Which Wireless Earbuds Should You Buy? What the Fine Print Next to ANC Says

On wireless earbuds product pages, the same words come up almost every time: noise cancelling, Bluetooth, water resistance. But the same word can describe very different things, sometimes even on two pairs from the same maker. The real differences are in the lines next to those words.

Earbuds with active noise cancelling: what the fine print next to ANC says

On the Redmi Buds 6 Play, "AI" appears next to noise filtering, but Xiaomi describes it as an algorithm that separates your voice from background noise during a call. That helps the other person hear you, but it doesn't silence the noise around you while you listen to music.

The Redmi Buds 8 Lite already have hybrid noise cancelling of up to 42dB. The Redmi Buds 6 Pro and Buds 8 Pro list up to 55dB, and Xiaomi itself notes that this is a peak measured in a certain frequency range. The AirPods Pro 3 and Galaxy Buds4 Pro have adaptive noise cancelling, which adjusts on its own to the noise around you. If you commute a lot by train or bus, you'll feel the difference. If you mostly talk on the phone, noise filtering for calls may be enough.

Earbuds for iPhone or Android

Here the phone matters more than the earbuds. An iPhone transmits to Bluetooth earbuds only in SBC or AAC. That's why LDAC, which appears on the Buds 6 Pro and Buds 8 Pro, and aptX Lossless on the Xiaomi Buds 5, won't improve anything on it. On an Android phone that supports them, it does matter.

The same principle works the other way around. Apple says AirPods work with a non-Apple device as ordinary Bluetooth earbuds, but with fewer features. Adaptive audio and the earbud settings require an Apple device. With Galaxy Buds, Samsung's codec (SSC) works only with a Galaxy phone. Xiaomi and Redmi earbuds are the middle ground: their app is available on both Android and iOS.

Water-resistant earbuds and sports

The Buds 6 Play are rated IPX4, and most Redmi and Xiaomi models are rated IP54, which covers dust and water splashes. The AirPods Pro 3 and Galaxy Buds4 Pro are rated IP57, a higher level of resistance. Here too Apple adds a note: the resistance is meant for sports other than water sports. None of these pairs is designed for swimming. It's also worth knowing that on some models the rating applies only to the earbuds, not to the charging case.

For running outdoors, consider the OpenWear earbuds. They don't go into the ear canal, so you can hear cars and bicycles while you listen.

Features that only work with some phones

On some pages there's a small note at the bottom. On the Xiaomi Buds 5, the full aptX Lossless transmission rate is supported only on a few phones that the maker lists by name. The Galaxy Buds4's high-quality mode is similar: it's available only on the Galaxy models in the list. If your phone isn't on the list, you'll get good earbuds, but you won't use the feature you paid for.

Before you pick a pair from the wireless earbuds, read the line under ANC and the codec line, and check whether your phone appears in the list in the notes.