Wireless headphones and Bluetooth headsets: the best models

The best wireless over-ear, on-ear headphones and Bluetooth headsets

Are you thinking about buying a pair of wireless headphones but don't know how to choose the best model for your needs? Below we list the main characteristics of three product categories:

• 1. over-ear headphones
  2. on-ear headphones
  3. in-ear headphones

That you are looking for wireless gaming headphones, Bluetooth headsets to play sports or wireless headphones to listen high resolution music, below you will find the most popular products on the market and many more offers and discount codes to buy the best brands online.

1. How to choose over-ear headphones: features and functions

Let's talk about over-ear headphones, those in which the earpads completely envelop the ears of the listener, allowing greater isolation from external noise.

- Advantages: greater isolation from the outside, deeper bass, integrate larger speakers that produce better sound quality (especially at high volume).

– Disadvantages: bigger, heavier and bulkier, less practical to transport.

Wireless models work in two modes: or with the protocol Bluetooth or with radio frequency wireless connection.

2. How to choose on-ear headphones: features and functions

On-ear headphones differ from over-ear headphones because i pavilions rest on the ears without enveloping them completely

- Advantages: less large and bulky, easier to transport (especially the foldable models).

– Disadvantages: less insulation from the outside, but some models compensate with advanced systems for reducing ambient noise.

Like over-ear headphones, they work in two modes: with the Bluetooth protocol or with a radio frequency wireless connection. Rarer are the models than with infrared technology, due to the very limited field of action.

Sound quality: which parameters to check in over-ear and on-ear headphones:

Frequency response

It is measured in Hz and is the range of frequencies that headphones can reproduce. The human ear is able to perceive frequencies between 20 and 20.000 Hz, consequently the optimal range of the frequency response of a headphone must contain all these values ​​in order to allow the ear to hear everything that is possible to hear.

In light of the above, it would be useless a wider frequency range? Not necessarily, let's take the example of professional studio headphones, which usually have a frequency response between 16 Hz and 28.000 Hz. Even if this range includes values ​​that are inaudible to the human ear (because they are not between 20 and 20.000 Hz), it assumes better technology which includes higher sound quality regardless.

Impedance

It is measured in Ohms or Volts/Amperes and is the resistance of the headphones to the sound signal. Usually the higher the impedance, the better the sound qualityhowever, the advice is to have headphones and a source where the sound is reproduced with the same degree of impedance. In fact, it may happen that a very high impedance value of the headphones requires having an additional amplifier, which is only integrated in the headphones in some cases and in high-quality products.

Sensitivity

It is measured in decibels (dB) and is the acoustic pressure guaranteed by headphones. Without getting too technical we can say that the higher the sensitivity, the better the headphones will be, because with the same volume to be reached, headphones with greater sensitivity will succeed with less effort than headphones with a lower value.

Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)

That is the ability to eliminate all sounds and noises external to the source being reproduced. It takes place thanks to microphones integrated in the headphones that record external noises and reproduce them in real time with a 180° phase inversion. Not to be confused with the passive noise reduction which is simply given by the ergonomics of the headphones, which by completely covering the auricles further attenuate external noise.

3. How to choose BlueTooth earphones: features and functions

When we talk about wireless earphones we usually refer to in-ear headphones, the most widespread, i.e. those in which the rubber tips are introduced directly inside the ear canal. They exploit the bluetooth protocol to connect to playback devices and have a range of 10 meters. There are two types of wireless earphones:

– Wireless earphones: with a cable that connects the two earphones to each other

– True wireless earphones: which have no cable (e.g. di AirPods from Apple)

Key features to check out in a pair of Bluetooth earphones:

Autonomy

How long does the fully charged battery last? How long does it take for the battery to recharge? In addition to this basic information, it is useful to know if the chosen model has the function of quick charging, which allows you to recharge the battery in a few minutes to be able to use the earphones for about an hour.

Controls

The presence of what we would once have called buttons is very useful because they allow you to answer calls, raise or lower the volume, connect to voice assistants (Siri, Google, etc…). Usually the controls are inserted into the cable that connects the right ear to the left or integrated directly into the true wireless earphones.

Microphone

To judge the quality of a microphone, the most useful parameter is the ability to reduce external noise while speaking.

Sound quality

The main parameters to be evaluated are the same as for over-ear and on-ear headphones: frequency response, impedance, sensitivity and noise cancellation, which you can read above.

Apple AirPods Pro: features and price

It is worth making a separate discussion for the Apple AirPods Pro, which are positioned at the top of the range of true wireless in-ear headphones of Apple.

They are equipped with active noise cancellation, function of quick charging (5 minutes for an hour of listening) ed adaptive equalization to automatically adjust the music to the shape of your ear.

In the box of the Airpods you will find three pairs of rubber pads interchangeable (depending on ear size), wireless charging case which offers beyond 24 hours of battery life e 4,5 hours of music playback. Sports enthusiasts will be happy to know that they are resistant to water and sweat. They are available on Mediaworld at the price of 199 Euros.

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The best brands of wireless headphones and Bluetooth headsets: online offers

It is possible to buy wireless headphones and Bluetooth headsets online on the stores of the main e-commerce and electronics stores, such as Amazon, eBay, ePrice, Mediaworld, Euronics e Unieuro. On Best Discounts you will find e discount codes to buy your wireless headphones at even lower prices in any of these shops.

Over-ear wireless headphones

Some of the best brands of over-ear wireless headphones that we recommend you buy are: Bose, Sony, Sennheiser, Philips, JBL, Jabra, Bowers & Wilkins and AKG. If you are curious to know which are the best wireless over-ear headphones of 2020, we present below the ranking drawn up by Techradar.

The 10 best OVER-EAR wireless headphones models of 2020

1. Sony WH-1000XM4
2. Bose Noise Canceling 700
3. Bowers & Wilkins PX7
4. Jabra Elite 85H
5. Bose QuietComfort 35 II
6. Philips PH805
7. Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless
8. AKG N60NC Wireless
9. JBL Tune 750BTNC
10. Microsoft Surface Headphones 2

On-ear wireless headphones

As for on-ear wireless headphones, currently among the best brands are: Grado, Sony, AKG, Bowers & Wilkins, Master & Dynamic, V-Moda, Klipsch and Beats. Below we list the best models of on-ear wireless headphones of 2020, according to the ranking drawn up by Techradar.

Top 10 wireless ON-EAR headphones models of 2020

1. Grade SR60e
2. SonyWH-CH510
3. AKG N60NC Wireless
4. Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless
5. V-Fashion XS
6. Master & Dynamic MW50+
7. Klipsch Reference On-Ear II
8. GW100 Wireless grade
9. Beats Solo 3 Wireless
10. Adidas RPT-01

In-Ear Bluetooth Headphones

Among the best brands of Bluetooth headphones we can list the following: Optoma, Bowers & Wilkins, OnePlus, Sennheiser, Bose, SoundMAGIC, Beats and Jaybird. Taking a cue again from the ranking drawn up by Techradar, below we list the best Bluetooth headset models of 2020.

Top 10 Bluetooth Earphone Models of 2020

1. Optoma NuForce BE Sport4
2. Bowers & Wilkins Pi3
3. Sennheiser CX Sport
4. OnePlus 2 Wireless Bullets
5. SoundMAGIC E11BT
6. Jaybird Tarah Pro
7. Jaybird X4
8. beats X
9. Bose QuietControl 30
10. Beats PowerBeats