Best wireless earbuds under $200 for 2023

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True wireless earbuds, aka wireless earbuds, look like the future. In fact, they look like the kind of future with jetpacks and hoverboards that actually work, and now that wireless tech has matured, you can snag a pair of buds on any budget. With improvements to Bluetooth stability and ergonomics, it's no wonder folks are shedding cables, before ditching wheels. These are the best wireless earbuds under $200 that can bring the future to you today.

Editor's note: this list of the best wireless earbuds under $200 was updated on June 6, 2023, to add the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation), Sennheiser Sport Wireless Earbuds, and Beats Studio Buds Plus to the Best list, to highlight the Google Pixel Buds Pro and Samsung Galaxy Buds 2, and to add the Anker Soundcore Space A40, Beats Fit Pro, Bose Sport Earbuds, and Sony LinkBuds S to the Notable mentions.

If you have an Android phone, there's a good chance it's a Samsung phone. Much like how iPhone users default to the AirPods Pro (more on that below), it should follow that Samsung users get the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. For one, you benefit from the Samsung Seamless Codec which constantly adjusts for quality and stability and potentially offers 24-bit audio. All other users get their pick of AAC or SBC.

A battery of 4 hours and 50 minutes with the (pretty darn good) active noise cancellation (ANC) enabled means the Galaxy Buds Pro suits a commute well. Meanwhile, the sound profile works well with most music. It has a reasonable dose of bass and a strong emphasis on higher frequencies, making it consumer-friendly. The app also includes EQ presets, so you can find one for your tastes.

With a very good microphone and IPX7 rating, you can pretty much do anything and go anywhere with the buds. From professional Zoom calls to jogging in the rain, Samsung has it figured out. Samsung's buds even have touch controls and this generation no longer has the oversensitivity of previous iterations. However, there are plenty of other options below if you don't care for the design or mic quality. Plus if you have an iPhone you’ll miss out on too many features for it to be worth it.

While the audio captured by the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro microphone rejects noise reasonably well, for example in our wind sample below, voices don't sound consistently natural. For a phone call or meeting the mic performs fine. You can toggle on Ambient sound mode to make phone calls more comfortable as well, like a makeshift sidetone.

As of early 2023, you can record binaural audio with the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro when paired to Samsung device running One UI 5.0 or later. Basically, it's like having a simplified surround sound recording.

Apple popularized the wireless earbud revolution with the (not so amazing) AirPods (2nd generation) and (3rd generation), but don't confuse those for the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation), which come with ANC and silicone ear tips so you can find a good fit. If you have an iPhone, the efficiency of the H2 chip along with fast pairing and easy device switching makes the AirPods Pro a good choice. iPhone owners also get the benefit of battery optimization, Spatial Audio and head tracking, hands-free Siri access, and more.

Apple smartened up and got the AirPods Pro (2nd generation) an IPX4 rating and the case has water resistance too, so you can go to the gym wirelessly. The frequency response sounds pretty decent with a pleasant amount of bass and audible mids. The microphone is quite good and the stemmed design helps with that. If you want something that just works, try the AirPods Pro (2nd generation). If you don't mind the Apple tax, at least you know what you get isn't a gamble.

The AirPods Pro (2nd generation) has a pretty good microphone system, even in loud environments.

Former Sennheiser chief headphone engineer Axel Grell has a new project: the Grell Audio TWS 1 active noise canceling wireless earphones. If you’re an audiophile who wants Bluetooth earbuds that put sound quality first, the TWS 1 is a solid contender. Right out of the box these earphones sound great and you can take the sound quality a step further with the SoundID app. Not only can you let Sonarworks’ software create a custom sound built around your hearing abilities, but you can also create a granular custom EQ of your own.

Sound quality aside, these earbuds have a beautiful design with Gorilla Glass-covered touch panels that allow you to control playback and field calls like most wireless earphones. The large panels make for an easy target so you shouldn't have to deal with misfires often. The charging case is fairly large to accommodate the earphones though, which may be a turn-off to those with particularly small bags or pockets.

Grell Audio's active noise canceling and "noise annoyance reduction" (NAR) effectively combats background noise but it isn't technically the most effective ANC on the market, which is purposeful. NAR constantly adjusts the ANC intensity based on how loud your environment is so that it sounds more natural and less jarring, which some listeners experience with other top-tier ANC headsets. The foam ear tips do a great job of handing frequencies higher than 1kHz, so you shouldn't hear much in the way of generic room noise like chatter.

The TWS/1 performs well in ideal conditions but you can hear a bit of background noise come through in sub-optimal environments. Even still, this microphone quality is better than most embedded mics found in true wireless earphones.

If your goal is to get an excellent pair of dedicated workout buds, the Sennheiser Sport True Wireless Earbuds have your back with a secure fit via wings and six different sized ear tips.

Like any good set of exercise ready earbuds, the Sport Wireless Earbuds have an IP54 rating against dust and sweat. Touch controls work well on the buds, and Sennheiser's app has EQ and adjustable commands. Plus, the frequency response is very nice, with a great bass and mids response, with some slight under-emphasis in the treble.

Utilizing Bluetooth 5.2, Sennheiser ensures you get a good selection of codecs with aptX (for Android users), AAC (for iOS), and SBC. With a battery life of 7 hours, 13 minutes and two additional charges in the case these will outlast pretty much any hike or marathon you throw at them.

The Sennheiser Sport True Wireless microphones work well enough to take calls on the go in most environments. Some voices may sound a bit "muffled".

In the second microphone demonstration below, you can hear how the microphones still capture the background noise of our simulated office environment. At the gym the earbuds might pick up neighboring gym rats.

Updating the successful formula of the Beats Studio Buds, are the Beats Studio Buds Plus. Despite belonging to the Apple empire, the Studio Buds Plus work just as well with Android as they do with iOS. They come with good ANC for less than the AirPods Pro (2nd generation) too.

One of the standout features on the Beats Studio Buds Plus is the battery life, which reaches a very impressive 8 hours, 22 minutes with ANC enabled. The noise canceling works where it counts, in filtering out low frequency noises and the passive isolation is pretty good too.

While the tuning of the Studio Buds Plus has a bit more low end than our ideal, it's far better for most music than older Beats which were really bassy. Beats includes the standard AAC and SBC codecs, which is fine for most. There's an app as well, but besides updates it doesn't do much, and if you’ve got an iPhone it's all integrated into your settings instead. The only bugaboo to keep in mind is that the Studio Buds Plus use buttons and not touch controls, which can interfere with your fit.

The mics on the Beats Studio Buds Plus are decent, but still pick up quite a bit of your environmental sounds. At the bottom of the app you can manually select which mic you want to use for phone calls, if the automatic choice doesn't sound so great.

For the tech and productivity minded amongst us the Google Pixel Buds Pro feel future forward in a friendly format. These Mentos shaped earbuds have exclusive features such as Google Translate integrated into the buds to translate a speaker on the fly. The noise canceling is rather good too. Folks who want spatial audio with head tracking can pair the Pixel Buds Pro with a Pixel phone as well.

While we love the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, the fact of the matter is that the Galaxy Buds 2 have solid noise canceling for less money. If you don't need all the bells and whistles of the Buds 2 Pro, like the IPX7 rating, we recommend saving for this equally competent headset. Of course, you should look at both and see which fits your life better.

This seemingly simple question has a few answers. On average, most wireless earbuds have a standalone battery life between four and six hours, with the charging case providing an extra two or three charge cycles. In other words, you can get anything from 12 to 24-plus hours of battery out of your true wireless earbuds and the case before you need to recharge it.

While the battery life is still the Achilles’ heel of any wireless product, some manufacturers have an ace up their sleeves. Many cases can quickly charge your earbuds. You’ll commonly see specs like 10 minutes of charging provides 60 minutes of listening. Some manufacturers like OnePlus go above and beyond with their fast charging speeds, but most stick to the "10 minutes yields one hour" standard. It's a stat worth checking because you want to listen and not wait around for your buds to charge.

The "IP" in IP rating stands for ingress protection, essentially how protected a device is from dust and water damage. The higher the number that follows the IP rating, the more durable your product. Often, you’ll see earbuds with an IPX4 rating, the "X" is a placeholder for a dust-resistant rating and the "4" corresponds to a level of water resistance.

You can read our in-depth breakdown of IP ratings, but if you don't have time, IPX2 is fine for light use every day. If you’re going to exercise in your earbuds, we recommend something with at least an IPX4 rating.

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Bluetooth codecs help make the difference between an okay sound and a very good sound, and here's your friendly reminder that the headphone jack is still the queen of quality. Codecs allow your smartphone or laptop to communicate with your headset. Every Bluetooth audio device supports SBC by default, so at the very least your earbuds can stream over that. If you’re steeped in the Apple ecosystem, all you need to know is AAC is your codec of choice.

For Android users, the situation seems more nebulous and dependent on both your device and your use case. If the earbuds in question only have AAC and SBC, sometimes you get better quality results with SBC. Otherwise, to reduce latency (which is a real bugaboo with Bluetooth and video) look for higher resolution options like aptX, or aptX-LL. Some manufacturers (similar to Apple) have chosen to optimize for their own ecosystem. Samsung's proprietary codec works best with other Samsung products.

Basically, pay attention to codecs. SBC might be a one size fits all situation, but maybe you want some tailoring.

If you’ve poked around our site enough you’ve probably seen frequency response charts. Basically, we measure how closely an audio product reproduces sound relative to our house curve (consumer or studio). In our updated frequency response charts, cyan represents the product in question and the pink line represents the SoundGuys curve. Although many people prefer a studio or "flat" response, most of us average listeners like a bit more bass and treble in our tunes. You can read more about the SoundGuys house curves, but the gist is that this is what works well for most people.

A good frequency response is one that does not unduly hide other frequencies by being too loud. In other words, if bass sounds are too loud, you probably can't hear quieter sounds of other frequencies as well. That's how human brains work. We just don't process quieter sounds as well as louder ones. This often results in folks turning up the volume, and you want to keep your hearing, right?

A contributing factor in finding the perfect true wireless earbuds has to do with fit. Fit matters because we can post about all sorts of awesome features, but none of them make a difference if the buds fall out of your ears. More often the topic of fit means something more subtle. Do the buds adequately seal your ear? A poor fit actually alters your perception of the frequency response.

Fortunately, most earphones ship with a selection of different sized ear tips, and when in doubt, try a third-party option. We also typically include measurements of ear tips when reviewing a product, so you can compare to what you already have.

Any product with an equalizer (EQ) is worth its weight in gold (which might not be much, considering truly wireless earbuds are fairly light). You can rescue a default frequency response you don't like by using an EQ to make corrections—some products even feature a mobile app that has an EQ. If you hear too much bass, simply drop the EQ slider in the bass frequencies down to offset it.

Remember know how fit matters for hearing things correctly? It also matters for achieving isolation. Isolation works much in the way that earplugs do: by creating a physical barrier between your ears and the noisy world. Inherently, some designs isolate better than others. Sometimes that's so you can hear your surroundings out of safety. Isolation works best typically for higher-pitched incidental sounds, like clangs in a café.

Active noise cancellation uses microphones that detect your environmental surroundings and basically use the opposite soundwaves to cancel the noise out. Frequently there is a small delay while it detects the environmental noise. For that reason, ANC fights droning sounds best, because it is somewhat predictive in nature. A fast, brief burst of sound is typically too quick for ANC to dramatically quiet it, hence why isolation is the best tool for clangs. ANC is your friend for airplanes, as it typically works on repeating sounds that land in lower frequencies.

At SoundGuys, we perform objective tests to measure things like frequency response, isolation, microphone quality, and more. In order to do so, we use a Bruel & Kjaer 5128 head and torso simulator (HATS) with an anatomically realistic ear canal and outer ear. We also use a standardized setup to test the microphone quality of products with pre-recorded phrases from a calibrated artificial mouth in our test chamber. This allows us to present standardized microphone samples to you so you can judge the quality of various products and compare them across the board. After we collect all of this data, we then score each product through a variety of objective and subjective measures.

Our team then confers with one another regarding the best products for a given category and we present our list to you. It's not over after we hit "publish," though. Instead, we treat every article as a living document that we update as new and worthy products come out.

We have no ulterior motives. All of our contributors abide by a strict ethics policy. This means none of us receives compensation from manufacturers, and we don't do direct sales. Our site features no advertisements or "hit pieces." SoundGuys only makes money when readers choose to purchase a product through a referral link to a retailer. Because of this model, we have no financial reason to suggest or prefer one product over another.

Our recommendations are based on our years-long industry experience and each product's merit. We use review copies of products, but none of us can keep the products. Instead, we do giveaways or gift them to worthy causes. In other words, we do our best to provide accurate and fair content. We endeavor to correct our mistakes and constantly improve our testing methods. Our goal at SoundGuys includes making sure you are well-informed and can make the best decision for your needs.

Yes, you can use any wireless Beats earbuds with an Android phone, but you may miss out on some features. For instance, you can't directly access Google Assistant with your voice on Android the same way you can with Siri on an iPhone when you pair the Beats Powerbeats Pro or AirPods to your device.

Beats’ earbuds are trying to bridge the gap between iPhone and Android owners though, because the Beats Studio Buds and Beats Fit Pro work nearly as well on Android as they do on iOS. Note: the Beats Fit Pro has ANC issues that aren't easy to resolve.

Both Jaybird and Jabra make very good wireless earbuds, and we think what it ultimately boils down to for most people is fit. The Jaybird Vista 2 housings are quite large and bulky, and the proprietary ear/wing tips make it hard to get a comfortable fit. Still, the Vista 2 stays in place during all kinds of movement, as long as you’re willing to put up with some discomfort an hour into wearing it.

The Jabra Elite 7 Active is one of our favorite earbuds to date because of the excellent app experience, compact case, solid microphone, and default frequency response. If you need the most durable thing on the market, however, we recommend the Jaybird Vista 2. Both the Jaybird case and earbuds merit durability certifications.

As is the case with most technology, mid tier products eventually receive most of the features the most expensive products have first. Grabbing the more expensive earbuds these days often means more effective ANC, better quality materials or build, surround sound, and more in app features like location based settings that automatically change when you leave or enter a space. Some buds under $200 have those features already, which is why it's worth considering some of our picks. Basically, the latest and greatest is usually found in the premium earbuds first.