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3 earbuds you should buy instead of AirPods 5
Sep 11, 2026 — 5:30 AM ET
AirPods took the wireless audio world by storm, and the AirPods 5 are the latest edition. Announced at Apple’s annual September event, AirPods 5 aren’t trying to dethrone the AirPods Pro 3 as the brand’s best wireless earbuds. Instead, AirPods 5 provide a more affordable alternative. The cheaper version costs $129, whereas the better version costs $149 and adds an extra hour of earbud battery life, a wireless charging case, and swipe controls on the earbud stems. This time, both AirPods 5 versions have active noise canceling (ANC).
Apple didn’t change the one thing that rules out AirPods for many people — the design. AirPods 5 use an open-ear design without the silicone or foam ear tips needed to create a strong seal inside your ear. Plus, the AirPods 5 are lacking in feature set and battery life compared to the competition. That’s why you should consider these three alternatives instead.
Which earbuds are the best AirPods 5 alternatives?
Beats Studio Buds Plus
If you’re looking for a pair of wireless earbuds priced similarly to the AirPods 5 (with wireless charging case), and need exclusive Apple features, the Beats Studio Buds Plus should be your main alternative. Retailing for $169.99, the Studio Buds Plus technically sit just above the AirPods 5 in price. However, they’re typically discounted — right now, they’re $149.99 at Best Buy, Amazon, and Target — and they offer enough upgrades over the AirPods 5 to be worth your while.
Beats earbuds offer many of the same niceties iPhone users love about AirPods. The Studio Buds Plus support one-touch pairing, cross-device iCloud connectivity, hands-free Hey Siri, Find My device tracking, and spatial audio. Better yet, they also support Google Fast Pair, Android audio switching, and Find My Device. You get the same great feature set on the Studio Buds Plus, no matter which device or operating system you’re using.
The biggest improvement is in battery life. Our testing shows that Beats Studio Buds Plus last 8 hours and 22 minutes with ANC enabled, which is more than double the standard AirPods 5, which have an advertised 4-hour runtime when ANC is active. The AirPods 5 with a wireless charging case only adds an extra hour of playback time. It’s worth noting that the Studio Buds Plus charging case adds 27 hours of battery life, but it doesn’t have wireless charging.
You get the same great feature set on the Studio Buds Plus no matter which device or operating system you're using.
The Studio Buds Plus have silicone ear tips and create a solid seal in your ear canal, and they sound great and cancel out plenty of noise as a result. These earbuds earned a 4.8 overall in the Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Scores (MDAQS), on a scale of 1-5. Compared to the AirPods 4 with ANC, the Studio Buds Plus performed better in the Timbre category, likely because their silicone ear tips helped create the seal required for solid sub-bass frequencies. Stay tuned for our AirPods 5 test results, but the new earbuds will almost certainly fall short in similar ways due to their unchanged open-ear design.
Beats Studio Buds Plus have longer battery life, great sound quality, and strong ANC for the price, which is exactly why they’re a great AirPods 5 alternative.
AirPods Pro 3
Those who really want a new pair of AirPods and are willing to splurge should consider the AirPods Pro 3. AirPods Pro 3 have the best ANC performance of any wireless earbuds we’ve tested, are fully loaded with Apple-exclusive features, and sound excellent. It’s no surprise that these cost a lot more than AirPods 5 with a wireless charging case — $100 more, to be exact — but AirPods Pro 3 are worth the extra cost.
Apple redesigned the AirPods Pro 3 to fit better in more people’s ears. They still won’t fit perfectly for everyone, but that’s true of most wireless earbuds. AirPods Pro 3 also use a hybrid silicone-foam ear tip design, improving passive sound isolation. This is part of the reason the earbuds are superb at canceling out noise. According to our tests, the AirPods Pro 3 can reduce the loudness of external noise by roughly 40dB, making for a 90% average reduction of the loudness of external noise.
AirPods Pro 3 are worth the extra cost.
Battery life is much better than AirPods 5, too. Our testing revealed the AirPods Pro 3 last 8 hours and 42 minutes on a single charge with ANC active. The case has wireless charging and a USB-C port. It also sports a built-in speaker to help you find the case independently of the AirPods using the Find My app.
If you need better sound quality, ANC, and ecosystem features than the Beats Studio Buds Plus offer, the AirPods Pro 3 are a worthy upgrade. However, keep in mind that AirPods Pro 3 lose most of their advanced features when paired with devices outside the Apple ecosystem.
CMF Buds 2 Plus
If spending a lot of money on wireless earbuds isn’t your style, you can get a better experience than the AirPods 5 from the CMF Buds 2 Plus for a fraction of the price. These retail for $69, and the base AirPods 5 cost nearly twice as much. Compared to the AirPods 5, the CMF Buds 2 Plus offer silicone ear tips in three sizes to help you find the right fit and create a good seal. They also have on-stem playback controls, which is a premium AirPods 5 feature that’ll run you $20 more.
CMF Buds 2 Plus come with a tri-band equalizer that lets you tweak the sound signature of your earbuds. Separately, there are five “Ultra Bass” modes and spatial audio support. The Nothing X app is quite good for customization and tuning, even if you miss out on features that other premium CMF and Nothing earbuds get. Still, there are plenty of neat features here, such as Find My Earbuds and Low Lag Mode.
CMF claims these earbuds last 14 hours on a single charge with ANC off and 7.5 hours with it on, but our testing revealed the Buds 2 Plus last 10 hours and 22 minutes. So, you can expect shorter playback time than claimed with ANC enabled. Still, you’re looking at around twice as much battery life as the AirPods 5.
The Buds 2 Plus earned a 4.8 overall score in MDAQS, putting them right in line with the Beats Studio Buds Plus and ahead of the AirPods 4 with ANC. They reduce the perceived loudness of external sounds by 83%, which is extremely solid for the price. If you can give up the Apple-exclusive features, the CMF Buds 2 Plus make for an enticing AirPods 5 alternative.
Honorable mentions
These three options aren’t the only other great alternatives to the AirPods 5. The most similar competitor to the AirPods 5 is the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4, which are $179.99 at Amazon and have the same open-ear design. Admittedly, you’re probably not buying Samsung earbuds if you’re in the market for AirPods, but these have a proprietary high-quality codec and more features than the AirPods 5 with a wireless charging case.
Another option is the Powerbeats Pro 2 — they are workout-first headphones that share many features with the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3. If you wait for a sale, you can frequently snag Powerbeats Pro 2 for around $200 ($249 at Amazon). I’d say Powerbeats Pro 2 are definitely worth the extra $50 over the AirPods 5, especially if you like the AirPods Pro 3 but want a cheaper option.
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