Why I like them

Over the years, Anker Soundcore audio products have attracted a loyal following largely because they're good lower-cost alternatives to pricier offerings from premium brands like Apple, Bose and Sony. That said, I've felt Anker's earbuds have been a little disappointing over the last few generations, as they've failed to progress significantly and, in some cases, even regressed. That's finally changed with its new Liberty 5 Pro ($170) and flagship Liberty 5 Pro Max ($230) earbuds, both powered by a new AI chip developed by Anker. Not only does that new chip improve performance across the board, but the buds' voice-calling performance is truly top-notch. Read my full review.  

Aside from their color options, the buds themselves are identical across both models. However, they have different charging cases. While both the Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max have a touchscreen built into their cases, the Max's 1.8-inch AMOLED touchscreen is larger than the standard Pro's, and the case doubles as a voice recorder (AI Notetaker) with a built-in microphone. Not everybody needs that extra feature, and the case for the Max is slightly bigger and heavier, too, so I've awarded a CNET Editors' Choice to the more affordable Liberty 5 Pro. But the Liberty 5 Pro Max is also recommendable.

Reasons to buy

Try these if you're looking for a worthy alternative to premium noise-canceling earbuds from Apple, Bose, and Sony that costs less.

Reasons to skip/keep looking

Not everybody will love the design of the earbuds, which do stick out of your ears more than some buds.

Why I like them

While expensive, Sony's flagship WF-1000XM6 earbuds not only feature great sound and excellent noise canceling, but their voice-calling performance is also top-notch. Aside from an external makeover, the XM6s are upgraded on the inside with new drivers, a 3x more powerful QN3e chip with improved analog conversion technology, eight microphones -- up from six -- and an improved bone-conduction sensor that helps with voice-calling performance. The "HD Noise Canceling" QN3e processor is paired with Sony's Integrated Processor V2, which now supports 32-bit processing, up from 24-bit. Read my Sony WF-1000M6 review.

Reasons to buy

The WF-1000XM6 are pretty hard to beat from a performance standpoint across all the key areas.

Reasons to skip/keep looking

Not everybody will get a tight seal from the included eartips. (I swapped in some tips from another set of earbuds I was testing to get a tight seal.) If you get a good seal and fit, these are special earbuds. But if you don't, you could find them underwhelming for the price. Ideally, with earbuds this expensive, Sony would have included a wider assortment of tips.

Why I like them
While I didn't get the new H3 chip I had hoped for, or a charging case that doubles as a Bluetooth transceiver for in-flight entertainment, I did get most of what I wanted from the AirPods Pro 3. The changes may seem incremental to some folks, but key elements -- fit, sound quality, noise cancellation and a single-charge battery life -- have all seen noticeable upgrades.

They're about as close as earbuds get to being complete: excellent noise cancellation, strong voice-calling performance and sound quality that rivals the very best. Few buds excel in all three areas -- and the Pro 3s manage to do so while packing in plenty of extra features, including a new heart-rate-monitoring feature. Read my full review.

Reasons to buy
As I said, these buds are significantly improved in the four most important areas: fit, sound quality, noise cancellation and battery life. The result is that you don't feel like you're making any compromises when buying the AirPods Pro 3 if you're an Apple user.

Reasons to skip/keep looking
While they do work with Android devices, you'll lose many of the AirPods 3's extra features, especially those designed for Apple's ecosystem of iPhones and iPads. They may also just be a little too expensive for many people.

Why I like them

When Samsung released the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro in 2024, it got some grief for moving to an AirPods-like stem design. The new look was hard to stomach for some Galaxy Buds fans, who felt Samsung had caved to Apple's design ethos. If you were hoping Samsung would return to its stemless ways with future Galaxy buds, sorry, that's not in the cards. Its new flagship Galaxy Buds 4 Pro have a stick design. But if it's any consolation, they look snazzier, fit a bit better, and they have upgraded sound and slightly improved performance all-around. That's why I awarded them a CNET Editors' Choice. Read my full review.

Reasons to buy

The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are essentially AirPods Pro 3 for Samsung and Android users, with top-notch sound, voice-calling performance and a strong feature set. They should also fit most ears comfortably and securely. Their noise-canceling is also quite good, though not quite at the same level as Apple, Sony and Bose.

Reasons to skip/keep looking

The performance upgrades are significant but not huge, and if you own the Buds 3 Pro, it's probably not worth upgrading to the Buds 4 Pro unless you're really smitten with their new look.

Why I like them

Samsung's Galaxy Buds 3 FE ($150) look nearly identical to the flagship Galaxy Buds 3 Pro ($250) but are missing those buds' LED lighting element, have a single-driver design instead of a dual-driver design and leave off a few other extras. Now that I've fully tested the Buds 3 FE, I'm impressed with their performance. If you don't mind missing those features, they're a better value than the Buds 3 Pro. Read my full Galaxy Buds 3 FE review.

Reasons to buy them

If the Buds 3 FE fit differently and had worse sound quality, noise-canceling and voice-calling performance than Buds 3 Pro, they'd be hard to recommend. But there's no fall-off in those key departments -- the noise canceling on the Buds 3 FE seems improved and some people may actually like the sound of the Buds 3 FE slightly better than the Buds 3 Pro. If you looking for a pair of more Android-centric earbuds that nail fit, sound and voice-calling and also feature decent noise canceling, they're an excellent option. 

Reasons to keep looking/skip

When I dug a little deeper into the feature comparisons between the two Galaxy buds, I realized that the Buds 3 FE were missing more features than I thought they did. The majority I could live without (LED lighting elements, wireless charging and head-tracking for spatial audio, for example), but I really like Buds 3 Pro's built-in voice commands and voice-detection features.

Why I like them

Shokz wanted to equip its new flagship OpenFit Pro open earbuds with active noise cancellation, but that's not easy with open earbuds. Instead, it ended up dialing back expectations and calling the tech inside these new ear-hook style buds, "OpenEar Noise Reduction." It's a good thing it did because, during time testing the OpenFit Pro, they didn't reduce ambient sound nearly as well as the Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation. But they sound impressive for open earbuds, are comfortable to wear and have the premium build quality you'd expect from a set of earbuds that cost $250. Read my Shokz OpenFit Pro review.

Reasons to buy

The OpenFit Pro are well-designed and among the best-sounding open earbuds.

Reasons to skip/keep looking

There are more affordable open buds with ear-hook designs that may not sound quite as good but do cost $50-$100 less.

It's been almost six years since the Powerbeats Pro were released in May 2019, so Beats has had a lot of time to plot how to improve the second generation of its popular ear-hook style true-wireless sport earbuds. And improve they have -- by quite a bit. Not only do they feature a new, more refined design with better ergonomics, but new drivers, a more powerful Apple H2 chip, a new built-in heart-rate sensor and, yes, active noise canceling for the first time in a pair of Powerbeats. (Read our full Powerbeats Pro 2 review).

There are a lot of new premium earbuds with built-in ear hooks but the majority of them, like Shokz OpenFit 2, have an open design with no ear tips, which some people prefer. I like the Shokz and some of those other open earbuds, but if you're looking for ear-hook style earbuds with noise canceling and superior sound quality, the Powerbeats Pro 2 are the best right now. 

If you're looking for basic AirPods, the standard AirPods 4 ($129) certainly have their appeal and should cost closer to $100 during flash sales. They may not be quite as cheap or as small as the AirPods 2, but they sound a lot better and have a lot more features.

Ultimately, the AirPods 4 With Active Noise Cancellation are simply more special. They're the first open buds I've tried to have active noise canceling that actually works. That makes them the first noise-canceling earbuds for people who don't like having ear tips jammed in their ears. That's pretty cool and worth the extra $50 if you can afford it.

Why I like them

The Live Beam 3 earbuds look similar to the earlier Live Buds Pro 2, which I liked a lot, especially when they go on sale for less than $100. Essentially JBL's AirPods Pro 2 competitor, their distinguishing feature is the 1.45-inch touchscreen LCD integrated into their charging case that acts as a remote control for the buds and allows you to access their features. Equipped with 10mm drivers, not only do they offer clear, well-defined sound with punchy bass but their noise canceling and voice-calling performance are very solid. Their battery is also good -- they offer up to 10 hours of battery life with ANC on and 12 hours with it off at moderate volume levels (a 10-minute charge gives you four hours of battery life). Available in four color options, they're IP55 splash-proof and dust-resistant.

Note that JBL's flagship Tour Pro 3 earbuds also have an integrated LCD but feature dual drivers, which deliver even better sound than these buds with a little more depth and detail. However, those buds cost more than $300.

Reasons to buy

The Live Beam 3 are really solid performing, well-designed earbuds that should most ears comfortably. Some may see the the touchscreen LCD as a bit of a gimmick, but it is useful as a remote control for the buds and a differentiating feature.

Reasons to skip/keep looking

My only minor gripes would be that the buds look a tad cheap for their somewhat elevated lists price. Also, the charging case is a bit larger and heavier than most charging cases becauseit has that built-in touchscreen LCD.