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Multipoint connectivity is a popular feature — but you no longer have to splurge on premium headphones just to get your hands on a set that sport multipoint technology. Multipoint Bluetooth allows two devices to be paired with your headphones or earbuds at the same time. While most Bluetooth headphones and earbuds can be connected to multiple devices as of 2023, not all of them can be paired simultaneously. This is the difference between multiconnection Bluetooth and multipoint Bluetooth, and they shouldn’t be confused.
Without true multipoint Bluetooth pairing, a given pair of headphones can be actively paired to only one device at a time, requiring you to manually switch over to another device if you want to access that as an audio source. With multipoint pairing, you can be using your computer to listen to audio but when a call comes in on your phone, you can answer your phone and your headphones or earbuds will automatically switch over to your phone so you can take the call. In this article, I’ll share the best multipoint Bluetooth earbuds and headphones for you.
Apple and Samsung offer a variation of multipoint Bluetooth pairing called “automatic switching,” which works only for their respective devices. For instance, you can have your AirPods Pro 2 connected to your iPhone and Mac simultaneously (and an iPad) but a non-Apple device can’t be in the mix for simultaneous pairing. Samsung’s various Galaxy Buds have a similar arrangement with Galaxy smartphones and tablets.
In the past, business-focused headphones — some of which featured integrated boom microphones — offered advanced multipoint Bluetooth pairing. But the feature has gradually come to more consumer headphones, which are what we’re focusing on here. (We also have a list of best headphones for working from home, which includes some of the more business-class headsets with boom mics and USB dongles for reliable wireless PC connectivity.) Unfortunately, multipoint Bluetooth pairing isn’t easy to implement reliably with true-wireless earbuds.
“Up until recently, Bluetooth chips supported a maximum of two simultaneous connections,” explains Jonathan Levine, CEO and founder of Master & Dynamic. “This makes multipoint easy for headphones, where a wire connects both ear cups. However, for a true wireless product, one of the two connections gets consumed by the other earphone — leaving only one available connection to an audio source. Cutting-edge connectivity protocols have allowed true wireless products to connect much more seamlessly and bypass the maximum limit of two connections.”
I’ve tested all the headphones and earbuds on this list and will add top models with multipoint Bluetooth connectivity as they’re released. Note that products in Apple’s AirPods line, which includes the AirPods 3, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Max, can automatically switch between Apple devices on your iCloud account, but they aren’t included on this list because the feature is exclusive to Apple devices. The same goes for Samsung’s earbuds. Keep reading to find the best multipoint Bluetooth earbuds and headphones available right now.
Battery Life Rated up to 25 hoursMultipoint YesHeadphone Type Over-ear wireless headphonesWater-Resistant No IP rating
The QuietComfort 45 has virtually the same design as its predecessor, the QuietComfort QC35 II, which many people considered one of the most comfortable over-ear headphones — if not the most comfortable. It has the same drivers, according to Bose, and the buttons are in the same place. However, there are small but notable changes. First off, these thankfully have USB-C instead of micro-USB.
Battery Life Rated up to 32 hoursNoise Canceling Yes (ANC)Multipoint YesHeadphone Type Over-ear wireless headphonesWater-Resistant No IP rating
When you have a product that a lot of people love, change can be risky. Such is the case for Sony’s WH-1000XM5, the fifth generation of the 1000X series headphones, which were first released in 2016 as the MDR-1000X Wireless and have become increasingly popular as they’ve improved with each generation. Over the years, Sony has made some tweaks to the design, but nothing as dramatic as what it’s done with the WH-1000XM5. Other than the higher $400 price tag, most of those changes are good, and Sony’s made some dramatic improvements with voice-calling performance as well as even better noise canceling and more refined sound.
Battery Life Rated up to 30 hoursNoise Canceling YesMultipoint YesHeadphone Type Over-ear wireless headphonesWater-Resistant No IP rating
No earbuds are perfect, of course, and not everybody will love the fit of the Sony WF-1000XM4 buds. But if you’re looking for great-sounding earbuds with active noise cancellation, solid voice-calling capabilities and good battery life, these buds check all the boxes and are frequently on sale as Sony is expected to release next-gen flagship earbuds later this year.
While their sound isn’t quite up to the level of higher-end buds like Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 and the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 that cost significantly more, the Soundcore by Anker Liberty 4 earbuds have a strong set of features, including a spatial audio mode with head tracking, multipoint Bluetooth pairing, up to nine hours of battery life, wireless charging and support for Sony’s LDAC audio codec that can offer sound improvements if you have the right setup.
Battery Life Rated up to 9 hoursNoise Canceling Yes (ANC)Multipoint NoHeadphone Type Wireless EarbudsWater-Resistant Yes (IPX4 — splash-proof)
Unlike the “open” LinkBuds, the LinkBuds S are traditional noise-isolating earbuds with tips you jam in your ears. They’re more compact and lighter than Sony’s flagship WF-1000XM4 and also feature Sony’s V1 processor. While their sound and noise canceling don’t quite measure up to the XM4’s, they’re close and cost less. They’re the Sony buds for people who can deal with larger buds like the XM4 but want 80 to 85% of those buds’ features and performance for $80 less.
Battery Life Rated up to 11 hoursNoise Canceling Yes (ANC)Multipoint YesHeadphone Type Wireless earbudsWater-Resistant Yes (IPX4 — splash-proof)
The Pixel Buds Pro are Google’s first earbuds to feature active noise canceling. While it’s nice that they finally have a feature that a lot of true-wireless earbuds have had for a while, what ultimately sets the Pixel Buds Pro apart and makes them worth considering — particularly for Android users — is their distinct design and winning fit. That helps enhance their performance on both the sound quality and noise-canceling fronts. While not quite elite for voice-calling, they did perform well as a headset for making calls. A couple of features were missing at launch — spatial audio and a five-band equalizer — but the equalizer has now been added with a firmware update. We’re now just waiting for spatial audio with full head tracking.
Battery Life Rated up to 50 hoursNoise Canceling NoMultipoint YesHeadphone Type On-ear wireless headphonesWater-Resistant No IP rating
Released in mid-2020, the Jabra Elite 45h were essentially billed as the best on-ear headphones for the money. While there’s nothing fancy about them, they’re among the best value on-ear headphones right now, with good sound quality, a sturdy design and comfortable fit — for on-ear headphones, anyway. They perform well as a headset for making calls too, and include a sidetone feature that allows you to hear your voice so you don’t talk too loudly. Battery life is also good and it has multipoint Bluetooth pairing so you can connect to your computer and your phone at the same time, and easily switch between the two should a call come in on your phone. It mostly works.
Sennheiser’s previous-generation Momentum Wireless headphones have always had a pretty distinct look that was part retro, part modern, and stood out for the exposed metal on their headband. For better or worse, that’s all gone now, and the new Momentum 4 Wireless, Sennheiser’s flagship noise-canceling headphones, look a bit more subdued and also a bit more like some of their competitors.
Battery Life Rated up to 7 hoursNoise Canceling YesMultipoint YesHeadphone Type Wireless earbudsWater-Resistant Yes (IPX4 — splash-proof)
Panasonic’s Technics EAH-AZ60 buds don’t have quite as premium a feel as the earlier EAH-AZ70W, but they sound sweet with clean, well-balanced sound, well-defined bass and good detail. They feature active noise canceling (it’s good), a transparency mode, multipoint Bluetooth pairing so you can connect to your computer and phone at the same time and they have very solid voice-calling performance with good noise reduction. The buds are IPX4 splash-proof and are rated for up to 7 hours of battery life on a single charge at moderate volume levels.
The MW75 are Master & Dynamic’s best full-size headphones yet. Needless to say, they’re pricey at $599; most people will be quite satisfied with the $400 Sony WH-1000XM5, which are lighter and more comfortable, and which deliver best-in-class voice calling and noise canceling. But the MW75’s build quality is hard to beat and they offer top-notch sound for a wireless model (I thought they sounded better than Apple’s AirPods Max headphones), plus strong voice-calling and noise-canceling performance. With their support for aptX Adaptive, they have additional appeal for Android users, who can get a touch better sound quality with the right setup. But I was also quite happy streaming music with my iPhone 13 Pro using the AAC codec.
Battery Life Rated up to 22 hoursNoise Canceling Yes (Qualcomm cVc 8.0)Multipoint YesHeadphone Type On-ear wireless headphonesWater-Resistant No IP rating
I was a fan of Creative’s original Sound Blaster Jam headphones that came out in 2015 and had a decidedly retro look and feel, with good sound for the money. Now they’re available in a 2.0 version that has some key upgrades, including Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C charging, improved call quality and multipoint Bluetooth pairing that allows you to pair it to two devices simultaneously. Battery life is rated at up to 22 hours.
The No. 5909 are premium audio brand Mark Levinson’s first headphones. Yes, they’re expensive at $999 and probably a wee bit overpriced, but they’re excellent. They have a sturdy design without managing to feel hefty on your head (read: they’re substantial, but not heavy) and they’re comfortable to wear over long periods thanks to their nicely padded (and replaceable) leather-covered earcups and headband.
If you can’t afford Sony’s WH-1000XM5 or Bose QC45, the Soundcore by Anker Space Q45 (yes, there’s a bit of copying going on here) is a good alternative for $150, and we should see occasional discounts on it. While it may not fit some smaller heads, it’s comfortable to wear, with nicely padded ear cups and a dual-hinge folding design. Sound quality is very good and the headphones offer better noise canceling than the step-down Q35, as well as multipoint Bluetooth pairing (these are equipped with Bluetooth 5.3) and support for the LDAC audio codec for streaming high-resolution music tracks over Bluetooth, if you have a device that supports LDAC. Many Android phones do, although Samsung’s Galaxy phones don’t.
Battery Life Rated Up to 8 HoursNoise Canceling Yes (ANC)Multipoint YesHeadphone Type Wireless EarbudsWater-Resistant Yes (IP57 — Can be Submerged for 30 Minutes Up to 1 Meter)
Coming in at 16% smaller than the Elite 75t, the Elite 7 Pro are Jabra’s top-of-the-line earbuds in its new range and include the company’s new MultiSensor Voice technology with a bone-conduction sensor, four microphones and intelligent algorithms to deliver new “ground-breaking call quality,” Jabra says. The voice calling performance doesn’t quite live up to the hype, but Jabra has updated the buds’ firmware and added multipoint Bluetooth pairing and other small improvements.
AfterShokz has changed its name to Shokz and released new ninth-gen bone-conduction headphones that offer improved bass performance compared to the company’s earlier flagship model, the Aeropex (now called the Shokz OpenRun). That makes the OpenRun Pro the best bone-conduction headphones you can get right now, although they still can’t match the sound quality of traditional headphones.
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