The Apple Watch is the most popular smartwatch on the market. You can listen to music, podcasts, and anything else directly on your Apple Watch, plus you can make and take phone calls. Such a small wearable device is perfectly in line with small portable headphones like the AirPods Pro and other Bluetooth headphones, and you're here to find out which ones are the best.
We've tested a lot of different earbuds while exercising, walking around town, and just sitting on the couch to come up with some of the best Apple Watch Bluetooth headphones you can buy. And we considered a range of factors when compiling this guide, including budget, features build quality and sound. To make your purchase decision easier, we've highlighted the major strengths and weakness of each selected product.
Let's get on with it, shall we?
Quick List
Best overall
They work seamlessly with all your Apple devices, sound great and feature the best noise-cancellation of any AirPods to date, so the AirPods Pro 2 are an obvious choice for using with your Apple Watch. They’re water and sweat-resistant too, making them great for workouts.
Best on a budget
If you’re looking for premium features at a reasonable price, look no further than the Denon PerL, which offer excellent sound personalization, noise-canceling and an interesting design that makes them stand out from the crowd.
Best for a unique look
If you can get past their slightly odd shape, the Status Between3 ANC buds are a great companion to your Apple Watch, which sound good, are comfortable in the ear and feature solid noise-cancellation for less than the AirPods Pro 2.
Best for rock fans
If you like your music on the heavier side, Marshall’s Motif II earbuds deserve your attention. Special attention given to the upper bass layer means these headphones excel when your Apple Watch workouts are super-powered by rock and metal, and like all Marshall gear, they look the part too.
Best premium option
The Master & Dynamic MW09 sit at the premium end of the earbuds spectrum, but they’re seriously comfortable, luxuriously designed and sound great, provided you’re willing to experiment with the EQ customization. If you’re serious about sound, these Bluetooth buds are lots of fun.
Best for sound
When we first heard the term “8K sound” we dismissed it as marketing twaddle, but the Final ZE8000 MK2’s headline-grabbing feature is the real deal and results in the best-sounding earbuds we’ve tested, even if taking advantage of it comes at the expense of battery life.
The best Bluetooth headphones for Apple Watch: in depth
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The best headphones overall
There’s no shortage of brilliant Bluetooth earbuds to pair with your Apple Watch in 2024, be that for casual listening or something to motivate you while working out, but for Apple fans there just isn’t a better combination of features, usability and performance than what’s on offer with the 2nd-Generation AirPods Pro. A slight redesign on the now ubiquitous AirPods look, the Pro model features shorter stems and on-bud volume controls that can be slightly fiddly at first, but ultimately are a good addition.
As good of an example of the old “it just works” Apple mantra that you’ll find in 2024, the AirPods Pro 2 automatically pair with your Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple TV when you open the case near the device, and will seamlessly switch between them. For Apple Watch, you need to go into your settings and manually pair them over Bluetooth, but it’s still very quick.
The AirPods Pro 2 feature superb noise-canceling that is noticeably more effective at blocking out external racket than their predecessors, as well as an active Transparency mode that dynamically adjusts volume when you’re out and about. It’s not quite as smart as it sounds in practise, but if you’re running near traffic and want to hear what’s around you, it’s a useful addition.
Redesigned amplifiers and drivers deliver the best sound of any AirPods to date by some distance, with the Pro 2 presenting well across different genres, with a wider soundstage and a touch more bass oomph than before. Spatial audio is a feature that divides people, but as it’s not supported by Apple Watch anyway it’s not a big talking point here.
The AirPods Pro 2 have an IP54 rating for water, sweat and dust resistance, which basically means you can use them for your Apple Watch workouts, even in the rain.
The best headphones on a budget
Long gone are the days when you had to shop at the top end of the market for features like ANC and customizable sound, and the Denon PerL earbuds are an example of headphones giving you more for less. The first thing that catches your eye is their plate-like design, very similar to that of the pricier Denon PerL Pro, which we also liked. While larger than a lot of their rivals, they’re very comfortable in the ear.
Though not as versatile or effective as the AirPods Pro 2’s, the PerL do have active noise-canceling, and it’s mostly pretty good, easily blocking out bus noises, traffic and noisy office environments. To ensure you’re getting the best performance, Denon’s Fit Checker app feature ensures you’re getting the correct fit for your ears.
The standout feature here is the fancy audio customization, which lets you create a personalized audio profile that makes the buds sound markedly better than they do out of the box. We also quite like the ‘Immersion Mode’, which creates a more concert-like experience by giving you more bass and warmth.
Battery life is six hours, with an additional 18 hours stored in the charging case. And an IPX4 water and sweat resistance rating means they’re workout-ready earbuds.
The best headphones for a unique look
The AirPods Pro 2 aren’t for everyone, and the Status Between 3ANC are yet another pair of earbuds positioning themselves as a credible alternative. There isn’t really anything on the market right now that looks like the Between 3ANC, but that odd design serves a purpose. What Status calls the silicon ‘wing’ (but we’d call a bulge behind the ear tip) isn’t the most attractive design, but it effectively cushions your ear to the buds whole allowing the tips to sit a bit further inside your ears.
This creates a really good passive seal, already doing some of the ANC’s work before it’s deployed. The noise-canceling itself is no better than fine, but between that and the seal these buds do a good job of cocooning you inside your music and podcasts when streaming from the Watch.
The sound profile is very good, but you’ll want to get familiar with the EQ settings in the Status Between3 app to get them sounding their best. Once dialed in these are up there with the best, with no standout weaknesses across the frequency range and some real oomph at the lower end. If you have audiophile tendencies that extend to in-ear headphones, the flexibility of the Between3 ANC could push them above the AirPods Pro 2 for you, provided you’re willing to accept merely adequate noise-canceling.
Battery life is very good at 12 hours on a full charge, with a further 36 hours stored in the case. That case is unfortunately a bit bulky for our liking, which is something to bear in mind if you're a skinny jeans-wearer.
The best headphones for rock fans
If you’re a musician, you probably already have a soft spot for Marshall gear. And while the brand’s headphones aren’t quite as well-respected as its legendary amps, they’re still very fun products. And if you’re someone who favors guitar-heavy music you might find the Marshall Motif II a more tempting pair of earbuds to pair with your Apple Watch. Their sound profile tends to favor rock and metal in our experience of listening to them, with prominence given to instruments and vocals in the mid-range and real warmth coming from the upper bass layer.
ANC is present, though not on a pair with the AirPods Pro 2, which is a running theme in this list if you haven’t already noticed. As as often the case, it’s higher frequencies they can struggle with, but noise-canceling was actually better overall than we expected.
As for design, the Motif II buds look decidedly Marshall, a little bigger than Apple’s buds but a bit more interesting, and they sit securely in the ear, even if you’re fond of some head-banging.
Battery life is rated at 30 hours in total, six for each bud, with the rest stored as backups in the case. You can get an hour of listening with a 10-minute charge, which is useful if you wanted to take a walk during your lunch break and listen to a podcast via your Apple Watch. They’ve also got your back during more rigorous exercise, with an IPX5 rating meaning you shouldn’t worry about rain or sweat.
The best premium headphones
Got cash to burn? The Master & Dynamic MW09 earbuds carry a high asking price, but we deem them worth it. Everything here is entirely aluminium, from the charging case to the shiny buds themselves. It all feels premium and well-made, as you’d expect from the price tag, but crucially none of that metal comes at the expense of in-ear comfort, for which the MW09 buds also score highly. And we really love the on-bud button controls, which are far more reliable than their touch-sensitive equivalent.
The premium experience also extends to sound quality, though you’ll likely need to mess around in the app EQ for a bit to find the right sound signature for you. Whatever you choose, these are some bassy headphones, but that bass is clean and smooth and doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the frequency range so much that you lose clarity.
Another area where the MW09 excels is battery life, which is rated at 16 hours from the buds and as much as 48 hours altogether when you factor in the case. This makes them some of the longest-lasting buds around and should be a consideration when using them with your Apple Watch.
ANC is no match for the AirPods Pro 2, and perhaps should be at this price. But Apple’s headphones are beaten out by Master & Dynamic’s buds in the sound department, and the latter just look cooler for our money.
The best headphones for sound
For audiophiles, our top pick is the Final ZE8000 MK2. While not perfect, and certainly not cheap, they have the capacity to sound truly remarkable thanks to their headline feature: 8K sound. Such a term is tempting to dismiss as marketing nonsense, but it’s genuinely a great feature. All you need to do is hit a button in the companion app (so you will need your iPhone in tandem with your Watch here) and the 8K upscaling kicks in, dramatically expanding the soundstage for your music and balancing clarity with the increased sonic oomph.
It’s impressive stuff, but opting for 8K does mean battery life takes a serious hit. If four hours on a full charge sounds like it’s going to be a problem, be sure to get into the habit of charging the buds during your lunch break.
ANC is on board and is very effective, though not quite a match for the AirPods Pro 2. There’s also a transparency mode for when noise-canceling isn’t an option. We found this to be a well-balanced setting, which isn’t always the case with true wireless earbuds.
The other thing to consider before picking up the ZE8000 is their size. There’s no denying that these are some pretty large earbuds, with sizeable stems that house all that nifty audio tech. The silicon ear tips have a fin design, which seals them nicely in your ears, and while the buds might be larger than a lot of their rivals, they’re surprisingly lightweight and aren’t fatiguing to wear.
A mixed bag, then, but if you want the very best sound from your earbuds, the ZE8000 need to be on your radar.
The best Apple Watch Bluetooth headphones for you
Apple's AirPods Pro 2 are our top pick, thanks to features like Active Noise Cancellation, sweat and water resistance, multiple silicone ear tips for a more comfortable fit, superior sound quality with Adaptive EQ, Transparency mode, and customizable controls. They're the perfect companion for listening to audio on your Apple Watch Series 9 or any iteration of the Apple Watch. If you need a case to protect the AirPods Pro 2, we've got you covered there too.
However, if you want different features or a lower price point, all of the alternatives in this guide will be sure to please. Happy listening!
