The Best Earbuds You Can Buy Right Now Are on Sale for $300

Sony doesn’t know how to name earbuds, but it sure knows how to build them. The WF-100XM5 buds were my favorite wireless earbuds last year, and they’ve since been supplanted by the latest model, the Sony WF-1000XM6 buds.

Generally, whenever Sony releases a new version of its flagship earbuds, you can trust they will be the best your money can buy until the next iteration rolls around—and right now, you can get the WF-1000XM6s at their best price so far. They’re $298 (originally $329.99), the lowest price since the recent release, according to price tracking tools.

The Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds are a direct competitor with the Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen), both outstanding options we have reviewed here in Lifehacker. The Bose are better suited for those looking for simplicity, user-friendliness, and comfort, while the Sonys are best for audiophiles looking to tweak and customize their experience to exactly how they like it, offering more options and features.

The Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds are my favorite for pure listening enjoyment. Yes, they are comfortable and have amazing ANC, but the audio quality, especially when you tweak the EQ and are able to listen to audio in LC3 and Sony’s own LDAC codecs, is the best in the market for Bluetooth earbuds.

As you can read in Lifehacker’s review, Sony has improved the microphone count and quality, making calls, ANC, and transparency mode sound clear and more responsive to noise in your environment. As far as battery life, you can get eight hours when listening with just the buds, and 24 hours from the charging case.

If you’re an Apple user, I think the AirPods Pro 3 are still a better option since they’re cheaper and optimized for iPhone. If you’re not, these Sony buds are my top recommendation—provided you want the best audio quality from Bluetooth earbuds you can find—and the current price is the lowest I’ve seen yet (and I don’t expect them to go much lower in 2026).