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Best for Most People
Nothing Ear (a)
Best for Noise Canceling
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds
Best for Workouts
Beats Powerbeats Pro 2
Best for Sound Quality
Soundpeats Capsule3 Pro+
Apple’s AirPods Pro are crazy popular for good reason (8/10, WIRED Recommends), from their airy design to their raft of advanced features and powerful noise canceling. But the best AirPods Pro alternatives provide something Apple’s pricey flagship buds don’t: serious versatility outside Apple’s carefully controlled ecosystem. If you’re looking for earbuds with that AirPods Pro vibe that travel better beyond the walls of the Apple castle (God forbid you own an Android!), we’ve got you covered.
My colleagues and I have tested hundreds of pairs of earbuds over the years, and these are the best AirPods Pro alternatives we’ve come across. From affordable noise cancelers to sporty Beats buds, there’s something for everyone here. For more options, check out our Best Wireless Earbuds, Best Wireless Headphones, and Best Noise-Canceling Headphones guides.
How does WIRED define AirPods Pro alternatives?
They’re are a lot of traits that spell out Apple’s most popular pair, but their conveniently grabbable, stem-style design is a good start. Most of the pairs on our list share this Apple-pioneered form factor. Others, like the hook-shaped Powerbeats Pro 2, channel the AirPods Pro in a different way, offering Apple-friendly features like Find My and the ability to auto-swap between iCloud devices, while joining our other options with Android-friendly features to cater to the other side of the mobile aisle.
Like the AirPods Pro, each model we chose offers noise canceling and transparency mode, and unlike Apple’s standard AirPods, they all provide swappable ear tips for a good seal and a stable fit. As with all our earbuds guides, sound quality, features, comfort, battery life, and convenient controls were all major factors in our decision process. Price and overall value also factored heavily to provide good options for those who can’t stretch to premium pricing.
What about regular AirPods?
Apple’s standard AirPods (5/10, WIRED Review) are a different animal than most other earbuds we test. Their plastic shells provide a semi-open fit, rather than the sealed fit offered by earbuds with ear tips available in various sizes. This heavily affects their sound quality and the efficacy of noise-canceling in the most recent option. That leaves them unable to provide performance on par with most buds we test, which is why this list aims toward AirPods Pro alternatives instead.
While it’s true that some folks swear by the standard AirPods’ semi-open design, we generally point folks to options with better performance, more features, and a customizable fit, whether that’s the AirPods Pro or their many rivals. If you’re looking for a more relaxed fit that’s less plugged up, our list of the best open earbuds has a variety of options that keep your ears fully open and aware of your environment.
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Best for Most People
The Nothing Ear (a) (8/10, WIRED Recommends) serve up a sweet blend of style, sound quality, and usability at a surprisingly low price. Their AirPods Pro form factor is bolstered by Nothing’s unmistakable aesthetic in both the buds and case for a pair that feels at once recognizable and wholly different. You’ll find a customizable EQ, excellent touch controls, and solid noise canceling, though battery life takes a hit at just 5.5 hours per charge with the feature engaged. Still, that’s nearly on par with Apple’s pricier pair, adding up to sterling value with style for miles.
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Best for Noise Canceling
Bose
QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds
Bose’s flagship buds (8/10, WIRED Recommends) provide AirPods style in a chunkier package, but that extra heft supports the best noise canceling we’ve ever tested in a pair of earbuds. There’s plenty more to these buds, including clear and focused sound with excellent instrumental separation, adaptable transparency mode to keep your ears safe while staying environmentally aware, and advanced features like spatial audio with head tracking for deeper sonic immersion. These are the priciest pair on this list, but if you need serious sound killers, they’re the best in the biz.
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Best for Workouts
The second coming of Beats’ Powerbeats Pro (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is truly a best-of-both-worlds option. You’ll get all the best Apple features like Find My support, iCloud device switching, and one-touch iOS pairing, in a workout-ready design. Unlike the AirPods Pro, the Powerbeats have a dedicated Android app for features like one-touch pairing and customization. The controls are touchy when inserting the buds, but otherwise convenient thanks to both a multi-key and volume rocker.
In true Beats fashion, the sound is brash treble and bassy, but with plenty of nuance, while advanced noise canceling and natural-sounding transparency mode help them adapt to your environment. Some users complain that the heartbeat monitor is inaccurate, but it worked well enough for me, and it’s especially useful for Android devices. Their new hook design is another upgrade, offering supreme comfort and stability to make these among the best workout buds you can buy.
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Best for Sound Quality
There are a lot of great-sounding AirPods-style earbuds, but few can compete with these unassuming AirPod clones from Soundpeats for the money. That’s because of their hybrid design that pairs a special xMEMs solid-state driver for the top frequencies with a traditional dynamic driver for the bass. The result is sweet, lyrical detail and smooth, punctual bass that earned the pair a perfect 10/10 review score from WIRED editor Parker Hall. I found the touch controls a little unresponsive, and their noise canceling is just OK, but otherwise, there’s hardly a bad word to say about a pair this accomplished for the money.
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Another Affordable Alternative
Anker
Soundcore Liberty 4 NC
Soundcore has a knack for great sound and value, and the Liberty 4 NC embody that philosophy brilliantly. They’ve got tight and detailed sound, very good noise canceling for the money, and a laundry list of features, including some you might not expect at this price, like spatial audio. Not every feature is on par with the more premium AirPods Pro, but you’ll get some options Apple’s pair doesn’t offer, like fully customizable controls and a multiband EQ to tailor the experience as you see fit. Not for nothing, the white colorway looks pretty close to Apple’s top pair from a distance.
