Remote and hybrid work means your earbuds need to do more than play music — they need clear mics, solid noise isolation, and all-day comfort. Here are the best options we'd recommend for video calls, from under $150 to premium picks worth the stretch.
If you're working from home, the office, or a coffee shop, your earbuds pull double duty: music during focus time and a microphone during meetings. The problem is that most earbuds are tuned for listening, not for being heard. A great pair for video calls needs three things — a microphone that isolates your voice from background noise, active noise cancellation so you can actually hear the other person, and a fit that doesn't ache after a three-hour Zoom marathon.
Under $150, you can get all three if you pick carefully. Here's what we'd buy, and where it's worth stretching the budget.
Microphone clarity is the single biggest factor. More mics don't automatically mean better calls, but they do give the earbuds more data to work with when separating your voice from a barking dog or a noisy café2. Active noise cancellation (ANC) matters because hearing the caller clearly is just as important as them hearing you — if you're straining to hear over ambient noise, you'll miss half the meeting4. Bluetooth multipoint lets you connect to your laptop and phone simultaneously, so you can switch from a Zoom call to a phone call without re-pairing. And comfort is non-negotiable for all-day wear.
Jabra's heritage is in office headsets, and it shows. The Elite 8 Active Gen 2 brings multipoint Bluetooth, active noise cancellation, and a rugged build that survives daily commutes and gym sessions alike1. If your primary use case is video calls, this is the pair we'd reach for first — the mic tuning is purpose-built for voice, not an afterthought bolted onto a music-first design.
The ANC won't match Bose for raw noise-blocking power, but it's more than enough for a home office or shared workspace. Battery life is solid for all-day use, and the secure-fit design means they stay put even if you're pacing during a call.
Best for: Anyone who lives in video calls and wants a do-everything pair that prioritizes voice clarity.
This one stretches the budget above $150, but if call quality is your top priority and you can spend more, it's the benchmark. Six microphones and a bone conduction sensor feed AI noise-reduction algorithms that isolate your voice from background noise with impressive precision2. The bone conduction sensor picks up vibration through your jaw, which means your voice comes through even in genuinely loud environments.
Sony's ANC is also among the best in the true wireless category, so you'll hear every word from the other end. The trade-off is price — this is a premium product — and the fit can be finicky for smaller ears.
Best for: Power users who take calls in noisy environments and want the best mic technology available.
If your biggest problem isn't your mic but the noise around you, Bose is the answer. The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are renowned for best-in-class active noise cancellation, ensuring you hear the caller perfectly even in loud settings4. That matters more than people realize — if you can't hear your meeting, you can't participate in it.
Call quality on the mic side is good, though not quite at Sony's level for noise rejection. Like the Sony, this is a premium-priced option that sits above our $150 target. We're including it because for some people — those in open offices, coworking spaces, or busy homes — ANC is the feature that makes or breaks a workday.
Best for: People in noisy environments who need to hear callers clearly above all else.
Not everything needs to be wireless. The HyperX Cloud Earbuds are a wired option with an in-line microphone, a tangle-free cable, and high portability at a mid-range price3. If your laptop's Bluetooth is unreliable, your budget is tight, or you simply don't want to worry about charging another device, a wired pair solves the problem.
The in-line mic won't match the noise rejection of Jabra or Sony's multi-mic arrays, but for a quiet home office it's perfectly serviceable. You also never have to worry about battery life or Bluetooth dropouts mid-call.
Best for: Budget-conscious buyers or anyone who prefers the reliability of a wired connection.
| Feature | Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 | Sony WF-1000XM5 | Bose QC Ultra Earbuds | HyperX Cloud Earbuds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mic tech | Multi-mic, call-tuned | 6 mics + bone conduction | Multi-mic with ANC assist | In-line mic |
| ANC | Yes | Yes, top-tier | Yes, best-in-class | No |
| Bluetooth multipoint | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A (wired) |
| Connection | True wireless | True wireless | True wireless | Wired (3.5mm) |
| Price tier | Under $150 | Premium (above $150) | Premium (above $150) | Budget |
For most people, the Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 is the sweet spot — it's the one pick that stays under $150 while delivering the mic quality, ANC, and multipoint Bluetooth that make video calls painless1. If you can stretch your budget and you work in genuinely noisy environments, the Sony WF-1000XM5 is the upgrade worth making2. And if you just need something simple and reliable without a battery to charge, the HyperX Cloud Earbuds get the job done for less3.
Disclosure: AskBuy earns affiliate commissions on some products linked in this article. That doesn't influence our recommendations — we pick based on what we'd actually use.
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