Completely wireless earbuds are the future of in-ear music, freeing us from the shackles of cables even between the ears. But while many have tried to make wireless earbuds that work, very few actually do. Others haven’t even got theirs to market yet, with even Apple being forced to delay its AirPods for six weeks.

The big problem with those that do exist is most cannot maintain a solid connection between themselveswhile on opposite sides of your head. To complicate things, smartphones are not all born equally for Bluetooth performance.

To conduct the test I used a Google Pixel XL, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and Apple iPhone 7 and tried as many earbuds as I could get my hands on, finally finding only two worth buying.

Here are the ones to avoid, and why ...

Earin

Earin were some of the first on the market and are still one of the most comfortable, but just aren’t reliable enough. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

Price: £199 (buy here)

Earin look like old school car cigarette lighters shrunk so they can fit in your ear. They lack any buttons or controls, charge in a long cylindrical battery case and sound pretty good for over two hours between trips in the case.

They worked better with the Galaxy S7 Edge than the rest of the smartphones, but could not maintain a stable connection between the two earbuds, with the right slave bud cutting out intermittently while walking down the street. They also blast a loud pop into your earholes when they run out of battery.

Verdict: not worth buying if you walk anywhere

Motorola VerveOnes+

The Motorola VerveOnes+ stick out further than most, but are water resistant and ready for exercise. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

Price: £149.99/£179.99 (buy here)



Available in a sweat-proof “plus” version and normal, the VerveOnes+ use a rubber-coated back to them to wedge themselves in your ear. They stick out further than most, but were comfortable, lasting a couple of hours between trips in the rotating charging case.

They were fine when out running connected to a smartwatch, and worked better than some others, but still struggled to maintain a connection between the left and right earbuds when walking in town, in the office or the train station.

Verdict: OK for running, but frustrating for commuting

PK K’asq

If you want to look like a minicab driver, the PK K’asq are the ones you want. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

Price: £116.62 (buy here)



If you want to look like you’re a taxi driver, but with a Bluetooth headset in each ear, the PK K’asq are for you. They stick out your ear and draw odd looks from those around you.

I found them deeply uncomfortable in my ear, they sounded OK, but failed badly, with both earbuds cutting out when the connection between them was lost while walking down the road.

Verdict: one to avoid

Rowkin Bit Charge

Small and light, the Rowkin Bit Charge are the idea form factor but do not cut the mustard. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

Price: $109.99/129.99 (buy here)



Some of the smallest buds on the market, when they work they sound OK, are relatively comfortable and are the most discreet in this bunch. They’re available in two versions, with and without a charging case, held into their holders with magnets.

They struggled to maintain a connection between themselves, and the pairing routine was downright tedious if you wanted to connect them to another device.

Verdict: great form, poor function

Here are the ones to buy …

Bragi the Headphone

Bragi’s the Headphone hold a stable connection, sound pretty good and last longer than you’ll want to listen to them in one go. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

Price: €149 (£125) (buy here)



Bragi made some of the very first wireless earbuds with the Dash produced from a $3m Kickstarter campaign in 2014. They were a combination between earbud and fitness tracker that failed to live up to expectations.

Now the new Bragi the Headphone – stupid name as they’re earbuds not headphones – aims to simplify things and fix the problems that held back the Dash and so many others like it: connection reliability.

The earphones are kidney-shaped with an earbud sticking out like an old gramophone horn, which blasts the sound down your earhole and keeps them in place. They’re light and nothing else of the earbuds has to touch your ears and you can wear them in multiple orientations making them the most comfortable wireless earbuds I’ve tried.

The right earbud has three buttons. The bottom one is the power button – hold for three seconds to turn them on or off – as well as the play, pause and skip-track button. The left and right buttons adjust volume and switch ambient noise on and off, which pipes the sounds of the environment around you into your ear using the microphones built into the earbuds. The buttons are a bit stiff, but it’s not too difficult to grab the back of the bud with your finger when you press them to save your ear canals.

They sound pretty good, once you get the fit right with the tips – they come with three, but only the comply foam ones did the job for me – and are comfortable to wear for extended periods. They do not sound as good as a £125 pair of wired earbuds, but they’re balanced, with decent separation, mids and highs. Those looking for thunderous bass are out of luck and you have to put up with a small hiss sound in the background when they’re active.

The Headphone earbuds slot into the case ready for charging, but do not contain a battery for on-the-go charging. Photograph: Bragi

Bragi reckons they’ll last for six hours between charges. They lasted more like five in my testing. The case doesn’t have a battery, which means you need to plug it in to charge your earbuds, but is has the plus of being able to completely turn off the Headphone meaning they’ll still have charge when you come back to them after a long weekend or so.

But they have one winning feature that sets them apart from almost all the others: rock-solid connectivity with all smartphones in the group.

Whether it’s to your smartphone or between themselves, the Headphone simply work where others do not. In the office, on the train, on the underground, on a bus, walking down the street or through a train station, they kept their connection and the music flowing.

Call quality, although only in mono through the right earbud, was excellent and the recipient could hear me just fine.

Verdict: simple, good-sounding, comfortable and work, making them worth buying

Jabra Elite Sport

A rock-solid connection and ear-conforming shape mean the Jabra Elite Sport bluetooth earbuds are a worthy contender. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

Price: £229 (buy here)



Jabra have a long history of making good but not overly popular Bluetooth headphones. The Elite are the company’s first wireless earbuds and while they’re relatively late to the game, they’re worth waiting for.

Unlike the Bragi, the Elite earbuds fill the ear like a canal shell hearing aid. The bottom bit, which has a heart rate sensor in it in the right earbud, fits against your antitragus and the top bit the lower crural of the antihelix, holding the earbuds securely in place while the tip fits into your ear canal.

They come with three sizes of wing and three different sizes of earbud in two materials, but I found the smallest wings to completely fill my outer ear. The right felt a little uncomfortable at first, but settled down. The left ear is obviously a slightly different shape as the top part of the earbud constantly caused pain with the smallest wing.

The Elite’s connection both between each bud and to any of the smartphones was rock solid with no interruptions under any of the conditions I tested. They sound pretty good, with more bass than the Bragi, although slightly less balance and separation in the rest of the range. They also blocked out more ambient noise, but still made a small hiss sound when active in the ear.

The Elite Sport earbuds clip into the small battery case for storage and charging. Photograph: Jabra

Each earbud has two buttons and two microphones. The right earbud controls pause, play and starts exercise tracking. Double pressing the play button also activates ambient sound. The left earbud has volume control buttons, which you hold for a second to skip track.

They last for about three hours and come with a compact battery case that will charge them twice.

The buds can track heart rate, fed to the Jabra Sport Life app, and provide audio guidance for workouts, runs, races and recovery sessions, using the GPS from your phone to track your pace.

Call quality was good and in stereo, but the recipient couldn’t hear me quite as clearly as with the Bragi.

Verdict: larger size could make them less comfortable, but they have rock-solid connection, good sound and added fitness features

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