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Best Bluetooth multipoint headphones
Once you’ve tried multipoint connectivity on a pair of headphones, it’s hard to live without it. The convenience of being able to switch between devices seamlessly is a perk of Bluetooth technology that makes total sense but is rarely implemented. We’ve sifted through the options that are out there, from headphones with active noise canceling (ANC), to earbuds, to some more budget-friendly picks, and present you with some of the best Bluetooth multipoint headphones to choose from.
What's new?
- This best list was updated on September 22, 2023, to update picks in the Notable Mentions section and answer more frequently asked questions.
- For detailed instructions, see our guide on how to set up Bluetooth multipoint on your headphones.
For our top five picks, you can find the isolation and frequency response charts at the end of each image gallery. Learn more about how to read our charts.
Why is the Sony WH-1000XM5 the best pair of Bluetooth multipoint headphones?
Anyone looking for the best of the best should look no further than the Sony WH-1000XM5. This is one of the best headsets you can buy, and the WH-1000XM5 improves upon its predecessors in many ways but retains Bluetooth multipoint. This headset features top-tier active noise canceling, an enjoyable sound profile, and a stellar microphone. At $399 USD, it’s certainly expensive. If you’re tight on cash, you should probably look elsewhere.
The WH-1000XM5 has extremely effective low-end noise canceling capabilities. It also happens to have some of the best noise-suppressing microphones you’ll find in a pair of headphones, making wind and street sounds nearly inaudible when you’re on a phone call. It also has a long battery life of 31 hours and 53 minutes with ANC on in our standardized battery testing. This headset will take you from your morning routine to your commute to work and all the way back, easily switching between your devices using Bluetooth multipoint.
To get an idea of how the Sony WH-1000XM5 microphone sounds, listen to our demos below and vote to let us know your thoughts. Note that the background noise from our office and wind simulations are practically inaudible.
Sony WH-1000XM5 microphone demo (Ideal):
Sony WH-1000XM5 microphone demo (Office):
Sony WH-1000XM5 microphone demo (Wind):
How does the microphone sound to you?
The Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 has the best design
Bose is a leader in noise canceling technology, and this headset won’t disappoint with its ANC or its other features. Minimalist design enthusiasts will love the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 (aka NCH 700), which features excellent sound quality, standout ANC, and Bluetooth multipoint. It’s still a pricey choice at $379 USD, but that’s a price worth paying for a product like this.
The NCH 700 is also IPX4 water-resistant, which is not too common in over-ear headphones. This way, you can be sure that your headset will last through your commute in light rain or from any accidental light splashes you may encounter in daily life.
Here are some demos so you can hear the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 microphone.
Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 microphone demo (Ideal):
Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 microphone demo (Office):
How does the microphone sound to you?
For plenty of connectivity options, opt for the Shure AONIC 50
The Shure AONIC 50 has you covered with support for more Bluetooth codecs than you can shake a stick at. This headset also has effective ANC and isolation, and with Shure being Shure, it sounds great too. With wonderful features all around, so many Bluetooth codec options, and Bluetooth multipoint, this headset is worth every cent. Even better, you can often find it for as little as $249 on sale.
The Shure AONIC 50 supports the SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, and LDAC codecs. You also get the wired connectivity options of using a 2.5mm to 3.5mm headphone cable or USB-C passthrough, so this headset will work with a wide variety of devices to ensure quality audio all the time. The ShurePlus PLAY app also works on any phone to allow you to adjust the EQ to your liking so your music always sounds just how you want it.
The microphone system on the AONIC 50 is okay, just not the best. Shure updated the microphone quality with a firmware update early into the product’s lifecycle, which is helpful.
Shure AONIC 50 microphone demo (firmware 0.4.1):
Shure AONIC 50 microphone demo (firmware 0.4.9):
How does the microphone sound to you?
The Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 has a studio-friendly sound
Audio-Technica is a well-loved company for studio headphones. The ATH-M50xBT2 frequency response can appeal to people with versatile music tastes who don’t necessarily want the bass boost found in a lot of consumer headphones. Combine the sound quality with LDAC support, Bluetooth multipoint, and an advanced microphone system for calls, and you have yourself a competent jack-of-all-trades headset that costs less than $200.
Another feature of the ATH-M50xBT2 is the battery life, which is a staggeringly long, 64 hours, 51 minutes. This long battery life, along with its wired connection option, makes it a surprisingly eco-friendly headset. It also has fast charging abilities, with just 10 minutes of charging time, gaining you 180 minutes of battery life. However, if you’re looking for significant passive isolation or any active noise canceling, this won’t be the headset for you.
The microphone in the Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 is pretty clear and does a solid job canceling out background noise. Take a listen here:
Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 microphone demo (Non-standardized):
How does the microphone sound to you?
Prefer earbuds? Check out the Jabra Elite 7 Pro
If you’re looking for noise canceling earbuds with Bluetooth multipoint, the Jabra Elite 7 Pro has that and so much more. The Elite 7 Pro supports HearThrough so you can hear your surroundings when you don’t want ANC on. You also get wireless and fast charging and IP57 water and dust resistance, all in a well-designed pair of earbuds. It’s a solid option for athletes or commuters who want to bring their earbuds wherever they go.
The Jabra Sound+ app allows you to adjust ANC and HearThrough levels, locate lost earbuds with Find My Jabra, adjust your EQ manually, or even do a hearing test that gives you an EQ customized to your hearing abilities. For $199 USD, this premium pair of earbuds is a smart purchase.
The microphone in the Jabra Elite 7 Pro is really nice. Voices come through clear in ideal conditions, but noise suppression isn’t ideal. Take a listen here:
Jabra Elite 7 Pro microphone demo (Ideal):
Jabra Elite 7 Pro microphone demo (Street):
How does the sample sound to you?
Is the Bose QuietComfort 45 worth buying?
The Bose QuietComfort 45 has excellent ANC, it has Bluetooth multipoint, and it’s a very comfortable headset (hence QuietComfort). On the surface, it seems wonderful, but for the price of $329, you can get better headsets with fewer issues.
And there really are some notable issues with the QC 45. You can’t turn off ANC, and the frequency response boosts treble to a level that makes some older songs with poor mixing sound pretty bad. Newer songs with more vocal-heavy mixing and podcasts can sound totally fine, but if you like older punk music or otherwise badly mixed music, you might find it sounds pretty bad through the QC 45. Get this headset if you don’t plan on venturing into a DIY music scene and just want a comfortable pair of headphones with ANC.
What makes the Jabra Elite 45h a good pair of on-ear headphones?
The Jabra Elite 45h is a solid sub-$100 headset with 54 hours of battery life, a microphone for calls, Bluetooth multipoint, and an app for changing the EQ to your liking. And while it doesn’t have an official IP rating, Jabra has a two-year warranty for rain and dust damage if anything bad happens to them.
However, there are some downsides. The Jabra Elite 45h is an on-ear headset, so it doesn’t provide much in the way of isolation, and the feeling of the earpads pressing down on your ears can be uncomfortable after some time, especially if you wear glasses. The frequency response also swings very bassy, which can be good for some, but not ideal for most. If you don’t wear glasses and like bass a lot, this might be a reasonable headset for you.
The Sony WH-CH710N gives you quality ANC at a lower price
While the Sony WH-CH710N can’t dethrone its more expensive counterparts like the Sony WH-1000XM5 or Bose NCH 700, it does the job well for a $149 USD headset. It’s comfortable, has satisfactory noise canceling, Bluetooth multipoint, and a battery life of 35 hours, and 41 minutes with ANC on. It also has quick charging, so you can get 60 minutes of playback from just 10 minutes of charging.
While the frequency response isn’t perfect, the Sony WH-CH710N still sounds really nice and has a bit of a bass emphasis. The microphone is alright, but it’ll suffice for phone calls. It also has a bit of a cheaper build quality and surprisingly doesn’t support LDAC, despite the codec being made by Sony. If you’re looking for multipoint and ANC at a cheap price point, these might be worth getting, especially when they’re on sale.
The best Bluetooth multipoint headphones: Notable mentions
- Anker SoundCore Liberty 3 Pro ($109 at Amazon): With LDAC support, multipoint, EQ, and ANC customization, and lots of ear tips to choose from, the SoundCore Liberty 3 Pro is feature-packed. It isn’t really the best at anything it does, but it sure does a lot and affords flexibility.
- Bose QuietComfort 35 II ($374 at Amazon): The QC 35 II is super comfortable and has noise canceling, though it’s a little behind the times at the time of its release compared to top competitors. It has a sound profile very close to our consumer curve, though you can’t adjust the EQ in the Bose Connect app, unfortunately.
- Jabra Elite 85h ($190.99 at Best Buy): You can pair up to eight devices with the Elite 85h, which is extremely convenient. It also has a long battery life of 34 hours, 35 minutes, and an enjoyable sound profile. The ANC is lacking, so don’t get this if that’s important to you.
- Focal Bathys ($699 at Amazon): Sure, that $800 price tag is eye-watering, but this is one of those rare instances where expensive headphones are worth it. The Bathys supports multipoint and is among the best wireless headphones ever made. If you’ve got money to burn, you should.
- Shure AONIC 40 ($247 at Amazon): The AONIC 40 is much like the much-loved Shure AONIC 50, but with fewer frills. It supports the SBC, AAC, and aptX codecs, trimmed down from the plethora of codecs the AONIC 50 supports, and has less effective ANC performance, but it’s still a nice headset with an extended 36-hour battery life.
- Sony WH-1000XM4 ($348 at Amazon): The much-loved Sony WH-1000XM4 has excellent ANC, an enjoyable sound profile that you can customize, and lovely features like multipoint, touch-sensitive ear cups for controls, and a sensor in the left ear cup for auto-pause/play.
Hold up! Something’s different:
The Shure AONIC 50 and some of our notable mentions’ frequency response and isolation charts were measured with our old testing system. You can find the notables’ charts in each individual product review. We have since purchased a Bruel & Kjaer 5128 test fixture (and the appropriate support equipment) to update our testing and data collection. It will take a while to update our backlog of old test results, but we will update this article (and many others!) once we’re able with improved sound quality measurements and isolation performance plots. These will be made obvious with our new chart aesthetic (black background instead of white).
Thank you for bearing with us, and we hope to see you again once we’ve sorted everything out.
What you should know about the best Bluetooth multipoint headphones
Bluetooth multipoint headphones are still fairly hard to come by, but if you like to multi-task, it’s well worth the hunt. Read on to learn all about multipoint connectivity and why it matters.
What is Bluetooth multipoint?
Bluetooth multipoint is a feature that allows a Bluetooth headset to be connected to two or more sources simultaneously, allowing for quick switching between devices. However, there can be limitations, like the fact that most headsets only support multipoint between two devices at once, and you can’t necessarily get audio input from two different places at once. Moreover, some devices only support multipoint connectivity over the AAC codec, like the Sony WH-1000XM4.
Regardless of the limitations of multipoint, it’s a very convenient feature that allows you to answer calls from your phone quickly from your headset while you’re working on your computer, for example. It’s a must-have feature for work headphones. For a more in-depth explainer on multipoint, check out our article about it.
When should you use multipoint connections?
Multipoint is great for professionals who work on their computers and need to monitor their phones. After all, it can be tough to hear if you have headphones with noise canceling. It’s also helpful if you’re watching a movie but need to be able to answer the phone for any reason or you just want to be more aware of your devices and who might be trying to contact you.
What are Bluetooth codecs, and why do they matter?
Bluetooth codecs encode and decode audio data from your device to your ears, and different codecs do that with different transfer rates, which is how much data is transferred per second. Also relevant is the sample rate of your music, the amount of data in an audio file per second, and bit-depth, or how much data is encoded in each sample. Higher transfer rates equate to better quality audio, as long as your audio files are higher quality too.
The baseline of audio codecs is the SBC codec, which is perfectly fine for most use cases. Other codecs include AAC, another compressed lossy codec, and higher-quality codecs like aptX and LDAC. For more information on Bluetooth codecs, check out our article about understanding Bluetooth codecs.
How we choose the best Bluetooth multipoint headphones
At SoundGuys, we perform objective tests to measure things like frequency response, isolation, microphone quality, and more. To do so, we use a Bruel & Kjaer 5128 head and torso simulator (HATS) with an anatomically realistic ear canal and outer ear. We also use a standardized setup to test the microphone quality of products with pre-recorded phrases from a calibrated artificial mouth in our test chamber. This allows us to present standardized microphone samples so you can judge the quality of various products and compare them across the board. After we collect all of this data, we then score each product through various objective and subjective measures.
Our team then confers with one another regarding the best products for a given category and presents our list to you. It’s not over after we hit “publish,” though. Instead, we treat every article as a living document that we update as new and worthy products come out.
Why you should trust SoundGuys
Each writer at SoundGuys has accumulated years of experience reporting on the consumer audio market, and our staff adheres to a strict code of conduct. SoundGuys‘ survival depends almost exclusively on readers enjoying their purchases. We pride ourselves on transparently outlining objective facts while accounting for the subjective experience to contextualize an audio product’s performance. When we do misspeak, we correct and own up to it.
Frequently asked questions about the best Bluetooth multipoint headphones
The Sony WF-1000XM4 does not have Bluetooth multipoint.
This depends on the device. Some headsets can connect only to a phone and a computer at once, and some can connect to two phones. Check the manual for your headset, or contact the company to find this out.
As long as your phone has Bluetooth 4.0 or higher, your phone will support multipoint, which is highly likely.
Nope, not all Bluetooth headphones come with multipoint connectivity. It’s a feature, not a given. You’ll need to check the specs for each pair to see if they support connecting to multiple devices simultaneously.
Bluetooth 5.0 itself doesn’t automatically grant multipoint capabilities. The tech for multi-device connectivity lies in the software layer, not just the Bluetooth version. So, you could have a Bluetooth 5.0 device that doesn’t support multipoint, and vice versa.