Finding the best headphones for you can transform how you listen to music, podcasts and movies, bringing you excellent audio in a sleek design. However, with so many brands, features and styles to choose from, it can be tricky to figure out which are right for you. Do you want over-ear or in-ear? Is battery life your top priority or ANC? That’s why we’ve created this guide, to simplify your search for the perfect pair of headphones.

Our team of experts has been testing headphones and earbuds for over 15 years. With this experience, we know what makes a pair stand out – whether it's exceptional sound quality, superior comfort, or advanced features. Every product featured here has undergone rigorous, real-world testing, and we only recommend models we genuinely love. Our reviews are completely independent, ensuring you can trust our advice.

To put together this guide, we’ve assessed a whole range of factors, including features like AI and spatial audio, through to user-friendly apps, comfort, and overall practicality. Whether you’re exploring over-ear, on-ear, or in-ear styles, you’ll find a whole range of excellent options here. Some models also appear in our popular best wireless headphones guide. For those focused on noise cancellation, check out our best noise-cancelling headphones roundup, for budget-friendly choices, head to our best cheap headphones guide and if you only want a small, convenient in-ear design, you need our best earbuds and best noise cancelling earbuds guides.

They're bursting with features too, including Sony's DSEE Extreme upscaling for lower-quality music from sources such as Spotify, multipoint pairing for easy switching between devices, auto play/pause when you take them off, Sony's 360 Reality Audio spatial audio, and LDAC wireless support for CD-quality wire-free sound from compatible phones. It's a shame there's no aptX, but it's not a deal-breaker.

They're very comfortable thanks to a lightweight design, and wearing them for long periods is no strain at all. A 3.5mm jack means you can connect them to a wired source easily, though there's no USB-C audio input (the USB-C port is for charging only).

The 30-hour battery life is pretty typical, though is smashed by the 60 hours of the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 at #3 on the list, which also clearly beat these on sound quality when comparing the two, though as mentioned above, we still think the Sony are great value at their reduced price. That's the story for these headphones at this point: you can find something that does any individual thing better, but nothing that does so much so well as their lower price. But make sure you're paying $200/£200 or under. If Sony bumps the price back up a bit, you're best opting for the Cambridge Audio option – they'll cost the same and bring you even more modern, high-end features.

Released in February 2023, they deliver balanced sound that has plenty of detail, making them easy to listen to. Sony really has stripped back features to focus on sound with the WH-CH520, and it really shows with deeper bass and brighter highs.

For those chasing something that is substantially more sturdy or sporting a 3.5mm port, you’re unlikely to find an alternative at the same price point ($60 / £60 / AU$99) that’s also wireless, let alone boasts great battery life and sound.

There’s a seriously impressive 100 hours of battery life on offer here, which is incredible. Even compared to some of the best rivals. Admittedly, that’s without ANC, but with ANC on, you’ll get 60 hours, which is still as good as it gets. You’d expect premium features for a premium price and won’t be disappointed. There’s multipoint connectivity onboard, Bluetooth 5.3, six mics to handle ANC, and an app packed with everything you’ll ever need. You’ll also find aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless codec compatibility. One rather unexpected but hilarious feature is that actor Matt Berry is one of the options for your ‘audible feedback’, which, in our review, we referred to as a “stroke of genius” – seriously, name a better voice actor for this role!

Things are just as positive when it comes to their design. In our review, we wrote that these headphones are “flawlessly built and finished” with a combination of memory foam and vegan leather on the earpads and a padded headband. We also found them comfortable to wear. The only minor downside is that their travel case is a bit bigger than it needs to be. But really, we’re nit-picking.

The Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 are priced at $279 / £229 / AU$479, which means they’re our top pick if your budget can stretch to the premium end of the spectrum – though it still isn't that premium compared to Sony and Bose's highest-end headphones, so they're actually good value. We awarded them five out of five stars in our review, which is a testament to how great these wonderfully-specced headphones sound and the wealth of features on offer.

Even more importantly, we're huge fans of their sound quality. It's so poised and eloquent, with a rich dynamic range that feels like you're getting a full and accurate reproduction of the recording. In our review, we said "it's both swift and accurate, as well as balanced and detailed. It’s not quite as energetic as really high-end earbuds, but we can hardly blame it for that – the overall detail and accuracy is a cut above almost anything else."

Technics goes above and beyond to make sure that the earbuds fit all shapes and sizes of ears, providing seven silicone, drop-shaped eartips for their so-called 'concha-fit'.

The battery life and active noise cancellation are less exemplary – both are average, so not bad at all, but not exceptional – but they will be absolutely perfect for anyone looking for excellent musical fidelity and cutting-edge tech features from their earbuds.

Sound-wise, we described the experience as "warm and energetic," with a "rich and meaty bass." While these earbuds don’t deliver an extra-boosted low end, they offer nuance and perform well even at high volumes. But what we rated the most during testing was the dramatic soundstage. We wrote: “You can hear the different instruments spread around you like dishes at a tapas restaurant, and if you close your eyes you feel like you could point to where each one is.” While they lack support for advanced audio codecs, this won’t matter if you primarily stream via Spotify – but it might disappoint those using Tidal or Apple Music’s high-res offerings.

So many of Bose’s headphones have “comfort” in their name for a reason and these buds delivered a snug and sturdy fit during our testing. There are different tips to choose from, as well as stability bands. We can’t guarantee everyone will get a great fit, but there are few buds we’d say are as likely to deliver as these. In fact, we took them on an 8km run and they didn’t budge. The only thing to point out in terms of design is the case is pretty big, at least bigger than most other wireless buds we’ve tested and it’ll feel bulky in a pocket. Then again, this is hardly a big deal to say these buds are well-priced, sound great, offer solid ANC and fit incredibly well. If your budget can stretch to Bose’s mid-range price tag, these buds won’t disappoint.

We described the audio from the Sony WF-C510 earbuds as “punchy and high-quality” in our review. We thoroughly enjoyed listening to our favorite tracks with them and noted that Sony is clearly prioritizing clean treble here. You can tweak the experience with Sony’s equalizer, though this isn't the easiest to use. This does mean you may need to look elsewhere – and perhaps pay more – if you’re a fan of powerful bass.

There are a couple of missing features here that you’d find in pricier, mid-range earbuds. The main one is active noise cancellation, but there’s also no wear detection or low-latency mode. Then again, when you considering the asking price here, it’s hard to complain. Sacrifices need to come from somewhere, and it makes sense they’d come from features rather than sound and fit. The buds have a solid 11 hours of battery, which should see you through a long work day and most journeys. However, the case battery life is less impressive, also packing in 11 hours – so you get one full charge of the buds from it. Compared to rivals, this is a little low. We’d expect at least two full charges.

We highly rate the simple design of these Sony buds. They stay very stable in your ears. There’s a nice grippy material on the tips, which is one of the reasons they fare so well in all sorts of settings. In our review, we wrote: “I even cycled confidently with them and completed a full workout at the gym without gravity doing its thing to them.” Each bud also weighs less than 5g, which makes them comfortable and lightweight for all-day wear. The case is light and will easily fit in a pocket without feeling like you've got a lumpy thigh.

These are some of the best cheap earbuds you’ll find, and they prove that Sony isn’t just good at building the top high-end headphones, like the Sony WH-1000XM4 over-ears at the top of this list or the high-performing Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds, but can turn its hand to more affordable tech, too.

They also have some good smart features, including customizable active noise cancellation modes and multipoint connectivity, controlled from the generally intuitive Bose Music app.

It's a bit of a shame that higher-quality audio support is limited to Snapdragon Sound with compatible phones, and the 3.5mm audio cable. Several audiophile competitors (the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 in this guide, and the Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2) have USB-C audio support for serious hi-res files, and aptX for broader high-quality wireless tech (or LDAC).

The 24-hour battery life is also lower than the 30 hours that's standard for noise-cancelling headphones, and massively lower than the 60 hours for the Cambridge Audio headphones in this list. But we can forgive all these faults for the sound quality on offer here.

They're a bit more of a mixed bag when it comes to feature. The Bose Music app means you can customize things like the ANC levels, which we like, and the EQ if you're so inclined (but we don't think you'll need to). But there's no higher-res audio support from aptX or LDAC, and no multipoint audio connection. The battery life is also very average at six hours from the buds, and 18 hours from the case (for 24 hours total).

Still, these things may not matter so much to you – we're clearly happy to forgive them. If you want a quiet commute from a great-sound pair of earbuds, here you go.

To save some money on Bose products, check out our Bose voucher codes.

The Dali IO-8 deliver audio that we described as "detailed and expansive" in our review, stating that "no element of a recording is too fleeting to elude them." There's also wonderful richness and clarity across the whole range and a tonality we called "carefully neutral". ANC is here and it's good, but it's not best-in-class, look to Bose for that.

These headphones deliver in the looks department as well as sound, with a high level of build and finish quality. The design is also nice to look at, with perfectly circular ear cups. They're comfortable thanks to memory foam in the cups and an adjustable headband. We also like that, if you forget to charge them, you can listen to these headphones wired, too. A great option for ultimate convenience. The only drawback is leather has been used on the exterior of the cups, which means vegans should steer clear.

Of course, the Dali IO-8 are not cheap. But if high-quality sound and an equally impressive build are what you're after – and you're happy with no app and leather – they're well worth your money.

Features-wise, there’s a lot to love here, including the noise cancellation. It’s rare to find both incredible sound and ANC – sometimes solid noise cancelling comes at a price and that price is a loss of richness and clarity. In our review, we wrote: “That cocooned feeling of leaving the outside world behind kicked straight in.” This is due to B&W’s advanced tech, of course, but also thanks to the snug and stable fit of the Pi8 buds. As well as ANC, there’s a ‘Pass Through’ mode that lets you hear people talking to you. But other than that, there are no different levels of noise blocking power to choose from here, which is something Bose offers you, for example.

Another great additional feature is that the charging case can be plugged into a non-Bluetooth source, and it’ll then become a wireless audio re-transmitter in aptX Adaptive transmission up to 24-bit/96kHz quality. This makes the buds perfect for listening to movies on in-flight entertainment systems, or using with work laptops and so on.

The only thing really missing here is there are no fit tests to make sure the ear tips are right or that the noise cancellation is geared to you. There’s also no spatial audio processing, which is a bit of a shame for movie lovers in particular. These aren’t essentials by any means, but you could try the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, the LG Tone Free T90S or the AirPods Pro 2 if spatial audio is a priority.

The Pi8 buds boast an improved design over previous versions, which adds on-ear volume support (but annoyingly no ANC on or off function) and nixes connectivity issues. There are several color options to choose from, and although they’re made from plastic they do have a premium, matte look and feel to them. They have slightly better battery than the buds that came before them, but it’s not a huge improvement. You’ll get 6.5 hours from the buds and 13.5 hours more from the case with noise cancellation on. Other buds do it better, but that’s a substantial amount of time for a work day or most journeys. The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 buds may not be cheap, but considering they deliver best-in-class audio in buds that are hard to fault in almost every conceivable way, they’re excellent value.

The PX8 are more average when it comes to battery life (30 hours is exactly what we consider the norm) and the active noise cancellation (it's effective, but it's behind Sony and Bose's best). But it has some great smart features, including good control via its app, and USB-C audio support for truly Hi-Res Audio, as well as aptX Adaptive for CD-quality sound wirelessly.

They may be expensive, but they offer so much quality, and with a gorgeous design that really feels worth that outlay, and looks closer to an objet d'art than the competition.

At this price, with such excellent build and design, it’s hard to fault the Triple Drivers. The inbuilt remote feels a little cheap, but that's more than made up for by the lush sound quality offered by these luxe-looking earbuds. For the price, you can't do better than 1MORE's Triple Driver in-ear headphones. 

OTHER HEADPHONES TO CONSIDER

Nothing Ear (a): 

These earbuds may no longer be in our guide, but they're still an excellent choice for most people. The only reason they left is because the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds that replaced them are a little better for mid-range money. However, as you'll see from our Nothing Ear (a) review, they're still great and are actually quite a bit cheaper.

Shure SE215: 

Take a look at our Shure SE215 review for a good wired, in-ear option. These earbuds will bring you solid noise isolation and great bass output, but they fell short with their occasionally cluttered soundstage.

Shanling HW600: 

We realize that the market for very premium, wired over-ears with excellent sound, no ANC made specifically for people with large heads is niche. But, if that's you, congratulations! You just found your headphones. Take a look at our Shanling HW600 review to find out more.

Apple AirPods 4: 

We've been busy testing the two new versions of the AirPods 4, and you can now read our thoughts in our Apple AirPods 4 review and our Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation review. Both earbuds work well, and we do recommend them if you love Apple products and have an iPhone – especially if you've been waiting for ANC in a pair of AirPods. But the upshot is you can do better for the money, and there are plenty of options in this guide we think will suit you more.

Marshall Monitor III ANC: 

We're also testing the latest Marshall Monitor III ANC over-ears. These cans have a rugged, retro design that's incredibly comfortable, great sound, and an impressive 70 hour battery life. We'll share our full review soon and decide whether they've got what it takes to make this best headphones guide, but for now read our early hands on Marshall Monitor III ANC review.

Sonos Ace: 

Sonos' first headphones are a very premium price, and have a design to match. But the audio quality for music is a step behind the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones we recommend above. However, we absolutely loved them for their movie performance and spatial audio, either when used with a Sonos soundbar or with any Dolby Atmos-capable device – if you're a big movie fan, you should still read our Sonos Ace review.

Sony WH-1000MX5: 

We really like these headphones, as you can see in our five-star Sony WH-1000MX5 review – but they're beaten in key areas by other products that are keeping them out of this guide, essentially. The Cambridge Audio Melomania P100, for example, are more detailed and offer twice the battery life, while also being less expensive. It's a cut-throat world of headphones.

source: techradar