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MARCH 2022 T3 47The complete guide to...
THE BEST ANC
WIRELESS EARBUDS
FOR E VERYBODY
ANC earbuds that will excite and delight
The best active noise-cancelling earbuds for you will depend very
much on the kind of listening you prefer and where you’re going to
do it. If sound quality is paramount then a pair with Bluetooth aptX
HD will make the most of your audio, while long distance travellers
will need earbuds that won’t die halfway through a flight. If you’re
all-in on Apple hardware then Apple’s own products offer the best
integration; if you’re navigating urban areas then transparency
mode will help prevent you walking in front of a bus. Sadly none of
the earbuds here can cancel buskers playing Ed Sheeran songs, but
we live in hope.BEATS STUDIO BUDS
If you like the sound of the AirPods
Pro (no pun intended) but don’t
care about the iPhone integration
or have an Android phone, these
buds are considerably cheaper
without sacrificing sound quality.
They have Spatial Audio, DolbyAtmos and active noise cancelling –
although the ANC isn’t as good as
it is in AirPods Pro – and they don’t
suffer from the unnaturally heavy
bass of previous Beats products.
They’re great value for money.
£129.99, beatsbydre.comApple’s AirPods Pro offer superb
iPhone integration and seamless
switching between all your Apple
devices – so you can be listening
on iPhone and switch to iPad or
Mac without any fuss. They sound
great and Transparency Mode
works very well. They support
Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos,
and you can locate them with the
Find My app. The best features
are iPhone-only; Android users
should look elsewhere.
£189, apple.comThe WF-1000XM4 sound better
than the AirPods Pro, and while
they’re not quite up there with
the B&W in terms of sonic fidelity
- there’s no aptX HD – they’re
not as pricey either. There’s wired
and wireless charging, Speak
To Chat to automatically adjust
sound when you’re talking to
someone, and exceptional active
noise cancelling. They also deliver
class-leading battery life and great
comfort even for long sessions.
£229, sony.co.ukWith dual drivers and 24-bit aptX
Bluetooth these earbuds sound
spectacular and outperform all
their rivals, but that’s not the
only reason to pay the hefty price
tag. You can connect the case via
cable to a PC, portable consoleor other source for CD-quality
audio, no DAC required, and you
can also share audio with another
Bluetooth device. The only
negative is they may be too big
for people with small ears.
£349, bowerswilkins.comAIRPODS PROSONY WF-1000XM4 BOWERS & WILKINS PI7