When it comes to picking the right pair of wireless headphones, these are the decision points you should take into consideration.
Budget
One of the primary restraints is budget, always. How much you’re willing to spend will determine quality of headphones you buy. Even if you don’t want to spend over $300 on a pair of audiophile headphones, you can still get quality headphones by spending around $100.
Bluetooth Audio Codec
Most people use headphones to listen to music so this is one of the most important factors. When you’re talking about wireless headphones, not all models support hi-res audio codecs. Make sure your headphone supports AptX and AAC bluetooth codecs. Looks deep in the specs area as many manufacturers don’t want to talk about this if they don’t support these codecs. If you want the best audio quality, then AptX HD and LDAC is what you want and you can easily obtain a headphone that supports those codecs between $100-$200. But also make sure your mobile device also supports them as not all devices support AptX HD and LDAC. Of course you still get the best sound quality by using a wired option to the headphone jack because bluetooth will encode and decode during transmission, thus reducing audio quality because it’s compressing an already compressed lossy format. It’s a trade-off between mobility and not dealing with a tangled cord all the time.
Build Quality and Comfort
The build quality is important because you want your headphones to last as long as the latest technology. Most cheaper headphones are not only constructed from cheaper plastic, they also break easily and feel cheap. Metal isn’t always the indication of quality as long as higher more durable plastic is used. If you like to wear your headphones for longer periods of time, then make sure you buy a pair that’s either in-ear (ear buds) or over-the-ear. Of course it’s a trade off as over-the-ear will almost always sounds better because it will have bigger drivers and more room to work with. It’s just not physically possible to cram in great sounds in small ear buds.
Now that you know what’s important in choosing wireless headphones, we recommend Sony WH-H900N as the best value pick. It’s a great pair of midrange headphones that support all the Hi-Res bluetooth codecs that gives you amazing audio sound while not being super expensive. Regularly priced at $299 in 2017, you can buy them for around $100-$150 now. Here’s another trick in buying headphones. If you wait about 2 years after the original release date, you can buy them for half or a third of the original MSRP. That same pair of headphones will sound just as good years later as headphones technology doesn’t improve that much year over year.
Another inexpensive option is Skullcandy Crusher Wireless. Retailing for less than $100 now, it has great battery life and decent sound quality. If you’re a bass head, you can take advantage of its haptic bass which is like having a subwoofer in your headphones. Unfortunately it doesn’t support AAC, AptX or LDAC bluetooth codecs but it’s still a good sounding pair overall.
