Abstract: Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) are trace components in ambient air that affect human health and air quality. This review analyzes and discusses the sample collection methods, pretreatment methods, and analysis of BETX in ambient air. Applications of the various methods are exemplified. The main sampling methods include:(1) The adsorption tube sampler is small to carry, but may be easily damaged, leading to a loss of sample when exposed to air. (2) Whole-air sampling is simple and the sample can be reused. It is widely used in external field measurements, but cleaning of the equipment is complicated and expensive. The main pretreatment methods include:(1) Solid-phase micro extraction can reduce contamination of the sample. It has a high degree of automation, but it is difficult to analyze samples repeatedly. (2) Solvent analysis has an environmental impact. Therefore, this method is no longer employed. (3) In thermal desorption, samples are usually enriched and concentrated using two-step thermal desorption. The operation is simple, but the equipment is large. The heating and cooling system is the key factor influencing the pretreatment time. The main analysis methods include:(1) Proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry is not widely used because of its high price, but it has a high sensitivity. (2) Gas chromatography with a photoionization detector is usually used in field measurements. (3) Several other common analytical methods for BTEX analysis in ambient air are described, including differential optical absorption spectroscopy, direct air sampling-mass spectrometry, low-pressure chemical ionization, or atmospheric pressure chemical ionization, and gas chromatography with solid-phase micro extraction or adsorption/thermal desorption accessories. In order to meet the requirements of various standards and departmental management that the portable automatic online analytical instruments for field measurements are developed to improve the portability, automation and intelligence on the basis of sensitivity and accuracy of analytical instruments.