My 2026 Headphones Forecast Might Surprise You, but It's an Open Secret

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Over the last few years, I've spent a lot of time reviewing the latest true-wireless noise-canceling earbuds, with premium models like Apple's AirPods Pro 3 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (second generation) featuring ever more powerful noise-muffling alongside impressive sound quality.

Here's something I've noticed: While noise-isolating earbuds with silicone eartips aren't going away, more attention right now is on open designs that don't seal your ear canal and let you hear the outside world for "situational awareness."

Market research firms have been reporting that the market for open earbuds and open headphones using bone-conduction technology is growing rapidly. And the product announcements from CES 2026 reflected that trend. While there weren't a whole lot of new headphones or earbuds unveiled at the big tech show in Las Vegas, the majority were open-bud style, including sporty ear-hook models from Shokz, Anker and JBL, as well as some new clip-on designs. More open buds are on the way, too (I've even been briefed on a few I can't tell you about just yet).

Read more: Best Open Earbuds of 2026

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"According to our research, open earbuds have become the fastest-growing earbud style, signaling a growing consumer desire for audio that fits into individual lifestyles," said Carsten Olesen, president of consumer audio at Harman, the parent company of JBL and owned by Samsung.

Baseus, which partnered with Bose late last year on its flagship Inspire XC1 clip-on earbuds (and two other Inspire models), didn't announce any new models at CES, but Jack Liu, Baseus' head of international PR, teased what was coming in an email to me before the show.

"We think the earphone business will have a new wave of growth as the mainstream will continue to transition from normal form factor to open-ear ones," he wrote. "It will evolve from a listening device to an accompanying device that's going to be with you all day long. Especially nowadays, calling and AI assistant interaction have become as important as listening to music and podcasts."

He went on to write that the Inspire XC1 solved a major issue with open-ear design: sound quality. "We are about to solve another issue with that form factor: noise cancellation. In 2026, you're going to see more and more good-sounding noise-canceling open earphones, with Baseus being one of the pioneering brands."

Maybe so, but it's challenging to equip open earbuds with active noise-canceling features, as Shokz found out with its new OpenFit Pro buds ($250). Instead of touting them as a true noise-canceling model, Shokz ended up dialing back expectations and calling the tech inside the ear-hook style buds "OpenEar Noise Reduction."

That was the right move considering that in my tests the OpenFit Pro didn't reduce ambient sound nearly as well as Apple's flagship open earbuds, the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, which are due for an upgrade in September (whether that will actually happen is anybody's guess).

Adding effective noise canceling to open earbuds is sort of the holy grail. You get the benefit of a more comfortable fit (many people find it irritating to have eartips jammed in their ears), while having the option to keep your ears open to your surroundings or virtually close them off (to a degree, anyway).

While the AirPods 4's noise cancellation isn't nearly as strong as the AirPods Pro 3's, you can really tell when their noise canceling is engaged. And presumably the AirPods 5's noise canceling may be slightly better.

Noise-canceling hack?

With its Soundcore Aerofit 2 Pro ($180 list), Anker is attempting to circumvent the open buds noise-canceling challenge by creating a set of convertible semi-open ear-hook style buds that allow you to shift the angle of the buds so their tips sit deeper in your ear canal for an ANC mode, or more outside of it for open listening.

These don't have the typical silicone eartips that seal your ear canal, so I'm not sure how well the noise canceling will work. But I suspect it may be a little better than what you get with the Shokz OpenFit Pro because the bud at least sits partially inside your ear canal, like it does with the AirPods 4 (the OpenFit Pro sit over your ear, leaving more of a gap).

I like the earlier Soundcore AeroFit 2 ($100), which sound good for open earbuds and fit my ears well. The AeroFit 2 Pro should sound a little better, at least in ANC mode with the buds deeper in your ear canal.

I should point out that while the sound of open earbuds continues to improve to the point where it's now respectable, with better bass performance, clarity and less distortion, a good set of noise-isolating earbuds with silicone eartips is still my preference for critical listening. But people tend to buy open earbuds for their design, whether it's because they find silicone eartips uncomfortable or because they don't have to worry about clip-on buds or ear hook-style buds falling out of their ears during sporting activities like running and biking, while allowing you to hear traffic or people around you for safety reasons.

It will be interesting to see what Bose comes up with as an encore to its Ultra Open Earbuds, which helped popularize clip-on buds in the US. With its Sound by Bose program, it's spent the last year successfully licensing out its technology and design chops to more value-based companies like Baseus and Skullcandy. But in the meantime, Apple managed to pull off noise cancellation in open buds before the noise-canceling pioneer did, so we'll see how Bose responds.

While we wait for that -- and a host of other open earbuds arriving later this year -- here's a look at the latest models to be officially announced. I'll update the list as I get word about other new, noteworthy open-ear buds.

Shokz OpenFit Pro ($250, shipping Jan. 21)

The Shokz OpenFit Pro in their case held over a pool of water

As I said earlier, the OpenFit Pro didn't reduce ambient sound nearly as well as the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, but they sound impressive for open earbuds. They're also comfortable to wear and have the premium build quality you'd expect from a set of earbuds that cost $250. The OpenFit Pro come in two color options (white or black), and are available for preorder at Shokz and Best Buy. They ship Jan. 21.

Splashproof and dust-resistant with an IP55 rating, the OpenFit Pro are equipped with Bluetooth 6.1 and also have a spatial audio feature, supporting Dolby Audio with Dolby Head Tracking (Shokz says they're optimized for Dolby Atmos). You can turn head tracking on or off in the Shokz companion app for iOS and Android, and tweak EQ settings as well.

Additionally, the buds have physical buttons to control playback (which I like) and ear-detection sensors that pause your music when you take a bud off and resume playback when you put it back on. Battery life is rated at up to 12 hours with noise reduction off and 6 hours with it on, which is a pretty big drop off. Read my full first take.

Anker Soundcore Aerofit 2 Pro ($180, shipping in May)

Anker's marketing campaign for the AeroFit 2 Pro touts their transformative nature with the slogan, "One switch, two worlds." It's a pretty clever design, although I wouldn't expect their noise-canceling performance to be nearly as good as what you get with top ANC buds like the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (Gen 2) and AirPods Pro 2.

Like the Shokz, these are splashproof and dust-resistant with an IP55 rating. The AeroFit Pro 2 are also equipped with Bluetooth 6.1 and have physical buttons to control playback. Battery life is rated at up to 7 hours with noise canceling off and 5 hours with it on, which is OK but not great. The charging case does offer an additional four charges and supports wireless charging. They come in three color options (white, black or lilac) and are available for preorder now for $150 with a $30-off early-bird discount. I'm looking forward to testing these closer to their ship date in early May.

JBL Sense Pro ($200, shipping in March)

The Sense Pro are JBL's new flagship open-ear buds, featuring a more premium design and improved sound and voice-calling performance, according to JBL. "Since the release of our first open sound model in 2023, the JBL Soundgear Sense, we've refined our JBL OpenSound air-conduction technology, evolved the wearing styles for both everyday listening and fitness and incorporated algorithms for clearer calls and bass enhancements," said Harman's Olesen.

Available in March in black or gray for $200, the Sense Pro have 16.2-millimeter drivers, four microphones (two in each bud) and JBL's Voice Pickup Sensor technology. They're equipped with Bluetooth 6.0, are splashproof and dust-resistant with an IP54 rating and can get up to 8 hours of playback on a single charge with an additional 30 hours in the case, which supports wireless charging. The buds have touch controls that can be customized in the JBL Headphones app for iOS and Android.

JBL Sense Lite ($150, shipping in March)

jbl-sense-lite-box-shot-purple-background

JBL didn't have much to say about the Sense Lite aside from the fact that they're supposed to be light and comfortable ("crafted for all-day wear"), with a design that's "enhanced by a soft silicone finish." They also have dual-beamforming microphones and JBL's adaptive bass boost algorithm, which provides "smooth, frictionless sound with minimal leakage, ensuring both clarity and privacy." Equipped with Bluetooth 5.4, the Sense Lite are splashproof and dust-resistant with an IP54 rating and can get up to 8 hours of playback on a single charge with an additional 24 hours in the case, which doesn't support wireless charging. Available for $150 in March, color options include black, white and purple.

JBL Soundgear Clips ($150, shipping in March)

The Soundgear Clips are JBL's new clip-on buds, which stand out for their eye-catching translucent design and metallic tint (they come in four color options, including white, blue, brown or purple). JBL says they feature an adaptive bass boost algorithm for optimized audio and have four mics (two in each bud) for "crisp calls, allowing the headphones to clearly identify a user's voice, no matter the background noise."

Equipped with Bluetooth 5.4, the Soundgear Clips are splashproof and dust-resistant with an IP54 rating and can get up to 8 hours of playback on a single charge, with an additional 24 hours in the case. The case doesn't support wireless charging. They have touch controls you can customize in the JBL Headphones app and are available for $150 in March.

JBL Endurance Zone ($180, shipping now)

JBL's sports-oriented Endurance line features a few new models for 2026, including the Endurance Peak 4, which have silicone eartips, and this new open-ear model, the Endurance Zone. Specs-wise, they seem similar to the Sense Lite, but are more durable with a fully waterproof and dust-proof design (IP68). Like the Sense Lite, JBL says they feature an adaptive bass boost algorithm for optimized audio and have dual beamforming microphones (two in each bud). They can get up to 8 hours of playback on a single charge with an additional 24 hours in the case, which doesn't support wireless charging. They have touch controls you can customize in the JBL Headphones app and are shipping now for $180.

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