Science

The Best Truly Wireless Earbuds for Audiophiles

They're engineered audio-first.

by Shane Roberts

With category-leading sound quality, and design more likely to match your Warby Parker’s than your USB cables, Master & Dynamic’s MW07 truly wireless earbuds live up to the brand’s pedigree of best-in-class audio-first products. M&D didn’t sprint off the starting line when the truly wireless earbud starting gun fired, and their patience and dedication to perfecting their products is evident in the sound and aesthetics of the MW07s.

Master & Dynamic has been killing it in the wireless audio space for a long time. Their MW60s, which I’ve been using for years, would be the perfect wireless over-ears if they charged over USB-C and had active noise cancellation. Their MW50+ series changed the cans game by including the ability to switch between on-ear and over-ear configurations, and I wanted to create a distraction so I could make off with their MA770 speaker when I demoed it in their studio.

The MW07s are engineered audio-first and make no attempt to be all things to all people. You can travel with them, but they don’t have the best battery life or any active noise cancellation. You can work with them but they don’t have the best microphone, and you can work out in them, but they don’t have the best waterproofing or most secure fit. They’re also three or more times the cost of some of the budget competition, and around double the price of some of the other frontrunners in the space. None of that is to say that they aren’t extremely comfortable, totally secure, and built for better noise isolation than Apple’s AirPods.

The 10mm beryllium drivers in the MW07s deliver the signature the rich, crisp, warm sound the brand is known for, and I’m always a bit surprised by how good they sound whenever I put them on. They’re isolated enough to use at the office, isolating enough to use on the subway, and the pairing process and connection are flawless. The case can be monogrammed and charges over USB-C, but (as you’d expect from how shiny it is), it’s a fingerprint magnet.

There’s really only one customer for the MW07s, the consumer who can definitively say, “I always want the best possible sound, even with truly wireless earbuds, and I’m willing to pay for it,” and that consumer will have all of their expectations exceeded. Also, they come in a tortoiseshell colorway.