Ever since Apple and other brands ditched the headphone socket from their phones, wireless audio took a leap from being a niche, to the portable audio norm.
That's not the only change in the headphone market in recent years. Active noise cancelling has also gone from being a smaller niche to make up the biggest chunk of the headphone market, at least in terms of value, if not units sold (they are pricey things).
That said, it's no longer entirely necessary to spend big money to get top-notch wireless audio action. Although admittedly my big recommendations here are largely over 200 quid, and from big names like Bowers & Wilkins, Beats and Sony, there are also some great cheaper options from the likes of AKG, Marshall and Optoma NuForce.
WHAT ARE THE BEST BLUETOOTH HEADPHONES?
After many long hours of testing, I decided the absolute pick of the Bluetooth bunch was the Bowers & Wilkins PX
. This has a fantastic mix of long battery life, great sound, next-level noise-cancelling, and comfort.
Read on, or venture over to the Best Noise Cancelling Headphones list, and you'll find the PX, but also rivals from Sony, Beats and Bose that are very nearly as good – it's almost a case of deciding which set you like the styling or buttons on the most, then comparing the best current deals. There is very little to tell between them in terms of audio quality and noise reduction.
If you don't want noise cancelling, with a more natural sound (by Bluetooth standards – bear in mind that the music has been turned into zeroes and ones, compressed and beamed through the air before you hear it), you'll love another pair from Bowers & Wilkins: the over-ear P7 Wireless. However, be quick: the P7 is being discontinued as it's been replaced by… the PX. Doh.
For in-ears, I recommend either the Sennheiser Momentum Free, or, if you like the 'necklace' style of headphone, RHA's excellent value MA650 Wireless .
BLUETOOTH HEADPHONES: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you want the absolute best audio quality, you'll still have to get wired headphones, but Bluetooth cans are now far better than they were at providing decent sound.
There is a school of thought that Bluetooth via higher-resolution codecs such as Apt-X (found on many Android devices), Apt-X HD (found on a small number of more high-end Android devices and dedicated music players) and AAC (Apple's version) sounds even better but I'm not entirely sold on that idea.
As a general rule, newer Bluetooth headphones used with newer devices (supporting Bluetooth 4 and up) do seem to provide better audio.
Bluetooth cans today are generally far more stable in terms of connection, and battery life has improved, too.
I'd advise trying before you're buying, and bear in mind that noise cancelling headphones will never sound totally natural, because they are inherently unnatural. That doesn't mean they sound poor, though. Far from it, in fact.
As with most things, I recommend paying a bit more – £100/$100 to £300/$300 – to get the kind of over-ear, wireless headphones that'll give pleasure for years. However, particularly if you don't require noise cancelling, you can get very solid Bluetooth headphones for less, nowadays.
1. BOWERS & WILKINS PX
Best Bluetooth headphones with noise cancelling
REASONS TO BUY +Great sound with ace noise cancelling
+Handy motion-sensing features +Stylish and comfortable
REASONS TO AVOID -Pricey
-Don't fold up
Narrowly the pick of the Bluetooth, noise-cancelling bunch, these B&W headphones boast adjustable noise cancelling (via an app), and pause automatically when taken away from your ears.
They're also very stylish, in either rose gold or space grey, comfortable to wear and sound great. They also have simple but effective buttons for volume, pause and play and to switch the cancelling between office, street and aeroplane settings. This is in contrast to the slightly more fiddly controls on the Beats, Bose and Sony rival products.
Sound quality is absolutely lush, being as at home gently strumming as it is pounding out basslines, and the noise-cancelling is like an off switch for the world. It's the current pinnacle of Bluetooth audio superbitude and rightly picking up awards all over the place.
2. OPTOMA NUFORCE BE SPORT3
Bets Bluetooth headphones under £100
REASONS TO BUY + Great sound
+Very light
REASONS TO AVOID -Slow to pair via Bluetooth
These in-ears were great value when they first came out and costed well over £100. For the price you can get them now, they're an absolute steal.
Designed for gym and running, they are water snd sweat resistant, and fit really well but also very comfortably. You might expect that from sports headphones but what you won't anticipate is how good the sound quality is. These are easily good enough to use outside of workout duties; very musical with well-weighted bass and excellent noise isolation.
The battery life of 8 hours obviously can't compare with the big over-ear cans i this list, but it's not bad at all. Connectivity is also very solid, although they do have one major quirk: they take about 10 seconds to connect to your phone. That's really their only major flaw, and pretty forgivable given the price. I've been using these for over a year now, and keep coming back to them despite having vastly more costly headphones at my disposal.
3. FLARES PRO EARPHONES
The best Bluetooth in-ear monitors for sheer quality
SPECIFICATIONS
Wired option: Weirdly, yes
REASONS TO BUY + Incredibly good audio
+Can be used wired
REASONS TO AVOID - Eccentric appearance
-Quite pricey
My usual position with Bluetooth headphones is, yes, great for convenience but the sound is never as good as wired headphones, although they have been steadily improving in the last couple of years. Well, no longer!
Flares Pro might look like they've been knocked up in a shed by a keen amateur electrician, but they're comfortably the best Bluetooth headphones I've heard. That's especially true with Apt-X compatible players and hi-res files, but even when used to listen to MP3 from an iPhone, audio is a revelation.
Admittedly , that is because the comfortable, minimalist buds are attached to a Bluetooth DAC that you have to clip to your lapel (!) but if you can put up with that, I wholeheartedly recommend the Flares Pro.
Yes, they are a touch expensive compared to most in-ear Bluetooth headphones but the size of the sound stage, plus the impeccable clarity and quality of the audio more than justifies what you pay. You get real stereo rather than the channel-blurring mush of most wireless cans, and bass is taut and engaging without overwhelming the middle and upper registers. From electronic dance music to delicate classical, everything sounds like what you'd expect from comparably priced, wired headphones. For Bluetooth, it's mind blowing. Connectivity seems rock solid, too.
Curiously, you can also disconnect the buds from the Bluetooth DAC and plug the ends into a supplied cable running to a 3.5mm jack, and use them as wired headphones. From a phone, they actually sound worse in this form, but use a music player or headphone DAC and results again veer back toward mind-blowing.
My only slight reservation with these is that even with the choice of approximately 9 billion silicone and memory foam tips provided, it's hard to make them stay in place during a run or cycle. So, I guess, don't wear them while running or cycling would be my advice (use some of these instead). The Flares Pros are headphones to be savoured at leisure.
4. AKG N60NC WIRELESS
Best on-ear Bluetooth headphones under £200
REASONS TO BUY + Great sound
+Great looks +Foldable and compact
REASONS TO AVOID -Naturally less good noise insulation
The audio on these new AKG noise-cancellers perhaps lags a bit behind the in-ear and over-ear options atop this chart. However, the trade-off for that is greater portability and a slightly lower price.
The N60NC Wireless is effortlessly thrilling, with very solid ANC, although again, it's perhaps a bit less like an off switch for the world than the pricier alternatives from Bowers, Bose et al.
It's also easy to fold up and chuck in a bag when you don't require musical accompaniment, and the understated styling is pretty attractive, too. If you don't require noise cancelling, AKG's stalwart Y50BT remains an excellent option.
Are either of these AKG cans objectively as fine as Sony's WH-1000XM2? No they're not, but they are an easier, more portable fit, being on-ears, and with much keener pricing, they are just as good, pound for pound.
5. SENNHEISER MOMENTUM FREE
Best in-ear Bluetooth headphones over £100
REASONS TO BUY + Great sound
+Good comfort
REASONS TO AVOID - Pointlessly long cable
-Short battery life
Sennheiser finally took my advice and made some wireless buds that don't have a necklace design (the old Sennheiser Momentum In Ear Wireless is reviewed down below). Get in!
The results are all you'd expect from Sennheiser, with boring yet slightly odd styling being outweighed by excellent sonics and decent attention to technical detail. Audio is as good as you'll find on wired headphones of similar price and if the battery life of six hours isn't exceptional, the highly reliable connectivity and inclusion of Bluetooth 4.2, AAC and Apt-X make that easier to live with.
With rock, pop hip-hop and electronic music, Sennheiser's 'signature Momentum sound' is relentlessly involving, punchy and listenable. It's hardly the most transparent or neutral of performances but so what? Unlike some pop-oriented cans it does make a very decent fist of rendering acoustic sounds and the human voice.
The design is a bit odd, as usually seem to be the case with Sennheiser these days. The cable is way longer than it needs to be, and the battery and remote give it a bit more weight than you'd expect, given the battery life is only six hours. The included ear tips are also a bit old fashioned – they're smooth silicon, with no spongey ones, and no option to add Bose/Monster/Nuforce-style 'hooks' for better anchoring. I actually popped mine off and replaced with a pair of Comply tips, after which I got much better fit which also meant I was consistently hearing the Momentum Free at its best.
