2024: A Good Year For Earbuds

The twelvemonth 2024 has been different very bully 1 for wireless earbuds. We’ve reached a constituent wherever each tech elephantine is firing connected each cylinders. Apple’s AirPods Pro, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, and Google’s Pixel Buds Pro 2 are each awesome successful their ain correct and reasonably comparable successful nan features they offer. Are location advantages depending connected which you pick? Sure. Samsung’s caller sound controls are ace convenient. Google wins retired connected comfort. And Apple’s caller proceeding wellness features really level up what we expect from personification earbuds. But successful position of mundane performance, they’re each incorrect spitting region of each other. 

As for over-ear headphones, Sonos introduced its long-rumored Ace headphones this year. Their marquee trick, TV Audio Swap, is nan expertise to personification audio from a Sonos soundbar for backstage listening — a bully illustration of a marque trying to muster a unsocial trading constituent successful a competitory market, while Apple, Samsung, and Google are laser-focused connected interplay incorrect their ain respective ecosystems. (Of course, Sonos’ headphones were each but forgotten successful nan avalanche of contention brought connected by nan company’s overhauled mobile app.)

But this twelvemonth has reinforced that you don’t petition to locomotion ample to find awesome value. Apple brought progressive sound cancellation to its little costly AirPods 4. With nan Nothing Ear and budget-priced Ear (a), Nothing proved yet again that it tin compete pinch long-established earbud makers — and outdesign galore of them. Style-wise, it’s difficult to return betwixt nan flashy yellowish of nan Ear (a) aliases Beats’ candy reddish Solo Buds, but Nothing gives you overmuch for your money than Apple’s brand. 

2024 too saw Jabra make an exit from nan personification earbuds market. The institution spent years producing worthy alternatives to nan AirPods and different products backmost during nan early waves of existent wireless earbuds, but Jabra mislaid its momentum and grounded to meaningfully guidelines retired pinch its overmuch caller Elite earbuds. The Elite 10 Gen 2 are fantabulous by each accounts but difficult to impulse erstwhile they correspond nan extremity of nan line.

As for wherever nan people is headed, earbuds are quickly evolving into devices pinch a intent that extends bully beyond audio consumption. Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 now relationship a powerful trifecta of proceeding wellness features: you tin deterioration them arsenic proceeding protection, return a proceedings to gauge your ain proceeding loss, aliases usage nan earbuds arsenic clinical-grade over-the-counter proceeding aids. I’d expect we’ll spot different manufacture heavyweights for illustration Sony, Samsung, and Google bring akin capabilities to their ain early buds — perchance arsenic soon arsenic adjacent year. 

Fitness hunt is different area wherever we’ll proceed to spot earbuds relationship caller advantages. Heart title hunt is becoming comparatively common, and nan next-generation Powerbeats Pro, owed early successful 2025, are rumored to spot nan useful feature.

As for nan caller year, Sony’s long-popular 1000X bid is owed for a refresh. The 1000XM6 earbuds (and headphones) look for illustration a fastener for 2025. I deliberation nan aforesaid is existent of nan adjacent AirPods Pro; Apple will reportedly merchandise a redesigned third-gen brace sometime adjacent year. On nan different hand, pinch Samsung and Google having immoderate released caller models successful nan past six months, I wouldn’t expect overmuch from them successful nan adjacent future. 

For you audiophiles retired there, 2025 is apt to spot nan preamble of overmuch earbuds that tin wirelessly watercourse lossless audio arsenic Qualcomm’s astir precocious chips commencement to proliferate crossed caller products from various brands — perchance including Sennheiser, Bose, and others. As for different features, I’m funny to what people earbud makers will pat into AI chatbots. Google’s Pixel Buds Pro make it imaginable to proscription connected afloat conversations pinch Gemini Live. Will different brands look to proviso a akin acquisition pinch different AI platforms? 

The caller twelvemonth is definite to get disconnected to a engaged commencement correct retired of nan gate, pinch headphones and earbuds from dozens of brands expected astatine CES 2025. Hopefully there’ll beryllium immoderate genuine surprises among nan bunch.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge