The Best Earbuds for Phone Calls in 2025: Samsung, Apple, Anker

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Just about any pair of wireless earbuds, from the cheapest to the priciest, have built-in microphones for making phone calls. But they’re not all created equal — and just because a pair of earbuds sounds great for music, that doesn’t mean it’ll excel at making phone calls.

How We Tested the Best Earbuds for Phone Calls

That’s why we put some of our favorite earbuds to the test to find the best earbuds for making phone calls. I tested several of the earbuds by making phone calls and having my recipient give feedback on how I sounded, including with loud music in the background to simulate a loud environment.

In some cases, I tested the earbuds’ mic quality by recording my voice, both in quiet and loud environments, to see how natural and clear my voice sounded.

In addition to testing phone call quality, I evaluated several other factors that come in handy for phone calls, such as fast pairing with phones and active noise canceling (ANC) for easier conversations in loud cafes or busy streets. And since phone calls can drain earbuds fast, I checked out factors like battery life and evaluated the ease of use for the earbuds’ controls.

The results had some expected winners — phone brands are good at making earbuds for phone calls, and Samsung and Apple’s earbuds both sounded great on the other end. There were some unexpected losers, too; even though they make some of our favorite earbuds in general, Bose and Beats underperformed when it came to phone calls, with warbly, uneven performance.

Another finding was that some earbud shapes are more conducive to making phone calls than others. Stemmed earbuds typically performed best for phone calls, owing to better mic placement that’s closer to the mouth.

The Best Earbuds for Phone Calls

Read on for our top picks for the best earbuds for phone calls, and check out our other earbud roundups, including the best earbuds with ear hooks, the best open ear earbuds, and the best noise-canceling earbuds.

These earbuds have a stemmed design with pinch controls. Sound familiar? Yes, these earbuds bear some resemblance to AirPods, particularly in white, but Samsung took a few steps to set them apart. They have a bold triangular shape, a transparent case, and neat light-up stems that, while more gimmicky than useful, are fun to look at.

Crucially, they sound great, both for music and phone calls. My recipient commented on the clarity and lack of background noise, and the audio recording confirmed how crisp my voice sounded. As for controls, the pinch controls are fairly straightforward, with one press to answer or end a call and a pinch and hold to decline.

The earbuds also have adaptive ANC that cuts out background noise, but the ANC is somewhat underwhelming compared to other similarly priced models, like Apple’s AirPods Pro 2. You’ll get up to 6 hours with the buds or 26 with the case with ANC on, and slightly more with ANC turned off. There are also other handy features, like a “find my earbuds” function, reliable in-ear detection to pause music when you take an earbud out, and wireless charging compatibility. They also pair very quickly with Samsung phones if you need to pop them in to answer an unexpected call.

With quick pairing with iPhones and great call quality, it shouldn’t be too surprising that AirPods came out on top as the best option for iPhone users. Of the available models, the edge arguably goes to AirPods Pro 2, thanks to their excellent ANC performance that can come in handy in loud environments. The Adaptive ANC can adjust based on your surroundings, and voice isolation helps reduce background noise.

The controls are straightforward, with a pinch to answer or a double press to decline. Battery life has never been a major strong suit with AirPods, and if you’re using them heavily for phone calls, the advertised 4.5 hours of talk time on a single charge won’t wow. Fortunately, a five-minute charge in the case gets an extra hour of talk time.

The AirPods Pro 2 do have some unique features, such as spatial audio and head tracking, and Apple rolled out new features like hearing protection and a hearing aid for mild to moderate hearing loss. It’s good to see that Apple is still rolling out new features on a pair of earbuds that are more than two years old.

There are cheaper earbuds and better-sounding earbuds, but few brands blend performance and quality at an economical price quite as well as Anker, whose Soundcore brand consistently delivers some of my favorite affordable buds. These earbuds got good marks from my other end of the line, and the audio recording backed it up.

The Liberty 4 NC features reliable noise-canceling, with up to five levels of ANC and two transparency modes. That means anyone who finds it hard to have phone conversations when they can’t hear their voice (like me) can adjust the ANC level to best fit their surroundings. The earbuds have 6 beamforming microphones for clearer phone calls and background noise reduction.

If you’re the type to talk on the phone for a while, these earbuds offer great battery life, with up to 10 hours on a single charge and up to 50 hours with the case, plus the ability to add four hours of battery life with a 10-minute charge. While the sound quality isn’t stunning and the design is a touch generic, the Liberty 4 NC is a great pair of earbuds for under $100.

With a name seemingly designed to give tech writers more reasons to make puns, Nothing’s line of earbuds and smartphones, featuring transparent cases and quirky features, is an exciting antidote in a sea of anonymous design.

That’s not to say Nothing’s earbuds are exactly revolutionary — the Ear and Ear (a) earbuds feature a similar shape and controls to Apple’s AirPods, with thin stems and pinch controls. While both the Ear and Ear (a) look nearly identical out of the case, the more expensive Ear earbuds outperformed the budget model in terms of call quality.

Nothing claims they’ve improved the earlier models thanks to a new mic and extra airway that “reduced interference by 60% compared to Ear (2).” While I haven’t tested that model, the Ear stacked up well in call quality tests, with minimal background noise and clear vocals.

The ANC is solid, and the EQ and controls can be customized. Plus, with Google Fast Pair and multipoint connection with up to two devices, it’s easy to switch back and forth between a phone and a laptop for calls.

Technics’ EAH-AZ100 earbuds are not only among the best-sounding earbuds on the market, but they’re also exceptionally comfortable, with solid active noise-canceling performance to boot. 

They’re also the rare non-stemmed earbuds with excellent microphone quality. These feature a monaural and MEMS microphone, and Technics claims its Voice Focus AI technology reduces background noise when talking. 

I tested these earbuds in a simulated setting, recording my voice both in a silent room and with background noise. While there was a slight drop-off in voice quality in the loud environment, the earbuds effectively reduced background noise, such that it could barely be heard in the recording.

In the quiet setting, my voice sounded clear and natural, without any tinniness or robotic distortion. If you’re looking for a premium pair of earbuds that also excel for phone calls, these should be a top contender, although the price may put some off. 

Sony’s WF-1000XM5 consistently delivers when it comes to audio quality and noise-canceling, and the earbuds are chock-full of features, keeping up Sony’s reputation for making excellent audio products.

I recorded myself talking using these earbuds, and found that my voice sounded clear and natural, particularly in quiet settings. The earbuds did pick up some background noise in louder environments, but they should still sound clear for everyday use.

Sony claims these earbuds use bone conduction to detect when the wearer is speaking, allowing the earbuds to isolate the wearer’s voice from background noise. Sony also claims it used 500 million voice samples to suppress ambient noise.

There are some drawbacks with these earbuds; the foam eartips are somewhat stiff and awkward, and the controls and Sony’s Sound Connect app can be somewhat confusing.

The audio quality on JLab’s Go Pop ANC earbuds isn’t showstopping, but at less than $30, there’s a lot to like about these budget earbuds. They have fully customizable tap controls and EQ, plus adjustable ANC which can be controlled from the simple, intuitive app. Despite the in-ear design, these earbuds were reasonably clear for making phone calls. I recorded myself with loud background noises, which were minimal during playback.

As for the controls, you can pick up a call with a single tap, hang up with a double tap, or reject a call with a long press. The earbuds also have multipoint pairing, so you can pair a phone and a laptop for switching between work and personal calls.

The earbuds offer up to 24 hours of playtime in total with the case, beating out some more expensive models. The quirkiest feature is the charging case itself, which has a built-in USB-C cable. That means you’ll need to find a USB-C port. It’s no great hardship, but not guaranteed either, given how widespread USB A still is.

Despite the quirks and the so-so sound quality, if you’re looking for a pair of ultra-affordable earbuds with surprisingly clear call quality, JLab’s Go Pop ANC are a solid option.