Devialet Gemini II

Devialet Gemini II deliver best-in-class noise canceling and phenomenal sound, but they fumble calls and battery life hard. Paying $500+ means you really must love those two things above everything else.

The Devialet Gemini II are, quite simply, the best-sounding and best noise-canceling true wireless earbuds we've tested this year. If your priorities are pure audio bliss and shutting out the world, stop scrolling. These are your buds. They borrow from Devialet's wild speaker engineering heritage, and it shows in the 10mm titanium-coated drivers that deliver deep, textured bass and an expansive soundstage that most in-ears just can't touch. But there's a catch: call quality is mediocre, and the battery life is just okay. For $499 to $680, it's a hard trade-off unless you're all-in on their two superpowers.

The ANC here is ridiculous. In our testing, it's in the absolute top tier, right up there with Bose and Sony but with a startling sense of natural silence. Sound quality is equally impressive, with a richness and clarity that reminds me of Devialet's Phantom speakers. What surprised me, though, is the wind reduction tech. I took these on a windy run and could actually hear my podcast without the usual whooshing mess. Call quality, on the other hand, was a letdown. In noisy settings, my voice sounded compressed and distant, a weak spot that drags down an otherwise premium package.

At a retail spread of $499 to $680, you really need to shop around. B&H has the low end of that range right now, and at that price you're paying for arguably the best ANC and sound on the market. If you land closer to $680, though, you're entering "why didn't I just buy Sony and keep $200" territory. The 22-hour total battery life with the case and that 5-hour earbud stamina are also underwhelming for this money, so value is only in those top-shelf strengths.

Next to the Sony WF-1000XM5, the Devialet wins on soundstage and ANC refinement, but Sony smokes it on call quality and battery. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds are even more comfortable with similarly elite ANC, but their sound isn't as luscious as Devialet's. The Technics EAH-AZ100-K are a wildcard: they pack great ANC, a more balanced sound, and vastly better call performance for less cash. If you take a lot of calls, skip Devialet entirely and grab the Technics or Sony.

If you take a lot of phone calls or need throughout-the-day battery life, look elsewhere. The Sony WF-1000XM5 or Technics EAH-AZ100-K give you far better voice performance and stamina for less money.

Buy these if you're an audiophile who craves the absolute best in-ear ANC and sound quality, and you don't mind charging them more often or making calls on speakerphone. For everyone else, the compromises are too steep. Devialet's engineering is undeniable, but they focused so hard on two things that the rest feel like an afterthought at this price.