David Carnoy
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David Carnoy Executive Editor / Reviews
Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET’s Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He’s also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
Expertise Mobile accessories and portable audio, including headphones, earbuds and speakers Credentials Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer 
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Sq. Feet of Lab Space $330 at Amazon 
Top noise-canceling headphones with multipoint
Sony WH-1000XM5
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$117 at Best Buy 
Best new Soundcore by Anker buds
Soundcore by Anker Liberty 4
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$128 at Walmart 
Smaller Sony earbuds with big sound
Sony LinkBuds S
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$152 at Amazon
Best wireless earbuds for Android users
Google Pixel Buds Pro
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$150 at Amazon
Best value on-ear multipoint headphones
Jabra Elite 45h
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$241 at Amazon
Best Sennheiser noise-canceling headphones
Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless
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$149 at Walmart
Premium Panasonic multipoint buds
Technics EAH-AZ60
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$40 at Amazon
Budget on-ear multipoint headphones
Creative Sound Blaster Jam V2
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$150 at Amazon
Premium noise-canceling headphones for less
Soundcore by Anker Space Q45
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Having a pair of earbuds or headphones with multipoint Bluetooth connectivity can be super convenient. If you’re in the market for premium headphones that come with multipoint technology, you no longer have to break the bank. What exactly is multipoint Bluetooth? It’s the ability for two devices to be paired with your earbuds or headphones simultaneously. Most Bluetooth earbuds and headphones, as of 2024, can be connected to multiple devices — but only select models can be paired to multiple sets at the same time. Basically, this is the main difference between multipoint Bluetooth and multiconnection Bluetooth, and they should never be confused.
A pair of headphones without multipoint Bluetooth pairing can only be actively connected to one device at a time. If you wanted to pivot to another device, you would need to manually switch to access a different audio source. Multipoint pairing can allow you to listen to audio on your computer and when a call comes in on your phone, you can click to answer, prompting your headphones or earbuds to automatically shift over to your phone to take the call. In this article, I’ll share the best multipoint Bluetooth headphones and earbuds 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.
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The QuietComfort 45 has virtually the same design as its predecessor, the QuietComfort QC35 II, which many people consider 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.
Secondly, the microphone configuration is different. Not only have the mics been shifted on the headphones, but there’s now an extra external microphone for voice pick-up, which means the QC45 has a total of six microphones, four of which are beamforming and used for voice. By contrast, the QC35 II has a total of four, two of which are used for voice. (The Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 also have six microphones total.)
These headphones are excellent for making calls. They’re similar to the Bose Headphones 700 in that regard. They also include top-notch noise canceling and multipoint Bluetooth pairing, so you can connect them with a PC and your phone simultaneously. Read our full review of the QuietComfort 45.
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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.
Note that you do have to activate multipoint pairing in the Sony Headphones companion app for the feature to work.
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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.
Like the Linkbuds and Linkbuds S, these buds initially didn’t have multipoint Bluetooth pairing but Sony added the feature late last year. It does have to be activated in the companion Sony Headphones app in order to work.
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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.
Compared to top-sounding buds I’ve reviewed, they lack a bit of overall clarity, accuracy and bass definition. But most people will think they sound quite good — they play plenty loud and deliver strong bass — and you can tweak their sound profile in the app or create a personal HearID Sound profile (it’s also for noise canceling).
Anker
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The Liberty 4 come in black or white for $150. They ship in October.
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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.
Initially, these buds didn’t have multipoint Bluetooth pairing, but Sony added it late in 2022. It does have to be activated in the companion Sony Headphones app.
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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.
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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.
Note that the $180 Evolve2 65, which has an integrated boom microphone, is essentially the souped-up office version of these headphones.
Jabra
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