I'm an earbuds expert: these are the Black Friday earbuds deals really worth buying right now

★★★★½ rating! The AirPods Pro 2 are the best-selling earbuds on the planet for a reason, and although they have dipped to $168 before now (and were at $179 briefly in early November), this is the absolute cheapest they've ever been, and it's only on for another 18 hours at the time of writing! Run! They sound excellent, the noise cancellation is top tier, Dolby Atmos spatial audio is amazing for movies, and they even have an unloseable case, thanks to tech that literally points you to where it's hiding (and a speaker to help, too). They's also very small and light, so are great for comfort. Our AirPods Pro 2 review digs into all the extra features they have for Apple users – Android users should look to the Bose buds on this page instead.

★★★★½ rating! Bose's QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are back to their lowest-seen price yet – hurrah! The star of these September 2023-release Bose QuietComfort earbuds is the all-new Immersive Audio feature (for various head-tracked spatial audio profiles) and Snapdragon Sound certification, the latest standard in Bluetooth connectivity. In short, these are Bose's most advanced noise-cancelling earbuds you can buy, provided you can live without multi-point connectivity or wireless charging (you have to buy a cover for the case to get that).

★★★★½ rating! If anyone asks us for a great pair of really cheap 2024-release earbuds and they don't care about ANC, the Sony WF-C510 is usually our go-to answer. They're light and comfortable, provide excellent sound quality for the cost, and have a battery life of up to 20 hours. We awarded them 4.5/5 and called them 'great value for money' in our Sony WF-C510 review. And this is a return to their lowest price ever – a steal.

This is the joint-lowest price that Sony's top-end earbuds have ever been. The fit is good for smaller ears, they sound very good, and Sony's gives you excellent control (read more in our Sony WF-1000XM5 review). The noise cancellation isn't as good as Bose's Ultra earbuds that are around the same price, but for Sony fans, they're best you can buy, at the best price to date.

I predict Apple's all-new AirPods 4 will be a hot item during this year's Black Friday sales, and you can already grab a first-time discount at Amazon. The AirPods 4 feature a new design for all-day comfort and pack Apple's H2 chip, which supports personalized spatial audio and voice isolation. You're also getting a redesigned case with 30 hours of battery life and supports USB-C for wireless charging.

You can also get the AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation on sale for $169 (originally $179).

★★★★½ rating! A quick glance at our JBL Live Beam 3 review proves just how much we love these earbuds, which only hit shelves in June 2024. That smart-case now includes a lock-screen wallpaper feature if you want to personalise it with a photo of your significant other, your cat or anything else that's meaningful to you. For us, the sonic chops, 'Personi-Fi' hearing tests and excellent stamina make this option a great buy with 25% off – which is the cheapest we've ever seen. Also, the deal applies to all colorways (hurrah!)

This is actually a fairly typical price for these earbuds these days, so we wouldn't say it's much of a deal really – but if you want the cheapest AirPods available, here you go. They've actually been on sale for as little as $69.99 before now too, so while a sub-$90 fee may be tempting, it's not the cheapest they've been. They don't have the more advanced features of newer models, but they do feature fast pairing, auto-switching between Apple devices, and Find My support.

To say these earbuds are feature-packed is a huge understatement; they really are the best that JBL can offer in an earbuds design. And they only arrived in August 2024, which is why this 17% discount is so unexpected! Do we love them? We do – take a look at our JBL Tour Pro 3 review for more. Our only real issue with them is that much of what makes them super-special (the case; the sound quality, Personi-Fi sound tailoring) can be had for cheaper, in JBL's also-reduced Live Beam 3, above… 

These buds only arrived in October 2024 and, because we're meticulous types at TechRadar, we haven't had time to finish a star-rated review yet! But Black Friday waits for no one and even these debutante buds have been handed an all-new discount. These newest buds from Soundcore have a MacBook-like ‘touch bar’ on the case to tweak control, and the ANC algorithm is the third gen of Anker's audio tech, which promises to adapt to your audio environment three times per second. Switching between noise cancellation and transparency can be done on the case's chic touch bar and, for us, that's got to be incredible value for this money… 

Score a 50% discount on the JBL Tune 235NC earbuds, which brings the price down to just $49.99. For that price (which equals the lowest we've seen ever, a discount not spotted since January 2024), you're getting Active Noise Cancelling and Smart Ambient technology, plus an impressive 40 hours of battery life from a September 2023-release set of earbuds.

★★★★★ rating! TechRadar's Audio Editor, Becky Scarrott, adores these 2021-release super-cool earbuds and her five star review proves it. Look, they're not the youngest around any more and you won't get app support or ANC. But the sound is excellent and the design is really quite beautiful. A steal at the price – even though they briefly dipped to $5 less than this once before.

★★★★½ rating! Bose's QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are now at their lowest-ever price yet for Black Friday in the UK too. The star here is Bose's all-new proprietary Immersive Audio feature for several head-tracked spatial audio profiles) and Snapdragon Sound certification. In short, these are the most advanced noise-cancelling Bose earbuds you can buy, now at their lowest-ever price in whichever colour you want – but we don't know how long it'll last!

The AirPods Pro 2 are the best-selling earbuds on the planet for a reason, and although they've briefly been a whole £10 cheaper, this is still a solid saving on Apple's flagship earbuds. What will you get? Superb sound quality, top-tier noise cancellation, excellent spatial audio, auto-switching between different Apple devices, gesture control and more. Could the AirPods Pro 3 be on the horizon for 2025? Yes, but you get the new hearing-aid-features update in this set. Highly recommended for this money.

★★★★★ rating! The latest Nothing Ear (a) Wireless Earbuds offer exceptional bass along with powerful active noise cancellation, so they’re immediately off to a good start. Their talented 11mm drivers are bigger than the norm and there’s 42.5 hours of battery life via the charging case, multi-point connectivity, and even ChatGPT support via the pinch stems if you're using a Nothing phone. This 30% discount also makes them back at their lowest-seen price too: bargain.

★★★★½ rating! A quick skim of our JBL Live Beam 3 review proves just how much we love these earbuds, which only hit shelves in June 2024. Amazon has quoted their most recent price of £171.99 in its listing, but we're putting their original RRP here for reference, to show you how good the saving is. The lovable smart-case now includes a lock-screen wallpaper feature if you want to personalise it with a photo of your significant other, your cat or anything else that's meaningful to you. For us, the sonic chops, 'Personi-Fi' hearing tests and excellent stamina make this option a great buy with £30 off – which is the cheapest we've ever seen. Also, the deal applies to all colorways (hurrah!)

★★★★★ rating! The WF-C700N ripped our notions on what is achievable at this entry level to smithereens when they burst onto the scene in April 2023. The Nothing Ear (a) have since surpassed them at this price level for us (especially since they're even cheaper), but if you prefer Sony's style, these are the buds to go for. Our Sony WF-C700N review describes their fantastically rich sound and impressive extra features, including good noise cancellation.

A £30 off saving (a 23% discount and the lowest they've ever been – albeit only by 58p) is a huge deal for Nothing's flagship earbuds. Here, you get to personalise your listening experience with Nothing's excellent Sound Personalisation mode, which is so good our reviewer wrote a dedicated feature on how it changed his approach to earbuds in general. This price also means you're getting flagship perks (including an excellent app, solid ANC and pinch-to-speak to Chat GPT from a Nothing Phone) for under £100. And that is, as far as we're concerned, unique.

As with most Beats audio tech, the Beats Studio Buds Plus look good and offer a bass-heavy experience. You get rich and immersive sound supported by active noise cancellation which blocks out unwelcome sounds around you. There’s also one-touch pairing and the earbuds come with four pairs of silicone tips to help you get the right fit. Also, they have dipped as low as £95 before today, but never this low… bargain!

hese hugely talented March 2024-release earbuds are now a huge £50 off (which is £20 cheaper than their lowest-seen price until now), so 30% of the RRP stays with you. We need to impress upon you here that TR's audio editor personally reviewed them – feel free to check her glowing Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 review – and for sound and noise cancellation, they're a stone cold bargain at this all-new lowest ever price. You don't get spatial audio; you do get some of the best possible sound quality and ANC this money can buy.

Sony's flagship wireless ANC earbuds are now greatly reduced – this is the joint-lowest price they've ever been. Built-in Alexa functionality makes them a joy to use and the fit is good for smaller ears. The AI-based noise reduction algorithm and bone conduction sensor might not be as effective at blocking noise as the very best in the business (read more in our Sony WF-1000XM5 review), but they still deliver great results.

These earbuds made their debut in late 2023, and prior to now, their cheapest ever listed price on Amazon was £149, which means this saving is £20 less than we've ever seen. For us, the ANC is fantastic, and although the sound quality isn't top-notch (read up on that in our full FreeBuds Pro 3 review) the simple on-ear controls and comfortable fit make this a tempting buy at this hefty discount. An option if you need near-silence in your life and you own an Android device.

Do you want to know more about your hearing – and ultimately have your earbuds create a personal augmented audio profile for all of your music, based on otoacoustic tests carried out by your very buds? These are the earbuds for you; they include excellent software created by Nura, to accurately gain insight on which frequencies you may need boosted when listening and adjust things for you. And look at the discount! They've been around since June 2023 but they've never been this cheap until now – and at this price, the high-end feature set is very hard to beat.