2026 BEST Call Quality Earbuds for whispering 🤫 (Noisy Restaurant)

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Today we’re going to compare the microphone quality of the latest earbuds I’ve tested at different price ranges. All of them scored Rank A and above in my microphone rankings. There are 12 of them representing a cross section of brands at different price ranges, and I’ll be testing them in a noisy restaurant that sounds like this 👉🏻 Noisy Restaurant

But what’s different this time is that I’ll be whispering, so some earbuds which could have scored very well usually, might struggle at voice pickup and filtering. This will be a battle of elimination involving 12 of the most recent earbuds from the budget to the premium range, so 3 groups of 4 sorted in alphabetical order. The winners of each group will proceed to the next round, until only one winner remains! Click on the Amazon links to check their latest prices.

Group 1 👉🏻 Listen to the samples

realme Buds T500 Pro - TBA
OnePlus Buds 4 - https://amzn.to/4kY9EQ4
soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max - https://amzn.to/4nXqZfl

I think it’s pretty clear that the mic pickup of Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max was the best here. The realme did okay but my voice was a little softer, less intelligible, whereas the OnePlus was a little more intelligible, but my voice wasn’t loud enough. So the Soundcore proceeds to the Final round.

Group 2 👉🏻 Listen to the samples

Samsung Buds4 Pro - https://amzn.to/4aH06Y1
Soundpeats Air5 Pro+ - https://amzn.to/4risJ3Q
AirPods Pro 3 - https://amzn.to/4oB4xHL

The Soundpeats could barely pick up my voice, not even like the Samsung that did pretty okay at voice pickup while I’m whispering. If it amplified my voice even louder I would have picked it, instead, I’m picking the AirPods Pro 3 for the final round because my voice was captured and amplified very well.

Do note that these samples are captured on iOS standard mic settings so the AirPods does let some background noise through. If it’s voice isolation mode, background is silent but voice pickup becomes a lot more muffled.

Group 3 👉🏻 Have a listen to the samples

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 - https://amzn.to/4me57vb
Bose QC Ultra Gen 2 - https://amzn.to/46N1zsL
Nothing Ear 3 - https://amzn.to/4nu8xZD

The Huawei Freebuds Pro 5 appears to have the best voice pickup when I’m whispering. It may sound softer than the Nothing, but it’s more intelligible because my voice is crisper and more natural sounding, much less robotic than the Nothing and the Bose. The Bose actually did okay, but it sounds a bit more processed, and cuts out a bit more than the Huawei and the Nothing. Anyway, the Huawei proceeds to the final round.

Group 4 👉🏻 Have a listen to the samples

Razer Hammerhead V3 Hyperspeed - TBA
Sony WF-1000XM6 - https://amzn.to/4bgWGeA
Technics AZ100 - https://amzn.to/4hcKrQD

The Razer could barely pick up my voice when I’m whispering, that’s easily a nope. The Sony did capture my voice better but it’s not loud or clear enough to be intelligible. Of this group, the Technics is the best performer, so the AZ100 proceeds to the final round.

Final Round 👉🏻 Have a listen to the samples

soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max - https://amzn.to/4nXqZfl
AirPods Pro 3 - https://amzn.to/4oB4xHL
Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 - https://amzn.to/4me57vb
Technics AZ100 - https://amzn.to/4hcKrQD

So that is how they performed with my iPhone in standard mic settings. In my opinion, it is the Soundcore that has the best balance of voice amplification, clarity, and background noise reduction while I’m whispering. Now, now I’m not saying that the others didn’t perform well at all, rather, they didn’t have the balance that I was looking for.

For example, the AirPods Pro 3 has the clearest voice pickup when I’m whispering, but it didn’t do as well at noise reduction on its own. The Huawei picked up my voice pretty well, but didn’t amplify it as loudly, so the listener might have to raise the volume all the way to hear me. The Technics amplified quite well, but my voice also sounded a little more muffled than the rest. That’s why in my opinion, the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max had the best balance.

But which one did you think have the best balance? Let me know in the comments!