Why I like them

The original Powerbeats Pro were released in May 2019, so Beats has had a lot of time to plot how to improve the second generation of its popular ear-hook style true-wireless sport earbuds. And improve they have -- by quite a bit. Not only do they feature a new, more refined design with better ergonomics, but new drivers, a more powerful Apple H2 chip, a new built-in heart-rate sensor and, yes, active noise canceling for the first time in a pair of Powerbeats. And that noise canceling is quite good, as is the sound quality and voice-calling performance -- so long as you get a tight seal from one of the five different included eartips. Read my Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 review.

These new Powerbeats Pro 2 fit my ears better thanks to Beats improving the overall ergonomic shape of the earbud and completely redesigning the ear hook -- it's 50% smaller and incorporates nickel-titanium alloy, so it's both flexible and durable. The buds themselves are 20% lighter.

Reasons to buy

Fitness enthusiasts prefer earbuds with ear hooks to prevent their buds from falling out of their ears during intense workouts. Typically, such earbuds don't offer the greatest performance, but the Powerbeats Pro 2 share many of the same qualities and features as the AirPods Pro 2, featuring very good sound quality, along with strong noise cancellation and voice-calling performance. In short, they're versatile, also performing well as everyday earbuds. It's also worth noting that while the Powerbeats Pro 2 have some Apple-exclusive features, Beats does have an app for Android users that makes these more Android-friendly than AirPods.

Reasons to skip/keep looking

While Beats has improved the Powerbeats Pro 2's design and ergonomics, they still may not be a comfortable fit for everybody's ears, and some people may not get a truly tight seal from any of Beats' eartips. (I had an issue and had to use another set of eartips from my collection.) If you don't get a tight seal, you'll likely be unimpressed with the sound quality and noise canceling and may want to return them to the store where you bought them. (Try to find some alternative eartips before you do that.)

Why I like them

Shokz wanted to equip its new flagship OpenFit Pro open earbuds with active noise cancellation, but that's not easy with open earbuds. Instead, it ended up dialing back expectations and calling the tech inside these new ear-hook-style buds, "OpenEar Noise Reduction." It's a good thing it did because, during time testing the OpenFit Pro, they didn't reduce ambient sound nearly as well as the Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation. But they sound impressive for open earbuds, are comfortable to wear and have the premium build quality you'd expect from a set of earbuds that cost $250. Read review.

Reasons to buy

The OpenFit Pro are well-designed and among the best-sounding open earbuds.

Reasons to skip/keep looking

There are more affordable open buds with ear-hook designs that may not sound quite as good, but do cost $50-$100 less.

Why I like them
While I didn't get the new H3 chip I had hoped for, or a charging case that doubles as a Bluetooth transceiver for in-flight entertainment, I did get most of what I wanted from the AirPods Pro 3. The changes may seem incremental to some folks, but key elements -- fit, sound quality, noise cancellation and a single-charge battery life -- have all seen noticeable upgrades.

They're about as close as earbuds get to being complete: excellent noise cancellation, strong voice-calling performance and sound quality that rivals the very best. Few buds excel in all three areas -- and the Pro 3s manage to do so while packing in plenty of extra features, including a new heart-rate monitoring feature. Read my full review.

Reasons to buy
As I said, these buds are significantly improved in the four most important areas: fit, sound quality, noise cancellation and battery life. The result is that you don't feel like you're making any compromises when buying the AirPods Pro 3 if you're an Apple user.

Reasons to skip/keep looking
While they do work with Android devices, you'll lose many of the AirPods 3's extra features, especially those designed for Apple's ecosystem of iPhones and iPads. They may also just be a little too expensive for many people.

Why I like them

Shokz has released the newer OpenFit 2 Plus, which adds wireless charging and a Dolby Atmos sound mode for $20 more. The buds are otherwise the same, so you can decide whether it's worth the extra dough (I'm not sure it is). Both are comfortable to wear, sound excellent for open earbuds, at least in quieter environments and offer good voice-calling performance. I also like that each bud has a programmable physical control button to control playback. Read my Shokz OpenFit 2 review.

Reasons to buy

While the Shokz OpenFit 2 are a little pricey, they're among the best open earbuds with ear hooks and feature a comfortable, durable design, strong sound quality (for open earbuds), good voice-calling performance and improved controls. Because of these traits, I have them near the top of my list of best headphones and earbuds for runners. They also work well for bikers and anyone who doesn't like having eartips jammed in their ears.

Reasons to skip/keep looking

You can find cheaper open earbuds with ear hooks that may not sound quite as good, but they're pretty close and are a better overall value.

Why I like them

Truth be told, in some ways, I like the Sony's new LinkBuds Fit better than its flagship WF-1000XM5 noise-canceling earbuds. While they don't sound quite as good or have noise-canceling that's quite on par with those buds, they're lightweight (4.9 grams) and fit my ears comfortably and securely. Part of that is due to Sony's new Air Fitting Supporters, but it's also redesigned its ear tips and included a wide range of sizes, including XL tips that fit my ears well. Despite being a slight step-down from the WF-1000XM5s for performance, their sound quality, noise canceling and call-quality performance are all very good. They also have built-in voice controls.

Reasons to buy

In many ways, these are Sony's answer to Beats' Fit Pro earbuds that were released in late 2021 and become very popular. Not only only do they sound good but they're lightweight and comfortable and fit securely in your ears thanks to their sport fins, making them good for both everyday use and sporting activities.

Reasons to skip/keep looking

The biggest problem with the LinkBuds Fit is that their list price is too high (they're overpriced at full price). They do get discounted now, and they're more enticing when they dip below $150 (they'd ideally cost closer to $130).

Why I like them

Beats has redesigned the wingtips of its popular Fit Pro earbuds, trimmed down their charging case by 17% and rebranded them as the Powerbeats Fit. While I'm disappointed we didn't get the Fit Pro 2 this year, the changes do make this set of top-notch sports earbuds (that work well as everyday earbuds) a little better. Read my Powerbeats Fit review.

Reasons to buy them

If you don't like the ear-hook design of the Powerbeats Pro 2, the Beats Powerbeats Fit are a good alternative (I personally prefer the fit of the Powerbeats Fit). While the Powerbeats Pro 2 offer slightly better performance overall and are equipped with Apple's H2 chip and heart-rate sensors, the Powerbeats Fit still sound good and offer decent noise canceling. They also frequently go on sale, so they can be had at a decent discount. Definitely don't buy them at full price.

Reasons to skip/keep looking

The Beats Fit Pro were launched at the end of 2021. Yes, the Powerbeats Fit are slightly improved over that model, thanks to their smaller case and redesigned wingtips. However, the reality is that they're 4-year-old earbuds and are still in need of an upgrade.

Why I like them

Like Baseus' noise-isolating Inspire XP1 earbuds that I rated highly, the Inspire XC1 feature "Sound by Bose" and a more premium design than earlier Baseus earbuds. The XC1 don't sound as good as the XP1, but they sound very good for open earbuds and are equipped with dual drivers, one of which is a Knowles balanced-armature driver that helps improve treble performance. While they don't produce as much bass as noise-isolating earbuds like the Inspire XP1, their bass performance is better than I expected. The buds' sound is pretty full, especially in quieter environments, though they do better with less bass-heavy material (I did notice a bit of distortion at higher volumes with certain tracks with harder-driving bass).

While I slightly prefer the design and fit of Bose's Ultra Open Earbuds (as well as the design of their case) and think the Bose buds sound more natural and a tad better overall, the much more affordable Inspire XC1 fit comfortably and offer top-tier sound for clip-on open earbuds (and they play louder than the Bose), as well as decent voice-calling performance with good background noise reduction. They also have an IP66 water-resistance rating, which means they're fully waterproof and dust-resistant. I also appreciated that they have a programmable physical button on each earbud to control playback, multipoint Bluetooth (so you can connect two devices to the buds simultaneously) and a low-latency mode for video gaming and video watching.

The buds have been tuned by Bose engineers and their default EQ setting in the app is "Sound by Bose," but you can also tweak the sound a bit with six additional presets, including a bass boost mode and a custom EQ setting. The buds support the SBC and AAC codecs along with LDAC for Android users (it has to be turned on in the app). Battery life is solid at around 8 hours on a single charge with volume set at 50%.

Reasons to buy

The Inspire XC1 stack up well against the more expensive Shokz' Open Dots clip-on earbuds and while they're not quite as good overall as Bose's Ultra Open Earbuds, they cost less than half the price and sound nearly as good.

Reasons to skip/keep looking

If you can't afford this model, Baseus also makes the MC1 Pro, which sometimes gets discounted to around $50. The Inspire XC1 look very similar but have a more premium design and upgraded sound.

The well-designed OpenDots One are among the best open earbuds out there right now. While they don't sound quite as good as the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, they're pretty close and fit my ears slightly better and have better battery life. Read review. 

Reasons to buy

Like the Ultra Open Earbuds, which sell for $299, they're a bit overpriced, but at least they cost less than the Bose and their case has wireless charging.

Reasons to skip/keep looking

The Shokz OpenDots One may cost less than the Bose but they're still pretty pricey.

The Acefast Acefit Pro are similar to a lot of the new ear hook-style open earbuds but they have a few distinguishing design traits that help set them up. For starters, they have built-in LEDs with 8 lighting effects that help make you visible at night (a real bike light puts out significantly more light, however). Also, their charging case is slim and has a battery life indicator in the translucent lid that lets you know how much juice is left in the case. Overall, I found the buds comfortable to wear and they sound good for open earbuds, delivering ample bass with decent clarity and good volume. From a sound standpoint they measure up well to Anker's Soundcore AeroFit 2 and a lot of midrange open ear sports buds. I also thought their touch controls worked well while voice-calling performance was slightly above average though not top-tier.

The buds are rated for 6 hours of battery life on a single charge at moderate volume levels. They have an IP54 rating, which means they are dust-resistant and splash proof. Available in multiple color options, the white colorway is currently the cheapest.

Anker's Soundcore AeroFit 2 open earbuds have been completely redesigned and look quite different from the original AeroFit buds. The second-gen Aerofit are not only more comfortable but look sleeker, sound significantly better and offer all-around improvements. The buds aren't as light as the Shokz OpenFit 2 buds and don't sound quite as good, but they cost less and offer good all-around performance with augmented bass response. Available in multiple colors, they're a good option for those looking for ear-hook style open earbuds with a fairly premium design and good sound quality without the high price tag of top-end models.

Why I like them

Last year, I awarded a CNET Editors' Choice to Earfun's Air Pro 4 earbuds, saying they were "hard to beat for the money." The same can be said for Earfun's new-for-2025 Air Pro 4 Plus, which also earned a CNET Editors' Choice award. Though these earbuds aren't without a few small shortcomings, those could easily be fixed with future firmware updates. At around $80 on Amazon, the Plus model costs $20 more than the standard Air Pro 4, but features a pretty significant upgrade to sound quality. (Note: Apply the code AP4PCNET at checkout on Amazon to get an additional 10% off.)

Reasons to buy them

The buds are equipped with a new dual-driver system that pairs a 10mm dynamic driver with an "ultra-light FeatherBA" balanced-armature driver that helps improve bass and treble performance. Typically, earbuds with dual drivers cost significantly more (these are the first earbuds that cost less than $100 that I've seen with dual drivers). The Earfun Air Pro 4 Plus also offer a comfortable fit and a pretty robust feature set, along with improved noise canceling that's quite decent. (Read my full review.)

Reason to skip/keep looking

If Earfun could figure out a way to raise the level of the voice-calling performance of its flagship earbuds from a B- to an A- or so, they'd be the almost perfect sub $100 true-wireless earbuds. We'll see if we get some tweaks and small improvements with future firmware upgrades, but as it stands, the Air Pro 4 Plus are still excellent for the price.

Pros

• Dual-driver technology improves sound dramatically
• Comfortable and secure open-ear design
• Low vibration
• Good voice-calling performance
• Limited sound leakage

The problem with bone-conduction headphones has always been that they just don't sound all that good. That is unless you plug up your ears, which defeats the safety benefit of their open-ear design and is why they're so popular with runners and bikers. Well, that just changed. Shokz has finally cracked the code on bone-conduction sound quality with a novel dual-driver design in its new flagship OpenRun Pro 2 headphones ($180).

With the OpenRun Pro 2, Shokz has solved the bass deficiency issue by adding a second, more traditional speaker driver that's tasked with firing bass frequencies toward your open ears. Shokz employed that same micro-speaker technology (it calls it "air conduction") in its first non-bone-conduction headphones, the OpenFit ($140) and Open Fit Air ($120) true-wireless earbuds.

Why I like them

The Soundcore Sport X20 has some nice upgrades over Anker's original Soundcore X10 earbuds. They include an improved design, adaptive noise canceling, superior battery life, slightly better sound and multipoint Bluetooth pairing. Like the previous model, these have an interesting design with rotating swiveling ear hooks. However, they don't swivel as much as the X10's ear hooks, which is a good thing (they stayed on my ears very securely). I also liked that the charging case has a smaller footprint than a lot of buds with ear hooks.

Fully waterproof and dust-proof with an IP68 rating, the X20 have slightly larger drivers than the X10 (11mm instead of 10mm). As long as you get a tight seal from the included ear tips (you get 5 sizes), they're able to deliver good sound with punchy bass and good detail. They lack a bit of clarity, particularly at higher volumes (there was a touch of distortion), and the noise canceling isn't as good as Sony or Bose's noise canceling. But the buds are affordable and a good value overall. As for battery life, it's rated at up to 12 hours with noise canceling off and 7 hours with it on. Voice-calling performance is also decent, though not exceptionally good.

Reasons to buy

If you like the concept of the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 but don't want to pay $249 for them (yes, they do regularly go on sale, but they list for $249), the X2 are a good alternative for a lot less money.

Reasons to skip/keep looking

Some people prefer an open design (that lets sound in from the outside world) in a set of ear-hook style earbuds. Not everybody will get a tight seal from these earbuds.

While the BlueAnt Pump X headphones aren't going to win any awards for sound quality (they sound good but not great), they have a few things going for them as gym headphones. First, they fold up and feel sturdily built, weighing in at 295 grams (while they're not light, they're also not too heavy). Second, they're comfortable to wear and come with two sets of swappable ear pads -- the "everyday" set is covered with soft faux leather, while the workout set is cloth-covered and is designed to keep your ears cooler as you heat up. Finally, they're IP54 splash-proof and sweat-proof. I also liked that they feature physical control buttons, making them easy to operate, and support USB-C audio, which allows you to plug them into a USB-C-equipped smartphone, tablet or PC and use a wired connection to improve the audio quality with more clarity.

Equipped with Bluetooth 5.4 but lacking a companion app or ear-detection sensor, their sound profile leans to the warm side. They have a bit of bass push, which some people like, and you get three modes to choose from: Transparent, Noise Cancelling and X-Mode. The latter offers the most dynamic range and volume, which is why I tended to keep it in X-Mode. Battery life is also decent at up to 58 hours of battery life at moderate volume levels with noise cancelling off. But in most other respects, as the price indicates, these are pretty much midrange headphones. In other words, don't expect to be blown away by their sound quality, noise-canceling or voice-calling performance. But they're decent across the board and make appealing gym headphones for those who like to work out in over-ear headphones.

In recent years, with its new earbuds, Bose has focused on premium noise-canceling buds with premium price tags. But now it's released more affordable QuietComfort Earbuds at $179 (£180) for folks priced out of its $299 (£300) flagship QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. The new QC Earbuds, as Bose calls them, don't perform quite as well as the QC Ultra Earbuds, but they offer a very secure fit, strong sound and noice-canceling performance while adding a few new features, including built-in voice controls, not found in the Ultras. 

Why I like them

When they're in your ears, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 look a lot like the original Pixel Buds Pro and retain the stabilizer fins that help lock the buds in your ears. But they're smaller than their predecessor and Google equipped them with its new Tensor A1 chip, which offers more processing power and boosts their performance across the board. How you ultimately feel about them will largely depend on how well they fit your ears. That's the case for most noise-canceling earbuds, but with the Pixel Buds Pro 2, if you don't get a tight seal from the included ear tips, there's a massive dip in both sound quality and noise-canceling performance. If you do get a tight seal, these buds deliver excellent sound, strong noise-muffling capabilities and a robust feature set, particularly for Android and Google Pixel phone users. Read my Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 review.

Reasons to buy

For Pixel device owners, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 have some extra appeal because they're designed to work more seamlessly with your Pixel devices (there's automatic switching between Pixel smartphones, tablets and watches) and also feature "Clear Calling" for Pixel smartphones, which does improve voice calling performance a bit. That said, Android owners can take advantage of most of the Pixel Buds Pro 2's features, including hands-free Google Assistant and "Conversation Detect" feature that pauses what you're listening to and puts the buds in transparency mode when you start talking to someone.

Reasons to skip/keep looking

I'll start by pointing out that while buds work just fine with iPhones, iPhone users miss out out several features, so Apple users should probably look elsewhere. From an ergonomic standpoint, the buds' smaller design should provide a better fit for a wider range of ears, but some people may find that the original Pixel Buds Pro fit their ears better. Also, some Android owners may be disappointed that the buds support neither Qualcomm's AptX or Sony's LDAC audio codecs (AAC and SBC are supported). Lastly, it's a little annoying that the white case can pick up stains from objects in pockets, though the case is easy enough to clean off with a alcohol wipe.

Skullcandy's Crusher headphones have a built-in slider that allows you to dial in the bass to such a degree that you literally feel i