Best Open Earbuds for 2025

If you're looking for basic AirPods, the standard AirPods 4 ($129) certainly have their appeal and should cost closer to $100 during flash sales. They may not be quite as cheap or as small as the AirPods 2, but they sound a lot better and have a lot more features.

Ultimately, however, the AirPods 4 With Active Noise Cancellation are simply more special. They're the first open buds I've tried to have active noise canceling that actually works. That makes them the first noise-canceling earbuds for people who don't like having ear tips jammed in their ears. That's pretty cool and worth the extra $50 if you can afford it.

Shokz, the company formerly known as AfterShokz, has long been the leader in bone-conduction headphones. However, this model, like Shokz's step-up OpenFit true-wireless earbuds, doesn't use bone-conduction technology. They have an open design that fires sound into your ears using custom speaker drivers, which Shokz dubs "air conduction" technology.

While Shokz' flagship OpenFit 2 buds sound slightly better, have better battery life (up to 11 hours instead of 6 at moderate volume levels) and a physical control button, the Open Fit Air cost around $60 less and are a tad lighter and quite comfortable to wear. Available in three color options, they're lightweight (8.5 grams) and comfortable, and I liked how the ear hooks felt soft but had just the right amount of rigidity. They're IP54 splash-proof and dust-resistant and their charging case is fairly compact for this style of sports buds with ear hooks.

While the earbuds sound quite good for open earbuds, they don't sound quite as good as a set of noise-isolating earbuds in this price range (they're a tad bass shy). Nor do they sound as good Bose's Ultra Open Earbuds, which do cost more and serve up a little more bass and fuller sound (the Bose also sound slightly better than Shokz Open Fit buds). Equipped with two microphones in each bud, the Open Fit Air offer good voice-calling performance. Additionally, the feature multipoint Bluetooth pairing so you can pair them to two devices simultaneously.

Cleer's Arc 2 earbuds were among the best-sounding open wireless earbuds with an ear-hook design. Among this style of open buds, the new Arc 3 buds are still near the top for sound but other companies like Shokz and Bose have caught up and arguably sound slightly better. But the Cleer Arc 3 buds have something that other buds of this ilk don't have: a touchscreen LCD built into its charging case. It allows you to control playback and access the buds' features, including EQ settings and even use the case as a remote to snap a photo on your smartphone.

In fact, the Arc 3 are probably the most feature-rich open earbuds out there right now -- and they're fully waterproof with an IPX7 rating. They have built-in voice-controls to raise and lower volume and skip tracks forward and back as well as Dolby Atmos spatial audio with head-tracking. Additionally, you can nod your head twice to take a call or shake your head back and forth to reject it (this feature is referred to as "gesture" controls). And finally, the UV light that sterilizes the buds when they're in the case and a step counter.

While the sound can be a tad uneven from track to track and the buds' bass lacks a little punch compared to what you get with a good set of noise-isolating buds in this price range, they fit my ears comfortably and securely. They also offered solid voice-calling performance. They're a little expensive but their price seems to be creeping down a bit.

While the LinkBuds Open retain the ring-shaped open driver of the original LinkBuds, it's slightly smaller than the original's driver (11mm versus 12mm). Also, the Air Fitting Supporters are an improvement over the original's Arc Supporters, which were quite slim and didn't conform to the shape of your ear as well as these new supporters do. The combination of the slightly smaller driver design and the new supporters should allow the buds to fit more ears more comfortably and securely. However, those with smaller ears may have some issues with them.

I personally got a very secure fit and was able to run with the buds without a problem (they're IPX4 splashproof). The originals created some pressure points for some wearers. I had to fiddle around with their positioning in my ears from time to time, but I didn't experience any pain points with the LinkBuds Fit. However, Apple's new AirPods 4 were slightly more comfortable in my ears, though they didn't fit as securely. 

Aside from the fit, the other big change is to the sound quality. It's definitely improved. Despite the smaller drivers, the buds play more loudly and also deliver a little more bass. The buds are equipped with Sony's V2 digital processing chip and Sony says the driver's have a "high-compliance diaphragm and powerful neodymium magnet" that were "specifically selected to reproduce clear mid- and high-frequency sound." I also liked the built-in voice controls.

Amazon's 2023 Echo Buds impressed me in a few ways that I wasn't expecting. For starters, they sound good for inexpensive open earbuds, delivering decent clarity and ample bass. But they also have a robust feature set, including multipoint Bluetooth pairing, hands-free Alexa and ear-detection sensors that pause your audio when you take one or both buds out of your ears. 

Their sound falls short of that of Apple's AirPods 4, which deliver better bass performance and overall fuller, cleaner sound (they're better at handling more complicated music tracks with a lot of instruments playing at the same time). But the AirPods 4, even the entry-level model ($129), cost significantly more.

In short, if you're looking for open earbuds -- or "semi-open" as these types of earbuds are sometimes called -- the Echo Buds are good value at their $50 list price and even easier to recommend when they go on sale for $30.

What makes these Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS buds special is that they sound surprisingly good for open earbuds -- they're pretty close to what you get from Apple's AirPods 3 for sound. On top of that, they support Sony's LDAC audio codec for devices that offer it. Not too many cheap open earbuds have good sound but these Soundpeats have good bass response and clarity. They're also good for making calls and have a low-latency gaming mode. Battery life is rated at 5 hours at moderate volume levels, and these are IPX4 splash-proof.

And be sure to activate the instant 20% off coupon to save a few bucks at checkout on Amazon.

Beyerdynamic is known for its sound quality, so it's not surprising the Verio 200, its first open earbuds with ear hooks, deliver top-notch sound with nice depth and richness. They have very good clarity and bass performance for this type of open earbuds and match the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds and Shokz OpenFit 2 for sound quality, and they may sound slightly better than those models depending on the fit you get. Unfortunately, how they fit your ears is the one big caveat about these buds. While they fit my ears comfortably and securely, they bent the top of my ears back a little so I looked a little funny wearing them. That said, they fit my wife's smaller ears perfectly.

I should also note that they feature good build quality and voice-calling performance, but their feature set is somewhat limited (they support the AAC audio codec as well as the highest tiers of AptX, including AptX Lossless). I also found their touch controls a little finicky at first but then I got them working well by holding onto the outside of the bud as I tapped on them. The long and short of it is these will be very good open earbuds for some people but not everybody.

The Soundcore by Anker AeroFit Pro are among the best open-ear "air conduction" earbuds, with a premium look and feel, and are comfortable to wear. (I had no problem keeping them on my ears while running or working out.) On the downside, they're expensive, but they do feature strong audio quality for these types of earbuds, with ample bass and volume, plus decent clarity. They're good for making calls (they do a pretty good job reducing background noise reduction) and also offer strong battery life -- up to 14 hours at moderate volume levels.

While they don't have ear-detection sensors, I liked that they have physical buttons to control playback and also come with a cord, should you want to turn them into neckband-style wireless headphones. It's also worth noting that they have a spatial audio feature and offer the LDAC audio codec for devices like Android smartphones that support it for Bluetooth streaming.

Anker's standard AeroFit fit model ($100) has smaller drivers (14mm versus 16.2mm for the Pro), so it doesn't sound quite as good, and also has a battery life rating of 11 hours. However, those buds are fully waterproof with an IPX7 rating, while these are splash-proof with an IPX5 rating.

1More makes a couple of open sports earbuds with ear hooks. The Fit S50 buds are the flagship ($120) and feature a little better sound than the Fit SE S30, have a more premium design and are fully waterproof (IPX7 rating). But I like the fit a little better on the step-down S30, which is IPX5 splashproof (it can sustain a spray of water) and costs half the price, making it a better value.

The case is bulky and feels a little cheap (the lid is flimsy) but the buds themselves seem sturdily built and the ear hooks are nice and flexible. They have 14.2mm drivers that output decent but not great sound (there's a bit of distortion at higher volumes), which is par for the course for these types of open buds that sit on top of your ears and fire sound into them. They're also good but not great for voice calling. A companion app for iOS and Android allows your to tweak the sound with an equalizer and you can update the buds' firmware. The buds are available in black or white and offer up to 10 hours of battery life at moderate volume levels. Currently, you can grab these at a 20% discount, thanks to the on-page coupon.