Odi Productions
We tested over 40+ pairs of wireless noise cancelling earbuds to find the 7 best earbuds for Apple and iOS ecosystem users in 2026. I’m also a professional audio engineer and expert headphone reviewer with over 10 years of experience, and run the RecordingNow YouTube channel dedicated to reviewing headphones and earbuds with over 25,000+ subscribers and over 7 million views.
This list includes brands like Apple AirPods, Beats, Sony, Bose, Sennheiser, Anker Soundcore, Technics, and more.
This article will cover the following categories:
- Best Open-Ear (No Silicone Tips)
- Best for Phone Calls and Mic Quality
- Best for Gym, Working Out, and Running
- Best Active Noise Cancelling (ANC)
- Best Audiophile Sound Quality
- Best Budget Earbuds (under $100)
- Best Overall for iPhone
These are ALL wireless earbuds which we’ve reviewed and thoroughly tested individually on the website for hundreds of hours in total. You can read our review for each headphone inside the individual product boxes below.
Best Open-Fit (No Silicone Tips): Apple AirPods 4 ANC
Looking for the best earbuds without silicone tips that go into your ear canal?
Luckily, Apple’s very own AirPods 4 with ANC (“active noise cancelling”) is an easy recommendation for iPhone and iOS users.
Unlike the AirPods “Pro” series which requires inserting the tips fairly deep into the ear canal to get a proper seal, the AirPods 4 ANC sits comfortably inside the ear without any tips, so no insertion into the ear canal necessary.
Now, there is a version of the AirPods 4 without ANC that is slightly cheaper, but I actually highly recommend the version with ANC.
Despite not having a physical seal like earbuds with tips, the AirPods 4’s noise cancelling genuinely surprised me with how much sound it’s able to block out, thanks to utilizing Apple’s H2 chip that is shared by the AirPods Pro 3 and even the AirPods Max 2.
Due to how convenient and comfortable the AirPods 4 ANC is, it’s surprisingly one of my most-used daily audio products. I typically use it between 3 Apple devices: An iPhone, iPad, and Macbook.
Read the FULL Review: Apple AirPods 4 ANC Review
Best for Phone Calls and Mic Quality: Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro
I’m not going to bury the lede here, the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro has “Guinness World Record certified” call quality.
If you’re unfamiliar with Soundcore, they’re the consumer-audio arm of electronics giant Anker, and they make quite good earbuds and headphones that tend to be more budget-friendly.
The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro is a great example of this, as it’s a proper flagship earbud priced at around $169 USD, but competes with the $200-$300 range of flagship earbuds.
So exactly how does the Liberty 5 Pro achieve its world-record call quality?
The hardware architecture consists of 4 microphones and 1 bone conduction sensor (aka “VPU” or “Voice Pickup Unit”) per earbud.
Powering this 10-sensor array is the “ANKER Thus AI Chip”, which is the “brain” that results in their record-setting call quality.
I can confirm that the voice isolation and background noise rejection is excellent in the Liberty 5 Pro, but that’s not a surprise at this point.
Lastly, a nice “side effect” of this investment into mic quality is also excellent active noise cancelling performance from sharing the same hardware setup.
Read the FULL Review: Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Review
Best for Gym, Working Out, and Running: Beats Powerbeats Pro 2
The Beats brand is owned by Apple and the Powerbeats Pro 2 is even powered by Apple’s H2 chip shared by the AirPods Pro 3, AirPods 4 ANC, and $549 AirPods Max 2 headphones.
So you’re getting AirPods-like connectivity and seamless switching with Apple devices.
The Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 has ear hooks that are a complete game-changer for working out in the gym, weightlifting, running, or any movement in general.
Aside from the secure fit from the ear hook design, Apple’s H2 chip results in pretty decent active noise cancelling and very good transparency mode for awareness of your surroundings.
Lastly, the sound quality is pretty good and tuned perfectly for working out, thanks to its exciting sound signature that is bass and treble forward. This sound profile cuts through outside noise better to isolate the vocals.
Read the FULL Review: Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 Review
Best Active Noise Cancelling (ANC): Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen
Bose is already legendary when it comes to noise cancelling due to their “QuietComfort” line of headphones, which are some of the best in the headphone class currently.
So it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that their earbuds carry over that excellent noise cancelling performance.
Specifically, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen is their best earbud yet when it comes to noise cancelling.
Bose achieves this through a very ergonomic fit that easily creates a strong physical seal for passive noise isolation.
Then turning on active noise cancelling (ANC) activates Bose’s proven algorithms for real-time noise blocking at all frequencies.
The AirPods Pro 3 actually has some of the best active noise cancelling currently, but the Bose and Sony WF-1000XM6 is slightly better, in my opinion.
Read the FULL Review: Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen Review
Best Audiophile Sound Quality: Technics EAH-AZ100 or Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5 (Tie)
Although I think the AirPods Pro 3 sounds pretty good, there is definitely more than a few audiophile options for sound quality that I think are superior.
Two of my best recommendations are the Technics EAH-AZ100 and Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5. Similar level of sound quality, but different flavors.
Now one quick note, since iPhone doesn’t support any hi-res codecs like LDAC (found in the Technics AZ100) or aptX Lossless (found in the Sennheiser MTW5), you will need a dongle like the Questyle QCC Dongle Pro2 to unlock these codecs with iPhone:
![Questyle QCC Dongle Pro2 [MFi Certified] USB-C Bluetooth Audio Adapter with LDAC, LHDC, aptX Lossless & aptX-Adaptive, Auracast](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/21jT-Cm5ZVL._SL500_.jpg)
I’ve been a heavy user of this dongle for dozens of headphone and earbud reviews, and I highly recommend it to any iPhone users who want to get the best sound quality out of their headphones and earbuds.
Now, if you prefer a more “exciting” and neutral bright sound profile (like myself), then the Technics AZ100 is a strong recommendation from me, and one of my favorite earbuds overall.
The Sennheiser MTW5 is an excellent, reference-like and more neutral-sounding profile that audiophiles would really appreciate.
Both earbuds are technically excellent and sound remarkably open in their soundstage with great clarity, separation, and layering.
It simply boils down to which “flavor” and sound profile fits your listening preferences better.
Read the FULL Review: Technics EAH-AZ100 Review
See our Full Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5 Review on YouTube below
Best Budget Earbuds (under $100): Soundcore Liberty 5
We mentioned the flagship Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro earlier in this article due to its Guinness world-record call quality, but the “regular” Liberty 5 is no slouch either.
Currently priced at under $90 (and even $80 on sale), the Liberty 5 is actually not that far off from the $170 Liberty 5 Pro model.
It starts with sharing the same exact driver architecture that yields the same sound quality, which is quite good for this price range.
The Liberty 5 supports the hi-res codec of LDAC, which you’ll need a dongle to unlock like the Questyle one shared earlier in this post.
Next, the Liberty 5 has the best noise cancelling under $100 that we’ve tested so far.
This comes as no surprise, as Soundcore has above-average noise cancelling relative to price for both their earbuds and headphones, several of which we’ve tested.
Overall, the Liberty 5 actually makes for one of the best AirPods alternatives in terms of both performance and “stem” design.
Read the FULL Review: Soundcore Liberty 5 Review
Best Overall for iPhone: Apple AirPods Pro 3
In case you were wondering if Apple’s very own AirPods Pro 3 were indeed the best earbuds choice for iPhone and iOS users, then you’d be correct.
I was a pretty big fan of the previous-generation AirPods Pro 2, along with many others as well.
And when it was initially released, it was genuinely a great product.
But as time went on, the competition eventually caught up in all aspects, namely sound quality and noise cancelling performance.
Enter the AirPods Pro 3 towards the end of 2025, and Apple seriously “cooked” with this one.
First, it starts with noise cancelling that is improved “up to 2x” more versus the previous AirPods Pro 2. In our testing, we did find the ANC performance to be significantly improved and in line with those claims.
Second, although the initial sound profile caused a bit of polarization upon release, the technical sound quality and improved sound profile tuning via firmware updates has resulted in a superior sounding earbud over the AirPods Pro 2 as well.
Third, the microphone quality is vastly improved compared to the mediocre call quality on the AirPods Pro 2, and is now nearly best-in-class.
Put those three major improvements together, along with that seamless Apple ecosystem connectivity thanks to the H2 chip, and the AirPods Pro 3 is a winner.
See our Full AirPods Pro 3 Review on YouTube below
Honorable Mention: Sony WF-1000XM6
I would be remiss not to mention the equally-excellent Sony WF-1000XM6 flagship earbuds as well.
The truth is, the AirPods Pro 3 edges out the Sony mainly due to that Apple ecosystem connectivity and seamless switching across multiple iOS devices.
That said, the Sony WF-1000XM6 actually has higher sound quality (LDAC support) and very competitive noise cancelling that is on par with the AirPods Pro 3.
The Sony XM6 earbuds do work perfectly fine on iOS, thanks to Sony’s native app support, so you’re not missing out on any features when using it with an iPhone.
If you’re an audiophile, I do recommend going for the Sony WF-1000XM6 over the AirPods Pro 3.
But for heavy Apple ecosystem users, the AirPods Pro 3 is the safer choice.
Lastly, the AirPods Pro 3 is clearly the better dollar value as it’s currently available for around $199 USD, while the Sony’s full retail price is $328, discounted to $298 on sale.
For roughly $100 cheaper, the AirPods Pro 3 is simply a better deal overall.
See our Full Sony WF-1000XM6 Review on YouTube below
How We Tested and Our Methodology
RecordingNOW.com is a 100% independent publisher with over 10 years of experience testing and reviewing consumer electronics and headphones.
We currently purchase all of the products we test with our own money, and are not paid by any company or manufacturer to influence our opinions or decisions.
After purchasing the product, we conduct up to hundreds of hours of detailed hands-on testing in a controlled, acoustically-treated environment. Noise cancelling performance is tested in the real-world, primarily on airplane flights, coffee shops, and walking around large metropolitan city environments.
ODi Productions is our resident expert and author of this article, with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, tech journalist, and audiophile.
Post Update History
- September 2026: Original publication date.
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