way, music sounds smoother, with cleaner track separation.
As for the AirPods Pro 2, it may not have the same detail retrieval as the Sony WF-1000XM4, but its track separation is even cleaner than the Sonys. It also has about the same level of bass and gravity in the mids, so even if it does not support hi-res streaming, it’s still pretty close to the kind of sound that I enjoy. I find myself switching between these depending on the mood, that is why I am nominating them both.
I’m sure some of you won’t agree, so let me know in the comments your own nominations for best sounding earbuds. And if you want to compare these earbuds’ sound quality side by side with other earbuds, visit the sound samples page.
The Best Overall?
Now, do I have favorite earbuds? At this moment, not really. There isn’t a product that is the best at everything. Even the ones I use most often, they aren’t perfect.
Take the AirPods Pro 2. Although its fit feels a little more snug than the previous AirPods Pro, it’s still nowhere near as stable as earplug design earbuds like the Sony WF-1000XM4. It still shifts out of position and I’ve got to readjust it to get the noise cancelling back to full power. And as someone who’s on both Android and iOS devices, I can’t access its settings unless I’m on an iPhone.
The Sony WF-1000XM4 covers all bases in terms of having access to all the features on iOS and Android. It’s got the Sony Headphones Connect App on both platforms. I used it very often this past year, and it would have been one of my top picks for 2022. But my pre-launch unit developed battery-related issues and I had to get it replaced by Sony. (Even made a whole series about it.)
After getting it back, the battery issues are gone, so far so good, right. But during the time that I didn’t have it with me, I was using the Sony LinkBuds S. And though it doesn’t have wireless charging, or as much battery as the XM4, it still felt like a more complete product because its call quality is better than the XM4, while being comparable, or nearly identical in every other metric. It’s also a bit closer to the AirPods Pro 2 in size, while fitting better in my ears, and being cheaper. So as we approach the end of 2022, the ones I use most often right now are the AirPods Pro 2, and the Sony LinkBuds S.
To check the latest prices or purchase them, you may visit their Amazon pages at the links below.
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