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Best for sound
Audiophiles' main gripe with open ear designs?
Audio quality specifically, the bass registers.
We don’t know how Honor’s done it, but Earbuds Open fix that and then some.
Before joining TechRadar, I spent three years at What Hi-Fi?
testing everything the world of audio had to offer; before that, I was a professional dancer.
My love of music ties it all together.
March 31, 2025Refreshed and tightened up the introduction.
Below you’ll find full write-ups for each of the best earbuds in the Quick List.
We’ve tested each one extensively, remember so check out the linked reviews at your leisure.
Best open ear headphones for most people
1.
Unlike similar designs, the earhooks are soft and flexible, providing a stable fit.
This fit wasn’t perfect especially when I was wearing glasses but they stayed put throughout most workouts.
Read our fullShokz OpenFit review
Best premium open ear headphones
2.
The battery cylinder then tucks behind your ear.
These truly seem like the best air conduction headphones to beat so far.
Read our initialBose Ultra Open review
Best open ear headphones for battery
3.
During our testing, we found this design to be comfortable.
We even said they’re among the best-fitting workout buds we’ve tested, which is really saying something.
We commented that audio quality isn’t the best here, but will do for most people.
This makes them a great choice if you’re considering open ear buds for more than just working out.
These will see you through from commuting, a day at the officeanda workout.
Read our fullOneOdio OpenRock Pro review
Best open ear headphones on a budget
4.
Read our fullHuawei FreeArc review
Best open ear headphones for larger ears
5.
We’ve also got a design built for workouts here, thanks to an IPX7 sweat-resistant rating.
However, we felt let down by the fit.
But only consider them if you’re already a fan of an earhook-like design.
Read our full1More Fit S50 review
Best open ear headphones for calls
6.
But that doesn’t mean these open ear buds don’t perform well across the board.
Glasses issues aside, they were incredibly comfortable to wear, with soft and flexible earhooks.
They may not look interesting, but the design was subtle enough to fit in a range of environments.
Read our fullEmeet Airflow review
Best open ear headphones for sound
7.
But somehow, Honor’s achieved it here.
The fit, which is an area that often ruins otherwise-great open earbuds.
Honor has also offered a feature that is incredibly rare in open-ears: active noise cancellation.
However in practice, itjust works.
JLab JBuds Open Sport:Why didn’t these plucky cheap open-ear buds make our main list?
So why are we still mentioning them?
Get the full scoop in ourJLab JBuds Open Sport review.
Read more in ourShokz OpenFit Air experiential.
And we expect this to continue well into 2024 and beyond.
The first thing to consider is whether open ear buds are for you.
As always, one of the other major factors to consider is your budget.
We don’t have a huge range of choice at present, but there are some cheaper options.
During our testing, we focused a lot on fit.
