technology, which means it removes information from the track in order to
make it much smaller. Other file types, such as FLAC (used by Tidal) and ALAC (used by Apple Music) are lossless, which means that the files are larger
than MP3, but they retain all the original audio information. Read more in
our dedicated audio file format explainer .

Multi-point Bluetooth: A newer Bluetooth feature that enables your
headphones to be paired with two (or even three, in rare cases) devices at
the same time, so you can switch between them instantly, without needing to disconnect and reconnect, or re-pair, your headphones each time.

Noise isolation: This refers to the passive ability of a pair of headphones or earbuds to isolate you from ambient sounds, without using the processing
of active noise cancellation. So it refers to the way that earbuds also act like earplugs to block outside sound, or the way that over-ear headphones provide a seal around your ears to do the same thing.

On-ear: An on-ear fit refers to headphones with a small earpad that sits directly on your auricle (the part of the ear thats outside the head). This tends to provide a less-perfect seal for noise isolation than over-ear headphones, and some find it less comfortable but some prefer it.

Over-ear: An over-ear fit means the earpads of the headphones are larger,
and sit around your auricle, so your whole ear is encompassed within their seal. This is the fit of choice for the best noise-cancelling headphones , because it provides the best passive noise isolation, which they can then enhance with active noise cancellation.
Planar magnetic: This type of speaker driver can be more precise and dynamic than the dynamic drivers used in most headphones, and is a favorite of audiophiles. However, its expensive and hard to power, meaning that
headphones that use it tend to be heavy and pricey.

Snapdragon Sound: This is a combination of wireless technologies designed to provide a better experience if you have both a phone and pair of headphones that support it. It combines the higher-quality streaming of aptX with other features designed to reduce the latency of the Bluetooth connection (ie, how long it takes to transmit the sound), to improve the quality of voice calls, and to improve the overall reliability of the connection. Snapdragon is a series of chips made by Qualcomm, and are used in many Android phones. Read more in our in-depth Snapdragon Sound explainer .

Spatial audio: A generic term used to describe various types of 3D sound technologies used in headphones. Apple uses it to refer to its own particular mix of Dolby Atmos support with head tracking. Other brands may use it for equivalent features, but theres no rule as to exactly what it means, other than that the idea is to make the sound feel like its coming from all around you, not right in your ears think Dirac Virtuo, DTS:X, THX and of course Dolby Atmos. Its especially good with movies, where it can recreate the home theater experience in headphones.

Transparency mode: A variation of active noise cancellation. Instead of blocking the outside noise, the processing actually mixes ambient noise into your music intelligently, so you can hear whats going on around you without overwhelming your music. That way, you can hear a train announcement, have a conversation, or be aware of traffic. Different manufacturers call this mode different things it may be something like Aware mode, HearThru or Ambient mode. We tend to call it Transparency mode as a rule, to make it easy to compare products in our guide.

USB-C Audio: Some headphones offer the ability to play digital audio from a computer or phone when connected by a USB-C cable, and the advantage of this is that it can support extremely high-quality resolution tracks far beyond what any version of Bluetooth currently supports. For audiophiles, a pair of headphones that can do both wireless for convenience and USB-C Audio for
wired Hi-Res Audio playback, can be preferential. What different types of headphones are there?

There's a lot to consider when you're buying a new pair of headphones. But
the most important is the design. This doesn't just dictate how they look,
but the features on offer, how they feel when you wear them and how you'll
use them day-to-day.

We've founds on over-ear headphones here, though we have separate guides to just the best wireless headphones of the on-head style, or the best wireless earbuds , if you want a smaller form factor.

In-ear headphones , also called earbuds or earphones, are usually the cheapest and easiest way to pump audio into your ears. They rest in or just outside the ear canal, creating a tight seal to keep air out and sound in. These are the most discreet designs you'll find, making them excellent for portability and the prime choice for athletes.

Over-ear headphones generally provide fantastic richness and depth of sound, which allows listeners to pick apart the instruments and sounds much easier. Additionally, over-ear, or circumaural headphones, go around the ear and
offer a generous amount of padding.

Instead of enveloping your ears, on-ear headphones create a light, breathable seal around your ear. The noise isolation is less effective than in-ear or over-ear options.

Some headphones don't go anywhere near your ears at all. Bone-conducting headphones send vibrations through your cheekbones and jaw up towards your inner ear, leaving your ears free. These headphones make great running headphones and swimming headphones .

With wireless on-ear headphones and over-ear headphones, you simply lose the wire connecting them to your device otherwise, they look pretty much the
same as your regular pair of wired cans, and give you the noise-isolating prowess of over-ears without the need for cumbersome wires to connect to your device.

True wireless earbuds have no cord whatsoever. For some, this means true freedom; for others, untethered true wireless means constant danger of losing their expensive audio kit down the drain or terrible connections. The
latter, at least, has changed now thanks to advances in Bluetooth technology like aptX HD, the best true wireless earbuds have never sounded better.

For more information about how to choose your next headphones , read our comprehensive guide, which goes into this in more detail. We also have other guides for getting the most out of your headphones, including how to care for them be sure to check out our how to clean your wireless earbuds walkthrough to make sure they're spick and span. Are noise-cancelling headphones bad for your ears?

Nope! In fact, some people choose them because they can help to protect your hearing over time. Active noise cancellation uses something called "anti-noise" to help block outside sounds essentially, they use microphones on the outside to listen to the world around you, then calculate the opposite of those noise frequencies, and pump those into their sound to "cancel" out the sounds around you. This is makes it easier to hear what your headphones are playing and that means you don't have to turn the volume up as loud.
This is how they can protect your hearing long term: listening to loud headphones all the time is a serious issue for people who've been doing it
for years, and with ANC headphones, you can keep it lower. What headphones brands are the best quality?

Bose and Sony have very high reputations, and for good reason. They both make very high-performance products for the price, with good build quality even with plastic construction (which has the advantage of being lightweight and comfortable).

Beats is obviously a famous brand, and its products are very well-made, and the sound is strong these days. Apple's headphones are much-loved, especially AirPods Pro 2, which are extremely high quality and well-priced compared to other premium earbuds.

At the higher end, Bowers and Wilkins makes fantastic headphones with premium materials, as does Sennheiser (which also makes some good affordable products).

For cheaper products, we rate 1More, JBL, Anker Soundcore and JLab all highly
all these products feel well-made, but tend to be ad the affordable end of the market. ^ Back to the top How we test the best headphones Why you can trust TechRadar More than 2,400 audio product reviews
16 years of product testing
Over 16,000 products reviewed in total
Nearly 200,000 hours testing tech

When it comes to the best headphones, we focus on sound quality above everything else. We look at both wired and wireless cans and earbuds that would appeal to audiophiles, as well as those working in professional roles. However, we also appreciate that budget is important too, so we compare like for like, picking out budget headphones that perform admirably for the price.

We also look at other features such as ANC, battery life, fit, and of course the usability and extra perks offered by any companion apps. Of course,
design and whether they look (and feel) good all adds to the model's desirability and this is noted as we listen to music across a wide range of genres over several days.

We have tested all of the headphones in this guide extensively, spending plenty of time analyzing the sound, fit, design, specs, and value for money
so that you will be able to choose a product you'll be over the moon with. Although this guide focuses specifically on headphones that fit over or on your ears, you can also read about how we test earbuds too, which should give you even more of an insight into our process.

While there are many different factors that go into testing headphones, we make sure to use a variety of sources to give as much variety as possible. These range from using various Bluetooth codecs and Wi-Fi to listen to different music steaming services, DACs, portable digital audio players and more. ^ Back to the top Latest updates to this best headphones guide

November 17, 2025
Added the CMF Headphone Pro as a new entry in at no. 11 as our 'best looking budget buy' based on recent testing.

October 17, 2025
Refreshed the introduction. Added mentions of new models and updates to our Bose QCU Headphones and Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 entries. Switched out the B&W Px7 S3 for the B&W Px8 S2 as our 'best premium headphones' pick. Swapped the Sennheiser HD-660S2, which was previously in our no 9 'best mid-range wired' spot, for the Meze Audio 105 Silva.

September 11, 2025
Added the Sony WH-1000XM6 into the top spot as our best pick overall. Moved the Sony WH-1000XM4 that were in that top spot down the list as our 'best affordable Sony buy' choice. Added the Bose QCU Headphones into the 'best
ANC' slot. Added details of the Cambridge Audio P100 SE to our Cambridge Melomania P100 entry.

August 7, 2025
Edited the introduction. Added details of the Cambridge Audio P100 SE to our Cambridge Melomania P100 entry. Tweaked our WH-1000XM4 entry to explain why
we don't recommend the new XM6 instead. Added several new entries to our
'More we tested' section.

July 1, 2025
Checked all products against our latest reviews. We updated this guide to focus solely on headphones, and to exclude earbuds and now it includes wired headphones options for different budgets. We also added several new products to our 'More we've tested' section, based on recent reviews.

May 19, 2025
Swapped the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 for the B&W PX7 S3 as our 'Best Premium' choice, based on recent testing. The Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 are now our 'Best for battery life' recommendation. The Sony XM6 are now our 'Best headphones for ANC', replacing the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, which we've added to our alternative recommendations. Removed the B&W PX8,
and again added it to our alternatives.

See more updates

March 21, 2025
Updated the introduction. Added a 'quick list' to the guide to make it
easier for readers to scan our recommendations. Switch the Technics EAH-AZ80 in for the newer Technics EAH-AZ100 as our 'best earbuds overall' choice. Added several new options in our 'also consider' section, including the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 and Sennheiser HD 505.

February 27, 2025
Rewrote the introduction. Removed some of the older options in our 'also consider' section and added two recently reviewed headphones, the Bose QC Headphones and the Panasonic RB-M600.

January 31, 2025
Rewrote the introduction. Added the recently reviewed Bose QuietComfort Headphones to our 'also consider' section they're good, but don't beat the Ultras at no. 7 in this guide. Also tweaked this section to make it easier to read and removed the AirPods 4.

January 2, 2025
Refreshed the introduction and added links to our best earbuds and best
noise cancelling earbuds guides. Switched the Nothing Ear (a) earbuds out for the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds as our 'best mid-priced earbuds' option. Added several new picks into our 'also consider' section, including the Shure
SE215. Edited our AirPods 4 entry in this section to also include links to
our review and our AirPods 4 with ANC review.

December 3, 2024
Removed the Black Friday section. Updated the intro to reflect choices, mentioned further features and made sure copy still reflects our methodology testing process.

May 19, 2025
Swapped the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 for the B&W PX7 S3 as our 'Best Premium' choice, based on recent testing. The Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 are now our 'Best for battery life' recommendation. The Sony XM6 are now our 'Best headphones for ANC', replacing the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, which we've added to our alternative recommendations. Removed the B&W PX8,
and again added it to our alternatives.

April 17, 2025
Refreshed the introduction. Switched the Sony WH-CH520 for the recently reviewed 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 in our 'best budget headphones' spot.
Removed the older 1More Triple Driver from the guide. But added the Huawei FreeArc as our 'best open earbuds' pick. Put several newly-tested products into our 'also consider' section, including the Honor Earbuds Open. Removed some older suggestions from here too so that everything now feels fresh and current.

November 15, 2024
Removed the quick list, in line with current guidance and to help readers find our Black Friday recommendations quickly. Added the aforementioned Black Friday section.

November 6, 2024
Rewrote the introduction. Switched the Focal Bathys for the Dali IO-8 as our 'best for sound' choice. Added several new options to our 'also consider' section, including the Noble FoKus Apollo and Baseus Bowie 30 Max. Added a 'meet the team' section to highlight the team's knowledge and expertise.

October 9, 2024
Swapped the JLab Go Air Pop for the Sony WF-C510 as our 'best budget
earbuds' pick based on our recent testing. Added the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 as our 'best earbuds for sound' following our five-star review. Updated our
'also consider' section, with info about our new reviews.

September 9, 2024
Updated our intro to reflect new features and perks within the newest headphones around. Updated our 'Also consider' section to mention recent models tested.

August 9, 2024
Replaced the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless for the Cambridge Audio
Melomania P100 based on our extensive testing and 5-star review.

July 12, 2024
Updated our 'Also consider' section with information about our latest
reviews of products that haven't made it into this guide. We also added a glossary of headphones tech terms to our 'How to choose' section, to explain exactly what these products offer for people unfamiliar with them.

June 14, 2024
Replaced the still-excellent Sony WF-C700N with the newer Nothing Ear (a) as our pick of the best mid-tier earbuds, since these marginally trounce the
Sony at this level (and the Sony buds have been reduced). Added an 'Also consider' section to this guide, to showcase other products recently
reviewed.

May 21, 2024
Checked prices for all current entries, refreshed copy to reflect new products int he market. Considered adding the recently reviewed Sony ULT Wear , but they didn't perform across the board as well as other products in this list.

April 5, 2024
Removed Sony WF-1000XM4 due to lack of stock available, and re-ordered our other choices as a result.

March 5, 2024
Added more images to each product write-up from respective reviews and checked the rankings against availability.

January 24, 2024
Added Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones to this guide as the best option
for active noise cancellation, replacing the Sony WH-1000XM5, based on our testing. We also replaced the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus (which are no longer available) with the JLab Go Air Pop as the bet budget earbuds.

November 20, 2023
Added links to our Black Friday headphones and earbuds deals lists, where readers can find great savings on a range of products included in this guide.

November 10, 2023
Added additional info about how we test the best headphones as well as some further copy enhancements to explain technical audio terms and include more supporting content.

October 6, 2023
Checked all products against recent reviews, added more buying advice to our "How to choose" section.

September 5, 2023
Checked rankings against recent product launches and added additional information to the write-ups of each headphone and earbud.

June 6, 2023
Re-ordered, as well as added new navigation options to the list, to make it easier to find the products you want.

May 23, 2023
Added the Sony WF-C700N as the best wireless earbuds for active noise-cancelation at an affordable price.



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