Wyze has built some cred as one of the better catch-all tech manufacturers, offering anything from smart home appliances to smartwatches, and they’re all just a bit cheaper than the big players. With that in mind, the Wyze Buds Pro have a lot to like, including impressively strong active noise cancellation and a nearly-irresistible price of $80.

Of course, failing to execute on the basics would make any of that meaningless. The audio codecs are old and we've found the buds to be interference magnets while out in the streets. In the end, however, we feel the good overcomes the bad for most people who might be interested in some cheap ANC earbuds.

Wyze Buds Pro

7.50 / 10

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Design, hardware, what’s in the box

The Wyze Buds Pro come inside a case with about the same displacement as a Tic Tac container — think rounder, a tad stouter, and chubbier. On the exterior is a multi-color LED that blinks on when the case is open to indicate its battery level. Green means it's above 40%, yellow is above 5%, and red is at critical levels. On the right side of the case is a button that controls the pair status of the earbuds. Many true wireless earbuds forgo physical controls, which can make pairing a bit hit-and-miss, so it’s nice to see a button.

Clicking and holding the button until a white LED in the case illuminates puts the earbuds in pairing mode. Holding it for 7 seconds will wipe its paired device memory and a 20-second hold will perform a factory reset. The USB-C port is on the bottom while Qi coils embedded in the rear of the case facilitate wireless charging — nice to have, but at 5W, not entirely necessary.

The earbuds themselves feature an AirPod-esque stemmed design with small touch sensors near each of the top tips and Pogo pins on their bottoms to conduct charge from the case. Taking them out from and putting them in there, as with most cheaper TWEs, can be a fiddly hassle, but I'll save my rant on making user-friendly lie-flat case designs universal for another time. On a positive note, they're rated IPX4 for some water resistance. Rain and sweat should be no problem.

In the box, you get a USB-A to USB-C cable and two extra sets of ear tips, large and small. These are the standard silicone variety, so you’ll have to spring for something else if you want better isolation.

Sound quality, features, and battery life

My ears happen to get a nice, sustained seal on the Wyze Buds Pro with the tips provided (I don't dock or add points on fit because human physiology is exceedingly variable) which definitely maximizes the impact of their noise cancellation. In my testing, Wyze delivers on its advertised -40dB benchmark. Rumbling breezes, construction site drills, and roars of motor engines are wiped clean from your hearing. Sometimes an errant pop will trip up the ANC and there isn't much it can do on the higher end of the spectrum — may your nearest crybaby soon be soothed — but it gets high marks overall from me.

Getting beyond the shine, though, these buds seem quite ordinary to me. The EQ profile is predictably heavy on the bass, though it's easily overcome with your device settings or a third-party app if you happen not to like it.

I am, however, quite disappointed with the lack of high-quality audio codecs. The basic SBC and AAC just don't have the bandwidth for when you really want to be able to listen to your music. Save your lossless tracks for better gear. The sharpest pain point I've had, though, is coming across lots of interference while walking. I've tried isolating individual factors from my everyday carry to see if I could get a clean stroll in, but no dice: unlike other TWEs I've tested, my listening gets interrupted more often than a sitcom rerun... and even then, I'd prefer watching the ads.

On calls, voice pickup was judged to be fine over some coffee shop background music.

The Wyze app is home base for feeding the Wyze Buds Pro firmware updates and I appreciate that there have been two of them since their release this summer. You can see specific battery percentage levels for the case and each bud. The main on-screen toggle can turn ANC on or off in addition to activating transparent mode which brings up what the buds' six mics can hear, though the pass-through isn't the best quality.

Digging into the settings, you'll also be able to change what happens when you tap on either touch sensor — playback controls, volume controls, or triggering your voice assistant for up to three taps. I was content with using the touch controls since the sensors don't take up the full length of the stems, letting me readjust bud positioning when needed. The Auto Pause feature does stop playback when I take the earbuds out. The issue is because they’re so small, if I hold them in my fist while I’m ordering coffee, the buds may think I’m wearing them again, so they start playback even though I’m not. I personally might want to keep this feature off.

On battery life, Wyze advertises up to 4½ hours of listening with ANC, 6 hours without, and up to three additional cycles with the charging case. With ANC on, I was able to get in the ballpark of those numbers with a top single-session length of 4 hours and roughly 16 hours total on a single case charge. That said, my benchmark for longevity on Bluetooth audio gear is closer to 5 hours — about how long it takes a coach bus to run from Boston to New York City or vice versa, with traffic. In that scenario, the Wyze Buds Pro would fall short.

Should you buy it?

Yes, for some. If you find yourself sitting in noisy environments often, you may prize the silence these earbuds bring above all else. Gym rats would also find a good match in these as they’re compact and won’t die if they get covered in sweat. Prefer spoken word content to music? The audio codec stuff won't matter as much to you! And at just $80 ($74 + $6 flat rate shipping if bought alone from Wyze), the bargain can amp up all the benefits.

On the other hand, there are alternatives around this price level that focus on bringing the goodies of Bluetooth 5.2 with better battery life, as an example. You can also spend just a little bit more and get a little bit more of everything with TCL's MoveAudio S600 which we have also reviewed. But the Wyze Buds Pro do offer an impressive payload for the price and, as such, are a respectable purchase.